In this edition we meet Angela Eustace and get an introduction to the ‘brat crew’. Unusually, Angela is not a mad keen sports fan; but she is an instinctive runner who has been a pillar of the Donore Harriers women’s team for more than a decade now
Here is what club and women’s captain Florence Curley says about Angela – “Angela joined the club as one of ‘Jim’s girls’ and as a complete beginner. Over the years she has showed a flair for the longer distances and her dedicated training brought her marathon PB down to 3.30. She scored on the 2013 national marathon gold masters women’s team. An unassuming but very popular member who has always encouraged new members herself – she is great for coming out to races to support her teammates and is a stalwart volunteer who is a familiar sight helping at Jingle Bells and most club events in some way, as well as in an administrative capacity behind the scenes. Angela is a terrific club person”
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Chapelizod, 1971
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MAIN CAREER PATH? I have worked in Irish Life for 13 years, but I don’t consider myself as a ‘lifer’ yet as my relative innings there is still quite short
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I think 2007?
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? Local club
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? No
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? Steeplechase
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Athlete & small amount of admin. work
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? 1. Anne Curley – for taking the time to bring me back after injury to run my best marathon; 2. Karen Behan – for teaching me the importance of team & being a great running pal, and 3. Jim McNamara – as he made an effort to try to run the 2013 marathon with us & he in his 70’s at the time
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. Schindler’s List
3. The Snapper
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Norway (but I love Inis Mor)
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Do a small bit of calligraphy
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Claire de Lune – Debussy
2. Life – Ludovico Einaudi
3. Motorcycle Emptiness – Manic Street Preachers
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS YOUR COACH? Willie Smith, I could not do justice in words to this man!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Dublin Marathon 2016 when I got my best time, even that I suffered! , but it was the 10 mile in Clontarf that perhaps I felt physically & maybe is my best race, having the help of both Rhona (Duane) & Des (Gill) enroute. Mary Murphy’s husband saved me with water, even though he is in Sportsworld Athletics Club!
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)?
10k – 42.54 in the Dublin Mini Marathon 2017
10 Mile – 71.1 in the ‘Battle of Clontarf’ 2017
Marathon – 3.31.28 in Dublin 2016
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? 400’s on the Kyber hill
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? One winter evening doing ‘laps’ on the track in heavy rain. We were running through big puddles while utterly drenched!
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN (pre-covid)?
Monday or Wednesday – Easy run
Tuesday/Saturday – Session
Sunday – Long run
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? More people doing the St. Stephen’s Day (Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield) run! I know for some it is a dreaded cross-country race and 10 miles seems far. But it’s a great way of ‘running of the turkey’ as they say
I also think that more people should give a small bit of spare time to support the club
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)? I like to keep my heroes local, so my choices are
- Jim McNamara
- Ann Woodlock &
- Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (all are Donore Harriers)
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
ROAD RACES OR CROSS COUNTRY? Road
HAVE YOU COMPETED IN THE MARATHON? Yes 7, as per 4 in Dublin, plus Connemara, Limerick & Rotterdam. Each marathon has its own story!
First marathon with Michelle (Dawson) & Sarah (Ni Ruairc) on antibiotics (said never do it again), Michelle provided all the great advice & Sarah did a blinder
Dublin with Lee (Chambers) & the ‘brat pack’ – great company & we had a great adventure that year
Connemara – hill of hell, did most with Michelle (Dawson) – but it was our chats that helped through the freezing cold!
Rotterdam – lovely tea & McDonalds afterwards
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE RACE? AND WHY? I could not pick one, so I had to choose 3 races!
1st race is the 2013 Dublin Marathon: There was 5 of us together doing the marathon. We had done loads of training, and we called ourselves the ‘brat pack’ for various reasons, On the day we specially wore the same shorts and hair bands. I had had my hair done and put on the tan – as you do… We were ready to give it socks, but there was a fall, as we stopped twice to stretch, and we took our lovely slow moments. In the end we were all lucky enough to do great times & have the best laugh in the ‘Mount Clare’ afterwards. It was such a great day!
2nd race is the National XC at Clarenbridge, Co. Galway in 2018: It was only 2 or 3km, but it was as tough as a marathon. We got the bus down, and it snowed for a lot of the journey. We eventually arrived at our ‘Field of dreams!’ but it was a mud fest by the time we got to run. Willie (Smith) wisely didn’t even recommend a warmup. Florrie (Curley) lost her shoe, so horrific! You could hardly get your foot out of the mud never mind run. Willie said it was like doing 20 Saturday sessions! And the girls did great, even managed to win team medals
The 3rd race is the 2017 Women’s Mini-Marathon: Most of the Donore girls were lucky enough to be lined up together in a row beside each other directly behind the starting tape. Our picture came up on a very big screen. It was magical! We were in front of about 40 thousand people! Our 10 minutes of fame!
<NOTE: and here’s a few seconds of fame on the TG4 Nuacht – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTymxa79KjE >
TELL US ABOUT YOUR ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENTS? I was lucky enough to be on the team that won the national masters team gold in the 2013 Dublin Marathon with both Anne and Florence Curley. But I have to mention the ‘brat crew’, who contributed to our winning the medal that day
But I won several team medals with Donore Harriers in Dublin, Leinster and National competitions. We’ve always had a great team with Anne and Florence Curley, Bronagh Eliott, Audrey Gahan, Elaine Verdon, Sinead Graham, Alma Hanevy and Audrey Doyle. So many great days!
I’ve won a couple of individual medals also; and I have to say that I am very proud of all my medals
HAVE YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH INJURIES, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE INJURY AND THE RECOVERY PROCESS? Yes! I was off for a year in 2014/5. I initially got a stress fracture which healed, but then my Achilles started to trouble me. I spent a lot of time in the pool to keep some sort of fitness. It is perhaps the habit of doing the ‘prescribed exercises’ that help, wearing orthotics also, alongside taking calcium have also seemed to have worked.
I fell down the stairs at work in 2017 which brought on glutes problems coupled with other injuries between 2018/9, this just took time to fix, & I fell of a treadmill this year too
Body seems to be OK now – fingers crossed! Just need to get fit!!!
YOU WERE 2ND IN THE WATERHOUSE BYRNE BAIRD SHIELD IN 2012 AND 3RD IN 2013, DO YOU STILL HOPE TO GET YOUR NAME ON THE SHIELD? I’d just like to say that the Waterhouse Byrne Baird race is great, the legacy of it, the excitement behind checking out the relative handicaps, the banter! And I am sure that there are a couple of bets going on behind the scenes!
As to getting my name on the shield – I really don’t know, it’s one of those races that it just depends on fitness, injuries & luck on the day!
In the race you never know what could happen as each lap the leader can change. In 2012 Michelle did a great race & won. In 2013 I was pipped at the end on the last lap by both Paul (Cummins) and Barry (Potts)
But that year, Frank (McNally) wrote a lovely article and we got our photo in the Irish Times website! So perhaps that is nearest thing to winning as it gets!
Here is a link to Frank’s article in the Irish Times – https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/in-the-park-mid-winter-1.1638562
