Many city sporting clubs began forming towards the end of the nineteenth century. From the beginning the clubs organised official events and as a result many outstanding sportsmen emerged. The Galway Athletic Club was founded in 1908, and one of its founders was the famous Tom Hynes of Newcastle. He was considered one of Ireland’s greatest athletes. Tom came to prominence on St Stephen’s Day 1900 when he won the Connacht Cross Country Championship at Athenry. The following year, he won the Irish Junior Cross Country Championships in Dublin. He also won the ‘eighteen miles professional marathon’ run between Dublin and Naas in 1904. A year later, he finished second in the four-mile scratch race held in Celtic Park in New York. This was followed two weeks later by him winning the five-mile event at the same venue. One of his most distinguished feats was winning the first ever Irish Marathon, held in Dublin in May 1909. Crowds welcomed him home to Galway. When he arrived at the railway station, Tom was carried shoulder-high through the streets of the town by his enthusiastic supporters. Tom repeated the same victory the following year. During his career, he won countless championships and held five Irish records, including the five, ten-, fifteen-, twenty- and twenty-six-mile championships.
The Galway Athletic Club organised the first marathon race in Connacht, planned for 3 October 1909. It was part of a day of athletics held at Eyre Square, and the race attracted the highest level of long-distance runners in Ireland. The advertisements in The Connacht Tribune requested people from all over Connacht to attend. Entry to Eyre Square on the day was 1s – 6d. The event brought record crowds to Galway, and special fares were offered by the Midland Great Western Railway Company helped to ensure a large attendance. Although the main event was advertised as ‘The Great Marathon of the West’ it was run over fifteen miles and not the full distance race of today. Nevertheless, it was still a tough race and had to be more difficult, given that the track used was the pathway inside the railings of Eyre Square, which the athletes had to continually lap. The Square was thronged with men, women and children; people of all ages gathered for the great event. There was a festive atmosphere all around the town that day, which continued until the marathon was over. Viewing places in Eyre Square were at a premium as the crowd jostled for a good position.
As the race progressed, people became more relaxed, and many sat down around the track and watched the athletes as they battled for the front position. The local people were in the majority and of course cheered and encouraged their own hero, Tom Hynes. As the runners increased their stride during the final laps, the crowd again took to their feet. Amid cheers and great applause, Hynes won the race in 1 hour, 27 minutes and 28 seconds. J. Timmons of Oldcastle took second place and F. Curtis of Ashburne came in third; both were from County Meath. The first prize that day was £10, with second place receiving £3 and third being awarded £2. Hynes repeated the victory at the Grammar School on College Road the following year for the same prize money. He was described in a local newspaper as the ‘Best Marathon runner in Ireland, if not indeed the world’. Although successful, the Galway Athletics Club was dissolved in 1914, possibly due to the outbreak of the Great War, when many of the young men enlisted for service. In 1925, Larry Hynes (son of Tom) revived the club for a short time. Others involved in the revival were Paddy Duggan, Newcastle; Jack O’Reilly, Fairhill; Tom Lally, St Brendan’s Avenue, and Michael McDermott from Woodquay.