Sarah is a highly respected member of the sporting community given her participation and contribution to a number of different events and organisations.
Sarah has been a competitor and volunteer with the Irish Mountain Running Association and is a regular participant and event organizer with the Irish Orienteering Association (IOA). She is likewise an active member of the Fingal Orienteers club.
In the colour of Donore Harriers she has competed at distances between parkrun and the marathon – and is a regular at road races and Meet & Train events. Sarah is also a regular volunteer at club events.
She is the current and long-standing Treasurer of the IOA.
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Rotunda Hospital, Dublin in August 1980
WHERE ARE YOU BEING EDUCATED? I’m currently being educated at the University of Life, like many club members. I have a degree in Engineering from UCD, a Masters in Energy Management from TUD and an MA in Leadership & Strategy from the IPA.
WHAT IS YOUR PLANNED CAREER PATH? In October 2020 I joined the Department of Environment, Climate & Communications on secondment from the Department of Justice. I am a member of the team that is preparing the next iteration of the National Climate Action Plan. Prior to working in Dept Justice I worked in the Office of Public Works. Who knows where I will end up when my secondment finishes!
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? 2010
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? Location, Location, Location
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? Yes. I played Ladies Gaelic Football – the rules are slightly different to the men’s version- until around the time I joined Donore Harriers. I was also orienteering and dabbling in mountain-running.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? You can’t beat a Meet & Train cross country followed by a good spread.
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Slogger
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? When I was a child, Sonia O’Sullivan would have been a big one. She was one of the few prominent female sportswomen of the time. I try to emulate her famous sprinter’s kick but not with as much success. Thankfully now there are far more successful sportswomen who are excellent role model for girls and young women.
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? “The New Wilderness” by Diane Cook
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? I have to confess that it was Westlife in July 2019, where I was on duty as a voluntary steward. I would like to put it on the record that I am not a Westlife fan, so does that count? In terms of concert for which I actually paid for tickets, Kylie Minogue in December 2018.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. Silence of the Lambs. No-one can say “Clarice” quite like Anthony Hopkins
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. JoJo Rabbit. It was the last film I saw in the cinema.
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Japan. I was there in April 2019. An amazing country and I would recommend a visit to everyone.
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? As mentioned above, I am a voluntary steward in Croke Park, which takes up quite a lot of time. I also read and try to do table quizzes. I sometimes do them with Florence Curley.
IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. “Human” by The Killers
2. “Insomnia” by Faithless
3. “N17” by The Saw Doctors.
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/ARE YOUR COACH(ES)? Willie Smith and before that, when I first joined Donore Harriers, the late Jim McNamara.
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)? My 3:59:57 in the Dublin marathon in 2011, 38:18 in the Raheny 5-mile in 2012 and a 5km in 22:20 also in 2012.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? A Saturday morning fartlek on the magazine hills. Maybe even in the rain.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? Willie and Iain (Morrison) came up with an idea last summer for a Saturday morning session on the Polo Grounds. We had to run for 1 minute, recover for 1 minute, run for 2 minutes, recover for 1 minute, run for 3 minutes, recover for 2 minutes and then go at tempo pace for 2 minutes followed by a recovery. I think I did that three times and I was shattered. I had to have a nap that afternoon.
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? I’m going to be somewhat controversial here and let slip that I used to go to the gym twice a week. I used to do a gym class on Monday, intervals on a Tuesday, yoga class on a Thursday, class on Friday and then the Saturday session. I might run or go orienteering on the Sunday.
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? As someone who grew up in North East Dublin, I can never understand how club members can get lost going to Raheny for the Raheny 5, cross country in St. Anne’s or the National Road Relays.
<<NOTE: I must admit that I also belong to this group. I turn my bike up the Malahide Road at Fairview and keep on cycling towards Coolock…doh!>>
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? Adult men and women training together, although that has happened in recent years. A few more social events in the club, hopefully sometime in the future.
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Sonia O’Sullivan
2. Joe Canning
3. Rena Buckley
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
YOU COMPETE IN MOUNTAIN RUNNING EVENTS, ORGANIZED BY THE IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION (IMRA). WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO MOUNTAIN RACES? I have to admit that I found myself at IMRA events almost by accident. I had made a lot of friends through my involvement in orienteering and some of them were branching out into IMRA. They more or less brought me with them. IMRA is a very sociable organisation: socialising after events is a big part of the sport. I haven’t done an IMRA race since 2015 or 2016. I think I’d collapse if I tried to run up a mountain now.
YOU ARE BOTH A COMPETITOR AND AN ORGANIZER IN THE SPORT OF ORIENTEERING. WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ORIENTEERING STEM FROM? AND WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT INVOLVEMENT WITH THE SPORT? I started orienteering when I was in college in UCD. I’m currently Treasurer of the Irish Orienteering Association (IOA), the National Governing Body with responsibility for the growth and development of the sport in Ireland – the equivalent of Athletics Ireland but a lot smaller. I have been the Treasurer since 2010. I have also organised a lot of multi-day orienteering events, including the Leinster 3-Day in 2016 and the Irish Orienteering Championships in 2018. That was a 4-day event with over 300 participants that was held in Donegal. Needless-to-say, the organisation involved in those events is massive and I was exhausted after them. It was also complicated by the fact that I was doing it on a voluntary basis. I have organised, planned, and helped out at other, more local events as well, with my club Fingal Orienteers. Orienteering is a sport that is ideally suited to social distancing: we had events on during the summer when other sports were not allowed to. I would definitely encourage going to an event for our younger athletes, particularly the cross-country group.
WHAT ARE THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS IN ORIENTEERING? A combination of navigation and fitness. Navigation is possibly more important. Often orienteers are running so fast that they miss out on key features and get lost. Or run around in circles for ages trying to find a control.
HOW CAN YOUNG ATHLETES, OR INDEED ADULTS, TRY OUT ORIENTEERING? ARE THERE ANY BASIC SKILLS AND INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED? Anyone can try orienteering: it’s a sport for those aged 8 to 80 at all levels of fitness. For someone, of any age, starting out, I would recommend going to a “Come and Try It” event in an urban park and trying the short or medium course. If that’s too easy, try the long course the next time and then move on to more complex league events. For those events all you need are a pair of runners. You’ll get a map when you start.
Events on open mountain require navigational skills, but those can be learned, and clubs hold training events. These events require a compass and the ability to use one, as well as trail shoes or other footwear suited to rough terrain – not spikes. And possibly a lightweight but water/windproof jacket!
Details of events can be found on https://www.orienteering.ie/. There are no events at present, but the IOA has used the past year or so to promote the use of MapRunF/MapRun6. These are apps that can be downloaded to your phone, and even to your GPS watch. Maps of courses in some areas such as parks or even suburban areas, are available to download for free. So, you can just head to the start point on the map at any time and run around the course, recording your time on your phone. The phone will beep when you reach a “control” although there won’t be a physical control there. That is another good way to learn, particularly if someone lives in area that is mapped and is already familiar with it. They can learn and understand map symbols and related to an area they know. It would also be a good, and slightly different, training session for athletes of all ages.
THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A GREAT CAMARADERIE AMONGST ORIENTEERS, SO DO YOU HAVE ANY FUNNY OR UNUSUAL STORY FROM A TRIP OR EVENT?There are multi-day orienteering events held worldwide that anyone can enter: you don’t need to qualify. I have travelled to these events with friends and often combined them with a holiday in the country in question. Easter is usually a good time of year to go. For many years travelling to an Easter orienteering event was a regular occurrence. In 2009 I and five friends went to a four-day event held in the town of Targovishte, Bulgaria. Targovishte is a town with a population of about 35,000 in north-eastern Bulgaria. None of us knew any Bulgarian and Bulgaria uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which made life more interesting! The organisers of the event gave each of us a small pocket dictionary to help us in our efforts. One evening we went out for dinner in a small, local restaurant. None in the restaurant spoke English but we found the Bulgarian for “potato” in the dictionary and chose every dish on the menu where we could see that word. Well, the food just flowed. Endless amounts of platters of food, each containing potato in some form or other. There was also this weird ice-cold soup that we had to drink. It was white and looked like milk. While we were working our way through this feast, the door to the restaurant opened and a member of the kitchen staff walked in, with what can best be described as a, “good sack of spuds” on his shoulder. He came in and went straight into the kitchen. We had managed to eat them out of potatoes, and someone had been sent to get more! We certainly lived up to the image of the potato-loving Irish! And yes, I still have the dictionary.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ACHIEVEMENT WHILST REPRESENTING DONORE HARRIERS? Squeezing in under the 4-hour hour mark at the 2011 Dublin marathon and finishing in 3:59:57.
HAVE YOU RAN IN ANY OTHER MARATHONS SINCE THEN? Ahem!!! No, I haven’t. Training for a marathon is all-consuming and I think that unless you really have the grá for it and are prepared to commit, there’s no point. I haven’t ruled out doing another one at some stage in the future but getting an entry to Dublin is a complicated business these days.
HAVE YOU COMPETED IN THE WATERHOUSE BYRNE BAIRD SHIELD? AND WHAT IS YOUR BEST RESULT? No, never! I can’t summon the energy to get over to the Park on time.
HAVE YOU HAD ANY L0NG-TERM INJURY? IF YES, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE INJURY AND THE RECOVERY PROCESS? Surprisingly not, but then I probably don’t train hard enough or take enough risks to get seriously injured. I have now just jinxed myself ahead of my return to training. I have gone over on my ankle a few times. Orienteering is particularly bad for that: tripping over tree roots and falling into rabbit holes. I have a problem with my circulation so I’m reluctant to ice any form of injury to my hands or feet. So, I just have to be patient, not put too much pressure on it and wait for the injury to heal.