aspaulding@njherald.com

FREDON — Marcus O'Sullivan thought he had hit rock bottom.

It was the 1983 Penn Relays and the Irishman was part of Villanova University's men's track and field team that did not earn a single gold medal at the prestigious meet in Philadelphia.

O'Sullivan took the blame for the Wildcats' shutout, which was the first time that happened to them there in 20 years, so much that the middle-distance runner was about to quit the sport.

But when he returned to his home country a few months later, O'Sullivan met with former Villanova runner and mentor Donal Walsh and received a wake-up call he would never forget.

"He looks at me and says, ‘You're an absolute disgrace,'" O'Sullivan recalled while speaking to about 50 children Friday at the 13th annual X-Treme Running Camp at Lodestar Park.