Dare to Dream…Focus to Win!

A Presentation by Eamonn Coghlan 
May 1, 2010, 10:00am-12:30pm 
Room E-120, Van Vliet Centre 
University of Alberta

Sponsored by: The Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre and Athletic Alberta

Admission: Free

Eamonn Coghlan is truly one of the world’s greatest middle distance runners. His many accomplishments on the track include:

·          World Champion 5000 metres (Helsinki, 1983)

·          Four-time Indoor Mile World Record Holder (1979-1998)

·          The first person to run a sub 3:50 indoor mile (3:49.78, 1983)

·          Four-time NCAA Champion mile/1500 metres for Villanova University

·          European Champion 1500 metres indoors (1979)

·          Seven-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile in Madison Square Garden

·          Four-time Olympian for Ireland (4^th in 1976 at 1500m and in 1980 at 5000m))

·          The only Master’s athlete (40+ years old) to run a sub four-minute mile (3:58.15, 1994)

Away from the track Eamonn’s accomplishments are equally significant. He is on the Board of the Irish Sports Council, Chairman of the High Performance Committee, race director for the St Patrick’s Festival 5k in Dublin, motivational speaker and author. Where Eamonn’s passion off the track truly lies, however, is as a coach. Currently a Grade 3 National Coach in the Athletics’ Association Ireland, Eamonn is working with a number of Irish National Champion athletes with aspirations to compete in the Olympics in London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Thanks to the inspiration and instruction Eamonn received from his coaches, Gerry Farnan and Jumbo Elliott, he learned how to dream and how to focus and ultimately how to win. It was this philosophy that contributed to his success as an athlete. In this presentation, Eamonn discusses his rise from the streets of Dublin to the straightaways of glory around the world and how he uses his experiences as an athlete to inspire today’s runners and guide them physically and emotionally to achieve their goals.

This talk promises to be a fascinating insight into the mind of a world-class athlete and will be relevant for runners and coaches alike as well as fans of the sport.