Bertie Messitt was Ireland’s leading long-distance runner of the late 1950s and competed in the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, the first Olympic marathon to be run at night and the first to start and finish outside the stadium.

A native of Boghall in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Messitt joined the British Army in 1946 and was posted to the Middle East where he was introduced to athletics while based in Jordan in 1948. He retired from the army in 1952 and eventually returned to Dublin where he was employed as a bus conductor with CIE at Donnybrook garage.

He rejoined Donore Harriers where he benefited from the coaching of Eddie Hogan. His training regime was remarkable in its simplicity and dedication: he ran the eight miles from his home in Shankill to Donnybrook, worked his shift on the buses, and ran home again – over 100 miles weekly, unusual for the time.

In 1958, he set eight national records and received the inaugural Caltex Athlete of the Year award; across a sixteen-year career he established fifteen Irish national records. At the national marathon trial, he won in 2:28:42 – his thirteenth national record at the time. In Rome, Messitt ran in the leading group alongside Abebe Bikila, the eventual winner who set a world record of 2:15:16, before retiring after fifteen miles.