The whole of Garrison, it seemed, turned up at the Townhall in Enniskillen last Friday evening to share in the public honour to a famous son, Thomas Maguire, winner of the daunting North Pole Marathon and, just recently, captain of the Irish 100 km team.
The occasion was a chairman's reception for Thomas which was unanimously agreed to by Fermanagh District Councillors, and it was the newly-elected chairman, Alex Baird's task to extol the exploits of the Quiet Man.
He explained to the gathering that the North Pole Marathon is the only marathon that is run on water, the frozen water of the Artic Ocean which, he stressed, was very rough terrain.
"The participants had to run 10 laps of a 4.2km circuit at the geographic North Pole, passing through spectacular ice hillocks and vast ice floes".
He recorded that Thomas completed this gruelling 26.2 mile course in a record time of 3 hours 36 mins and 10 secs, seven minutes ahead of the next competitor. And, the chairman further explained how Thomas chose not to take on board any fluids during the race and how this had partly contributed to his victory.
He went on: "He did not stop, despite the fact that the temperature was minus 25 degrees, that he was wearing three layers of clothing and was running on snow shoes, and was wearing a balaclava, a ski mask, two pairs of gloves and he was carrying essential equipment.
"He was competing against adventure runners, people who had competed at high altitude, so hs success is even more special because of all these factors". The audience heard that Thomas undertook the North Pole marathon just one week after finishing second in the Connemara Ultra Marathon, a 39-mile race and then, a week later, he captained the Irish team in a similar event in Edinburgh.
"Last year", the chairman concluded, "Thomas finished 12th in the World 100km Championships in Korea, so you can see he is no stranger to success in extreme marathon running.
This reception is being held to record Thomas' achievements, and I would ask that you all sign the Visitors Book as a permanent record of this evening's event and his success".
