Michael Collins (born 4 June 1964) is an Irish novelist and international ultra-distance runner. His novel The Keepers of Truth was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize.[1] He has also won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and the Lucien Barriere Literary Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival. Collins is a graduate of Oxford University.
Collins was born in Limerick. He earned an athletic scholarship to University of Notre Dame and received his PhD in Creative Writing from the Oxford University.
A former member of the Irish National Team for the 100k distance (62.2 miles), Collins holds the Irish national masters record over the 100k distance. As captain of the Irish National Team in 2010, he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar. He has also won The 100-mile Himalayan Stage Race and The Mount Everest Challenge Marathon, along with The Last Marathon in Antarctica, and The North Pole Marathon.