Ciara Mageean

He would just arrive at the door, knock the door, because whenever I lived in Rathgar, he only lived a stone's throw away.

And he'd not rattle the door.

He's like, put that in the fridge.

We're grabbing a coffee across the road.

And I would sit and, you know, many people would look and I was like, what did you have in common with this older man?

So much, so much.

He was a young soul.

He would talk about everything and we would sit and talk about global politics, the state of current affairs, rarely touched on athletics.

And that's what I loved about him.

And he was a constant teacher.

I did joke, there was a gentleman yesterday at the book launch said he knew Gerry from the bookies.

And I was like, I can remember telling Gerry, I have no idea how to place a bet and what all of the odds mean.

And there was another opportunity for him to teach me.

OK, come on, Ciara, and off to the bookies we went.

Full lesson.

Full lesson.

And I'm terrible.

I still don't fully grasp it.

And it's probably a good thing.

I'm not putting any bets down.