Aoibhe Richardson's new sense of direction: 'I went from having everything to having nothing'

Aoibhe Richardson of Kilkenny City Harriers at the launch of the 2021 Irish Life Health National Cross Country Championships. The Championships take place at Santry Demesne on Sunday. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

It’s the fork in the road that has claimed many promising careers, the choice facing athletes who step out of the supportive structures of the NCAA system and into the abyss — typically devoid of financial backing — that lies beyond.

During the summer, Aoibhe Richardson was surveying her options and hadn’t a breeze where she was headed next. The Kilkenny distance runner had just completed a master’s in public health at the University of San Francisco and, with her lease expired, she was sleeping on a friend’s couch as she figured out her next move.