McKiernan takes stress and pain out of running

CATHERINA McKIERNAN is Ireland’s fastest marathon runner and has won four silver medals in the world cross-country championships, but since retiring from competitive running she is imparting her vast knowledge to those who run competitively or just for fun.

She is making life more enjoyable, less stressful and pain-free for people who love to run or just walk through ChiRunning — a method she learned after a series of injuries forced her to retire from competitive running.

Catherina claims the ChiRunning programme increases mental clarity and focus, enhances the joy of running, and turns running into a safe and effective lifelong programme for health, fitness, and well-being. Her only regret is that she did not discover it during her competitive years. “You would not have been seeing those headlines ‘McKiernan pulls out through injury’,” she said.

“Friends of mine were in Canada on holidays and came across it. They were all excited about it and when they came home gave it to me.

Basically the mechanics of running are made easier and safer and, once she began learning about ChiRunning, she soon discovered the benefits.

“I got in contact with Danny (Dreyer) and eventually I went over to Miami and New York where he holds courses and, even though I am retired now, I am enjoying my running more than ever. I run 10 miles every morning — no pain, no strain and no injuries.

She knows of people who would love to run, people who have tried it and stopped because of injury or pain and now she wants to help those people get the enjoyment they want.

“Basically the correct mechanics for running make it easy to run and safer to run. A lot of people are getting injured when there is no need for them to get injured. The cornerstone of the technique is correct posture.”

Next week Danny Dreyer comes to Ireland for workshop in Castleknock on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then, the following weekend, June 16 and 17 there will be a two-day workshop in Lahinch.

Details can be had on the website www.chirunning.com or from Catherina McKiernan herself at 087 2100013.