Louise Walsh
Four members of the Garda National Technical Bureau volunteered to flank Hollywood actor Colin Farrell as he ran the Dublin City Marathon on Sunday.
Detective gardaí Ian Redican, Barry Duggan, Ernie Frazer, and Detective Sergeant Tom Power swapped their CSI suits for blue running vests to complete the marathon while also providing an extra layer of security for the actor.
The four colleagues appeared in pictures beside Colin Farrell in news outlets across the world after the race.
Colin ran the marathon to raise almost €790,000 for Debra Ireland, which supports those with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare and painful skin condition often called ‘butterfly skin.’
The actor pushed his close friend Emma Fogarty for the last four kilometres of the race, a kilometre for every decade she has lived with the painful condition.
“I got a phone call in the lead up to the marathon from Inspector Liam White in the Dublin Traffic Division, asking if any of the Garda Athletic Club who were already planning to run, would be interested in running the race with Colin,” said Detective Garda Redican, who provides training support for club members.
He also organises the ‘Blue Line’ first set up in 2010 for gardaí running in the marathon.
“Every year about 100 to 150 gardaí run in the Dublin City Marathon and it was a big ask to get runners, who had already been training hard for the past six months to give up their own race ambitions to run someone else’s race instead.
“I’ve 23 marathons under my belt so I wasn’t going for a personal best time at this stage and Barry, Ernie and Tom all came on board quickly too. It was just a coincidence that we are all in the Technical Bureau so we swapped our white CSI suits for blue vests on the day.”
Tom Power has completed 24 marathons, Ernie has done three, and Barry has two to his name and all four said they were only delighted to help out.
Colin lined up to start the race beside a sea of 100 ‘Blue Line’ vests including recently appointed Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly and Assistant Commissioner Michael McElgunn. He stood beside Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, Angela Willis as he belted out the National Anthem.
The gardaí decided to run alongside the Penguin star in case a fan tried to get a selfie or an autograph in a frenzy and accidentally tripped him up.
“People’s hearts are in the right place, and I’m sure they wouldn’t wish to cause any disruption that might cause injury or anything, but Colin is such a huge star and the Irish love him. But sometimes the blinkers can be on, and we would’ve been disappointed if his charity effort came off the tracks.”
Ian described Colin as a ‘gentleman’ in their meetings ahead of the race.
“He was absolutely lovely when we were hanging out with him. He was asking us to go easy on him and we just told him to go at a pace he was comfortable with because it was his race.
“During the event, there were loads of old neighbours from Castleknock shouting encouragement at him and he was acknowledging everyone.
“But anywhere there were people, he seemed to get faster and we were just telling him to pull back in case he wore himself out too early.
“I think he was just over awed with everything because he didn’t know what to expect and he would ask our advice through the race if his legs were a bit tight or how he was feeling in general and we would just say it was all normal.
“I’d say he was running on pure adrenalin.
“He was such a genuine guy and I noticed he had a remarkable ability to remember everyone’s name, which I thought was incredible with all the people he meets daily. I was really impressed by him.
“We are all seasoned runners so we knew the course. We just created a bubble for him to run and provided an escort for him.
“We all got medals, Colin got a medal, everything went like a dream and we feel we made our contribution to Debra Ireland on the day. I’d say like the rest of us, he was hurting on Monday.”
Detective Garda Ernie Frazer wore a GPS tracker throughout the marathon so race organisers and gardaí were aware of where the group were at all times.
“The atmosphere was incredible and everyone was extremely respectful of Colin. Everyone was shouting encouragement but everyone gave him space in the race, no-one was bothering him like that,” said Ernie.
“Company is great in a marathon. If you are chatting, the miles go by fast. Colin was chatting about everything from growing up in Castleknock to just having the craic.
“He talked about his friend Emma a lot and how she was inspirational. When we crossed the finish line, he said it was an amazing experience that he would never forget. And I won’t either.”
