WHATEVER about John Treacy's role as chief executive of the Irish Sports Council, his athletic ability continues to have an impact on Irish distance running. The most recent Irish Runner magazine points out that since Treacy (right, at Barcelona '92) ran 2:10.24 for the marathon in 1989, there have been few to touch him.

In fact the magazine, noting the exceptions of Sonia O'Sullivan, Catherina McKiernan and Mark Carroll, points to a crisis in distance running in Ireland. All the top 10 Irish times for the 10,000 metres were posted in either the 1970s or 1980s, while both the depth and breadth of quality distance runners has been drastically reduced. For example, compared to Treacy's 1989 time, the top-ranked Irish mark in the marathon for 1998 was Noel Berkeley at 2:16.22. Six minutes of a difference.

The magazine pertinently asks where have all our championship-standard endurance runners gone?