Noel Carroll, Irish middle-distance runner who wins a bronze medal in the 1969 European Indoor Games, dies on October 23, 1998. He sets European and World Records in the 1960s. He becomes the Dublin Corporation‘s first official spokesman, and later the chief executive of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and leads the group which founds the Dublin Marathon.

Carroll is born in Annagassan, County Louth, on December 7, 1941, and leaves school to join the Irish Army where he begins running. In 1962, while competing in the Millrose Games in New York City, he is recruited by James F. “Jumbo” Elliott and attends Villanova University, where he joins the Villanova Wildcats and wins a number of track championships.

At Villanova, Carroll runs a sub-four-minute mile and in 1964, is the anchor for the team which breaks the 4 x 880-yard relay World Record. In the same year, he also sets the European Indoor record for the 880-yards and competes in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in the Men’s 800 metres finishing just outside of the qualifying places in heat 5 of the first round with a time of 1:51.1. When running against Bill Crothers in 1964, Sports Illustrated describes him as “one of the best middle-distance runners in the world.”

Carroll represents Ireland in the 400 metres (time: 46.8) and the 800 metres (time: 1:49) in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and continues to win national championships, fourteen in total. He wins a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1969 European Indoor Games in Belgrade.

In 1972, Carroll becomes the spokesman for the Dublin Corporation, now known as Dublin City Council, a post he holds until 1996, when he joins the Dublin Chamber of Commerce as its chief executive.

In 1980, Carroll leads a group which approaches the Business Houses Athletic Association and the Dublin Corporation with the idea for the Dublin Marathon. He is also among the 2,100 people who compete in the race that year. The winner of the Marathon receives the Noel Carroll Memorial Trophy presented each year by one of Carroll’s children.

Carroll dies on October 23, 1998, after suffering a heart attack while training at University College Dublin (UCD). In 2008, his four children take part in the Dublin Marathon to raise money for the Noel Carroll Building, the headquarters of a project in Kolkata, India, run by GOAL, a charity for which Carroll had served as the chairman.

Carroll’s grandson is the Irish rugby international player, Jordi Murphy.