Bob Hales

Bob Hales was one of nine children born to a county Cork Farmer. Hales, and two of his siblings, William and Sean, were both top class athletes, but it was Bob who was the more successful.

Hales won the GAA 880 yards and mile titles in 1911, and the following year won the Irish AAA mile, and was second in the four miles. He was also runner-up in the mile at the English AAAs at Stamford Bridge. Hales was selected for both the 800 and 1500 at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, although he was a non-starter in both events. Also that year, he represented Ireland against Scotland and easily won the mile, setting a new Irish record in the process.

In 1913 Hales went to the United States to improve his running and soon established a new Irish two miles record at Celtic Park, New York. The outbreak of World War I changed everything, however, and Hales returned to Ireland where, between 1919-21 he and three of his siblings fought in the Ireland War of Independence. One of them, Sean, was to lose his life when executed in a reprisal killing in Dublin in 1922.

After his active running career, Bob Hales became a respected coach and is remembered at his former club, Bandon Athletic AC, with the Bob Hales Perpetual Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of their one mile race. One of the men he mentored was the 1920 US Olympic steeplechase silver medallist Pat Flynn in the early days of his career. Flynn and Hales were both born in Bardon.