Cork footballer completes first marathon the morning after winning Munster title
There are busy weekends, and then there is the weekend put down by Annie Walsh.
On Saturday afternoon last, Walsh, an eight-time All-Ireland winner during her days with Cork, top-scored with 0-3 as Inch Rovers comfortably overcame Templemore to claim the Munster Intermediate club ladies football crown.
But instead of travelling back to Killeagh with her teammates to continue the celebrations, Walsh hopped into her car following the 0-12 to 0-2 win at Mallow and made for Dublin. Her weekend was not yet done. There was another box - quite a long one at that - she intended to tick.
On Sunday morning, Walsh was one of the 22,500 runners who towed the start line for the 40th edition of the Dublin marathon. And while it was anything but a stroll in the park, she got through the 26.2 miles, her first marathon completed less than 24 hours after provincial club glory.
“There was a massive sense of fulfilment on Sunday afternoon. It was an unbelievable feeling,” said Walsh of her busy weekend.
“I was in bed early on Sunday. I wasn’t able for much else after it all.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone to go about it the way I did. But I suppose it shows what you can do when you put your mind to something. Sunday and the marathon was a psychological battle, and I’m glad to have won it.
Given her exertions in Mallow on Saturday in edging Inch Rovers within one hour of an All-Ireland club final appearance, you’d imagine the battle should have been more physical than mental when attempting to navigate her way around the capital.
“I felt fine on Sunday, I really did. I asked our club physio Stephen Gillman to loosen out my legs after the game on Saturday and then I had all my food prepared for the drive to Dublin. I did some stretching when I got to Dublin and the same again on Sunday morning.
“I had a very basic plan in my head and that was to just find my pace early on and then hold that pace for as long as I could. That’s what I did. I never panicked.
“Around the famous wall mark, 21 or 22 miles in, that was challenging, but I just told myself to keep going. You are putting your body under a lot of pressure, but the support was amazing.
“Your name is on your bib so you have strangers calling out your name and willing you on. Fellow runners, too, provide great support, cheering one another on. There is everyone and anyone doing it, all ages, shapes, and sizes, and we all have a common goal.”
We did it.. 3.35 pb for me and @AnnieWalsh85 killed it for her first marathon and after playing Club Munster Final with @InchRovers the evening before (And they won!) some woman 🙌🏼⚪🔴 @dublinmarathon #icaniwill #runthistown #inchrovers pic.twitter.com/S56tp0rpob
— elainewalsh (@walshelaine) October 28, 2019
Walsh got home in four hours and forty minutes and waiting for her at the finish was her twin sister Elaine, a seasoned runner, who completed the event in 3.35.
“The box is ticked now and I don’t know if I will tick it again. If I do, I would prepare a lot more than I did for this one,” continued Annie, who says her marathon training became more and more sidelined the further and further Inch Rovers progressed through the county championship.
“I knew I had the base [fitness], even if I hadn’t the actual miles done for it. I am headstrong. Once I put my mind to something, I knew I would do it. Mind you, I didn't tell anyone outside of my family and closest friends that I was doing it as I didn't want any pressure.”
Next up is Inch Rovers’ All-Ireland club semi-final the weekend after next against either Naomh Ciarán (Offaly) or Tinahely (Wicklow). It has been a superb year for a club who last winter requested they be regraded from senior to intermediate. Not an easy decision to take for a club who were All-Ireland senior club champions as recent as 2010.
“We did it because we felt it was the right thing for our group, we did it for the betterment of the club. We just felt that in order for us to rebuild properly, this was the right thing to do. It was backed up by results at senior level in recent years.
“We were very fortunate to win the county intermediate championship this year. The girls have been brilliant, have worked so hard to get us to where we are.”
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