Moggan on the marathon mic for the 'greatest day in Dublin'

When the guts of 25,000 runners gather in Fitzwilliam Square tomorrow morning, the last words they will hear before they embark on a 26.2 mile journey, and final words of encouragement, will come from Liam Moggan.

The Tuam native is well known within the athletics community, and for runners who have previously undertaken the challenge that the Irish Life Dublin marathon represents, his soothing tones have a comforting ring.

"I love the fact that a lot of people know my voice, but not what I look like. It's like being on the radio," he tells RTÉ Sport.

Every year the October bank holiday weekend is marked on his calendar, the days counting down to what is now the fourth biggest marathon in Europe.

Amid all the hustle and bustle on Fitzwilliam Square on race morning - "you can smell the tension, get that whiff of excitement, it’s fantastic" - Moggan is the calming presence, stationed near the start line, his voice projecting as far back as Merrion Square where the participants start gathering.

As a PE teacher at Ardscoil Rís on Griffith Avenue and a member of Raheny Shamrock AC, he was immersed in athletics. More of an 800m runner by trade, Moggan was one of the 2,100 entrants for the inaugural Dublin marathon in 1980.

"Anyone who ran a marathon back then stood out. It was a badge of honour."

The first half a dozen Dublin marathons would be the only six marathons he ever ran.

He knows both sides of the coin. Those six runs could be split down the middle; three were "easy enough" as he had put in the training base, the other three were more of a slog.

Picking up the microphone was never part of the plan, but for years he felt budding runners weren’t being catered to properly.

The lack of a commentator at the Irish Schools Track and