Irish Runner April 2022 by Recordmediadublin

APRIL ISSUE

Eliud Kipchoge: “I never doubted myself.”

RHASIDAT ADELEKE

“BREAKING RECORDS COULD NEVER GET BORING.” INTERVIEWS  INSPIRATION  RACES AND PLACES  TECHNICAL

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

Rhasidat Adeleke: Breaking records could never get boring

INSPIRATION

The Cerebral Runner Supergran: Collette O'Hagan Future is bright for Sligo Kid Run, baby, run

INTERVIEWS

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce: Getting Out, Giving Back Eliud Kipchoge: I never doubted myself Colin Jackson: An Olympic Medal wouldn't have changed a thing

TECHNICAL

How fast can you run in an hour? Supplements 101 Shifting Shin Splints Rest VS. Recovery What does your gait say about you? Review for New Balance 880 V12 Who let the dogs out?

EDITOR’S PICKS:

What’s making us smile Top 10 films Record Breakers Lifestyle Sports Product Review 60 Seconds with Sarah Lavin

42 08 24 28 38 14 16 32 12 20 32 40 46 48 50 06 22 30 40 54

EOIN KEITH: THE CEREBRAL RUNNER Winner of the 2022 Montane Spine Race on how he keeps his cool in some of the world’s toughest races.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

SUPERGRAN COLLET

We join the 72-year-old o

CONTENTS

FROM THE EDITOR ALANA FEARON

TTE O'HAGAN

on the road to 1,000 marathons .

eafing through the pages of this edition, one overriding theme that leaps out is the power of self-belief. Our cover star Rhasidat Adeleke expounds the virtues of “hyping yourself up”, Eliud Kipchoge reveals he never once doubted himself in his quest to run a sub 2-hour marathon – despite the perceived impossibility of the feat - and even little Grace Foley’s dad says his eight-yearold daughter has a relentless determination to succeed, rooted in unapologetic selfbelief. What also shines bright from the pages of this magazine is the power of gratitude. From Sarah Lavin to Collette O’Hagan and Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce, their gratitude and appreciation for talent, for opportunity and simply for the ability to get out and go is inspiration to never take things for granted and to be thankful for our lot. Happy reading!

Alana

BAREFOOT RUNNING

Sheer madness or good for the sole?

30 32 THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR IRISH ATHLETICS

COLIN JACKSON

The hurdling great opens up about that elusive Olympic gold and why it’s important to give back

COLOPHON EDITOR IN CHIEF Alana Fearon DESIGN Sarah Buggy COMMERCIAL Richie Kelly CREATIVE DIRECTOR James Wynne PHOTOS Sportsfile PRINTING Boylan Print Group DISTRIBUTION Business Post Group CONTRIBUTORS Brian Keane, Evan Lynch, Nick Moloney, Anna Gardiner, Enda Brady, Conor Gleeson, Laura Briggs, Helen Carr, Nick Alexander. ADVERTISING SALES & PARTNERSHIPS CONTACT richie@recordmedia.org EDITORIAL CONTACT alana@recordmedia.org

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

EDITORS PICKS

WHAT'S WHAT MAKING MADE US US SMILE

Irish Runner magazine is dedicated to being a stress-free, smile-inducing quarterly, designed to uplift and motivate. And in each edition, we’ll be highlighting some of the people and achievements making us smile in the hope they’ll brighten your day too.

Molly Scott at the World Indoor Athletics Championships 2022

GOING FOR GOLD Sorry if we sound like a broken record (excuse the pun!), but we just can’t get enough of all the blistering Irish record breakers so far in 2022. With all the doom and gloom in the world currently, we’ve arguably never needed more reasons to smile. And Irish athletics has definitely risen to the challenge. From Molly Scott to Rhasidat Adeleke, Abdel Laadjel, Israel Olatunde, Nick Griggs, Clodagh Walsh and Darragh McElhinney to name just a few, it’s been one hell of a year – and it’s only April!

half marathons in the 12 months of 2022. That’s roughly 157 miles and 30 hours of running around the UK. Hebe and Duncan told Irish Runner: “This isn’t about running, but more about recovery. We want to inspire other people that anything is possible, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. In short, this is us trying to get our lives back and spread a little positivity along the way.” The pair also have a Just Giving page set up to help raise £1,200 to cover the costs of their challenge.

FM’s Neil Prendeville Show: “I always try to give something back. I give the guy who sells the Echo a coffee and a cookie. I get flowers for people every day and give them out. It is my way of saying thank you.”

3. 4. 2. THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

We cannot get enough of all the blistering Irish record breakers so far in 2022. 6

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

Hebe Nicholls and Duncan Darby are both recovering alcoholics who met in rehab – and have found a special bond thanks to their love for running. Duncan was just two weeks out of detox – and hadn’t run in over a decade – when he volunteered to join Hebe on a run. Fast forward six months and the pair are a quarter of the way through their 12 in 12 challenge – 12

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

When dad-of-five Glen Kearney found himself homeless, he kept a note of every single act of kindness he was shown. And now the big-hearted Corkman is returning the favour with his own random acts of kindness in honour of everyone who supported him. Glen wrote a short note in a copybook about every single person who gave him a donation or food on the streets, and amassed 12 copybooks in total. He told Cork Red

GOLDEN OLDIES Tony Bowman is an 86-year-old athlete who has set his sights on running the 100 metres when he’s 100 – and living to 120! Tony, from Guiseley in West Yorkshire, has had two heart attacks and suffered heart failure three times, but he’d still put most people half his age to shame. He holds numerous records for sprinting in his age bracket and admits he still gets an ‘unbelievable adrenaline rush’ before every race. What a hero!

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INSPIRATION 8

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

By Nick Moloney Eoin Keith, winner and defending champion of the 2022 Montane Spine Race, speaks to Irish Runner about how he keeps his cool in some of the world’s toughest races and how he has honed his race-winning, ultra-distance mindset.

oin Keith is a man who excels under hardship. He routinely tests his resolve as a person and an athlete in some of the most beautiful and equally rugged trails in the world. His mindset has been forged over a long and varied ultracareer, with multiple podium results and course records in epic events that frequently feature on top 10 lists for the ‘toughest’ races in the world. Most recently, he took first place in the 2022 Spine Race with a time of 92:40:30, a 429km route and one of the hardest ultra-distance trail races this side of the world. Some of his other career highlights include the Summer Spine Race in 2021, making him the only back-to-back winner of the event so far, two top five finishes in his age category in the UTMB (fourth in 2019 and second in 2021), and another first-place finish in the UTMB Oman race series in 2019.

Learning to learn Eoin’s approach to racing is mature and thoughtful. He doesn’t put pressure on himself to win but instead enters with an open mind, focused on continuous improvement and with the goal of using his experience and preparation to minimise the lows associated with

ultra-racing, and maximise the highs. “Learning to learn is probably one of my more useful attributes as a runner. You learn tonnes after a bad race once you’re prepared to think about it and figure out what went wrong, and what you can do to correct it,” the endurance athlete from Cobh in Co Cork told Irish Runner. Racing has helped Eoin develop a more rational mindset which he uses both on and off the trail. In his early career as an adventure athlete, he would take part in complex events that required a lot of planning just to get to the start line with all of his gear. They would usually require him to bring kayaks and mountain bikes - when travelling internationally he would carry next to 50kg of gear - with running only making up a portion of the event. “In long distance ultras and adventure races, you would get thrown curveballs and you have to learn to deal with them. Particularly in adventure racing, it is just part and parcel. It is actually one of those aspects of sport that feeds back to life in general very much, in terms of learnings that apply to all aspects of life.”

INSPIRATION

The Cerebral Runner

Coping with the unknown Learning to cope with the unknown while remaining composed in situations of great physical and mental stress are all part of the game. It’s why Eoin likes to deal with the facts in a race, using them to help him achieve his goals. “I like to make rational decisions and I always say that if someone is giving me information in a race, that I want to know the truth, not something varnished. Give me the accurate information so I can work with it and then calculate what I will do from there.” 

“If you are a cerebral person, no one would ever call you a drama queen. You make decisions using your intelligence and cold, hard facts, instead of your emotions… ” Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INSPIRATION

DID YOU KNOW? 1. The Montane Spine Race is widely regarded as Britain’s most brutal endurance race. 2. Eoin Keith finished second in 2020 and 2019, and first in the 2021 Summer Spine. 3. The first official Spine race took place in 2012 with only 15 people on the start line. 4. Over a million people now tune in to track the participants online as they take on the non-stop race.

 Eoin looks at each event as a potential to learn and test his strategies. When evaluating an event, he says the first time you run a course is a total learning experience; the second time is the real race. “One of the best attributes you can have as a racer over any distance is the ability to learn, preferably learn from other people’s mistakes, but definitely from your own.” This approach to racing has helped Eoin on and off the trail. He has attributed his experience racing to having helped him to become a calmer and more rational person. “I am a cerebral runner in the sense that, if I can, I prefer to outthink people than outrun them. It fits into the calm and rational approach and definitely not panicking or reacting badly when things go amiss, and things do go amiss.”

Dealing with injuries One challenge most runners face are injuries that creep up on us, usually just before a major race. Eoin has dealt with his fair share, some more serious than others, but his process of getting back remains the same - focus on coming back stronger and don’t turn a small injury into something chronic and long lasting by not giving it the proper time to heal. “When an injury comes, look at the long-term and forget the short-term. Make sure that you recover 100% from the

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

“I am a cerebral runner in the sense that, if I can, I prefer to outthink people rather than outrun them. It fits into the calm and rational approach and definitely not panicking or reacting badly."

injury and that you don’t come back too soon.” Eoin had to zoom out and take the long-term view when he received a diagnosis for osteoporosis a few years ago. It has since become something he manages by taking a proactive approach to help ensure he stays ahead of it. Now he works to mitigate the inherent risk of taking a tumble during an ultra-trail race, while still competing at a high level. “It adds to the risk but I am aware of it and it becomes something else to manage. It is now more important to me in my head that I don’t have a high-speed trip and wreck myself knowing that the potential for breaking a bone is higher.” Despite this, Eoin trains year-round with

little to no downtime or offseason. His race calendar sees him competing in multiple events each year, both home and away, leaving little time for rest. “If I start to feel over-trained and over-raced then I will take my off season and take a week or two off.” Dealing with the pressure of racing has become second nature to him. He prides

FIRST PLACE WITH

92:40:30 AT 2022 SPINE RACE

himself on his ability to stay calm and not go out too fast on the course. “People wreck themselves at the start, it is the classic mistake with ultra races. Some 90% or more of people go out too fast and I just don’t. I go at my own pace and deliberately hold back and what I keep saying to myself as people go flying past is ‘see you later’.”

"You are where you are" In racing as in life, nothing ever goes perfectly, but out on the trail is where runners can make mistakes in an environment where if the worst comes to the worst, you usually just DNF. Taking risks and dealing with the consequences can improve a runner’s resilience and hone decision-making skills needed for everyday life. “One of my favourite sayings is one I learned in adventure racing and it is, ‘you are where you are and it doesn’t matter what mistakes brought you

to where you are, you are still here and all you can do is find the optimal route to where you want to go.’ That was literally my one approach to navigational mistakes in adventure races but it applies perfectly to life as well. “When you’re in a 30-hour race, you have to accept there will be good and bad times, and to prepare for both. “If they do happen then you need to deal with them on the fly and that is where being dynamic in your thought process and dynamic in your race strategy comes into play.”

Plans for the future Next, Eoin would like to test himself more in multi-day races on the flat. While mountain races are extraordinary challenges, you can always distract yourself with views, whereas races on the flat are drawing Eoin in as they test your mental resolve just as much as your physical. “The trail and mountain runs in a lot of ways are easier

because you have a lot more to keep yourself distracted. You have to look where you’re going, you’ve got changing views, changing scenes and lots going on. When you’re going around in circles, you’ve got the same views and if you run any faster you still have the same amount of time left to finish, it is a lot harder to do and more testing.” Eoin urges anyone considering taking on an ultra-trail race, or even just a shorter trail race, to get stuck in.

“Just go and do it, you're unlikely to regret it, it's not just for the elites, it is for everyone. The range of abilities out there in each race is huge."

“Just go and do it, you’re unlikely to regret it, it is not just for elites, it is for everyone. The range of abilities out there in each race is huge and you will find your level and you will find yourself racing against your peers.”

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Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL

Back to Basics

John Treacy secured the Irish Hour Record in 1987.

How far can you run in an hour? Running against the clock is one of the oldest tests in athletics. Brutally simple and universally understood, times are set, broken and reset. One of the lesser celebrated events in athletics is the hour record.

WHY?

By Nick Moloney

he hour record is a true badge of honour and held in high regard among smaller circles of athletic pursuits. It is seen as one of the most straightforward tests of endurance a person can go through. Of course it’s not exclusive to running. In cycling, it is a real flagship event and attempted regularly with large buy-in from sponsors, broadcasters and viewers. The same cannot be said for the running hour record. Seldom a standalone event, rarely run against, barely advertised or televised. Did you hear about Mo Farah’s successful attempt in 2020? Maybe, but did you watch it? Probably not.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

It could be because watching someone run around a track for an hour leaves a lot to be desired for spectators and therefore is a hard sell to sponsors. Another reason we may not find it interesting is research suggests our minds process distance and time differently, with a higher interest in distance. When there is a finish line in sight, you get visual feedback about how much further you have to go, which spurs you to accelerate near the end. In contrast, relying on time as a sensory motivator is not as instantly rewarding and is more like treadmill running. Regardless of your preferred measurement, both have their benefits when it comes to training. Studies have found you’re more likely to maintain an even pace throughout a time-based interval, but run faster in a distance-based effort. This could go some way to explaining why we are more enthralled by distance events than time-based events, and

why running’s time-trials are all largely eclipsed by the distance covered, such as the most recently-failed attempt at the 100km record, where Jim Walmsley missed it by 12 seconds after an heroic sixhour run. And then there’s the infamous two-hour marathon event (where you could argue the hour checkpoint is a pretty significant milestone). But again, it is secondary to the distance – and presumably why it isn’t marketed as the two-hour record. Only 12 men have held the record since its inception, but it still has a deep history with some mystique. 

One of the lesser celebrated events in athletics is the hour record.



SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

1904 1951 1987 Alfred Shrubb's Hour Record

Emil Zatopek's 2 World Records

John Treacy's Irish Hour Record

The beginning of the record can be traced back to 1904 when Alfred Shrubb, a distance runner from England, became the first official world record holder. Alfred would go on to post 28 world records over all sorts of distances during his running career. Alfred took the first hour record on a rainy November day at Ibrox Park in Glasgow. While competing in tough conditions, he set the hour record at 18,742m and also set world records for 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 miles.

Four-time Olympic champion Emil Zatopek set two world one-hour records within 14 days of each other. He first covered 19,558m in Prague and then just two weeks later increased the record to 20,052m in Stara Boleslav, becoming the first man in history to break into 20,000m territory. But slow progress would become the defining trend for the hour record, with an average standstill period of 8.2 years over the past 118 years, and the longest unbroken stretch lasting 17 years.

In Ireland, John Treacy ran against the short hand of the clock, racking up 19,625m in Monaco, which still stands as the Irish Hour Record. This was after he secured a dizzying 2:09:15 in the Boston marathon five months earlier, which is still the fastest Irish marathon time ever recorded.

1912 1968 Jean Bouin set a new distance

His record would stay put for nine years, until 1912, when Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Jean Bouin set a new distance. Running in Stockholm, Bouin covered 19,021m in 60 minutes. Tragically, the following year his life came to a premature end when he was killed in action during the First World War.

As amateur runners, we stand to gain some real benefits from running for one hour at a time. It trains our hearts to sustain a high output for prolonged periods, trains our muscles to handle that time on our feet, and it widens our aerobic capacity. Focusing on time is a great way to benchmark your fitness and see obvious and measurable improvements. It is also an easy way to fit running into a busy schedule. This doesn’t mean you totally disregard training using distance, but as a rule of thumb you should focus on time for your easy and long runs and then distance for workouts as, ultimately, distance is only most important during races. As running’s amateurs and professionals move toward more niche and elaborate events like ultra-trail runs and the elusive Barkley Marathons, the hour record should stand out for its simplicity, history and contribution to running. At its core, running is a simple sport and the hour record captures that almost perfectly.

TECHNICAL

THE HOUR RECORD: A LOOK BACK

Mo Farah Who set the new hour record most recently.

Ron Hill takes the lead

One of the more famous record holders, Ron Hill held a blistering pace to achieve 20,471m in Leicester in 1968. Most recently Mo Farah set 21,330m, a whole 45m further than the previous record set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INTERVIEW

Getting W out, giving back

hen you win, everything happens in an instant. It's almost like you get a sudden flashback of all the work, the commitment, the sacrifice that you have made, and the time you spent dreaming of this. You cross the line and it’s like you see yourself and you know that you're a champion – your dream, your faith. You think of your community… My community always supported me. Growing up in Waterhouse was very difficult because you have so many influences that are not necessarily good, and not a lot of positive reinforcement or positive actions that you would want to follow. You find yourself in the middle of good and bad choices. Do I go to school, or do I stay home and hang out with my friends on the corner? Do I stay in school and focus on education, or do I drop out of school and become pregnant or whatever? Do I turn to crime or am I going to church with my friends?

By Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

I’m sad to say, you have a lot more bad options than good. A lot more negative reinforcement than there is positive. It's always easy to choose the wrong things if you are in an environment that fosters it. My mother was like that, where she was like, “You’re not going to be in the same situation as me because you'll just be perpetuating a cycle.” My mom got pregnant when she was young and she had to raise three kids on her own. If I decided to have a kid of my own when I was a teenager, then that cycle continues. So my mom helped me to choose the right way, even when it was difficult. I went against the norm. Not hanging out with my friends on the

Podcast

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

streets or going to the dance. Not participating in things that weren’t going to help me to move beyond my circumstance. And it's hard. I'm telling you it's very hard, especially if you're poor and you find that a lot of the kids in the community, they don't have anybody to look up to. I slept on one bed with my two brothers and my mother - four of us on one bed. Sometimes you had men walking into our yard with guns because they're participating in crime, and you just had to stay quiet. Do you want to continue to live in that lifestyle or that environment? No, so you try to make sure that you stay on the straight and narrow. And I'm glad that I had guidance. Yes, I love my community because we try. They are gems. Some try and are still stuck because of their environment. I'm glad that I was able, through sport, to move beyond but to still be a part of the community. There are young girls and boys that see me and know that ‘Here is Shelly-Ann and she made it out, she made something of herself.’ That's why I'm so passionate about community and the work of the Pocket Rocket Foundation so that I can give back.

The Athletes Record podcast, brought to you by Life Style Sports, features world class athletes sharing honest and inspirational stories from their sporting life, the things that matter most to them and what they learned along the way. You can listen or subscribe by scanning here:

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INTERVIEW 16

Eliud Kipchoge celebrates as he wins the men's marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo by Sportsfile.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INTERVIEW

Eliud Kipchoge A class act

By Enda Brady Former Sky reporter and amateur runner, Enda Brady had a chance encounter with Eliud Kipchoge in 2018, while the Kenyan was deep in training for his world marathon record. He met him again a few months later at the London Marathon in April 2019 and sat down for an interview 48 hours later. That interview has remained unpublished, until now. And in this Irish Runner exclusive, we reveal that the greatest marathon runner of all time never doubted that he’d break the two-hour marathon barrier and make history, the power of a cheering crowd on “the greatest day of his life” – and why he thinks his record is set to be broken.

1:59:40

THE TIME HE CLOCKED WHEN HE BECAME THE FIRST MAN TO BREAK THE TWO HOUR BARRIER

first met Eliud Kipchoge on a gravel-strewn path that straddled the equator at a place called Ol Pejeta in rural Kenya on Sunday 5 August 2018 and I promptly burst into tears. In fairness, I had just completed my fifth marathon in five days, finishing 15th out of 45 athletes taking part in the inaugural ‘For Rangers Ultra’.

First Impressions To this day I have no idea how the race organisers managed to arrange for him to be there, but he stayed until every last runner had finished and presented each one with their medal. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Pure class from Kipchoge, but that’s him all over. He was deep into his training plan to break the marathon world record and a few weeks later he did just that in Berlin, in a time of 2:01:39. It still stands to this day. Seeing a champion like him up close, chatting to amateur runners and giving up his Sunday so he could make their year showed the class of the man. Every runner left on a high, energised from meeting one of the greats. He had tried a few years earlier to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon and had fallen short by just 25 seconds in the Italian town of Monza, on the actual F1 track. At the finish line in Ol Pejeta, a beautiful conservation area, I asked him if he would ever try again and he said it would be his

“dream”. We met again on the Friday before the London marathon in April 2019 and I brought along that medal and asked him to sign it for me. He did so, adding the words ‘no human is limited’, which is his mantra in life. Kipchoge then won the race in the capital and we sat down for an interview in Oxford 48 hours later where he announced his intention to try again to go under the magical two-hour mark. The Kenyan superstar is a voracious reader with a great sense of history – always eager to learn - so he chose the setting quite deliberately. It was the Iffley Road track in Oxford where Roger Bannister had broken the four-minute mile in 1954. His coach told me that one of the major factors that had hindered him at the Italian attempt had been the decision not to have crowds of people there. When you’re struggling in any marathon, the cheers from the sidelines can make all the difference - even when you’re the most gifted runner in history. The climate hadn’t been right either, nor had the fuelling strategy. A marathon runner’s body is like a furnace and it needs the fuel to keep you going at pace. Put simply, the carbohydrate intake hadn’t been enough. This time round his efforts would be backed by one of Britain’s richest men, Sir Jim

Ratcliffe and his company INEOS, who had taken over the Team Sky cycling team. Ratcliffe is a wildly successful businessman and a keen runner and cyclist. His team, including the coach Dave Brailsford, set about analysing every single piece of data and working out how they could shave off the 26 seconds or so that Kipchoge needed to lose to make history. London was considered as a venue for the attempt but in the end they chose Vienna, partly because of the climate and the onehour time difference between Austria and Kenya. The date was set, 12 October 12 2019.

The big day I was there to cover the event live for Sky News and can remember feeling very nervous just heading down to the park, with its flat roads, to begin the day. What would Kipchoge be thinking as he awoke that morning? INEOS had put together an amazing team of pacemakers who would each run 5kms at a speed of 2:50 per kilometre, dropping in and out (because only a handful of people on Earth can actually keep up with Kipchoge past that distance.) 

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INTERVIEW Eliud Kipchoge celebrates as he wins the Men's Marathon at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Photo by Sportsfile.

 There were 40 of them in total, some of the finest and fastest athletes in the world. They would run in an arrow formation to break the wind and save his energy, plus they would follow a green laser being projected onto the ground in front of them from a car travelling at precisely 13.1 miles per hour. Kipchoge wore a new running shoe, the Nike ‘Zoomfly’, which had been specially designed to give him every chance of doing something no other human had done. Ever.

Initial thoughts “Actually when I woke up I was absolutely nervous, I was really nervous,” Kipchoge told

me as we chatted about that historic day. “The time (clock) was running fast, I remember taking breakfast and going to the cold room and I was really nervous. I tried to calm myself, but after going to the starting line, all was settled in a good way.” The event would be broadcast to a global audience of billions via a YouTube feed. So what goes through your mind when the whole world is watching and it’s up to you to deliver? “My mind was thinking ‘what will happen? What will happen in the next five kilometres? What will happen at 10? What will happen at 20? At 30? At 40? And what will happen if I miss it and I’m the only one the whole world is seeing?’ “A lot was going on in my mind, but I trusted myself and said ‘I will go for it’ and stay calm and fulfil everything I have trained five months for. And above all else, make history.”

Thousands of people lined the route around the Prater in Vienna as Kipchoge sped by, closely followed and watched by his support coach Valentijn Trouw, who was riding a mountain bike to keep up, all the while crunching the data and studying the times. The people of Vienna had turned out in force for this strange race, keenly aware that there was a chance something special could happen on their streets. “That was the biggest factor ever,” Kipchoge told me. “Having those crowds and feeling that you are being supported, apart from your own support team and the organisers. The fans played a big role. I always say that the fans are their own step in my performance.”

Steady progress As the kilometres ticked away it became clear that Kipchoge was bang on target to do something that had never

been done before. A group of Kenyans sang and cheered and waved their national flag. Among the crowd near the finish line were the deputy president, William Ruto and the champion cyclist Chris Froome, who grew up in Nairobi. Commentators around the world were wondering if Kipchoge would crack and every single aspect of this sensational run was being analysed. Surely there must

"The fans played a big role. I always say that the fans are their own step in my performance."

Reflections The last few kilometres were a joy to witness as Kipchoge cruised towards the end of 42.2 kilometres with a good 20 seconds in hand. His pacemakers had agreed in advance that if he did it, they would back off and peel away with 100m to go so the moment would be all his. And what a moment! It was utterly breath-taking to watch what happened next. He crossed the line in 1:59:40, making history. The time didn’t actually count as a world record due to a few technicalities. But that didn’t damper Kipchoge’s spirits. He raced towards the finish line, beaming wildly, pointing to his eyes and pointing at people in the crowd before running straight into the arms of his wife, Grace. “It was spontaneous, I didn’t plan to do any of it. I can’t describe what happened. My mind was actually blown and I was really happy, very happy to make history and become the first human being to run under two hours. To think that out of all the billions of people in the world you are the first one to think to try it and you have succeeded. It was really wonderful.

ELIUD KIPCHOGE IN NUMBERS

International World Titles

Kipchoge won the 2003 junior world cross country title and 5,000m gold at the 2003 world athletics championships.

Berlin Marathon Titles

Kipchoge won the Berlin race in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

London Marathon Titles

Olympic Medals

And he is confident that breaking the two hours in a ‘normal’ marathon is possible. “It needs some person to really come up and focus, but it is possible. I have shown them the way. I trust that one of these days one of the great runners will run under two hours in a marathon. If not me then it will be somebody else.

"Breaking the twohour barrier was like going to the moon, see how the moon is and come back to earth."

INTERVIEW

have been some doubt at some point? “I didn’t have any doubt at all because I was hitting the targets and feeling well and you know, you can’t take anything for granted before crossing the finishing line. I was really feeling good. I was calm enough seeing all the times but I did not have any doubt at all. No doubt at all.”

“My mind has changed and told me that you can do anything you want to provided you work on it and believe in it. This is sport. It will show us that sport is to be enjoyed and it’s you today and somebody else tomorrow.”

The History Maker

He won the London race in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Kipchoge clinched 5,000m bronze at Athens 2014, 5,000m silver at Beijing 2008, and claimed marathon gold at Rio 2016 and at Tokyo 2020.

At the finish line in Vienna that day, Kipchoge came out with a beautiful metaphor, live on to the other runners in a final team meeting at their hotel in the city. He recalls the moment he channelled his inner Neil Armstrong, a nod to another history-maker. “I told the runners, all 40 of them, ‘please, let us go up to the moon and land together, make history and enjoy’. Breaking the two-hour barrier was like going to the moon, see how the moon is and come back to Earth.”

“It was a happy moment in my life. I was happy and I had to share it with Grace. She has been a good supporter, she has supported me and taken care of the family and the children so she deserved a huge, huge hug after crossing the finishing line. “That was the greatest day. I can’t exchange it with a medal, it was the greatest day ever, it was the best day of my life because breaking and making history is something different. I’m still on a high as far as my performance is concerned.” Irish Runner #1 - 2022

NUTRITION

Supplements 101 Your guide to what to take & WADA guidelines for high-level athletes

By Evan Lynch Irish Runner Nutritionist

he supplement market is a multibillion dollar industry, selling us promises of enhanced performance, mental function or even in some cases, a better version of ourselves. Supplement usage in the sport of athletics is as common as running shoes, with a vast majority of athletes participating at any level taking some form of supplement. Sport Ireland estimates about 50% of the athletes engaging with their services use supplements. It’s worth noting however, that not all supplements are actually helpful. Some only have use in specific circumstances, while others possibly even harm you or get you banned from sport. What is curious is that much of the research on the topic of supplements show that athletes of all levels score about a Cwhen quizzed on the topic.

About Evan Lynch Evan is a registered dietician, sports nutrition specialist and the Dublin City University Nutritionist. Contact info@evanlynchfitnut. com to book an online consultation or visit evanlynchfitnut.com for more

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

It might be helpful to point out a key difference here between nutritional supplements and ergogenic aids. The former are the supplements we all know and use daily such as vitamin C, Iron and vitamin D, while the latter are compounds specifically beneficial to sport, such as caffeine or creatine. For the purposes of this article, I am going to focus on the key supplements that athletes tend to engage with.

01. IRON

02. CREATINE

This is a mineral we get from our diets that has a major role to play on oxygen transport during sports, which is the basis of aerobic performance. It is very important to be aware that taking iron with the intention to enhance performance or prevent deficiency comes with a good degree of medical risk, and that you should only take iron if you are actually iron deficient or anaemic. This means you need to do a blood test before supplementing. Using iron supplements if your iron levels are normal will not do anything for your performance.

This is a supplement that creates a lot of media frenzy, with pretty polarised viewpoints on its usage. The reality is that creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely-researched compounds on earth, and is perfectly safe to take in 3-5g doses daily provided you have no underlying kidney disease or renal abnormalities. Creatine basically enhances speed and strength by enabling you to work harder for longer (by recycling ATP quicker). It can also enhance immunity and the muscle’s capacity to store glycogen.

NUTRITION

HOW TO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

03. CAFFEINE

04. BEETROOT JUICE

Everybody’s favourite ergogenic aid, caffeine has a number of cool effects on ingestion. It decreases our perception of fatigue (as opposed to actually giving us energy) and it can spare some glycogen during exercise. Caffeine gels are mostly a waste of time when we bear in mind the fact that caffeine is only really helpful for performance in doses between 3-6mg/kg. For an 80kg person this is the equivalent of a triple espresso, while most caffeine gels have about 40mg caffeine. Coffee, caffeine gum or caffeine pills work well in this respect.

Beetroot juice (alongside things like spinach) has sizeable amounts of a compound known as nitrates, which has the ability to cause our arteries to expand. This results in more oxygen and glucose to reach working muscles, resulting in superior sports performance via enhanced VO2max and decreased lactate production. A shot of beet-it or glass of beetroot will do the trick. Well-trained athletes derive less benefit from using the supplements. This may be a poor choice of supplement if you have low blood pressure.

It is really important to bear in mind that this is just a snapshot of the supplement industry and the range available to us. Proceed with caution when using supplements, especially if you are someone taking part in sport competitively or internationally. Just under one in 10 positive doping cases are a result of contaminated nutritional supplements, with NGO’s and WADA not taking a forgiving stance on accidental consumption. Due diligence is our individual responsibility. It is also important to note that approximately 10-25% of the supplements commercially available to you and I are likely to be contaminated with prohibited substances.

FUN FACT: Sport Ireland estimates about 50% of the athletes engaging with their services use supplements.

So how do we proceed with caution? Here’s the deal: If you are going to use a supplement, make sure the brand or the supplement itself is batch tested, or is in the informed sports list of approved products. This is an app you can download on your phone. Get a professional opinion from a GP, sports medicine physician or sports dietitian. You may require a nutritional supplement and will be directed towards a trusted pharmaceutical grade option to address your issue.

Contact me If you have a specific supplement question, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @elynchfitnut or email me at info@evanlynchfitnut.com

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

EDITOR'S PICKS

TOP 10 RUNNING 2. FILMS

THE SECRET MARATHON WHAT IS IT?

There’s a lot of competition when it comes to what to watch these days, to the point where your ‘Netflix and Chill’ search can become a workout in itself. But if, like us, you enjoy watching other people rack up the miles, we’ve done the hard work for you and shortlisted our top 10 running-themed must watches.

The brave story of the Afghan women who risk their lives to run, this documentary will move you to tears.

RUNNING BRAVE WHAT IS IT? This inspirational 1983 biographical film tells the story of Billy Mills, the American Indian who came from obscurity to win the 10,000-meter long-distance foot race in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

LEADMAN: THE DAVE MACKEY STORY WHAT IS IT? On May 23, 2015, the unimaginable happened to Altra Running and CamelBak athlete Dave Mackey on a routine training run. This is his story about perseverance and coming back from injury.

FORREST GUMP WHAT IS IT?

THE LAST MILESTONE

How could we compile our top 10 runningthemed movie list and not include the Tom Hanks classic? Uplifting, heart-breaking, heartwarming and funny, this is a watch and re-watch movie for the ages.

WHAT IS IT?

THE BARKLEY MARATHONS WHAT IS IT?

Every year, 40 international runners descend upon a small town in Tennessee to test their mental and physical limits against the Barkley Marathons. With a secret application process, unknown start time, and treacherous terrain, the Barkley has gained cult-like status with ultra-runners and amateurs alike.

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FREE TO RUN

Motivation in movie form, this is the story of world record marathon holder Eliud Kipchoge as he prepares to make sporting history - breaking the sub two-hour marathon.

BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON WHAT IS IT? This award-winning movie is a laugh-outloud comedy which tells the story of a young woman who decides to make positive change in her life by training for the New York City Marathon.

9. WHAT?

I AM BOLT

WHAT IS IT? With a personality as large as his medal haul, Usain Bolt is arguably the world’s most famous athlete. And so it’s only fitting that he got his own documentary.

This documentary looks at the rise of distance running in the last 50 years and focuses on some of the major runners and figures who have helped shape the sport.

10. SPIRIT OF THE MARATHON WHAT IS IT? The first ever featurelength film to capture the essence, drama and unique spectacle of the famed 26.2-mile race.

joma-sport.com

INSPIRATION

Supergran Collette O'Hagan races towards 1,000 marathons

800 1,000 Marathons completed

By Alana Fearon Irish Runner Editor While most of us spent the first lockdown in 2020 making banana bread and hosting family quizzes on Zoom, Collette O’Hagan got her running shoes on and set about the ultimate challenge.

Marathon goal

ot one to sit around and do nothing, the supergran from Dundalk in Co Louth started a running streak to see how many consecutive days of running she could rack up until… well, until she could no longer find the motivation. By the time you’re reading this, Collette, 72, will have ran EVERY day for almost 800 consecutive days. No rest days, not even when she got Covid although she had to swap the road for her treadmill until she recovered. Such a feat would be amazing for any runner, never mind a pensioner in her 70’s. But Collette is no ordinary 72-year-old.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

Record-breaking supergran Despite not taking up running until she was well into her 40’s, she has become the first woman in Ireland and Britain to complete an astonishing 800 marathons. Collette ran her way into the record books earlier this month when she completed 12 marathons in 12 days in the UK. But she’s no stranger to records, having set a world record for her age group in a 24- hour ultra-race in Northern Ireland last year. And the grandmother-of-10 has no plans to slow down any time soon, with her eyes set firmly on becoming the first woman in Ireland to run 1,000 marathons. When we caught up with the supergran last month, she had just completed Ireland’s first 48-hour ultra-marathon in Omagh, Co Tyrone. Given that she covers more than 100

In an increasingly competitive sport where PB’s can define you, it’s easy to get bogged down in the pressure to perform. But Collette runs for herself, and doesn’t buy in to the science-based approach that many amateur runners live by. What's in it for Collette She told Irish Runner: “I’m not so focused on time anymore. It’s just about the pure enjoyment for me at this stage because I’ve been there and done that as regards PB’s. “In my ultras I don’t take sports drinks or gels, I just stick to my porridge, cups of soup, coffee, cheese, baby boiled potatoes and mini pots of rice.” You’d imagine that running every day – often twice a day – for 800 consecutive days would leave you riddled with injuries, or at least lacking in motivation. But Collette hasn’t picked up a single injury, nor is she losing her running passion. miles a week training, Collette had no doubts about her ability to tackle the mammoth challenge. And she let us in on her secret to her boundless energy and drive. “Quite honestly, running changed my life. I like being busy and I’ve never been one to sit around and do nothing. I try to always enjoy my running, no matter how tough it gets, and I suppose that’s what makes this all doable for me. “My best advice to anyone would just be don’t let anything stop you, that’s definitely my attitude, and even now I’m doing a marathon every weekend, sometimes two, and I certainly don’t have plans to slow down any time soon.” Like many others, Collette first caught the running bug when she did the Women’s Mini Marathon and her next big

achievement was the Dublin Marathon in 1990. Since then she has completed 800 marathons around the world, and the foster mum is now racing her way towards 1,000. Not even the pandemic and national lockdown could stop Collette in her tracks and she managed to rack up 6,000 miles in 2020. And determined not to break her Runstreak International tally, she even forced herself to put in the miles when she had Covid back in January of this year. Running during Covid She said: “I was worried I was going to break my run streak so I got on the treadmill and I went for it. Yes it took me 25 minutes to do a mile, but that didn’t matter. I did it and I recovered quickly and I was back to my running. “The lockdown in general was hard because all the races were cancelled but I knew I had to

She revealed: “In my opinion, the secret to staying injury free is to not get stressed. I was never fast, I’m never going to be fast, so why would I put myself under pressure to reach a certain time? I’m just happy to compete and to be alive and I think the more relaxed you are about it all, the better. “I don’t deny my age, I defy it, and I can’t imagine a day when I won’t be running. That said, I won’t be setting any targets, I’ll just listen to my body and see how it goes. “I always have an event in the diary because that gives me the motivation I need to train and I genuinely just love being on the open road and in the fresh air.” Collette’s energy and zest for life is actually quite infectious – even over the phone – so we asked her what advice she would give to motivate others.

"I don't deny my age, I defy it, and I can't imagine a day when I won't be running. I listen to my body and see how it goes."

INSPIRATION

stay focused and I suppose that’s really why I started the run streak in the first place.”

She said: “Just get out and move! You don’t need to be doing long distances, just do something. And if you choose to race, remember that there’ll be ups and downs in every race but you just have to distract yourself, beat the negative thoughts and most importantly, enjoy it. “I’ve had some great moments over the years and I’ve made memories I’ll never forget. I don’t drive but my running has taken me all over the world and I’ll be forever grateful. “I’m quite a chilled person and I hope I portray that to people. I think ultimately you should run because you love it. Marathons shouldn’t be a chore, you should be out enjoying it, and I just always put my best foot forward and lap it all up.”

48 600

HOUR ULTRA MARATHON COMPLETED

MILES OF RUNNING IN 2020

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

EDITOR'S PICKS

Record F

Breakers Golden generation set blistering pace for year ahead. While maintaining a degree of perspective, it has been a turbulent two years for athletics in Ireland. Athletes desperately trying to find novel ways of training in back gardens in the run up to an Olympic year would not be classed as ideal preparation. The Summer Olympic Games had only ever been postponed due to war in 1916, 1940 & 1944. But living through unprecedented times, it is now just over two years to the day since news broke that Tokyo 2020 would be postponed by at least 12 months.

Molly Scott and her National Record in 2022.

or some, this represented an opportunity; for others, an unanticipated additional year of putting life on the backburner in pursuit of Olympic success. Understandably, it was feared the uncertainty would prove detrimental to the development of Irish athletes. But on the contrary, a golden generation of talent has continued to emerge from the dying embers of a global pandemic.

ELITE CIAN MENTALITY Many of our elite athletes could be forgiven for feeling slightly aggrieved at the treatment handed out from above across 2020 and early 2021. As qualifying windows drew to a close, our country’s tracks lay locked. It could have proved a devastating blow to the ambitions of many heading into the 2021 season but instead, a rising wave of success in Irish athletics had begun to swell. A speciallyorganised Elite Micro Meet in Abbotstown in early Spring of 2021 provided the spark for what would become a year of record-breaking runs. The meeting aimed to allow athletes the opportunity to run qualifying standards for the looming European Indoors in Torun, Poland and the Olympics, without having to unnecessarily risk travelling abroad amidst heightened Covid-19 travel restrictions. It was an opportunity to race grasped by many, a testament to the elite mentality that characterises our athletes. Despite the underwhelming performances that came in Poland, sending the largest ever Irish team of 23 athletes to a European Indoors was a significant silver lining as the team touched back down in Dublin. The trip to Torun

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MOVING CIAN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION After witnessing some of the fastest female 800m running from Irish athletes indoors, we were treated to more success last summer. Co Tyrone teen Nick Griggs stole the hearts of the nation as he took gold in the European U20 3,000m in Tallin, as did Cian McPhillips in the 1,500m, while an impressive 100m & 200m double for Tallaght sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke represented massive breakthroughs in their young careers. Unfortunately for Adeleke, she would become a notable absentee on the Irish Olympic team when it was announced in early July. In Tokyo, despite impressive runs from Andrew Coscoran to make a 1,500m semi-final and the Irish 4x400m mixed relay team of Cillín Greene, Phil Healy, Chris O’Donnell and Sophie Becker, the predominant emotion was disappointment for Irish athletes when speaking in their post-race interviews. While their dissatisfaction was evident, they nonetheless proved they could compete with the world’s best on the Olympic stage.

HOME CIAN ADVANTAGE Before the season drew to a close, track was replaced by grass. The European Cross Country in Abbotstown in early December will remain one of the great days in Irish athletics history. A longawaited return of spectators to a large athletics events on Irish soil provided the backdrop for a day that would result in three medals for the hosts. Darragh McElhinney took silver in the U23 race and lead the Irish U23 men to team gold, while it was team silver for the Irish in the men’s U-20 race. While the final Irish medal tally failed to equal the record of four from Lisbon in 2019, the home teams animated much of

CONTINUED MOMENTUM After the success of 2021, the bar of expectation has been set high for Irish athletics. The opening to the year has been compelling on the indoor scene. In the women’s 60m, Molly Scott and Rhasidat Adeleke have bettered the national record 7 times since January 30, with the record of 7.17 currently held by Adeleke. The 19-year-old, currently based in Texas, has this season already broken her own Irish outdoor 200m record, clocking 22.59, and will be high on the list of athletes to watch in 2022. Phil Healy is another who has opened

her season with a flourish of top-drawer performances in the 400m in what is a big year for the Bandon A.C. sprinter. Elsewhere on the track, February was a busy month for recordbreaking and eye-catching displays. Andrew Coscoran took his name to 6th on the Irish all-time list for the mile with a scintillating win in 3:53.64 at the World Indoor Tour meeting in New York, while just under three tenths of a second back, UCD’s Luke McCann ran his way onto the podium with a personal best time of 3:53.87. McCann would go on to break Marcus O’Sullivan’s 2:20.2 (Indoor) & David Matthew’s 2:17.58 (Outdoor) 1,000m records a week later in Louisville in 2:17.40. February also saw the lowering of two U23 records. Sarah Healy of UCD clocked a time of 4:06.94 at the Birmingham World Indoor Tour to best her own record set the previous week, while Darragh McElhinney ran an impressive 7:45.91 in

France to set the standard for 3,000m. There were notable runs stateside on the NCAA scene over 10,000m with Abdel Laadjel breaking the 52-yearold U20 national record by churning out a 29:23.92. Barry Keane, Brian Fay and Fearghal Curtin all ran sub 28:30 in the same race.

STAR PERFORMERS Sarah Lavin stole the show from an Irish perspective in Belgrade in March at the World Indoor Championships with a sub 8 second clocking in the 60m hurdles semi-final to set a massive PB (7.97) and earn a place in a world final. A big ask to produce a similar run a matter of hours later, she could only manage a 7th place 8.09 in the final but ended her weekend involvement with massive confidence for the year ahead. But arguably, the standout

performance of the year thus far belongs to Nick Griggs. His duel with Andrew Coscoran over the mile at the National Indoor Arena at the beginning of March culminated in a new U20 European record of 3:56.40, smashing the previous standard of 4:02.33 which had stood since 2013. The 17-year-old sensation will target the World U20 Championships this year in Colombia. There is no shortage of Irish athletes to be excited about heading into the 2022 outdoor season. With a World Championships first up in Eugene, Oregon in July, closely followed by the European Championship in Munich in August, it is hard to not be optimistic about what lies in store for the remainder of the year.

EDITOR'S PICKS

the action throughout the day, with the medal count reflecting somewhat harshly on the true quality of performances. For those leaving the Dublin 15 venue on that Sunday evening, there was a quiet confidence that this was another significant step forward, with some of the most memorable showings coming from the younger members of the Irish team. As the curtain came down on 2021, attention switched to the upcoming European and World championship year.

Abdel Laadjel who broke the 52-yearold U20 national record.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INSPIRATION

Future is W bright for Sligo kid By Alana Fearon Irish Runner Editor

Grace Foley after winning third place

hile most of us would have been content with a gold medal or a bag of Tayto’s after the annual school sports day egg and spoon race, little Grace Foley set her sights on world glory. The eight-year-old from Sligo was crowned joint third in the ‘World’s Fastest Kid’ race at the acclaimed Millrose Games in New York on January 29. It took the little schoolgirl just 9.01 seconds to run the 55m to the finish line and onto the podium, as her beaming parents and proud twin brother watched on from the stands.

And so fitness became a family affair for the Foleys, and a part of Grace’s life from day one. Desi said: “Running was our thing after Heather had the kids. She got back into triathlons in 2014 when the kids were young, so they’ve known nothing else than seeing us race. They were always active and Heather always had them out climbing mountains or on their bikes. We were all round the country with the kids in the buggy.” In 2017, the family moved from Heather’s native Northern Ireland back to Desi’s native Sligo, and Desi reconnected with his childhood friend and well-known athletics coach, Dermot McDermott.

Speaking exclusively to Irish Runner magazine from cloud 9, Grace revealed she was “a bit nervous and a bit happy at the same time”, and was delighted with the “little bag of goodies” she got to take home. Under the tutelage of well-known Sligo athletics coach Dermot McDermott, and despite being so young, Grace tore up the track to cement her name as one to watch on the racing stage. But her success is a little less surprising when you take a look at her family tree. Grace’s mum is Heather Wilson, a former full-time triathlete and cyclist who represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, won the Irish Elite Senior Road Racing Championships in 2009, and was a member of the Irish cycling team which competed at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.

He revealed: “As the twins got older, they started doing athletics and cycling. Dermot took them two or three years ago when they were doing the usual athletics. Under-9 is the youngest age group in terms of Athletics Ireland so it was only really last year that they got into events. Grace did the local Sligo competition and won, then she went to the Connaught’s, and she won that. And then she went to the All-Ireland's, and she won that at the 300 meters. So it was great.”

Grace's Family It was that year that Heather and Grace’s dad Desi met, on a bike race fittingly, and they married a year later. Desi also had a background in athletics and was a keen cyclist, so it was a match made in sporting heaven. By the time the twins, Grace and Oliver, came along in 2013, Desi and Heather had already started running more because they “found it more time efficient”.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

Pure Determination But did Desi and Heather realise how special a talent their daughter actually has? Dad Desi told us: “I knew she was good. What actually amazes me about Grace is, yes she has a great talent physically in terms of her ability, but she has one serious head on her for an eightyear-old. She’s very calm, very determined. She’s a bit of a mix of both of us. Heather would have got quite nervous and anxious about racing whereas I’d be a bit more laid back. But on the other hand, Heather would be awfully stubborn and determined so Grace has Heather in her where she's extremely determined and stubborn to get everything out and give it her best, but she seems to have got an element of composure and calmness coming from me.”

The World's Fastest Kid It was perhaps this competitive streak that landed Grace her ticket to America in January. Desi revealed: “Dermot always thought Grace was something different, and he was the link to America. The Melrose Games is an annual indoor event which is more known for the Senior Indoor World Tour, but the race director is Ray Flynn and he’s Irish. So because of that Irish connection, this Fastest Kid in the World race has always been part of the program. With him being the race director, he keeps a lane of the eight lanes for an Irish child to come over, and he trusts Dermot to pick the best Irish boy and girl to come over every year.” Cian Donnelly from Tuam in Co Galway ran the boys race, also finishing third with an impressive time of 9.23 seconds. “Dermot was working with the kids as much as he could over the last couple of months to prep them for the race. I always felt Grace was better at the kind of 300-meter distance and that maybe as she would get older, she'd be kind of like a 1,500 or 3,000 meter runner. But Dermot keeps telling me she's a sprinter. “Grace is very lean, she’s very slight and very athletic looking and I'm looking thinking surely she's more of an endurance runner but she got joint third in New York over the 55m and relative to the kids around her, she was tiny. So in a sprint race, she did extremely well. But as I said, it was her composure as well.”

Grace's Dreams Speaking to Irish Runner from

INSPIRATION

"She has great talent physically in terms of her ability, but she has one serious head on her for an eight-year old."

her kitchen in Co Sligo, little Grace has already decided she wants to be a runner when she grows up. And with so much potential, she is surely set for stardom. But Desi and Heather are taking a more measured approach to her future. The proud dad explained: “As much as I’m like Grace really is something in terms of her potential, and she could be the next whatever, at the same time I’ve seen people with that life and we just hope she can grow up with the balance of maybe doing a bit of both. But we’ll see. “People have even been talking about a scholarship for college but there’d be a selfish part of us that we’d hate to see her across the Atlantic. But aside from that, it doesn't suit everyone. So we're just very mindful that it's a lovely thing to be offered a scholarship but we would just be sort of cautious. “And anyway, there are world-class female triathletes like Vicky Holland and Jessica Learmonth, and they’re based out of Leeds. It's more about the infrastructure you have around you and often the training group that you have around you.”

Image on right: Grace Foley with Sonia O'Sullivan. Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL

What does your gait say about you? Our gait says a lot about us and our physical wellbeing - but what does it all mean? By Nick Moloney Sean Murphy has worked in the running industry for the best part of six years, specialising in gait analysis and matching runners with the perfect shoe. An avid runner himself, Sean has a YouTube channel called Ritheoiri BAC where he shares some of the wisdom he has collected over many years of marathon running and racing at club level.

unning is a ubiquitous form of movement. It is instinctual across humans and most land-based animals. Similarly, your gait is not something you think about but is simply the pattern of how you walk and run. When we run, we are in the floating stage of our gait cycle. The length of this cycle is defined by the initial contact of one foot with the ground and ends when the same foot hits the ground again. “Your [running] gait is essentially your stride per minute. It is the way you first make contact with the ground, whether you are a forefoot, mid-foot or a heel striker. People who heel strike tend to get more shin and knee issues, people who strike at the ball of their foot tend to get more heel and calf issues. The sweet spot is the mid-foot strike,” says Sean, who has specialised in gait analysis over the past six years working in running stores around Dublin.

Our gait says a lot about us, our physical wellbeing and our lifestyle 30

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

Our gait says a lot about us and our physical well being. This is because it usually reflects our lifestyle, such as how much time we spend sitting, how our weight and body shape affect the way we move and, according to recent studies, even the amount of sleep we get. Runners stand to gain a lot from having an efficient gait. If you ever look at the leading pack in an elite marathon, you

will spot a lot of similarities. The obvious thing we can see about their gait is stride length – Kipchoge and Mo Farah have an average stride length of just over two meters, slightly longer than average. But what we can’t always see is what’s happening when their feet hit the ground. “Mid-foot striking is all potential motion, you are never breaking. When you heel strike you are breaking every time you actually hit the ground. It is not an efficient gait cycle. That doesn’t mean there aren’t professional runners who heel strike, but the majority of them are mid-foot strikers or on the balls of their foot.” Figuring out your gait is easier than you think. You could start by getting a professional gait analysis at a running shop which

will take a lot of the guessing out of the process when it comes to matching you with the right pair of shoes. Or if you just want to see for yourself first, you can get a friend to film you while you’re running and zoom in to see exactly how your foot hits the ground, paying attention to what happens at your ankle. A quick and easy method you can do from your couch is to simply analyse the sole of your current or old running shoes to see where all of the wear is occurring. “Look at the wear on the sole of your shoe. If all the wear is on the inside of the shoe under the ball of your foot, that means you are running inwards. If all the wear is in the middle of the shoe, that means you’re running fairly neutrally and if all the

CAN YOUR JOB AFFECT YOUR GAIT? Sitting at a desk or at a steering wheel can negatively affect a person’s gait as the seated position can actually shorten your muscles over time. “If you’re sitting a lot, you’re going to get short hamstrings, your glutes are going to tighten and you could get calf issues as well. But it is the hamstrings mainly, so the thing you find with a lot of those people when they’re running is their gait will veer towards the centre line underneath them because of the tightness in those areas.” You might not feel tight or sore but as you begin to run more, issues will likely begin to show. As simple as it sounds, an easy way to alleviate the effects of sitting for long periods of time is to just get up every now and again to go for a walk or have a little stretch. “I call it nutritious movement. If you’re eating the same meal every day, five days a week you will get fairly fed up of it pretty quickly and the body is the same as regards its position. If it is in the same one all of the time it gets fed up.”

WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR GAIT The majority of people who go for a jog 2-3 times per week will usually be fine as long as they’re in a good quality neutral shoe that has proper protection from the concrete. The problems usually crop up when you are looking to run longer distances. “It is when people want to move up to do longer distances that they go and get their gait analysed. The longer distances unmask the problems as the body is generally able to absorb the shorter distances and move on,” Sean says.

TECHNICAL

wear is on lateral side of the shoe, it’s suggesting that you’re supinating.”

starts with having the right footwear. Once you have determined your gait, the next step is to decide whether you need a neutral shoe with minimal stability or whether you need a shoe with more stability such as a guide shoe – which helps to correct your foot and counteract pronation - or a max stability shoe. “A good quality neutral shoe has a huge amount of stability in it. If you’re just doing 5km three times a week, then a good quality neutral shoe will do the job for you. There is still no harm going into a running store to have someone look at your gait because if you are over-pronating – most people pronate to a certain degree – that means your ankle is collapsing in over your arch to a large degree so something from the guide range would be a better option.”

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GAIT For most people, working on your core strength and incorporating more stability exercises can improve your gait - as well as making you injury resistant and a faster runner. According to Sean, balance is the other most important factor in improving your gait. “Balance is really important as when you hit the ground, the muscles in your lower leg and all the way up to your hip have what are called muscle stabilisers, and if they aren’t firing properly then the rest of your body has to work harder to stabilise you and that can cause injuries.” Ultimately, if you have been running in a particular shoe for a year and the wear is all on the inside and you’re having no issues then there is no need to panic. But for the longer distances, if you’re not in the right kind of shoe the body will let you know.

The first and arguably easiest step to correcting your gait Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INTERVIEW 32

Colin Jackson is the sport director for the "Wings for Life" world run. Wings for life is a non-profit spinal cord injury research foundation.

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By Alana Fearon Widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time, Colin Jackson went undefeated at the European championships for 12 years in a row and set a 12.91 seconds 110m hurdles world record, which stood for more than a decade. He was also the 60m hurdles world record holder from 1994 until last February when Grant Holloway of the United States beat it by 100th of a second in Madrid.

ut despite “a cabinet full of medals” and world records to beat the band, the one accolade that evaded the Welsh athlete in an otherwise glittering career was an Olympic gold. He won silver in Seoul in 1988 and had been favourite to win gold in Barcelona four years later. In Atlanta in 1996, Jackson missed out again when he pulled a muscle in the 110m hurdles final and missed out on a bronze medal by 0.02sec. But does that missing medal - which many athletes set as their gold standard – keep him awake at night? Jackson, 55, told Irish Runner: “I've got kind of a cabinet full of medals which I can’t complain about. I wrote world records and Okay, one big gold medal is missing from your trophy cabinet, but the reality is when I look at success and how I see success, success to me now on reflection is the legacy that I've left. And I've left in my mind quite a positive legacy. “I've been a trailblazer. I've set records for people to try to better. My World Championship record still stands today. So people will be shooting at that. I want people to erase my name off the books in that sense and then I’ll go ‘that’s what true

success is’. Where you've been a trailblazer in your sport, you set history in your sport, and you've made a difference. And I feel like I've done that. “An Olympic gold medal, would it change anything? On reflection, no, not at all. But at the time when I was still running, I would have most probably died to get an Olympic gold medal.” In a world where you are defined by your success, it would be easy to get bogged down in ‘failure’. But Colin had some words of advice for other athletes striving for that one elusive medal.

Setting goals “When I was an athlete, I'd always set myself goals per year. And it didn't matter if it was an Olympic year or a world championship year, the goal was to win championships. So a Commonwealth Games to me is just as important as winning an Olympic gold medal, because it's a target that I want to set for that particular next week. So setting targets for you to achieve are the most important things. “And you’ve got to think about an Olympic Games, you've got to be absolutely on your best once every four years at a particular time.

INTERVIEW

An Olympic Gold wouldn't have changed a thing.

because injury may come into it, illness may come into it, or life may just interrupt your opportunity to be successful. "So to hang everything on an Olympic gold medal is not I wouldn't say necessarily a bad thing. But also it's got to be realistic and where you envisage yourself with your life.” Brimming with natural talent from a young age, Colin was adept at jumping, throwing and running events and there was some discussion when he was a junior about doing the decathlon or becoming a long jumper. But when he became world junior champion in Athens and ran 13.44 sec, there was no question that his future lay in hurdling. The career that lay ahead of him was paved with a wealth of success, but Colin is very honest about the sacrifices he had to make to stay at the top of his game. 

Making sacrifices "And that’s why many top athletes don't necessarily get those Olympic gold medals, Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INTERVIEW "When I look at success and how I see success, success for me now on reflection is the legacy that I've left."  “It's a lifestyle, a fullon lifestyle when you're a professional athlete. The need to perform at the highest level has got to be the overriding reason you do anything. “So if you don't go to the cinema because the cinema seats are slightly awkward, because you've got an important session to do tomorrow, then you don't go to the cinema, it's as simple as that. Because the session is more important than the movie you're going to see. “So those are the type of things that we think. It's a complete lifestyle. So if it means you don't have a Christmas meal properly with your family because you're going to be competing in five days, then that's what you do. So those are the type of things that you embody when you want to be a professional athlete at the very highest level. And everybody takes their professionalism to their own particular level. “You decide for yourself what level

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you want to place yourself at. But for me it was a case of anything I do, I’m either all in or I’m not in at all.”

Have fun and be happy But what made the sacrifice bearable, we ask? “Have fun in whatever you do, and be happy. My dad told me on so many occasions, ‘just be happy’. And you think ‘yeah, let me just do something that will make me happy, something that puts a smile on your face. And it makes so much difference to get up in the morning and be happy because you're doing something that you want to do. It changes everything. So always find something that you can engage with, that you can be happy with, because then it's not a chore. And then it means when you're missing a Christmas dinner, you’re missing it for a good reason.”

Retirement Described by many as the ultimate professional, the BBC pundit is just as honest about the anxiety he suffered when he retired from sport. Professional athletes face a high risk of experiencing mental health issues after they retire, whether they go by choice like Colin, or are forced out through injury. “I think I was lucky that I retired by choice. So I wasn't forced out. So I was one of the fortunate ones where I went, ‘Okay, it's time for me to stop

now, and look at other things to do’. But then I realised I had so much time on my hands and what was I going to do? And also you feel you were only judged by being an athlete and now all of a sudden you're not a successful athlete. So you think ‘Where are my parameters? Who am I?’ “So that's what was creating a lot of anxieties, not knowing who I was, or where I was going in life, and thinking to myself, ‘I've got decades left on this planet hopefully, and I need to find something to do’. “But the key thing is to talk to people. And nowadays, more than then when I retired for example, there's so many people that actually you can speak to, who will give you some guidance, who will give you some help, won't just push you away. They will help you, they will guide you in that sense. So I think nowadays it’s easier to retire because you can actually speak about your anxieties and where you want to go and be able to find help and seek help. And I think that that’s not just for athletes, that's for everybody. And so whatever society will throw at us we've got to learn to handle, and vice versa. So we've got to give back and understand that anxiety is part of being human.”

Wings for Life Speaking of giving back, Colin is the Sport Director of the Wings for Life World Run

which raises crucial funds for the not-for-profit Wings for Life spinal cord injury research foundation. Encouraging everyone to get involved in this year’s app run on Sunday May 8, the Olympic hurdler explained why it’s particularly important for professional athletes to give back. He said: “I always felt as a professional athlete that you're always taking; you're taking from your parents, who were providing amazing facilities for you to get to training, and for you to have clean clothes, and to feed you. And then you add the coaching side of it, where people are giving you coaching, they give you their time, hours and hours of their time, and then partners, you know, councils, sponsors, they’re all giving something to you to help you do the best you can do. So now it's very much that time when I feel that there's a flip on that, and I've got to give my time to causes that I feel quite passionate about because people invested in me, so I should invest in any particular way that I feel genuinely fit and worthy.” 100% of each €20 entry fee for the Wings for Life World Run goes directly to the foundation.

Wings for Life The Wings for Life World Run raises crucial funds for the not-for-profit Wings for Life spinal cord injury research foundation with 100% of each €20 entry fee going directly to the foundation. Olympic Hurdler and Sport Director of the Wings for Life World Run Colin Jackson is encouraging everyone to get involved in this year’s app run on Sunday, 8th of May by downloading the app or by visiting WingsForLifeWorldRun.com.

Athletics Ireland Membership All Ukrainian citizens wishing to join Athletics Clubs in Ireland can avail of free Athletics Ireland membership through our registration system.

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Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL

Shifting Shin Splints By Anna Gardiner Soft Tissue Therapist Shin splints - or medial tibia stress syndrome (MTSS) - are one of those running complaints that can trip up the experienced and beginners alike. Runners are notorious for continuing through niggles, but this is a condition which, if ignored, will at best last longer than necessary and at worse, cause a stress fracture.

cushioned footwear, combined with hard surfaces and a running increase. Forefoot running and weak musculature groups may put more load on the tibia too.

TREATMENT

SYMPTOMS Discomfort, tenderness or pain like a throbbing or an ache can be felt along the shin bone (tibia), the larger of the two bones in your lower leg. It usually occurs when exercising - although even walking can be uncomfortable. Pain may also be felt when using the clutch or accelerator when you’re driving - i.e. when the foot is pointing down (plantar flexion), and loaded. Pain at rest, or that is continuous, definitely needs professional treatment.

When a niggle first occurs, ease back on running. If you’ve skipped this part, stop running and rest! Continual stress can result in a bone fracture, which is not only extremely painful, but will also keep you out of action for longer. For initial treatment, ice to make the area feel more comfortable, and of course rest. While you’re doing this, examine your running and life for the previous few weeks to ascertain where the overload may have occurred. Now is a good time to try some cross training to maintain aerobic fitness, but limit stress on the lower leg - think swimming or cycling.

REHABILITATION When you can jog without pain, ease back into running gradually. Going forward, it’s worth seeking professional advice as preventative action. A session with a sports podiatrist to check lower leg biomechanics and footwear would be useful. Have a treatment with a sports physiotherapist or soft tissue therapist to check your muscle strength for running and also cast an eye over your training plan and life combination. Most of all, be patient with your recovery - you’ll soon be back in your stride.

CAUSES

About Anna Gardiner Anna Gardiner is a soft tissue therapist. Contact her at www. thetreatmentrooms.info

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It’s often difficult to pinpoint why shin splints have occurred as there’s usually a combination of aggravating factors. Overload running injuries occur as a result of an increase in intensity, duration or frequency of runs. It may be just one of those factors or an increase in two or more training modes. It could also be time on feet - for example a change in job or commute or school run - combined with a training increase, like introducing hills or speed work. This can lead to excessive stress on the lower legs. Other factors include flat feet and unsupportive or poorly-

Ice to make the area feel more comfortable

INSPIRATION

Run, baby, run One woman's race to get back running postpartum

By Angela Mullen

ravelling home from the Rotunda in mid-July 2021 with my newborn baby bundled in the back of the car, I saw a woman running on the main road. ‘That will be me in a few weeks,’ I said to my partner, feeling confident I would be back pounding the pavements in no time. I was so blissfully ignorant that I signed up for Run Galway Bay, taking place last October, thinking I could knock 10km out of the park no bother at three months postpartum. Maybe it was the adrenaline, it could have been the Difene, or perhaps it was the sheer relief of getting the little mite out safely after a 25-hour labour – but I was feeling surprisingly energetic and well in the days following the birth. Ignoring friends’ advice to “take it easy”, I began daily walks with enthusiasm, pushing my sleeping daughter Annie in the pram, thinking that after my six-week GP check, I’d be back at my beloved Parkrun, jogging the 5km route with ease. Oh, the naivety! It’s no surprise that this didn’t go to plan.

"Recovering from having a baby is like recovering from any surgery." 38

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Advice from Aoife Harvey “Women don’t just have their baby, wait a couple of weeks and start running again,” says Aoife Harvey, a specialist women's health physiotherapist at Women’s Health Dublin. “They can sustain injury from delivery and from pregnancy – the pelvic floor can be weak. They could have prolapse symptoms, diastasis recti or leakage, and running can make

these symptoms worse due to the high impact.” I’ve enjoyed running my whole adult life. While I’m by no means fast and don’t have any trophies to my name, I have been consistent at putting in the kilometres and took part in regular 5km and 10km running events, as well as a few half marathons. While pregnant, I ran a couple of times a week up until the third trimester, when my runs turned into walks, and my walk turned into a waddle as my bump grew bigger. The Garmin was put into temporary retirement, swapped out for some Zoom Pilates classes and yoga sessions and more regularly, the couch. After 6 weeks After my six-week postpartum check at the GP, I thought I was good to go and tested the waters with a short jaunt around the block, alternating one minute of walking with one minute of running. Well, I returned home in dismay after leaking the whole way around – my pelvic floor screaming at me. I awoke in pain the next day. After my unsuccessful ‘trial run’, I found myself in Aoife’s office at The Grange Clinic in Donaghmede. She explained that even though a woman might feel relatively well a few weeks after delivery, recovering from pregnancy and birth - whether it’s a C-section or a vaginal delivery – takes time and rehabilitation. “Recovering from having a baby is like recovering from any surgery,” Aoife says. “If

you had knee surgery and couldn’t run for six months, you would need to see a physio for rehabilitation and work on strengthening your leg muscles before you get back to sport. After pregnancy and delivery, your body has changed significantly, and it will need some rehab before you can get back to the sport you love. Baby steps “If you want to order things in a really simple way in terms of time, what we would say is from 0 to 2 weeks you are just recovering – doing nothing. From 2 to 4 weeks, you can start to do some pelvic floor exercises and bodyweight exercises – for example, bridges, squats and lunges. From 4 to 6 weeks, you can start a bit of cardio, like the bike or a cross-trainer.“After 6 weeks, you can start to do some light weights. At 8 to 12 weeks, you can start to do things like spinning and swimming. Then, at 12 weeks you can start your running – if you are symptom-free. If there is still leakage, if there are still symptoms of prolapse, back pain or pelvic pain, you should not be back running – you should be back seeing the doctor or the physio.” The British Journal of Sports Medicine has published guidelines for postnatal recovery and running, information that Aoife recommends all women read.

INSPIRATION A word of advice from

Aoife Harvey Physiotherapist After pregnancy, your stomach muscles, pelvic floor, glutes and general core strength have weakened and you’re much more likely to get running injuries if you don’t work on your strength and conditioning first. Aoife Harvey, a specialist women's health physiotherapist at Women’s Health Dublin, shared her advice for women and their postpartum exercise plan. 0 to 2 weeks you are just recovering – do nothing. From 2 to 4 weeks, you can start to do some pelvic floor exercises and bodyweight exercises like bridges, squats and lunges. From 4 to 6 weeks, you can start a bit of cardio, like the bike or a cross-trainer. After 6 weeks, you can start to do some light weights.

"No woman should run for at least 12 weeks after she has her baby." The take-home message “The biggest take-home message from the guidelines is that no woman should run for at least 12 weeks after she has her baby.“After pregnancy, your stomach muscles, pelvic floor, glutes and general core strength have weakened and you’re much more likely to get

At 8 to 12 weeks, you can start to do things like spinning and swimming.

running injuries if you don’t work on your strength and conditioning first. “A pelvic health physio check is preventative medicine,” Aoife says. “Even if you only have one visit, it will pay dividends in the long run.” Aoife advised me to build up my strength over a couple of months and recommended classes I could do at home. The Bump Room online, a series of pregnancy and postnatal fitness classes designed and led by chartered physiotherapists, has a 10-week postnatal recovery programme called The Bump Room Beyond Birth. I’m currently working my way through this easy-to-follow plan and gaining the benefits.

(www. thebumproombeyondbirth.ie/) Fiona Healy from Kerry Physiotherapy, who created The Bump Room Beyond Birth programme, also emphasises the importance of the pelvic health physio check. “An assessment with a women’s health physio ensures that the pelvic floor is ready and strong enough to cope with the demands of high impact exercise,” Fiona says. “This is critical in facilitating a safe return to exercise, particularly when we look at research by the APA that shows 50% of women have some degree of pelvic organ prolapse.”

At 12 weeks you can start running, if you are symptomfree. If there is still leakage, if there are still symptoms of prolapse, back pain or pelvic pain, you should not be back running. Book an appointment with your doctor or a physiotherapist. A pelvic health physio check is preventative medicine and highly recommended.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL

Rest VS. M Recovery The science of a good night's sleep

By Brian Keane Fitness Coach

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

ost runners don't overtrain, they under recover, leading to injury, stress, poor food choices, and a general dent in our overall wellbeing. But how do we actually rest? And why can it be detrimental to use the term rest instead of recovery? Irish Runner’s resident fitness coach and 3x best-selling author, Brian Keane explains the benefits of a good night’s sleep. IR: Do you need to take a rest day, or does it make you fitter if you push on seven days a week? It depends on the training load of the week, because rest days are very subjective based on the person. I would consider a five kilometer run an active rest day for me, I have it as a training day, whereas that’s somebody's peak run. So what they're doing during the week determines whether there should be a rest day or not. General best practices is yes, you would always have some time off for muscular recovery etc. So one to two rest days per week. But that really depends on how your training week looks, and your recovery. Most runners don't over-train, they under recover, and that’s probably the biggest issue.

"Most runners don't over-train, they under recover, and that's probably the biggest issue." IR: And the issue there is that under-recovery leads to injury through fatigue? Yes, injury through fatigue, reduction in performance, poor performance, and just a general feeling of low energy. It shows up in a lot of different ways, but thankfully it’s relatively easy to address. You look at the low hanging fruits which are nutrition, recovery, fueling and sleep. And then other things like supplementation and active recovery. So ice baths, or Epsom salt baths – all of those things add up. But most runners, with the exception of people training for maybe 100-mile ultramarathons and running four, five, six hours every day, most runners are under-recovering. IR: So what is your top advice in terms of sufficient or quality recovery? My most important advice by a stretch is quality sleep over quantity of sleep. Six hours of uninterrupted sleep is a lot better than nine hours of broken sleep; quality sleep where you're dropping into deep REM, rapid eye movement sleep, where you're focusing on that deep restorative recovery. Obviously individual needs and requirements vary. Some people need seven hours, some need eight, some need nine. So experiment to find what works best for you. Also, on harder training weeks, the requirements go up. They're not stagnant so they won’t stay the same. If you have an easy training week, you'll probably get away with seven or eight hours whereas if you have an incredibly intense week, you might need nine hours plus just to feel the same level of recovery.

TECHNICAL

IR: How can we ensure a quality sleep? The main rules will be to have a routine, a set bedtime, and a set get up time. It's very low hanging fruit that's hard to do but yields a big end product. So going to bed at half 10 or 11, keeping consistent, and then getting up at six or seven the next day; blocking out screen time, or using anything that blocks out blue light like an app or glasses, because otherwise you block out melatonin production, which is the hormone that helps you fall asleep. And then just general unwinding, like a bath or a shower or journaling depending on what you struggle with when it comes to falling asleep whether it's your mind racing or your body not feeling like it can go to bed, and just putting some strategies in place to combat that. IR: Surely it’s natural that the night before a big race, be it your first marathon or an Olympic Games, you're not going to have a great sleep. Is there any trick to combat that, or is your performance the next day doomed? No, you can counteract the poor sleep. That actually happens to 99 out of 100 people so I would strategically time your caffeine. So the week before, I would remove all caffeine and stimulants. And then if you have a poor night's sleep, you can use that as a tool to get them back to level terms. IR: What about caffeine supplements? I would have a preference for the supplement as it's just handier to monitor and get the correct dose. But obviously if you overdose with any supplement, you're going to cause issues. I would prefer the supplement just because coffee can upset people’s stomach and digestion and if you're nervous already, that's not going to help. Whereas a supplement or a capsule that's 100 to 200 ncgs is probably going to work really well and you know exactly what you're getting.

IR: Would you find overall that people who sleep well generally have better wellbeing? Yes, 100%. I'm only basing this off studies but your perceived level of wellness and wellbeing would be directly correlated to how well you're sleeping. If you have any sort of physiological imbalance or hormone imbalance which is coming from lack of sleep, you're not going to feel that good, not to mention the energy aspect of not being fuelled. And then potentially drinking too much caffeine or eating too many sugary foods or carby foods trying to bring yourself back to a base level line of energy. That can just play havoc with your feeling of wellness. IR: So poor sleep leads us to making poor food choices? The majority do and I’m in the same bracket. It’s physiological and a down-regulation in your hunger and satiation hormones which disrupts and gives you food cravings. IR: In terms of race and performance preparation, does sleep have to be a carefully-managed part of the overall strategy?

Yes, it's 100% part of the strategy. My sleep is as coordinated as my physical training. IR: We’ve spoken about active rest, but are there days when you should literally sit at home and do absolutely nothing? It depends on the goal of the person, it depends on the training program they’re following, it depends on if you enjoy training or not. So there are a lot of factors there. I take one full rest day which is just very chilled with maybe some walks and stuff. And then another kind of active rest day which is hitting a step count. But I train five days a week religiously, four times sometimes. But I never go over that. IR: So do you adjust your calories to take into account the fact that you’re not training, or does it just all balance out over the week? It depends on what you're training for and doing. As an athlete or a runner, I wouldn't use the word rest day, I would use the word recovery day because you're recovering on that day versus resting. What happens sometimes with rest

days as a beginner is everything gets put on rest. So whatever nutrition they were following, everything gets pushed to the side. IR: What’s actually more important; a training session or a good night’s sleep? As a best practice, if you want to get the best out of it, you have to prioritise sleep, it can't be automatic. We tend to prioritise training, we can prioritise nutrition at the next level, and then sleep is just something that kind of happens. Whereas to get the most out of your training and your performance, it has to be a priority. I would always personally take the hit and sleep in and miss a training session faster than I would miss a night's sleep. But that's just personal to me.

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COVER STORY 42

Rhasidat Adeleke after winning gold in the final of the women's 200 metres at the European Athletics U20 Championships.

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By Alana Fearon ‘If Carlsberg did starts to the year' is what springs to mind while tallying up Rhasidat Adeleke’s record-breaking 2022 so far. What’s perhaps more impressive than the record-smashing spree itself is the fact that the Tallaght sprint sensation is still only 19.

"I definitely want to be an Olympic medallist, world medallist, all of the above."

he year is yet young but Adeleke – a Texas University sophomore student – has already set a new Irish 200m record at 22.59 seconds, which also qualified her for the World Championships in Oregon in July and the European Championships in Munich in August. That beat her previous Irish senior 200m record of 22.85 seconds, set only weeks earlier indoors in February at the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque. And that time knocked Phil Healy off the top spot with her time of 23.10 which had stood since 2020, In her curtain raising race of 2022, Adeleke ran the fastest 300m by an Irish woman, either indoors or outdoors, and her 36.87 seconds broke the 37-second barrier for the first time. That’s also the fastest indoor time ever run over 300 metres by a European teenager. Her and Carlow sprinter Molly Scott played ping pong with the Irish 60m record for several weeks until Rhasidat stole back the record in March, running 7.17 just days after Scott ran 7.19 to win the Irish indoor title. And the only way is up for the double European U20 100m/200m champion who Irish great Sonia O’Sullivan has tipped as “one to watch”.

But with her name almost now synonymous with success, does record smashing ever get old? Rhasidat beamed: “It could never get boring. It’s just such a great thing to do, putting yourself in the history books, so I’ll always be so grateful.” With such dizzying success at such a young age comes pressure, pressure which could be too much for some to handle. But au contraire, it’s the pressure of the athletics world that helps Rhasidat excel. “I guess it does put pressure on me, but I put pressure on myself. So I'm used to having pressure on me all the time. That’s just something I'm going to have to get used to regardless. I guess it helps me excel, because I know there's so much more at stake. For example, if I have a bad competition, l feel everyone is going to see my results. But this is what I chose to do and this comes with it so I've definitely accepted it. And there's a lot of good pressure, pressure from people expecting of you because they think you're good and you can perform. So pressure is ultimately a good thing.” Oozing such talent at such a young age, it would be easy for Rhasidat to think herself invincible. But despite the medals, the records and the seemingly endless headlines,

COVER STORY

"Breaking Records could never get boring." her humility shines through in the most endearing way. And when talking of athletes she admires, it becomes apparent that Rhasidat has no idea just how world-class she is. “Growing up, I didn’t really have people I looked up to in the sport because I didn’t know much about athletics then. But I do really like Shaunae MillerUibo. She's just so dominant, she’s on a different level. And I’d just love to be able to have that type of dominance, that when you step onto the track and people are like ‘you're the one to watch’.” Ironically, Rhasidat has become that ‘one to watch’, impressive for a sprinter who is considered a late bloomer in terms of her sport. “I joined Tallaght AC when I was about 12 and I was good but school level and club level are very different. So when I got to All Ireland’s, I wasn't really winning anything but eventually when I was about 14, I took a huge step and I was really good.” With the number of records she has smashed and set in her short career so far, no one could blame Rhasidat for struggling to single out her proudest moment to date. But that milestone rolls off her tongue, for obvious reasons.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

COVER STORY

“Probably when I was under 15 and I started my career indoors and I ran 24:4.6 when I was 14 indoors. And that literally set the domino effect for me, so from then on I just continued to progress. “That was kind of like the turning point in my career so that was huge for me. It was the first time I ever won an All-Ireland gold medal so everything just literally happened at once. I ran that time and I qualified for Europeans all in that same race, so a lot of great things came from that race. “I was just some random girl before then.” It’s hard to imagine Rhasidat ever just being some random girl, even more so after her achievements on the track over the last year. But what does she think of those achievements?

Her achievements “It's been really good, I’m really grateful for it. This is my first Fall training and first Winter training under the belt and I was really proud of how it went and I was in a good place going into competition season and to do as well as I did indoors, I was just really happy - especially to make three national finals over here (America), which was huge for me. I didn't even qualify for Nationals last year. “Then to break the Irish record multiple times in three different events, that was absolutely phenomenal. So I had a great indoor season and I’ve kind of brought that on to outdoors with breaking the 200m record in my first race. So yes, I'm really happy with how it’s been going so far and I’m just hoping to excel even more. “I’ve qualified for both the World Championships and the European Championships but I don't have an exact set plan yet. I'm just looking forward to those two events.” Rhasidat credits her move to Texas University and her coach, former long and triple jumper Edrick Floréal, as the driving force behind a lot of her recent success. That and the fact that she’s training alongside some of the best athletes in the world, which

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

helps to motivate her to always push harder. Training with, and competing against, the best in the world is as inspiring as it is intimidating, but Rhasidat isn’t focussing on any one rival. “I always think of my competition here in the US but I have competition everywhere. There isn't really one specific person, it's just pretty much everyone right now in the NCAA because there's so much talent here and so many new names popping up. Even I'm a new name popping up. So it's hard to actually pinpoint one rival so it’s pretty much everyone against me.” Instead, she’s focussing on her own goals and her ultimate dream.

The Olympics “I definitely want to be an Olympic medallist, world medallist, all of the above. Really I just want to continue to progress and have a really good professional career. And I also want to inspire young girls to stay in sport. I definitely want to have an influence on the newer generations coming up so they can see ‘this is what you can achieve if you work hard’.” Speaking of the Olympics, Rhasidat controversially missed out on a spot at the Tokyo Games last year, a pill she found hard to swallow. “In the team house at the track. they put up on the wall this huge calendar of the people who made the 2020 Olympics and I was like ‘I was supposed to be there’, so it's just small things like that. I don't really think about it on the daily but when I see small things like that, I really think it could have been me. “But it's fine, I'm over it now.” And she blames Covid and her delayed Leaving Cert results for her missed opportunity to vie for Olympic glory. “Obviously we had Covid and I was the class of 2020 for my Leaving Cert and we received our results late. We used to get them on August 14 but we didn’t get them until the end of September. And I needed to get my results to be officially graduated from high school as Americans would say. So in that case, I wasn't able to

come to the US to start school the year of 2020. So I had to come January 2021. But I feel like if I got the Fall training I needed and in that winter that I missed, I would have been able to make the Olympic team clear. “I got really close to the standard but it’s fine and I'm looking forward to 2024.” The hopes of a nation will be pinned on Rhasidat and the Irish contingent who might head to Paris in 2024 for an Olympics we hope will be free from the pandemic restrictions which delayed Tokyo by a year and left athletes performing in empty stadiums. But what sacrifices has Rhasidat made to get to where she is today?

Sacrifices “I've made a lot, especially growing up. I always have to be so disciplined in what I do, who I surround myself with. I made sure not to get into the things other teenagers were doing because it would hinder my career.” For the vast majority of us who will never be professional athletes and will never experience the exhilaration of breaking records, of standing on a podium, of wearing that gold medal around our necks, it’s impossible to imagine what it’s like with the eyes of the world on you and just seconds to perform. Anxiety-inducing surely? “Oh yes, definitely. Because there's so many people watching and so many people expecting things of you. So it's always scary to not perform or think of not performing. Especially when there are a lot of people in your race and girls who are faster than me. But all that goes when the gun goes off.

“I don’t really hear people but I can think ‘Oh God, I’m losing’ or ‘I'm winning’. I don’t know if you’re supposed to be thinking those things, but I do. “So you really have to clear your mind when you're in the blocks, just forget about everything and just run. “The ideal headspace is going out there and getting it and being focused. Being like ‘I got this’. You put yourself on a pedestal and think ‘I can do this’. It’s about hyping yourself up.”

Thoughts on the future While she may only be 19 and very much at the beginning of her career, Rhasidat has given some thought to life after sprinting. “I do definitely consider life outside athletics because anything can happen; it’s not guaranteed. Injuries are just so random and so you have to expect the unexpected.” But for now, Rhasidat is living her dream and grateful for where her talent has brought her. “Life is good and I really can't complain about anything. I'm healthy, I'm doing well and I'm just really grateful for that because sometimes it's easy to be disappointed or compare yourself to others. But you just have to remember how many people would love to be in your shoes right now.”

Extended Interview For the extended interview visit www.irishrunner.ie

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Irish Runner #1 - 2022

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LABEL Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL

Review for New Balance 880 v12 By Nick Alexander I’m more used to the NB 1080 v11 which I used primarily for long runs in Phoenix Park when I was putting miles in legs as part of my marathon training plans. But as I slid into this shoe, I noticed the padding and cushion around the heel (the 1080 v11 had a gel heel that flared away from the achilles). New Balance have perhaps finally decided on the shape of their heel cups from now on (they had three different shapes on the previous 880/1080 and 1500 alone). This is a good start.

he main thing that sticks out is that the fresh foam is just softer than the previous model, version 11, and for me it's a real improvement, especially at the lower price of the family. Next to strike me is the toe box - it's so very roomy and there's a lot of toe box material. The tongue has just the right amount of padding, they’ve not scrimped on it and given a paper thin tongue to minimise weight which some brands have been guilty of. But one of my pet hates becomes apparent here, the laces aren’t long enough to loop-lace. Moving to the underside of the shoe, the rubber outsole is very thick and I think this will be a very durable shoe, so longevity should be very good. The fresh Foam X runs the length of the shoe but I really notice it in the heel where it is very soft, and below that in the forefoot there's a denser fuel cell foam. That'll be a little bit of extra

pep in your step at the forefoot, where New Balance have focused on energy return. This makes it compete with Saucony's powerun and Hoka cushion at the same time. In fact if we're talking Hoka, you can compare it to the heel of a Clifton 8 and the forefoot of a Mach 4.

THE RUN All the runs I've done in these shoes have been in wet conditions. All of the runs have been easy, (approx 8:30 minute miles). I’ve been able to appreciate the comfort and cushion of the shoes immediately. Not once have I felt like I'm going to slip as there’s a serious amount of outsole grip from the rubber that really provides grip and traction. The runs have felt great. I took the GoPro with me on the first run and when watching the videos back it was apparent that I was landing further forward in this shoe, perhaps a result of that 10mm drop or maybe trying to max that denser fuelcell subconsciously. I was impressed after that run that the shoes dried incredibly quickly.

FACTS 1.The New Balance 880 V12 weighs 292 grams (That's my UK 9.5 shoe). 2.Heel to toe drop on this shoe is 10mm. It has fresh foam X and is available to buy from good running shops, retailing at 150 Euro. 3. This is New Balance's neutral daily training/mileage shoe, going straight up against the Saucony Ride, Hoka Clifton, Brooks Ghost, Adidas Solarglide and Nike Pegasus amongst others.

CONCLUSION This is a great trainer to add to my rotation that will hoover up daily mileage. I think it will fit in alongside my current long run shoe (Hoka Clifton 8) and my tempo shoes (Streakfly/ Tempo Next %) nicely. It’s got enough cushion without being too heavy, also enough of a speed option in the front of the shoe from that fuelcell. It’s a great option for easy runs and recovery runs because it has such a soft, comfortable feel underfoot.

RATING (4/5 STARS)

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

Santry Saturday Night Fever

SATJUL

2ND

MAIN PROGRAMME

7PM

at the Morton Games

MORTON

By Noel Guiden

aturday July 2 sees the return of bigtime athletics to Dublin city as after a two-year Covidinduced hiatus, Morton Games, international track and field is back at the Morton Stadium in Santry. Over the course of the past decade, Morton Games has captured the imagination of the athletics’ world with Ireland’s best athletes queuing up to compete against worldclass international athletes at the traditional home of Irish athletics. This meet in recent years has brought in the likes of Yohan Blake (JAMAICA), Nick Symmonds (USA), Melissa Bishop (CANADA), Olympic gold medallist Mat Centrowitz (USA) and medallists at this year’s world indoor championships, Eleanor Patterson (AUSTRALIA) and Elinor Purrier (USA) - both of whom won their events at the most recent Morton Games. The 2022 international calendar is jam-packed with championship events so Morton Games is ideally placed two weeks before the beginning of the Worlds and it’s expected that many athletes will use the meet as their final warm-up event.

Meet Director said: “The response already at this early stage has been extremely positive with many of the agents we deal with pleased to see Morton Games back on the international calendar. I am particularly pleased with the commitments we have received from Ireland’s star athletes such as Phil Healy, Israel Olatunde, Brian Gegan, Marcus Lawler, Ciara Mageean, and Andrew Coscoran to name but a few.” The meet will once again stick with the exciting format of a tight, non-stop programme of action with minimal gaps between races. The International programme will start at 7.30pm and will conclude with the feature Morton Mile at 9pm. Over the course of that 90 minutes, the crowd will see an extraordinary 12 international events featuring world-class athletes from home and away. The Morton Gamers have always made time to meet the fans and sign autographs – who will ever forget Yohan Blake, far from his ‘the beast’ moniker, surrounded by hordes of excited young and not-so-young fans, spending the best part of an hour posing for selfies, or Ciara Mageean accompanied by a dozen young fans as she completed her warm down on the track? Speaking of magical moments, the iconic Morton Mile sprinkles the magical dust year after year.

GAMES

SATURDAY NIGHT TRACK & FIELD FEVER

MORTON STADIUM SANTRY ENTRY €10 | U16 FREE

W W W . M O R T O N G A M E S . I E

There still remains something special and magical about the four-minute mile: four perfect quarters of 60 seconds each. The Morton Mile is steeped in legend, its genesis goes back to the original ‘Dream mile’ of August 6, 1958 in Santry, when Herb Elliott set a new world mile record and for the first time in history five athletes ran sub four in the same race.

The following year the Harriers introduced the Morton Memorial Mile to the world. That first 1970 Morton Mile was won by Olympic champion Kip Keino (KENYA) and ever since, the Morton Mile has been won by legends of the sport including John Walker (New Zealand), Steve Scott (USA) and not to mention our own great Irish milers Eamon Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan and Frank O’Mara. The Morton Mile has also proved to be the most prolific producer of the sub- four over the course of 36 runnings of the race; an extraordinary 149 sub fours have been recorded meaning that the race winner on July 2 will become the 150th.

WHEN: The Morton Games takes place in the Morton Stadium Santry on Saturday, July 2. The International programme will commence at 7.30pm with the pre-programme of national events from 6pm. ADMISSION: Tickets will be available to purchase online through the event website www. mortongames.ie from June 1 with ‘cashless’ payment accepted on the night. COST: Admission is €10, with accompanied U16’s going free.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL 50

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

INSPIRATION

Who let the dogs out? The ultimutt guide to running with your pooch

By Helen Carr These days, you see more and more runners loping along with dogs by their sides. It looks pawsome, but what do you need to consider to ensure it’s a pawsitive experience?

1. Dogs are individuals

5. Control your dog

Just like human runners, dogs are individuals, so it's important to make sure your pooch enjoys running and is physically able for it; dogs with joint problems or overweight dogs would benefit from a health check with their vet before starting.

It's also important that you have your dog under control, both on and off the lead; an obedient dog makes for safer running for both of you. Run in places he feels calm and happy; a dog who hates strangers should avoid busy streets, while dogs with high prey drives might be calmer running companions away from a park full of squirrels! Taking your pet's personality and temperament into account will make your runs together much more rewarding.

2. Be aware of injuries Be cautious, too, about running with very young dogs – it's a high-impact sport and can cause injuries while pups are still growing.

3. Build up fitness slowly While some breeds are naturally better suited to distance running, all dogs need to build up fitness gradually – just like you do! Why not start with a couple of miles of walk-running a few times a week? If your dog copes well with that and enjoys it, after a month start increasing the running portion and up the mileage by no more than 5-10% per week.

4. Have a rest day or two each week Always make sure your dog has a rest day or two each week. Don't overdo it and he'll be excited to see your running shoes coming out!

we began running with my friend Johnny Fennel and his dog, Charlie. The four of us had many happy afternoons running around the park together. These days his running buddy is Theo, my friend Caroline's Tibetan terrier – also a keen runner. Retrievers have thick, warm coats, so Shadow doesn't like hot weather and runs less in summer. However, in winter, he's always ready for a run. He knows the location of every muddy puddle in the park and never misses a chance to swim in the river.”

TESTIMONIALS FROM RUNNERS & THEIR DOGS

Walter and Glen

Jim and Shadow Jim Keogh and his Golden Retriever, Shadow, have been running together for the past seven years. “He's great company on the run. We started running together when he was a young dog, just a mile or so at first. After a couple of years

Walter McConnell and family adopted Glen, a four-year-old Border Collie mix, from Dogs Trust just over a year ago. At first they took Glen on walks in their local park, and only gradually began running. “Once Glen became familiar with our walking route, I slowly started to introduce running. Because he was so familiar with the route, he took to it very easily. We've run other places, but he is definitely more comfortable Irish Runner #1 - 2022

TECHNICAL (and better behaved) running in a place he knows really well,” Walter says.“We have a regular 6km route. I found that he needs a water break every 2-3km. Halfway around our route, he loves to jump into the river to drink and cool down, then we stop for another water break around the 5km mark. I didn't know it when we rescued him, but I've since realised that Collies are the ultimate running companion dog. They LOVE it! It's in their nature to run and work with their owner. I see a few other running Collie/owner pairs around the park now too and we give each other a knowing nod on the way past. As a good club runner myself, the

Dogs of all sizes make great running buddies In general, working breeds are good runners, while dogs with flatter faces and shorter legs are less physically suited. Jack Russells, Corgis and Beagles are small energetic dogs well suited to shorter runs. Breeds like Border Collies, German pointers and Huskies have the strength and endurance for longer runs.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

lack of effort Glen needs to keep up with my pace is sometimes disappointing. I can see from his manner that he really enjoys it. We finish our run with a few treats and he wags his tail all the way home.”

Dorota and Rocky Dorota O'Brien has run with her dogs for years and loves it. Her first dog was a Collie cross, a very athletic and energetic dog. She explains: “He loved running and could run as far as 10 miles. I built up to that distance gradually, making sure he was comfortable. I also considered the weather when bringing him on longer runs. He was never tired, or out of breath or lagging behind me, so I tried longer distances, which suited him fine. Our second dog was a pure Labrador and less interested in running, so we just went for

short and slow runs now and then.“Rocky, our current dog, is a German pointer/chocolate Lab cross. He's still young but already very fast, athletic and full of energy. When I started running with him we took it easy, and I watched him closely for any signs of fatigue. I started with 2km and gradually increased the distance. He is still learning how to run beside me, so I always keep him on the lead, but already he's quite focused on the run. He's a great companion! He's getting good exercise, which he needs, and he gets excited when he sees me putting my running shoes on, so I think he likes it too.”

SAFETY TIPS FOR DOGS Don't let your dog pull

Make sure your dog can walk well on the lead before trying to run – pulling on the lead can result in injury for either or both of you. (You can get a special running lead that attaches to a belt for around your waist in most pet shops and this can prevent sudden yanks on your hand.)

No to retractable leads Never use a retractable lead; it's dangerous for you, your dog and other road users.

Check the harness

Make sure your dog's harness fits well and doesn't chafe.

Wear high-viz gear

Runners of all species should wear reflective, light-up or hiviz gear in the dark..

Avoid hot footpaths

In summer, don't run on very hot footpaths, they can burn your dog's feet.

Bring water

On longer runs or warmer days, make sure to bring water for you and your dog.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

60 SECONDS WITH

SARAH LAVIN Sarah Lavin at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.

amous for “running and jumping over things”, Sarah Lavin has had a roaring 2022 so far. The Emerald AC athlete secured a place in the World Indoor Championship 60m Hurdles final, the first since the 2010 Championships in Doha when David Gillick took to the 400m finals and secured a fifth-place finish. The sprint hurdler produced an impeccable semi-final performance, breaking the 8 second barrier and forging her way to the World Indoor Championships final while setting a new PB of 7.97 seconds en route. It was her first global final as a senior and she didn’t disappoint, crossing the line in 7th place with a time of 8:09. Fresh from that superb performance, we caught up with Sarah to talk inspiration, regrets, and sneaky chillies!

What would the world know you for? Running and jumping over things .

What is your greatest achievement to date?

7th in the 2022 World Indoor Championships.

Biggest regret? No regrets .

Who/what is your biggest inspiration?

So many people; my parents, coach, athletes in my event like Susanna Kallur/Sally Pearson, and obviously Derval O’Rourke!

What scares you most? Aside from chilli seeds hidden in curries, not much.

What’s your best memory?

Ringing my parents/ coach/friends after Madrid last summer. I think it was the first time I ever cried with happiness because I knew the Olympics were on!

One word that describes you best? Happy .

What’s top of your bucket list? The life I’m living!

Something you’d tell your younger self?

Continue to persevere and maintain your high work ethic.

Who is Sarah off the track? The same as on it.

Irish Runner #1 - 2022

MAY 15TH

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Irish Runner April 2022

Articles inside

Future is bright for Sligo Kid

Record Breakers

Supplements 101

What’s making us smile

Rhasidat Adeleke: Breaking Records could never get boring

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce: Getting Out, Giving Back

The Cerebral Runner