"Dublin's Stadia Series 1 - Morton Stadium " - this cache is one of seven in the series. The stadia are the National stadia for their respective sports.
The series consists of:
| Croke Park Gaelic Football & Hurling |
| The Aviva Stadium Soccer & Rugby |
| The RDS Ballsbridge Show Jumping |
| Morton Stadium Athletics |
| The National Basketball Arena Basketball |
| The National Stadium SCR Boxing |
| The National Aquatic Centre Swimming |
The series will bring you to stadia, both old and new, of Dublin city and will hopefully give you an appreciation for the love of all sport that is alive not only in this city, but in the country in general. The various venues are of different ages and sizes. They are impressive and imposing structures within their surrounding localities.
Morton Stadium
Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry, in the north of Dublin City. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Ireland, and home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It is currently home to Sporting Fingal FC. The modern capacity of the ground is 4,000 with a single 800 seat, covered stand.
The stadium was opened in 1958 with a cinder track. An inaugural series of meetings was held, and on 6 August 1958, Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile with a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. This was the first race in which five athletes had run a four minute mile. Gillian O‘Sullivan set a world record for the 5000m walk 20.02.60 in 2002. Olympian, Paul Hession, set a new Irish 200m Record of 20.30 seconds at the 2007 Track and Field Championships. In the same year, Kilkenny’s Eileen O’Keeffe completed a world-class throw of 73.21 meters in the Morton Stadium- a new Irish Record.
In 1978 the stadium was resurfaced with a tartan track, the first such in the Republic of Ireland. In the early 1990s it was renamed after Billy Morton, the late administrator who had initiated the original track and who brought famous athletes to compete in the stadium. It hosted the athletics events of the Special Olympics World Games in 2003.
The stadium consists of a small covered stand with 800 seats and three sides of open terracing, bringing the total capacity up to 4,000. The stand encompasses dressing rooms and other facilities; there are also separate clubhouses for the associated clubs. The stadium complex also has indoor athletics training facilities.
On 25 July 2008, a special event was held in the stadium called the Morton Memorial Meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the aforementioned world mile record in an event promoted by the late Billy Morton.
The cache is a micro. Don't forget to bring your own pen.
Stealth is required in this urban location. Please be aware of eyes from the near by windows and bus stop. Please replace the cache exactly as you found it, ensuring it is not visible.