Marathon woman eyes Olympic prize

MARLAY Park in south Co Dublin is a vast space. A collection of large lawns, football pitches and playgrounds, it is surrounded by motorways and busy roads. On a grey Friday afternoon, with clouds assembling and gliding over the nearby Dublin Mountains, two people trot around it, each with very different goals.

The first is marathon runner Linda Byrne, who is training for the upcoming Olympics. The second is your intrepid reporter, who is desperately trying to think of an excuse to get out of his predicament. We are only about two kilometres into a 4km warm-up, and while Linda’s breathing is calm and even, I am panting hard.

As we hit the third kilometre the chit-chat which had peppered our conversation at the outset has gone. I feel that I am slowing the future Olympian down. Realising that this is the excuse I’ve been looking for since over a kilometre back, I and dutifully let her race on ahead of me. As she disappears into the distance and I slow to a crawl, it becomes clear to me that I could never do what Byrne does. That this is her second session of the day and is, what she calls, an easy session, makes what she does even more remarkable.