Bertie Messitt (28 September 1930 – 18 February 2012)[1] was an Irish long-distance runner.

He was educated in Saint Cronan's Boys' National School in Bray.

A bus conductor, he won his fourth Irish cross country title in 1961.

For 12 miles, Bertie led the Olympic's lead pack at a blistering pace.

It included Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, running barefoot, who became the world record-breaking winner, Moroccans Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, the eventual runner up, and Bakir Benaïssa (8th place), as well as Belgium's Aurèle Vandendriessche, the Soviet Union's Sergei Popov, who lost his world record while finishing fifth, and Great Britain's Arthur Keily, who faded to 25th.