Tri Talking Sport

Simon's mental, physical and emotional health were in a dire state, he ballooned in weight, was drinking heavily and was addicted to painkillers. At the age of 40 he reached out for help and was supported by his counsellor at the time to go back to a sport he loved as a child.. running, from there the rest is history and it was a turning point in his life.  He is an IRONMAN having raced at Wales in 2018 and now wants to help others by telling his story of how sport has helped him to recover his life. 

Haley is an Ironman and 70.3 Ironman Champion, a champion collegiate swimmer she competed in the Olympic Swim Trials in 2004 and 2008. Turning her back on her accountancy career, she has pursued life as a professional triathlete since 2013. She spent two years chasing a Kona dream but a crash in 2015, 20 days out from her IRONMAN World Championships knocked her down and out of competition for a while but she has returned to racing, fitter, stronger, with a can-do and will do attitude and sense of gratitude that has seen her deliver some of the best results of her professional career to date.

There are soundbites from this year’s National Marathon Champions Aoife Cooke and Stephen Scullion who both raced incredibly on the day. We also hear from previous podcast guests Valerie Fogarty, Kayanne Horgan, Collette O'Hagan & Ray O’Connor as well as a selection of the Blue Line Runners and a number of other familiar faces on the running scene in Ireland who share their race day experience with us. 

In this episode you will meet Mary Nolan Hickey, the 67 year old athlete from Arklow who is the only woman to finish all 40 editions of the marathon in Dublin, Collette O’ Hagan who is fondly referred to as the ‘Running Granny’ but at 70 years of age she shows no signs of stopping or slowing down. Tom and Alan from Middlesborough in the UK, who are both 80 years of age show us that age is not a barrier to fulfilling your dreams and having goals. 

I also chatted with Gordon Harold, who tells us about some of the plans for 2020 for KBC Dublin Marathon to focus and support mental health initiatives and managed to grab a few minutes with Frank Greally on the stage who talks about his passion projects across running, music and poetry.  

I had a the pleasure of meeting Paul Moran who is the new chairperson of the marathon committee, he took some time out to talk about his role in this anniversary year and the importance of volunteers to the event, and speaking of volunteers, I bumped into Ann & Amelia from Waterstown Warriors who were volunteering on the Friday of the Expo and had a busy few days ahead and finally I have a quick chat with Declan Byrne Regional Director of IRONMAN UK and Ireland about his ambitions for his race day Sunday. 

Each of these incredible female athletes has shown courage, bravery and resilience in pursuing their passion for sport, pushing through barriers to continue their triathlon journey providing much inspiration to women and men everywhere. 

We chat about Damian’s life as a professional rugby player, his completion of the Marathon des Sable in 2016 and his rowing of the Atlantic in 2017. He is currently undertaking the challenging adventure to complete the Seven Summits of the World, with just two of these left to complete in 2020. 

Setting big scary goals and devising his own training plans to complete them, there are some fabulous insights into how his mindset, determination, resilience and attitude have been central to his success an athlete and adventurer.  

Laura has an impressive sporting cv which includes multiple podiums at an age group level on the world stage before she made the move into the professional ranks whilst she was living in Australia.

Amongst her string of racing successes, she is a three-time IM Australia Champion after taking the title once again in May of this year.  She was looking forward to another busy season of racing before disaster struck this Summer when she came off her bike fracturing her collar bone. She has spent the past few months recovering from the injury and getting back into training and racing. 

Her first race post-injury was IM 70.3 Dun Laoghaire in August where she finished in 5th place, she took on and tamed the dragon in Tenby finishing in 3rd place at IRONMAN Wales this year. 

His insight into his training, racing and his tips are invaluable to anyone who is racing this year or who is looking to qualify for the IRONMAN Word Championships in the future. His genuine excitement about returning to the island is infectious, with a gracious attitude towards his opportunity to race with the best athletes in the world he is both humble and grateful to be able to do so and in his own words ‘blessed’ to be able to race on the Big Island once again this year. 

With very different sporting and family backgrounds, Val and Kayanne formed a bond for life through triathlon, supporting, encouraging and pushing each other all the way to hearing the most precious of words in the sport; You Are An IRONMAN'.

She has now finished on the podium 15 times in the last 4 years, winning her first race as a professional at IRONMAN Lanzarote in May of this year and winning IRONMAN 70.3 Dun Laoghaire on Sunday, her first 70.3 win as a professional athlete.  Nikki is also part of the British Para triathlete team as a guide hoping to make it to Tokyo 2020. 

The episode gives some great insight into Nikki’s life, the high’s the low’s, the pressure to perform and the consistency, confidence and determination it takes to make it to the top step of the podium as a professional female athlete.