BRIAN McGrath is pictured with Kevin McGough, the Chair of Le Cheile AC, at the The National Masters Track and Field Championship. The pair won bronze in their respective 800metre events, Brian in the 70-74 Men's age category and Kevin in the 50-54 age category.

73-year-old Tuam man wins bronze at National Championships

Published: Mon 31 Aug 2026, 1:00 PM

TUAM native Brian McGrath picked up a bronze medal in the Men’s 70-74 age category 800metres at the National Masters Track and Field Championship, held in Morton Stadium in Dublin this month.

Brian will be 74 in January and is based in Leixlip in County Kildare, where he runs for his local club Le Cheile AC. He is from the townland of Newtownmorris in Tuam and is a former member of the Tuam AC.

Brian was unbeaten in 2026 coming into the track season finale. Gold medal wins in his 70-74 category in the Leinster Indoors 800metre and 1500metre races in Athlone in January, and in the National Indoors 800metre and 3,000metre races at the same venue in March, were added to by his win in the Leinster Outdoor 800metre race in Carlow in May.

In 2018, Brian made history for his club when he won all four National and Leinster Indoor and Outdoor 1,500metre races in the Men’s 65-69 category.

Having collected three of the four 800metre titles in 2026, he had the opportunity to complete the same clean sweep at the 800metre distance eight years later in the National Outdoors (aka – the National Masters Track and Field Championship) on Saturday, August 8. Brian came came up just short, taking the bronze medal in a time of three minutes.

His win in the National Indoors 800metre race in Athlone enabled him to reach a unique milestone.

TWO medals side-by-side, won 56 years apart by Brian McGrath at the same venue. The Inter-Clubs U-18 gold medal that Brian won with Tuam AC in 1970, with the bronze medal he won with Le Cheile AC in the 800metre Men's 70-74 category at the National Masters Track and Field Championship.

In his athletics career, Brian McGrath has now completed the full set of All-Ireland, Provincial and County Track gold medals in Indoors and Outdoors that is is possible for an athlete of any age to win at all three 800metre, 1,500metre and 3,000metre distances.

Running in the 800metres in Morton Stadium in Santry earlier this month brought Brian back 56 years to a day in early September 1970, when he also ran the 800metre race for the Tuam AC at the same venue.

Tuam AC brought a team of U-18 boys to Santry to take on seven of the best clubs in Dublin Athletics.

The Tuam team battled all day to try and win the prestigious Inter-Club competition for the Hugh Byrne Cup and medals. They pulled off a shock to win the competition against clubs such as Clonliffe Harriers, Raheny Shamrocks, Metropolitan Harriers and Avondale AC (now Liffey Valley AC).

Along with Brian McGrath the other members of that team from 1970 were: Arthur Connern, Tony McGrath (RIP), T.J. Mullins, Michael Forry, Gerry Fahy (RIP), John Tobin, Pat Hardiman (RIP), Tom Monaghan and Padraic Collins.

Brian McGrath is a keen follower of Galway GAA teams. He is a regular visitor to his home town and does training runs when he comes back to Tuam.