In this episode we meet Ashling Smith, who logged her place in the annals of the club history by winning the national junior cross-country in 1990, becoming the first Donore Harriers woman to take a national title. She won the national junior 3,000m in 1991. Ashling talks about rekindling her love for the sport as a masters athlete; the positive influence of her father Willie (yes! Our Willie!); and offers some very firm advice to aspiring young athletes…
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin (Holles St!) 1972
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? Bray (primary), Dublin (secondary and Uni) and UK (BA, Exmouth University of Plymouth).
WHAT WAS/IS YOUR CAREER PATH? Varied! Hospitality, retail, early years education and finally, lately, my dream career. After my children were born, continuing in academia (I was taking the PhD route in UCD) wasn’t feasible. In 2017 I retrained and am now qualified as a Sports/Physical Therapist and Sports Massage and Injury Therapist. I work with athletes, get to treat athletes, talk about athletics… and get paid for it. What could be better?!
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? No idea. 1980-something. I was a juvenile and junior athlete, so Dad took care of that. I suppose I was a member until 1992?
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? There was never going to be another club! Dad followed Bertie Messitt to Donore as a 15-year-old and I followed suit. I had been going to Donore with Dad as a kid and have very vivid memories of the set up in Hospital Lane.
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No, see above
WHAT CLUB ARE YOU WITH NOW? Sli Cualann outside Wicklow and Bray Runners inside Wicklow.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? Not really. Basketball and Irish dancing as a teen. A bit of cycling in the non-running years (decades!). I was very active as a child though. Lots of skipping, hopscotch, chasing, roller skating etc. I think these aspects of informal, unstructured play are integral to athletic development.
WHAT WAS/IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? I love cross country and track. I suppose the mile and 1500…and the 3000m on the track. I love the national road relays, to watch and participate. More recently, Armagh 5k/3k road is a really fabulous event. Really hard to choose just one.
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE AT YOUR CLUB? As well as athlete, I’ve been secretary, chair, captain and now am back to secretary.
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? I loved Eamonn Coghlan as a child, who didn’t? It was also the era of great milers so Ovett and Coe too. I love Laura Muir. She is the complete package and I love that she too was a ‘late developer’ in terms of athletic development and success. I really admire Fionnuala McCormack’s attitude.
Middle distance master athletes such as Joe Gough, Anne Gilshinan, Kelly Neely, Denise Toner, Jackie Carthy and Mary Leech are some of the many master athletes who inspire me.
And I grew up surrounded by greats in athletics through Dad and Donore Harriers. I probably absorbed these influences through breathing!
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Am reading ‘The Mirror and the Light’ by Hilary Mantel and ‘Quicksilver, the Mercurial Emil Zatopek’ by Pat Butcher
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Probably Kris Kristofferson last year in Cork with the hubby, Ian.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS? Only 3!!!
- Greystoke, Legend of Tarzan. Cry every time
- True Romance.
- The Green Mile. Another good cry every time
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? I fall in love with every place I visit so can’t choose just one. Italy if I have to…
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Haha! What do you mean ‘away from athletics’? Ok reading, history, nice food and wine, country walks. Simple things.
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
- Rock n Roll Suicide by David Bowie
- Loving Her Was Easier by Kris Kristofferson
- Me and Bobby McGee by Janis (sore spot with the hubby he prefers Kris:) )
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/WAS YOUR COACH(ES? I have been so fortunate. I have had the best coaches. As a teen Dad was my coach and of course the legend Eddie Hogan. Eddie was way ahead of his time. He was so quiet and gentle and observant, especially with the vanguard of female athletes in Donore Harriers in the 80s. When I came back to running in 2014, I was coached for a while by Gerry Curtis (maintaining the Donore connection although we were now both Bray based). Since 2017 I have coached myself but rely heavily on Richard Kavanagh for mentoring and of course Ian. Still trying to persuade Dad to run me up a schedule, he must have a conflict of interest with his Donore women!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? In terms of success, probably two. Winning the National Junior Inter Counties in November 1990. I had been training well that year but nevertheless it was a huge surprise. I was a reasonably late breakthrough athlete and had a big dose of imposter syndrome.
More recently, in 2018, I achieved a national record in the W45 1,500m. I had been training with Avril Dillon’s DSD crew in Irishtown that summer and was feeling sharp and strong. I knew that morning it was going to ‘happen’. We talk of ‘flow’ and ‘the zone’. I was definitely ‘there’ that day and thankfully, no Imposter Syndrome that day. It was a beautifully hot day and Ian was there, along with our three kids. Just perfect.
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)? As a junior, and Dad may correct me on these, 2:18 for 800m, 4:34 for 1500m and 9:50 for 3000m.
As a master, my best times were achieved as W45 in 2018.
Track 2:28 for 800m, 4:55 for 1500m 5:25 mile (also a national record) and 10:38 for 3000m
Indoor times I don’t have to hand but I remember a 5:22 indoor mile in a mixed race and 10:38 for 3000
Road racing is neglected by me, but I have run 19:11 for 5k, 10:48 for 3k, 41 something for 10k, 93 minutes for half marathon and even a 3:53 for marathon (don’t ask!)
WHAT WAS/IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? As a junior probably hills in the Phoenix Park with Gwen (Stanley) and Helen (Saunders).
400s on the track are always a good one. Lately hills near my house. Also love going out for a good hard five miler with the hubby.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? That’s a tricky question. Lately I am a huge advocate of ‘train don’t strain’ but now and then it is important to ‘leave it all out there’ in training. There is a steep hill near me and over last winter I did reps on it frequently. My clubmate, Suzanne Foot, and myself did 8 x 90-seconds reps on it in January. We push each other very nicely and I have to say it was probably the most I have pushed myself both mentally and physically.
WHAT WAS/IS A TYPICAL TRAINING PLAN? Lately one ‘hard’ session and one long run, sometimes doing sharp 8 to 10 seconds up a steep hill with a 2 to 3 minutes recovery. All the rest is recovery/easy runs. I am a big advocate of listening to my body and if a recovery or easy run is ‘not happening’ I head for home and let my body do what it needs to do. Lockdown has enabled me to focus on my own strength and conditioning stuff a bit more too.
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? As a child, Dad took us to the club frequently. This was in the Hospital Lane set up and the men’s changing room was in a prefab. I must have been 8 or 10 and Maurice Ahern was chatting to me and told me to punch him in the tummy, as hard as I could. Dad wasn’t that keen, but I could see he found something amusing so with permission, I let rip…. only to meet a wall of Plaster of Paris from Maurice’s operation.
WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOUR OBSERVED SINCE YOUR DAYS AT THE CLUB? I was still a member when the club transitioned to the new premises in Chapelizod. So, they have a fit for purpose facility and a running track! The membership has changed and now has a large juvenile and junior section… as well as a fabulous cohort of women! I am proud to have been part of the first ‘women in Donore’ and love seeing how women are now firmly entrenched in the history of Donore Harriers.
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)?
- Katie Taylor
- Sonia (O’Sullivan) and Catherina (McKiernan)
- Ronnie Delany
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
YOU WON THE NATIONAL JUNIOR CROSS-COUNTRY TITLE, WHEN WAS THAT AND WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT DAY? I do. It was November 1990. I remember being in the leading group early on and something got into me because on the brow of a hill on the first lap, I continued to push and broke away. I know Dad was groaning inside because he thought I had gone too soon. Me too! Fear drove me the rest of the way around! I was still expecting to be caught, even on the finishing straight. It was all a bit surreal to be honest. I remember Dad phoning mam and I think she shed a few tears? There was a big fuss that day but sadly there was an inner voice telling me that it was a fluke, that I didn’t deserve to be there. If I knew then what I know now……
WHAT OTHER SUCCESSES DID YOU HAVE WHEN COMPETING FOR DONORE HARRIERS? I loved the road relays and with Gwen (Stanley) and Helen (Saunders), we upset the apple cart by getting a silver medal in the senior race one year (1990/91?). Two of us were still juniors and Helen was probably only 21.
I won another national title on the track, 3000m I think, and another two titles in the Intervarsities, 3000m and 1500m on the same weekend.
<NOTE: Ashling won the National Junior 3,000m in 1991 in a time of 9.58.47. She also won the Intervarsities 1,500m (4.37.54) and 3,000m (9.53.34) representing Trinity College Dublin in 1991>
YOU COMPETE FOR IRELAND IN INTERNATIONAL MASTER COMPETITIONS, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE? Masters athletics is the best experience, ever. I have met so many wonderful and inspirational people both in Ireland and abroad. Plus, I met my husband, Ian Egan, in Aarhus at my first European Masters event. We probably had the fittest and healthiest looking wedding guests ever!
The camaraderie and support in masters athletics is second to none. And of course, the competition is another level and brings out the best in you as an athlete.
<NOTE: Ashling won a team silver in the 5km XC at the 2018 European Masters in Madrid – and a team bronze in the W35-49 4km XC at the 2019 European Masters in Venice. In the 2018 Champs, she came 5th in the W45 3,000m (10.59.64) and 4th in the 5km XC. Her husband Ian Egan (Castlegar AC) won 2 team silvers and a team bronze at World Masters and 2 team silvers in the European Masters. When Ian won an M45 team bronze at the 2017 World Masters Championship, the Irish team included former Donore Harriers member Michael Cornyn>
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRESENT INVOLVEMENT IN SPORT? When I stopped running in the early 90s, I walked away from athletics completely. I didn’t even watch an Olympics during this time. I think I may have watched the opening ceremony for London 2012 and was vaguely aware of the hype around Mo Farah.
When I started to run again in 2014, my passion for athletics gradually reawoke. I have been involved, as mentioned above, on a committee level for the last few years. I started my own business this year too and my focus is on supporting runners of all levels through Strength and Conditioning and deep tissue massage.
I’m working my way through the AAI coaching courses and am Level 1. Combined with what I know about nutrition and psychology for sports performance, I plan to be involved in coaching young female athletes. I feel I have a lot to contribute to this area.
YOUR FATHER WILLIE IS A VERY WELL LIKED AND RESPECTED COACH AT DONORE HARRIERS – AND A GREAT CLUB HISTORIAN. YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD OF HIM! HOW MUCH HAS ATHLETICS AND DONORE HARRIERS BEEN PART OF YOUR CONVERSATIONS? My Dad is the best. He gave me the best gift of all, running. Mam too. She may have been in the background but most certainly couldn’t have done it without her either. Dad is such a stats geek, in the best possible way. His knowledge of athletics and coaching is second to none. He lives and breathes athletics and yes, we certainly ‘talk athletics’. Rather he talks, I listen (and learn). I’m not really sure what we talked about in the intervening years when I walked away!
I love that Dad’s 2:29 marathon put him in the ‘good, average club runner’ grade!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING JUVENILE/JUNIOR ATHLETES? Enjoy it, have fun, remind yourself that you do this because you love it… Be good to yourself. Fuel that hard-working body. Don’t focus on what others are doing or training, just be the best version of you that you can be on any one day.
Also, do not allow your sport to be your complete identity. It is OK for athletics to be part of your identity, but make sure that you are the sum of the parts – not just one. I know that when I stopped running, I struggled for some years coming to terms with myself as a non-runner.
Thank you for inviting me to be part of this (interview series).
