Eamon Coghlan was world 5,000 metres champion in 1983 and a former world record holder for the indoor mile, and was known as the "Chairman of the Boards" throughout the 1980s for his domination of the indoor circuit in the US. He's the only man over 40 to run a sub-four minute mile.
The club originated in Dublin in 1937 as the Metro-Army club, then became Metropolitan Harriers, and only merged with St Brigid's five years ago. Coghlan has been president since 1990 and continues to train with the club at least three days a week. Most of his time is taken up as chief fund-raiser for Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin.
Membership: There are about 120 members right now, although a lot of those would be the older runners like myself - staunch supporters of the club - and mostly male, I'm afraid. There are a great mix of good juniors also, and the club recently won 24 medals at the Dublin BLOE Championships.
Status: The men's team compete in division one of the national track and field league. One problem is that the club is still a little bit dispersed, with the seniors training out of Islandbridge and others at the new grounds in Portisdown Park. We are developing the park to be one of the best athletic facilities in Dublin and already have a 400-metre grass track.
Honours: A great honour for any club athlete is to run for Ireland, and myself, Shane Healy and Gerry O'Reilly have all competed in the Olympic Games, while other guys, like Colm de Burca, Ken Nason and Gary Hynes, have recently run at international level.
Finest Hour: Personally that would be winning the world 5,000 metres title in Helsinki, and I know that also brought huge satisfaction and thrill to all the club supporters.
Worst Moment: That would have to be the passing of Gerry Farnan, who for years was the great pillar of support at Metro. There will never be a more fatherly figure or a better motivator in the club.
Club Hero: The coaches at junior level do so much to develop the sport, so Charlie Martin, Seamus Mellet, Eugene Brady and Frank Nolan are all heroes in that field.
Greatest Rivals: Any of the Dublin clubs like Donore, Clonliffe or DSD have been traditional rivals, especially in Dublin cross-country championship. The men's team have never actually won that title, but it's something we plan to do soon.
