We’re profiling Ryan Kinnear, a passionate sportsman whose retirement from football led him to an entirely new chapter with Carryduff Running Club. From chasing a sub-3-hour marathon to embracing friendship, failure, and the bigger picture, Ryan’s story is rich with life lessons, fast miles, and a fair few late-night karaoke sessions.
How long have you been running with CRC?
June 2022
What made you start running?
Sport has played a massive part of my life. I had played competitively most sports throughout my life—football, rugby and boxing. It was in summer 2022 and I had retired from playing football. It put a massive hole in my life. I missed the competition and, importantly, the friendship and social interaction which had enriched my life. My son was basically brought up in a football changing room at weekends.
I was asked a couple of times by members to join. At first I thought that it would not be my bag. I went up for a speed session and absolutely loved it. Just made friends straight away. Everyone was so welcoming.
What motivated you to take that first step into running? What was the biggest challenge you faced, did you have any low points, and how did you overcome any challenges you faced?
I had trained for 24 weeks to go for a sub-3 marathon in the Dublin marathon 2023. I had to make sacrifices in the build up—no alcohol, diet, no late nights. It came to the day, halfway through the marathon I was bang on target, but out of nowhere I began having massive self-doubts. This led to me blowing up and a painful ending to the marathon. I felt I failed miserably. It took me a few weeks to get the love of running back.
When I did reflect back on it I realised that I had trained too hard and was mentally jaded. That rest is as important as a hard running session. It taught me that you have to enjoy the training process with your friends. The marathon time is secondary. It is about lines, not times.
A marathon is also like life. You have ups and downs. You go through a number of emotions—highs and lows. Problems are thrown at you in the marathon and you have to find solutions to overcome them very quickly.
Have you noticed any improvements in your fitness, mental health, or overall well-being?
The improvement on my fitness from running has been amazing to say the least. Since I have joined CRC I have done 5 marathons in the last two years, with 2 marathons planned in 2025. At 50 my times are still improving. I put this down to the excellent coaching I have received from expert veteran CRC coach Jim Johnston.
Mental well-being I get from running has improved all aspects of my life. It has made me less stressed and has helped channel my energies to eat and live healthy and improved my sleep. The number of friends you meet at CRC can only help your self-confidence. The chats you have on runs always help my headspace.
What has been the most rewarding moment of your running journey so far? Have you made new friendships or connections through running?
The races and personal bests are secondary to the friendships I have made in the club. My biggest highlight without doubt is going to run the Amsterdam marathon with 35 members of CRC. The marathon ended in the Olympic stadium and seeing all my running buddies in the Olympic stadium was one of the most magical moments in my life. The celebrations and karaoke in the small hours of an Amsterdam pub will live long in the memory.
What is your proudest running achievement so far?
Proudest moment in running was being one of ten people in Northern Ireland to be selected by Paul Pollock, double Olympian, to be trained by him for the Dublin Marathon 2023. It was a very intense but rewarding experience to be trained by someone who had such high standards. It gave me an excellent insight into the mindset of an elite sports person.
Do you have any future running goals or races or targets planned?
My future running goal is to get a sub 3 hour marathon time to finish the job I had started. With the huge knowledge of Jim Johnston and his super training plans hopefully this can be done and dusted by the end of the year.
My long-term goal is to give back to CRC by becoming a coach in the future. I can pass on the knowledge that the likes of Jim Johnston and Paul Pollock have given me. I owe so much to the club.