From Leitrim to Tennessee, PJ reflects on athletics life
TO many, the name of PJ Leddy will be synonymous with the sports pages and airwaves of the Northwest as the Leitrim man goes about covering local sporting events.
However, there is much more to the retired Manorhamilton teacher who was once one of the country’s leading athletes.
Having collected accolades in a number of different events during the course of his schoolboy days, PJ was the recipient of a prestigious scholarship to East Tennessee State University, where he spent four years between 1969 and 1973.
While Stateside, he added to his athletics CV and though he never made it to the Olympics as his brother Eddie did, PJ’s exploits on the track on either side of the Atlantic are rightly remembered to this day.
When asked where the root of his subsequent success lay, PJ goes back to Ballinamore in 1964.
“It started for me at St Felim’s in Ballinamore,” the Drumreilly native recalled to The Sligo Champion.
“I competed in a local race organised by Padraig Griffin in 1964.
“I won the race after school and then went on to win Connacht in 1965 in Tuam.”
Still at a relatively young age, PJ’s prowess as an athlete was beginning to become apparent.
He annexed a number of titles in the lead up to 1969, including setting a new record on his way to the Irish School three-mile track championship in 1967 with a time of 14 minutes and 50 seconds.
As well as adding the Irish Junior Cross Country title to his growing collection, PJ also formed part of the Irish Cross Country teams in 1968 and 1969.
Though he ran 3-miles predominately, his ability to run competitively at various distances was testament to his natural talents.
Professionally, PJ opted to join An Garda Síochána on leaving St Felim’s in Ballinamore, but the opportunity to head Stateside was one he could not ignore.
“Michael Heery was over there, and Patsy Dornan from Galway, and there was a meeting and my name came up.
“I was asked would I be interested, and the coach from the university contacted me directly to see if I wanted to join.
“I was finding it difficult to match my career in the guards with running. I remember I wanted to run in an event but on the same day the Rás Tailteann was going through Dundalk and I couldn’t get the time off.”
Leaving his posting in county Louth, upon linking up with his fellow athletes at East Tennessee State University PJ’s times began to improve.
“During his four years in the United States, PJ recorded a number of impressive finishes, including a fourth place at the 1969 American Cross Country.
“However, undoubtedly the sweetest success was that of 1972 when PJ, alongside his brother Eddie, a two-time Olympian, were part of the East Tennessee team that captured an All American University Cross Country medal.
“We were very successful in the cross country, and came second in the national championship in 1972,” PJ says.
“Neil Cusack won the race, my brother Eddie finished third and I came in 15th and all together we came second, which was a great achievement.”
Like his brother, the Olympics was very much on PJ’s radar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the
Munich games in 1972 his target.
However, his efforts to qualify for the marathon event fell short, though Eddie did represent the country in Germany, and also in Montreal in 1976.
Eddie carved out a stellar career as an athlete in the USA, where he remained having too completed a stint at East Tennessee State University.
Indeed, PJ puts his success as an athlete down to a former Irish Olympic coach in Padraig Griffin, who coached and guided many young athletes across Leitrim over a long number of years.
“He was the Irish coach in Moscow. I would’ve done a reasonable amount of training, running about 30 miles a week.
“We’d also have done different types of training like relay and so on.
“It depended on what you were training for, but for example sometimes we might to interval training where you’d do 16 400 metres in the session.”
Arriving back to Ireland in the 1970s following the conclusion of his scholarship, PJ opted to take a job as a secondary school teacher in Manorhamilton in north Leitrim.
It was his move to the north of the county that helped him revive his great interest in Gaelic Games, with no shortage of success.
“I played football with Ballinamore and I played junior football with Drumreilly from the age of about 15.
“Drumreilly had no minor team, so I played at minor with Ballinmore,” he says of his playing days.
“We actually won a Sligo-Leitrim competition - Corn Breifne it was called - with St Felim’s when we beat Banada Abbey from Sligo, which was a very strong football powerhouse.”
The decision to settle in Manorhamilton brought PJ a historic success on the sidelines with the local club, and he continues to retain a strong interest in sport across the board.
“I got a job in Manorhamilton and taught there until I retired,” he says.
“I trained Glencar/Manorhamilton to their first Senior Championship in 1977.
“And of course I would’ve coached athletes at school, and Gaelic teams and I also coached soccer, basketball and badminton.
“As well I’ve been involved with the Leitrim Athletics Board and the Community Games.”
It’s clear from the enthusiasm of PJ that his love of sport - be it athletics, Gaelic football or whatever else - burns as brightly 50 years on from his trailblazing athletics exploits on both sides of the Atlantic.