Maine Running Hall of Fame Induction and Recorded Conversation about my (Long!) Career

I am pleased to share that I am among the 2020 inductees for the Maine Running Hall of Fame.

But Hall of Fame doesn’t mean retirement: I still consider myself a competitive athlete – having run a personal best (at age 42) in the Dublin Marathon in October 2019.

Back in January 2020, I spoke about my running career at a special event for the women’s section of my club, North Belfast Harriers. The event was recorded and I am posting it here now. It includes reflections on training and racing during my teenage years at Narraguagus High School in Harrington, Maine; at Providence College; and on running for Ireland in later life.

Bear in mind that this was recorded pre-pandemic, so references to balancing my time by running to my office at Queen’s University are somewhat obsolete! Now all working and running is from home …

After the talk, one of the women remarked that I had worked hard, for so MANY years. I suppose that this is true in one sense. But in another sense, it doesn’t feel like work if you love what you are doing.

I will be inducted along with eight other individuals and a race, the Maine Marathon in Portland. Some of my best memories of Maine running involve these individuals, such as when my summer job for the Bangor Daily News took me to Sacramento in 2004 to report on fellow 2020 inductee Louie Luchini of Ellsworth and Matt Lane of Yarmouth competing in the 5000 at the US Olympic Trials. Tim Wakeland and Andy Spaulding were runners my high school coaches encouraged us to look up to; and Glendon Rand of Brewer did so much to build the infrastructure for competitive running that has benefited so many of us from eastern and northern Maine.

Here is my Maine Running Hall of Fame Bio:

Gladys Ganiel O’Neill, a native of Harrington, Maine, began her running career at age 13. She established herself as an outstanding high school runner with three State Class C Cross-Country Championships, together with three Class C titles at 3200 meters and two at 1600 meters.  Ganiel placed sixth in the national Foot Locker cross-country championship and went onto run for Providence College.  At Providence, she was a member of the NCAA Division I national cross-country championship team and was the ECAC 10,000-meter champion.  Ganiel now lives in and represents Ireland, and was chosen as an alternate for Ireland’s Olympic Marathon Team in 2016.

Finally, I want to say thanks to all the family, coaches, training partners and supporters over the years who made this possible.

Photos, top to bottom:

• 1992 Cross Country team at Narraguagus High School, Girls Class C State Champions
• 2019 Marathon team, North Belfast Harriers, with Irish national championship medals
• 1995 Cross Country team at Providence College, NCAA Division I Champions
• 2018 Competing for the Irish Marathon Team at the European Championships, Berlin