Dedicated Athlone athlete keeps breaking boundaries

By David Flynn

An Athlone man who has spent his life in athletics, alongside his years as a Garda Sergeant, continues to pursue his lifestyle of almost daily running, cycling or swimming.

In August of this year, three months after he turned 60 years of age, Michael Macken claimed first place in triathlon in his age-group category at the World Police & Fire Games in Winnipeg, Canada.

Michael is father of two grown-up sons, Michael Jnr and Thomas, and one of seven siblings of parents, Michael Snr and Patti Macken of Carrickobrien, Athlone. He retired six years ago from An Garda Síochána, after a 35-year career. In the meantime, he went back to college to study sports science in what was until recently known as Athlone IT.

“I cherry picked specific modules that I wanted to do and it became a huge boost for me as a coach,” said Michael, when speaking to the Westmeath Independent recently.

Michael is an inspiration to athletes’ decades younger than himself and, at 60 years of age he’s still striving to reach the height of his potential.

“I’m always happier if I lose and have a good race than if I win and have a bad race, and that’s a personal thing,” he said. “I push myself to be the best I can be.”

Since he retired, he has worked in a consultancy basis for Triathlon Ireland, has coached triathletes, and has become qualified to coach coaches.

“I don’t do it much in a commercial way, and I do it mostly for friends or friends of friends, and I’m not interested in people who target high performance, but I like to work with people who want to get the best out of themselves,” said Michael.

He has learned the tricks of the trade of racing ‘10ks’ or triathlons and agrees that while diet and eating well for performance is crucial, he doesn’t go in for high-protein diets, supplements or shakes.

“There is only so much protein we can absorb anyway, and while it’s essential for recovery, overeating it doesn’t do any good,” said Michael. “The only thing I would use is high carb drinks and they contain salt and minerals, but I also have pizzas and a few biscuits, and I think it’s crucial to have a little bit of what’s bad for you, which is good for you!”

Michael and his partner, Olivia, who is also a very accomplished athlete, also have some occasional fast food or chocolate treats. “I very seldom drink alcohol, and never had a great grá for it and I’d sooner have a diet coke,” he said.

Michael said he found turning 60 years of age “bitter sweet,” and while glad he was still healthy enough to do the things he wanted, he also knew he was going a bit slower than in earlier years.

However, it was in that 60 plus age category that he had arguably his greatest sporting achievement. His first-place win at the World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg, gave him a final time of 2:24:35. Michael was 16th athlete placed overall as well as coming 1st in the over-60s category. His swim time was 26:22 and he was 17th overall, while his bike ride was 1:11:06 and 16th overall, and his run was 47:08 and he was 18th overall.

He had built up his fitness for the Police Games throughout the first six or seven months of 2023. He had travelled to Lanzarote in May, when it was 33 degrees centigrade, to compete in his third Ironman in the Canaries, which helped prepare him for his August feat in Canada.

The Police & Fire Games, which is like an Olympics for law enforcement and firefighting personnel all over the world, is a bi-annual event. Michael took part previously in 2013 when the competition was in Ireland, and at the time he went on to win the over-50s triathlon.

“I always thought if I was still healthy, I would go for the over-60s event and I knew the world record was in my remit and I made it my goal,” said Michael.

“I had trained well and I was in good nick, determined and focused. I sussed out my competition and the great thing about modern Google is I knew what I was up against. It was serious heat there with not a blade of grass for shelter, but it was the same for everyone and I gave it 100%, and won the over 60 event and broke the overall record! It was a nice personal achievement.”

Michael took eleven minutes off the previous world record for his age group. His philosophy about age, training, fitness and competition is enlightening, but Michael does put his body through the rigours for his triathlon performances.

“Age is just a number, but you also have to accept reality and what nature throws at you,” he said.

“The changes you feel are real and the slowing down is real. But I’m probably training harder than I was when I was 30, but my racing times are slower. It can all be a tough pill to swallow, but you have to work with what you have!”

As he is now over 60, Michael plans his training a lot more than in the past, and he admits to being a lot more cognisant about injuries and conscious of the importance of rest and recovery.

“If my pace is a little slower than what I hoped, racing doesn’t change it, and when you’re younger you never worried about your recovery or pains or aches, but now I have to be more careful,” Michael said.

Michael seldom takes a day off from training, and sometimes trains twice a day, and his approach is what he calls “no shortcuts”.

“People often say to Olivia and me that we just have to turn up for races or triathlons, but that is rubbish, because we could be up at 8am at weekends preparing to do a 30km run or 5-6 hours on the bike in the rain,” said Michael.

“You either have the mindset or you don’t. People who want to do something will always find a way. It’s about sacrifice and dedication and a will to keep on going,” he added.