Karla Doran has been a key scoring member on Donore Harriers medal winning teams in Dublin, Leinster and National cross-country and road championships. She represented Ireland at the World Masters in 2018 and hopes to make a return to the Irish team for the 2022 championships due to be held in Gothenburg
Karla, who is now the proud mother of two young children, has had to juggle parenting and her career with her training and race programme. Her love of running and her commitment to the club are very evident in this engrossing interview
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin in December 1979 – I like that I was around for the last 10 days of the 70s
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? St Mary’s Convent, Lucan (primary); St Joseph’s College, Lucan (secondary) – favourite time; DCU for 3rd level where I got to do a year in New York for one of the 4 years. I also recently completed a post-grad in professional legal studies
WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN CAREER PATH? I did Business and Legal Studies in DCU, so from there I went on to a be a legal secretary for several years before leaving that to work in the charity sector for a few years. I then returned to the legal sector a few years ago and now work as a Legal Executive for Mason Hayes & Curran, a large law firm of 500 people. It’s a lovely place to work!
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? January 2013. My first session was intervals along Conyngham Road, but I still came back. It took me around a year to progress
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I had moved to Chapelizod a year previously and had been jogging around the park quite slowly. Donore Harriers was just up the road and I knew it was a very reputable and competitive club as I’d heard of it over the years
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? I was in Lucan Harriers from 12 to 14 years of age. I had a great coach called Dave who trained us hard and to be competitive. Then one day I dropped running and pretty much forgot about it for 15 years, besides dabbling in it now and again accompanied by resolutions to become a serious runner. However, I believe doing athletics as a child really stays with you for life. I had a need to go back to it and that training really stands to me in my running now. I think it really benefits your running if you did it as a youth
DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I’ve always cycled as a means of commuting. I also do a bit of swimming. So, the more solitary sports. I’ve done a lot of snowboarding including a season working in Whistler, Canada. It’s my other favourite sport but I don’t get to do it often
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? Not really sure. I like road and cross country. I compete in 5km and occasionally 10km on the road, 1500m on track
WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Athlete
WHO WERE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Sonia (O’Sullivan) of course! I also liked Derval O’Rourke’s attitude to training and racing. I was inspired and encouraged by Jim McNamara to push myself and tap into my potential.
Also, from day 1 at the club, I’ve admired and been inspired and encouraged by the brilliant group of women who train rain or shine. There’s a great team spirit and everyone is so enthusiastic about running, while enjoying the sessions together. You get a lot more out of the group session than training alone
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Mark Knopfler last year. He was the lead singer of Dire Straits and is a great dad-rock solo artist.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. American Gangster
2. The Prestige
3. Uncut Gems
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? AND WHY? Argentina – the people, the food, the language, the constant festival atmosphere in Buenos Aires where I stayed for a few months, the natural beauty of the landscape in the rest of the country including the Iguazu Falls. And not far from there the Bolivian salt flats which are stunning.
I also love Spain and it’s easier to get to
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Food is a big one! Being with my little ones. Sun – in the garden will do. It’s the simple things really. Music – Spotify is great for discovering good music.
I used to enjoy nights out, but I don’t get to do that anymore
IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. A Horse with No Name by America
2. D’You Know What I Mean? by Oasis
3. Let It Happen by Tame Impala
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR COACH(ES)? The late Jim McNamara, and now Willie Smith
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Hard to choose. I’m proud of all of my AAI medals, many of them team. I’m proud of my road race wins too.
I felt a sense of achievement when I came 7th in the National Novice XC after coming 81st the previous year
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)?
10km – 38.20
5km – 18.23
1500m – 4.45
800m – 2.20
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? I always preferred racing to training, but I did enjoy the 400s on the polo grounds – nice and fast and a big open space. A motivating and enjoyable session
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU DID? The group did a few sessions in the Wicklow Mountains led by Willie Smith. I attended one of them. It was very tough, and I didn’t run well but would like to do it again as it’s beneficial as well as something different. Also, I would like to give it a better go
WHAT IS A TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? I was never one for long mileage. I think good efficient training suits me and I don’t get tired out. My week was made up of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday sessions with the club, my own long run on Sunday, some yoga myself every morning, cycling to work (hour round trip) and strength class on Monday morning in Dublin Sports Clinic
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY OR UNUSUAL STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? In my early days of training at Donore, I used to show up in big cotton tracksuit bottoms and cotton t-shirts. One Tuesday evening session on the Donore Harriers track it started lashing rain on the warm-up and I ended up trudging around the track in water-laden tracksuit bottoms. I had to quit the session but Jim found it hilarious!
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)?
1. Sean Kelly – cycling
2. Ronnie Delany – I saw him at the Le Chéile track once
3. Jason Smyth – 100m Paralympian
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
DID YOU COMPETE AS A JUVENILE OR JUNIOR ATHLETE? Yes, I ran for my school in Santry and Belfield several times doing sprint, long jump and relay. I also competed in XC, road, track and indoors for my club (Lucan Harriers) during my time there (2+ years)
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ATHLETICS STEM FROM? I didn’t have any particular connections to running, just knew that I enjoyed it – sprinting then. My first taste of competing was at school, where I used to love sports days, PE and inter-school competitions. From there, myself and 2 friends jointed the local AC and this is where my love for running grew initially. I did give it up but was bound to return one day!
When I joined Donore Harriers, my interest in running was reinvigorated and grew again. Donore introduced me to the world of running and this gave me a new lease of life!
DO YOU REGRET NOT COMING TO THE SPORT AT AN EARLIER AGE? Absolutely not. Everyone is different, but in my case, I left it and came back to it at the right time. I suppose a couple of years earlier couldn’t have hurt, but I was very happy and really surprised that after spending my 20s enjoying other enjoyable aspects of life that did not tally with running, I was able to return to the sport at an older age and achieve a lot in it. I feel I got to do both!
In any event, the long-term commitment and tunnel vision it takes for serious athletics just would not have suited me personally. Also, I feel that as I have fewer miles on the clock, I will still be fresh as an older/masters athlete and have a lot to give going into the future
HAVE YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH ANY LONG-TERM INJURIES? I haven’t had many injuries but did have a shin splint (possibly stress fracture) for 5 months. I cross-trained throughout this time
I was unfortunate to pick up a glute injury a few months prior to my only international race abroad – the World Masters 2018 in Malaga – XC and track events. I was delighted to be able to go over and compete there, but underperformed as my fitness and confidence were down
HAVE YOU EVER RUN A MARATHON? IS IT SOMETHING THAT YOU MIGHT CONSIDER IN THE FUTURE? The longest I have run is 10 miles once. I probably won’t do a marathon as I simply don’t have anywhere near that kind of endurance. I could try walking one when I’m 70!
YOU MADE A COMEBACK AFTER BECOMING A MOTHER, HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE FOR YOU? I came back from my 5-month injury gung-ho to the training sessions, but a few weeks in and I found out I was expecting. I did fit in the Great Ireland Run 2017 and was the fourth member of the Gold M35 team that day! So, I promptly gave up running as I wasn’t comfortable with doing it. I was also quite fatigued in the early months of pregnancy. I kept up yoga and brisk walking. Straight away I missed it and craved to be running, which lasted until I returned to running. It was actually just the act of running or even jogging that I missed, not the racing. This made me realise that I ran because I enjoyed it more than for other reasons
So, soon after giving birth I did pilates at home and began training again with great enthusiasm and enjoyment. I also did mummy bootcamp, continued with my yoga routine – when I had a chance – and kept training and racing. This resulted in podium places in most of my races (not Malaga though!)
I continued to breastfeed for over a year and found this didn’t really affect my running, except that I had to ensure I fed the baby before a session or race. When I returned to work, I got my exercise by cycling there and running around the Docklands most lunchtimes, frequently bumping into Florrie (Curley) as we crossed the toll bridge before the sea from either side
It was about time management and fitting training into the daily routine as I didn’t want to do it in the evening. I did continue with the Saturday session and Sunday run. As with many runners, my husband had to be very accommodating for this to work. I also squeezed a lot of road races into last Spring
As I have just had another baby, I have been off running for exactly a year now. But this time I didn’t miss running at all and welcomed the guilt-free break from it. For base fitness, I kept up yoga, cycling, walking and taking the stairs rather than the lifts in work. But really, it’s mild exercise in comparison with the fitness achieved when you are running. Recently I’ve been feeling more ready to go back, but not quite yet!
WHAT ARE YOUR RACE TARGETS OVER THE NEXT YEAR? Well I have a newborn right now so haven’t really had a chance to think about that. I look forward to getting back to doing races in Dublin and I would love to compete in the World Masters 2022 in Gothenburg
I’m not sure exactly when I will return to running, but hopefully in the not too distant future!
