Perhaps it’s the distinct hue of the setting October sun pouring onto any given cross-country circuit that sets the scene for the exciting start of a new distance-running season with such a warm embrace of familiarity. This sentiment is anticipated to be echoed this consecutive Sunday at Abbotstown’s Sport Ireland Campus during the Autumn International Cross-Country event. The day’s forecast predicts upbeat and welcoming weather conditions. For a multitude of Irish athletes, it presents an opportunity to kick-start their season, ablaze with potential, renewed optimism, and the prospect of fresh targets, potentially beginning with the European Cross-Country Championships scheduled to take place in Atalya, Turkey, in December.
Other Irish athletes find themselves facing critical decisions. Around a year ago, Ciara Mageean sat opposite me during an interview, reflecting on her triumphs and rare shortfalls in the 2023 season, from placing fourth in the 1,500 metres World Championship in Budapest to bettering her own Irish record to 3:55.87 and securing second place at the Brussels Diamond League. As our conversation was drawing to a close, Mageean unveiled a small tattoo of the Olympic rings on her lower right arm, underscoring not only the Paris Olympics to come but also her experience to date.
Fewer Irish athletes have faced adversity and displayed resilience equal to Mageean. Sonia O’Sullivan’s observation “coaching always comes back to the basics” holds true, while Olympian David Gillick remarked on the challenges of coaching children and managing their parents’ expectations that are so closely tied to the results.
Age 50, an athlete managed to complete a running pilgrimage across Ireland, an astonishingly impressive feat accomplished without even a blister. Mageean emphasised the Olympics’ significance to both athletes and their audience while noting her growing objectivity in viewing it akin to another World Championship, striving not to be engulfed by its enormity.
Expressing her unique perspective, she detailed her unfinished trajectory, with a goal to perform to her utmost capability. She’s determined to do everything possible to ensure it happens, embodying the tireless spirit she demonstrated during this year’s World Championships.
Mageean was slated to participate in her third Olympics in Paris. Yet, after a dismal performance hampered by a calf injury in Tokyo’s initial rounds and a subsequent subpar run in the semi-finals in Rio, she was left chastising herself. Her decision to step back on the brink of her 1,500m round in Paris was presumably even more challenging, influenced by an Achilles tendon injury that seemed to perpetually disrupt her training regimen since her triumph in Rome, where she clinched the European 1,500m gold medal just a mere eight weeks prior.
Despite a series of hurdles, Mageean remains one of the few, if not the only, Irish athletes who embodies resilience. Following Tokyo, her victories included a silver medal at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games. She supplemented these accolades by shattering O’Sullivan’s Irish 1,500m record, a feat unchallenged since 1995.
Mageean’s inaugural Irish indoor senior title dates back 16 years to early 2008, when she was only 15. She snagged the title over 1,500m, thus slashing two seconds off the Irish junior record. Despite being tagged with several monikers since then, she was undeterred and carved a unique path.
Raised in Portaferry, positioned at the extremity of the Ards Peninsula, Mageean’s daily routine started with an 8.15 ferry ride across Strangford Lough, followed by boarding the bus to Assumption Grammar, Ballynahinch. She had to face severe challenges early in her career; her initial debut on the international stage in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, in October 2008 was quite a jolt. Expected to clinch a medal in the 800m, she only managed to secure the fifth position, the entire cohort taken aback by the victory of Caster Semenya from South Africa. Yet, Mageean rebounded promptly, securing bronze in the 1,500m just two days later.
Subsequently, conquering a commendable fourth place in the 1,500m at the European Championships in Berlin in 2018 solidified her tenacity. Despite being unable to describe her feelings adequately, it was clear her resolve was firmer than ever.
Drawing from the strength of her late coach, Jerry Kiernan, has always been a source of immense courage for her. Kiernan’s passing in January 2021 was unexpected, but his guidance was pivotal as she negotiated the challenging phase of moving beyond her junior years. A nagging ankle bone spur had her contemplating whether she would ever return to running.
In 2023, Mageean authored an introspective piece named “Breakthrough” for World Athletics Spikes magazine. This piece highlighted that first major obstacle she faced back in the summer of 2012.
Mageean vividly recalls being in a Dublin cafe, overwhelmed with emotion, bearing her anxieties to Kiernan. At the young age of 20, she was grappling with an impending surgery to address the ankle ailment that had been tormenting her for the last year. The surgeons gave her an 80-85% likelihood of it alleviating her pain—naturally, this indicated a 15-20% chance that it wouldn’t. This uncertainty was daunting—what would she become if she could no longer be the Runner?
Kiernan, an experienced Olympic marathoner, imparted wisdom and reassurance. He emphasized that she was valuable as an individual, beyond being a runner. Most importantly, he predicted that successfully overcoming the injury would indeed grant her a more extended stint in the sport.
Recently, there have been rumours of Mageean considering a return to Ireland, signaling a complete shift from her training arrangement in Manchester. Even today, Kiernan’s reassuring words about her longevity in the sport resonate deeply.
Mageean will be celebrating her 33rd birthday next March, still very much in her prime for long-distance running, even though she will be 36 by the 2028 LA Olympics. The Paris Olympics raced by swiftly in the three years since Tokyo, making LA seem quite far into the future currently.
However, for Mageean, the road to LA may be long and solitary, but it’s a path she’s treaded before. Importantly, it serves as a reminder that she is still a considerable distance from her journey’s end in running.