A few weeks after joining Donore Harriers in 2015 Amy Moriarty placed 7th in the Irish senior women’s marathon championships and led the Donore Harriers team to national gold glory.
Since then, she has been a consistent competitor in club colours. Among her notable achievements was her 3.11.10 PB run in the Berlin Marathon in 2016. She followed that up with victory in the Sandymount Night race; and helped the Donore Harriers team to 3rd place in the competitive Bob Heffernan 5km at Enfield. In 2017 she came 3rd in the Clontarf 5-Mile; 2nd in the Clontarf Half-Marathon in 1.29; and won the Achill 10km in 41 minutes.
After overcoming injury Amy came 2nd in the 2018 Jim McNamara Cup – i.e., the club cross-country championship. In 2019 she won the A-Day-For-Edel Half-Marathon in Co. Kildare; completed the Amsterdam Marathon; and teamed up with Grace Kennedy-Clarke and Claire Mulligan to win the National 10-Mile championship.
Amy, who is ever popular at club training sessions and social events, has also represented the club in the National Track & Field League and the National Road Relays.
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? The Coombe, Dublin, 7th December 1985.
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? I did a few of my very early years in Hollywood, County Wicklow. But most of my schooling was in St Paul’s Greenhills, Dublin 12. Then I did my BA in Psychology in UCD, followed by a MSc in Clinical Neuroscience in London and finally my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in UCD which I finished in 2016. And lots of bits of all kinds of courses and jobs in between!
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? I pretty much knew I wanted to work as some form or psychologist or therapist since I was about 16/17 (!!) and have always felt very strongly about mental health and the importance of destigmatising psychological issues. However, I did briefly contemplate some other directions along the way such as Graduate Medicine in 2010, because I thought I’d never get a place on the Clinical Psychology programme. Yes, I somehow thought medicine might still be quicker! But I’m delighted I stuck it out because I really love my work. The training consisted of six placements in many areas, adults, children, hospital, disability, with lots of learning on the job. After I qualified, I did some private therapy work, then I worked in Psycho-oncology services in St Vincent’s hospital and I’ve been working as a Clinical Psychologist in Community Adult Mental Health Services in the glamourous Portlaoise for 2.5 years now!
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I joined in late Summer 2015.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? Ah, well, I was looking for clubs near where I lived in the North Circular Road area, and I had heard about Donore Harrriers from a family member and knew about the infamous Jimmy Mac long before I met him! I had been putting it off for a while and then finally I was in the pub one night with a friend and his friend joined us who happened to be Maurice Ahern’s son Ciaran. I think I had just done a race that day, and so we were chatting times, as runners do, and he gave me a good push to join and I made it my business that week to turn up and the rest is history! My first session is a pretty funny story I must elaborate later….
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? When I was 14, I was in a super small running club in Walkinstown with only a 200 metre track in the tiny Bunting park! But I credit it fully for my ease with running as an adult- the muscle memory is quite something! Sadly, the club was run by an older couple and they died a year or two after I joined, and the club just dissolved. After that I just ran around the park on my own for years. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to join a proper club!
When I was in my early 20s (around 2009) I started running with my uncle who was (and still is) a good runner. He gave me the necessary prod and I joined Rathfarnham for about 6-8 months. I was living in my family home in Kimmage then, so it was very handy. I think I only did one race with them. I’m sure it was that awful Phoenix Park ‘Great Run’ 10km. I did it in 44 minutes and surprised myself! It was a terrible shame that I got a bad injury while with them, but it was my own fault for not warming up before a tough speed session. It gave me grief for years, probably because it took me years to properly address it. I had moved to London around the same time so I kind of drifted away from the club running for a while. That said, I did join a club in London for a couple of months but again the injury flared up. I was gutted and annoyed, so l just let it go again and got really into weights instead! It wasn’t until I got a proper physio and did millions of yoga classes in 2013 (with no running for a while) that I seemed to shift the injury issue. It got me again a few times in more recent years when I over-trained, but I learned how to manage it better.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? As I said, I was doing proper weightlifting for a while. I loved this but it is a bit incompatible with endurance running! I remember trying to do the odd long-ish run and my thighs would feel like lead after the heavy squats and deadlifts, impossible to move!! Then I also had a cycling phase, where I did one of the Galway cycles and the Wicklow 100km. But if I’m honest, for me cycling was just a poor substitute for running! I hated all the bike faff. It’s great for commuting, not to Portlaoise mind, but that’s all! Running will always be my first love!
Now my other passion is yoga. It’s debatable if you could call it a “sport” but it can certainly push you physically – and mentally – if you do the right type! I actually did my teacher training in Yoga last year, which was amazing. It was a great distraction when I’ve not been running well. I wish I had done it as much years ago, as I genuinely believe regular classes would make you almost injury-proof. It really stretches out the niggles and balances out the weak and strong parts of the body. And it improves your breathing… I could go on!!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? One of my best and most enjoyable races was a half marathon but I’ll be honest, nothing gets the mind and body excited and terrified like a marathon. I’ve only done three, but I can fully see that it is a sort of addictive torture!
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Haphazard athlete! Let’s say distant athlete. We’ll blame my move to Portlaoise last March and Covid-19 situation for some of that!
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I’m reading an old book at the moment, Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Reading about how someone survived a concentration camp and found meaning in their experience. It really is testament to the resilience of some humans. It kind of makes lockdown seem quite tame!
I’m also dipping in and out of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, a great easy-to-read and funny book about creativity and not being afraid to pursue whatever your creative inclination is … Every bit I read inspires me!
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Gosh what a distant dream! I’m wrecking my brains trying to remember which saddens me because I adore music. It is probably the thing I would struggle most to live without. I know I was meant to go to Nick Cave in May and that was cancelled, which I was very sad about. He is legendary and I’m lucky to have seen him before.
On checking my photos, I see that I was at Aldous Harding in Vicar street in December 2019. She’s a little obscure and niche… right up my alley!
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS? This is an awfully difficult question! off the top of my head…
1. Requiem For A Dream – utterly depressing and I don’t recommend anyone watch it during lockdown, but it is amazing. It blew me away when I was about 19 and had a greater capacity for watching dark bleak movies!
2. Good Will Hunting – this was always my feel-good movie, and of course I love that there’s a good therapist in it (although we’ve sadly lost poor Robin since).
3. In Bruges- This is my favourite Christmas movie – not an obvious one, but it’s sharp, dark and very funny!
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? I love travel, and have done a lot of backpacking around Asia, Australia, NZ, South America, Africa and Europe so this is really hard!! I spent four months in Vietnam in 2008/9, three of which were doing volunteer work. It is an amazing country, and the people were just so lovely. The humidity is rotten though!
I loved the scenery in Namibia and South Africa. I did a sky dive in Namibia and looking down at the sand dunes as you whip through the air was spectacular! The ‘Garden Route’ in South Africa is stunning too.
I also have to mention the Salt flats (Salar di Uyuni) in Bolivia. I don’t know why they are not talked about more. I can only describe them like looking at a mirror reflecting white and blue as far as the eye can see…
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I think yoga, travel and music are evident already! And of course, learning about people, behaviour and the mind… that can never get boring, which is why I love my job. I enjoy film and books too, but I’m a bit slow in my consumption of both! The big one that I’ve not mentioned is writing. I go through phases with it but it’s probably my preferred creative outlet. It has been my saviour in lockdown. I can happily spend hours or even days banging away at the keyboard and level 5 is but a distant whisper at the end! I’ve also always loved the French language – and language in general – and I am finally back doing some online conversation classes now. I hope to emerge from Covid-19 comme une vrai femme fatale….!
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Another horribly difficult question!
1. The Cranberries – Dreams – for a teenage classic nostalgia throwback
2. Tom Waits – Chocolate Jesus – to remember his grizzly bear voice and humour!
3. Nils Frahm – Says – for a two-for-the-price-of-one electronic and piano fix
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/ARE YOUR COACH(ES)? That would be the wonderful Willie Smith. I know he hasn’t seen much of me lately, but I still look up to him hugely. His commitment and kindness are clearly not unnoticed by anyone, and I think it is deeply inspiring to see that people can be great leaders in a quiet and gentle way. It is exhausting to see so many ruthless and unthinking leaders/autocrats in the world… Willie for President I say!! Not that I’ve anything against Miggeldy of course!
I must mention Jim Mac was my coach before Willie, sadly for only a brief time. As soon as I met him I wanted to impress him; to me it seemed he had a sort of stoic unspoken fatherly pride in his runners, one that makes you want to push yourself all the harder! And that I did, so I’m very grateful to him. He’d have no time for any of this yoga ‘crap’ mind – “sure that’s time you could be spending running”!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? I guess I’d have to say the Berlin Marathon in 2016, not only because it was my fastest marathon (3.11), but it was a disastrous run and I’m still shocked and proud I got to the end. Unfortunately, I lost my watch just before it. I now think it took up permanent residence in an airport tray… but with little time I just borrowed a fitbit watch from a friend at the last minute. Absolute marathon no-no! I had EVERY KM planned out to the second, and I’m still quite sure I was fit enough for 3.08. When I started the watch flipped into miles and I have always been a kilometre girl, so I hadn’t a breeze what the mile pace was. As any runner knows, it’s impossible to do good maths while running. You sort of feel like you’re trying to sing and do long multiplication at the same time! Somehow, I translated 4.30 kms into 6.35 miles (clearly not the same) and I got a shock when I crossed the halfway point at about 1h30m. I knew I wasn’t a 3-hour marathoner, but I felt great and we all know how that story ends. By 17 miles I had smashed into the almighty Berlin Wall and by the end I was crawling to the finish line. It was absolute agony for a week, but I still got over that finish line and that’s what counts!
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)?
3,000m – 11.16 on the track.
5km – 19.43 officially. I did a 6km race when I was quite fit in about 23.24 so I know I beat my 5km within it but no 5km races that year!
5-mile – 32.49 in the Irish Runner 5 in 2018
10km – 40.23 in the Fingal 10Km. Sadly I did this 4-days after the 6km race above, so I wrecked my chances of my sub-40!
10-mile – 67.52 …. in the evil Frank Duffy 10 (2017) that injured me!
Half Marathon – 1.29 in Clontarf
Marathon – 3.11.10 (Berlin 2016) or 3.14 (Dublin 2015)
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? Oh, I always loved the Polo Grounds in the Summer… probably a good pukarific 6 – 8 x 800m session perhaps…
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? I’ve a memory of a Magazine loop session with Willie (Smith) one Saturday morning where the wind was so strong, I’m sure it was blowing us all backwards, It was rough! I’ll be honest some of the standard 400/600m sessions in 2019 were the hardest for me as I was struggling with my lungs a lot, wheezing your way through speed training leaves you dizzy and wanting to vomit, not much fun!
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Amsterdam marathon training in 2019 was probably the last proper schedule I adhered to. It was usually 5 days a week: – speed Tuesday, tempo Thursday; hills Saturday; Long Sunday and a few handy miles some other day. I tried the 6-day training in 2016 and was injured before the Berlin Marathon and missed several long runs, so I learned it didn’t really suit my body!
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? I had mentioned the first day I turned up was funny. I arrived late as always to the clubhouse on a Thursday and everyone had already gone to the park, but I was greeted by Jim Mac who was only delighted to have a new lamb for the slaughter no doubt! When I said: “ah sure I’ll do my own run” he was having none of it and said: “no I’ll show you where they are”. I barely had a word out of my mouth when he leapt into the passenger seat of the car while telling me to get moving. We embarked on what felt like slow-speed car chase across the park and he was calculating out loud where different runners would be at a very specific tree! He made me park near the Papal cross and told me to run up to the corner with Chesterfield Avenue. I was duly directed to run up and down a 50-metre patch of grass to warm up until a suitably paced runner passed whom he felt I could join. I was highly entertained by the whole thing- the old don’t let strangers into your car motto was quickly forgotten in the moment! I knew Jim was a good man from then on!
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME? I’m terrible with sports people it’s shocking….
1. Ciara Mageean – I saw her talk in the club and she was great and so humble, I often need to meet people to be inspired!
2. Anne and Florrie Curley – Real life legends who are some of the most committed runners I know!
3. Catriona McKiernan – whom I’ve also seen running effortlessly around the park and who will always give you a friendly nod as though she respects every runner no matter their speed… that’s inspiring!
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
YOU RAN 3.14 ON YOUR CLUB DEBUT IN THE DUBLIN MARATHON 2015. YOU FOLLOWED THAT UP WITH A 3.11 IN THE 2016 BERLIN MARATHON AND RAN GOOD 5-MILE TIMES, SUCH AS 33.16 IN THE RAHENY 5, 32.49 IN THE IRISH RUNNER 5 AND 33.07 IN THE CLONTARF 5, ALL OF WHICH SUGGESTED A GOOD ATHLETICS PATHWAY. WHY DO YOU THINK IT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED FOR YOU? This is an interesting question and I’ve been pondering on it a lot. I think in athletics, and probably many forms of creativity or performance, there is this idea that it is only ‘happening for you’ when you are performing at your best, or indeed, when you are constantly outperforming yourself. It is interesting because I would say it did happen for me; I showed up for my first marathon- which I should say was the result of a bet over a pint with a non-running friend – and was honoured and shocked to get a gold team medal and individual medal for it. As a result of this, I really committed to the running and loved every moment of it – except the injuries of course – and managed to get a few other good medals and times. Sadly, in the last two years I have begun to really suffer from asthma- which seems to have developed because of allergies and mould exposure combined with a predisposition to respiratory issues. It has not been easily managed with medication, except for brief periods. Of course, it has been a great source of frustration and disappointment at times, because I would love to keep improving, competing and running in an effortless way again. But I’m also aware that our bodies change, and we never know when our last moment of great health or running or success might be, so we’d be better served being grateful for what we have achieved, rather than what we will not! Elizabeth Gilbert, whom I mentioned earlier, suggests an idea which I love: that if we do something or produce something great in any field, that we should think of this ‘greatness’ as being on loan to us, rather than in us, and at some stage we have to give it back, so that it can be passed onto someone else…. I love this idea and it reminds us not to be quite so attached to our successes. Her follow-up thought on this however, is that whatever our passion is, we should keep showing up to do our piece regardless of the success or glory. This is now the real challenge for me – and probably many of us when we’re not at our ‘best’. Although I don’t run as much these days, because it can be quite a wheezy struggle, showing up is what counts. And also remembering why we run in the first place, which for me was always about the exhilaration and the joy of the simple one-foot-on-front-of-the-other movements! Perhaps with that in mind, I should do another marathon, and even if it takes 5 hours, it would probably be my greatest achievement yet…
YOU WENT ON A TRIP TO THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 10km IN MAY 2018 WITH A GROUP OF DONORE HARRIERS ATHLETES. HOW WAS THAT TRIP FOR YOU? That was an emotional trip as the results from the Repeal Referendum results came in the day after we arrived. So, there was a lot of overwhelm for a few of us, a big day for Ireland! The race itself was pretty awful. I just remember that giant hill which never ended and made me want to get sick. I think I came in 10th female, so I was delighted with that! I remember everyone saying that they thought Alan (Farrell) was going to die at the end. I’m sure he turned green! I confess I just laughed- sorry Alan! We explored a lot of Edinburgh and there was some good eating and drinking. It was a lot of fun, and seems a distant dream during Covid-19!
YOU DID THE ANCHOR LEG FOR THE DONORE HARRIERS SENIOR TEAM IN THE 2018 NATIONAL ROAD RELAY AT RAHENY. WHAT ARE YOUR RECOLLECTIONS OF THAT RACE? <<NOTE: Niamh O’Neill ran in first leg, Sinead Lambe the 2nd leg and Amy the 3rd leg. Team finished 9th>>I’d almost forgotten about this! To be honest, it was a bit intimidating running with such amazing people on the team. I know I am not really built for speed and knew I was always going to be the slowest! But I’ve always been happy to leave the ego at the door and fill in a space if I can be of use to the team. This is why I ended up doing some track running in 2017 too. The Relay was still a lot of pressure, and I vaguely remember Iain (Morrison) telling me to relax my shoulders as I ran around one of the corners. I definitely scrunch them up when I’m pushing, but there was no way I could relax in that moment! Once it was over, I was delighted of course, We all know that sudden transition from “why the hell did I sign up for this” to the immediate “oh my God when can I do it again”. I imagine races might be like mini-versions of child birth. I don’t have any children, so I’ll happily take abuse from the mothers for that if totally untrue!
DID YOU EVER COMPETE AS A JUVENILE OR JUNIOR OR IN SCHOOLS COMPETITION? There weren’t many people in my secondary school who could run, and I was half decent, so I was sent off to Santry once or twice, but I was eaten alive out there! I usually got a few medals on Sport’s days in any race longer than 200 metres, and I was always the last one going on the much-hated bleep test, holding the whole class up! I did a few mini cross-country races in secondary school too. I think I did reasonably well in them, but sadly I didn’t do them enough or fully commit. Too busy being young and having fun, no regrets there!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST DISTANCE? Probably still the Marathon…
WHAT’S YOUR PREFERENCE, CROSS-COUNTRY or ROAD? Road runner all the way!
