The performances and times she ran back in the 90's were nothing short of amazing....
Winner of 4 silver medals in a row in the World Cross Country Championships......1992-1995
Winner of the European Cross Country Championships in 1994
Winner of the Berlin Marathon in 1997 in a time of 2:23:44, a new Irish record and the fastest debut ever by a woman at the time
Winner of the London Marathon in 1998 in a time of 2:26:26
Winner of the Amsterdam Marathon in the same year in a time of 2:22:23.....avg 5:26 per mile.....beating her previous best time to set a new Irish record.......which still stands to this day. The next closest time by another person is 2:28.
Winner of the Lisbon Half-Marathon in Lisbon in a time of 67:50........an average of 5:10 per mile.
Having watched the video clip, you'd have to wonder if there are other undiscovered 'Catherina McKiernans' out there? People who have the ability to go on and represent their country but are instead wasted on other sports by inward looking schools, clubs or coaches?
The 25 minute programme can be seen on the RTE website HERE until the 6th of July
"People who have the ability to go on and represent their country but are instead wasted on other sports by inward looking schools, clubs or coaches "
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect John, would you be so critical if a guy was disallowed from playing an important soccer match so that he could run on the school
athletics team ? Maybe it was his one chance to impress a scout, and maybe change his life. It works both ways, running isn't any better or any worse than other sports.
I don't think Catherina McKiernan's future as an athlete was ever in doubt irrespective of what happened at school. She made the right decision for herself, and that's fine. However, from her team mates point of view, she absolutely made the wrong decision. For many of those team mates, that Ulster schools' camogie match would have been the highlight of their sporting lives; she was their star player, and they would have felt she let them down. You don't know the exact circumstances at the time, the program glosses over those, but if she just didn't show up for the match, then that would be poor form. The school would have been right to have felt aggrieved. However it doesn't excuse them preventing her from running in the All-Ireland Schools championship.
There are plenty of 'outward looking schools, clubs or coaches' who have made the difference in many people's lives, provided encouragement when it was needed and don't get thanks or praise. You should remember those too.
Great blog - keep it up.
Regards
Kevin
"running isn't any better or any worse than other sports"...there I would disagree. Running and the other athletic disciplines are sports where you can represent your country on the world stage if you have the talent to do so.
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