Dave, 86, in final preparations for his fifth Cork City marathon in a row

A marathon is a huge feat of human endurance for anyone. But for Pouladuff Road man David Walsh, each 42 kilometres is an especially impressive achievement.

David – Dave to his friends – is 86 years old. The Analog Devices Cork City Marathon this weekend will be his fifth in a row.

A dedicated runner in his younger days, Dave had to hit pause on his passion after a double hip replacement when he was 78.

“I was told I’d have to pack up the running,” he recalls. “Because the doctors said to me that if I didn’t, I’d end up in a wheelchair. So I stopped running at that time, but started back again when I was 80. I was 82 when I did my first marathon again”.

What do Dave’s doctors think about his return to running?

“Nobody knows!” he says, although, nearly five marathons later, it’s probably safe to say that his new hips can handle it!

Long-distance running is second nature to Dave.

“I’ve over 20 marathons done in all,” he says.

He started entering races back in the 1970s, running the earliest Cork marathons as well as Dublin, London and, in 1986, the famously arduous Boston marathon.

“It’s a really difficult run, you know,” Dave reflects on the American race. “It’s a very, very hard run.”

The Boston marathon is not for beginners. Famous for its punishing hills, runners must meet an official qualifying time to enter. Cork city is far from flat, of course, but thankfully the marathon route is slightly less tortuous. Whatever the terrain, a marathon is not a race that anyone undertakes lightly.

Dave sticks to a disciplined training regime in the lead-up to the yearly event.

When we spoke ten days before race day, he explained: “I’m tapering off now...but for the last month I’ve been running every second day. I go out in the morning between 7am and 7.30am and I run for three or three and a half hours... I cover a big area, and I have the gear for any weather!”

Dave’s persistence has paid off, with him not only successfully completing the last four marathons in Cork, but also finishing second place in the over-70s category in 2024 and 2025.

While training, Dave doesn’t set out to run any particular distance, but for the day itself he does have a time in mind for completing the 42 kilometre slog. “I’m always hoping for around the six hours,” he says. “Sometimes it’s a bit more, sometimes it’s a bit less.”

While marathons are a huge personal achievement for anybody undertaking one, Dave is never alone at the events. His extended family – children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren – will all be cheering him on from the sidelines.

“I have a fantastic family,” says Dave. “My grandchildren have these vests with my name on them, and my face and age! They’re very good.”

Family is hugely important to Dave. He regularly runs with his son Howard, who lives in the United States but enters races with his dad when he’s home. “He likes to do the half marathon,” he notes of his son and race partner. “So when he’s around he’ll pick out half marathons here and there and we’ll do them together. Last year we did a race down Mallow direction, and we’ve done a run in aid of the Down Syndrome charity.”

Dave’s close-knit family suffered a huge blow in 2020 with the death of his beloved wife, Irene. It was when Irene was in hospital that Dave began to get back into running following his hip replacements.

“My wife was in the hospital and I used to go down every day and park. She had Alzheimer’s, God bless her. It became part of the day. She would go to sleep for a couple of hours and I would walk around the hospital for about three-quarters of an hour every day.”

Dave’s walking turned into, as he describes it, “trotting”, and then eventually he “started doing a bit more, and a bit more, and then went back into trying to run properly”.

Dave runs with the memory of Irene on his mind and in his heart, as well as that of his late son, also named David. “They’re always with me”, he stresses. “All the time. Every day of the week. Every part of the day... I have their names on my wristbands.”

Dave also has a tattoo, “done by a marvellous artist”, of his wife on one arm and a cross for his son on the other. “That’s just the way I am,” he says of his dedication to his loved ones’ memories. “There’s no big deal, that’s just the way I am.”

Aside from honouring his late wife and son, what motivates Dave to enter marathons, and to keep going on the day?

“A lot of people ask me this. They say, what’s it like in the marathon, Dave?” He responds frankly. “I give the same answer every time. They’re brutal! I do think they’re brutal, but I think I might be addicted to them or something!

“I just need to be out on the road doing a bit of running, and then, when a race comes up, I like to be involved in the run. I like the challenge.”

To say that a marathon is a challenge is something of an understatement, especially at 86 years of age.

For Dave, however, race day is something to look forward to – not just for him, but the whole Walsh family.

“At the end, in the last hundred metres or so, they all come running down and we all hold our hands together over the finishing line. I do it for the kids, they enjoy it. It makes the day.”

As the Walsh family get their branded vests at the ready for the fifth marathon in a row, Dave is understated about an event that many people can only hope to undertake once in their lifetime, if ever.

As he signs off ahead of the big day, he concludes with modesty: “I hope it goes well, anyway!”

• The Analog Devices Cork City Marathon takes place this Sunday, May 31, with 12,300 runners taking part across the Full Marathon (3,000), Half Marathon (5,000), and 10K race (4,300).

• The Full Marathon starts on Grand Parade at 8.15am. Details on the event and on traffic restrictions over the weekend are available from www.analogdevicescorkcitymarathon.ie.