Peter McArdle, Memory of the Tracks

By Bea Gonnolly

TODAY marks what would have been the 94th birthday of one of the best ever athletes to emerge from these parts.

On June 24th, 1985, Peter McArdle died in Van Cortlandt Park, New York City. Born and raised in Blackrock, Peter was known for his unyielding determination and his desire to run. Peter founded the Blackrock Athletics club, Fort Creigh A.C., and would often lap the track at the old dog track in Blackrock on the sandy lane. This is where the recreational center and Rock Celtic now stand. During his time in Ireland, from 1951 to 1956 he won 12 national championships from varying distances of 1 mile to 6 miles.

He worked for the Great Northern Railway during the early part of his running career. Unfortunately, due to tense circumstances at the time regarding Irish Politics and the Irish athletics scene, Peter was forced to emi- grate for a more permanent job across the seas to New York in 1956. There, he met his wife Barbara and the couple would have four children.

McArdle went on to work as a mechanic for the New York bus company and later he became an American citizen. Peter is said to have reached his peak at age 34, winning the 10,000-meter race at the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro with a time of 29.30.

He would then set his sights on making the Olympic team for America having become a citizen. Unfortunately, McArdle was not chosen for the 1960 10,000-meter race Olympic team, placing fourth in trials. However, next time would be different.

While he would fail to make the 10,000-meter team, placing 6th in the trial race, he was selected for the American marathon team for the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 after winning the trial marathon.

Peter would finish with a time of two hours and twenty-three minutes.

This placed him 23rd in the marathon race.

Peter’s daughter Maeve Vinci spoke fondly of her late father.

“Because he died so young, I can never picture him as an old man.” “The time around the Olympics always brings back a lot of emotions, especially with the last one in Tokyo... makes me wonder what he would have thought of it all, he would probably have tried to get out there to it.” “He always made them (other athletes) feel like they were his best friends”

Following his death in Van Cortlandt Park, A memorial was erected in Peter’s honor, and today is the end point of the McArdle Memorial Cross-Country race.

Peter McArdle was probably the best middle-long distance athlete Ireland has ever had. His achievements and times during his career in Ireland were world class and if he ran for Ireland, he would be one of, if not the best, athletes Ireland has ever produced.

1—How many Six Nation grand slams have the Irish senior rugby team won in total?

2—Usually, Black Forest gateau is made with which fruit as a filling?

3—In animation terminology what does the abbreviation CGI stand for?

4—What do the capitals of Mexico, Panama and Luxembourg have in common?

5—Where in Dundalk would you find an area known locally as ‘The Clump’?

6—How many pieces of silver did Judas Iscariot receive in exchange for betraying Jesus?

7—A Portuguese man o’war is what sort of animal?

8—Sid Vicious was the bass player in which band?

9—Alphabetically which is the second sign of the zodiac?

10—Which county was Irish tv series Glenroe set in?

The Stinker—What part of the human anatomy shares its name with a punctuation mark? —this week’s answers—

1—Four (1948, 2009, 2018 and 2023), 2—Cherry, 3—Computer Generated Imagery, 4—Their name is exactly the same as the country, 5—Ard Easmuinn, 6—30, 7—Jellyfish, 8—The Sex Pistols, 9—Aries, 10—Wicklow. The Stinker: Colon.