‘Friday Night Fights’ was launched by professional fighter and head coach of Warriors Gym, Cian Cowley.
‘Friday Night Fights’ aims to bridge the gap between amateur and professional Muay Thai in Ireland by creating an amateur event with the atmosphere of a bigger show – the walkouts, the lights, DJ and bar, and the crowd. The aim is to showcase Irelands best up-and-coming talent, giving them a platform where they can develop their skills.
Muay Thai, which translates to Thai Boxing, is a combat sport originating from Thailand. In Muay Thai a fighter will use all their limbs; kicks, knees, punches and elbows to outscore his/her opponent, earning it the title ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’.
Amateur fighters will usually compete for a spot on the undercard of the bigger shows such as WMO Fight Series, or Deliverance in Belfast. To get their experience, up-and-coming fighters will compete on interclubs, which are competitions that are usually held inside gyms.
“Interclubs are just glorified spars, whereas Friday Night Fights provides that whole atmosphere of a Muay Thai show, but on a smaller scale,”, Cian told The City. He believes it’s very important for amateur fighters to get a taste of what these shows are like to compete in.
On Friday September 20th, 46 up-and-coming fighters made the walk to the ring in the Sallynoggin Inn, South Dublin.
One of Ireland’s most successful clubs found themselves a couple of hours away from potential liquidation.
The club has struggled this season on the pitch as manager, Jon Daly’s side find themselves at the bottom of the league, as relegation to the first division looms over the club for next season. With six games remaining having suffered a 2-1 loss on the weekend to Sligo Rovers the club needs a big turnaround to try and stay up for another season in the premier division.
The last few years finances at Dundalk,show that out of the last six years at the club there has been only one season (2020) in which the club made a marginable profit of just €108,386. Over the course of these years, the club has lost a total of €4.9 million.
Statistics via James Rogers on X
In terms of player wages there has been a significant increase after losing some key players like Patrick Hoban who is the club’s all time top goal scorer in history, along with some key players who contributed to the success of the club such as Daniel Kelly, John Martin and Greg Sloggett. Even with these players departing, the wage bill still went up a staggering €100,000 between 2022 to 2023.
The club confirmed over the past week that they had been taken over by a consortium led by Dundalk native John Temple, after he bought an 80% purchase of the club from Brian Ainscough who only acquired the club in December of 2023.
A statement from the club after the takeover was announced read that they have agreed to underwrite the players current wages until the end of the season and will examine the viability of the club and its facilities going forward. (“TAKEOVER AGREED WITH JOHN TEMPLE – Dundalk Football Club)
Dundalk aren’t the first club to struggle financially in Ireland as in recent years, every club has struggled, including Shamrock Rovers, St. Patricks Athletic, and Bohemians.
Local league of Ireland fan, Shannon Lester, said; “I personally don’t think the league gets enough from the likes of the government. Other sports in the country even get more air time, which I don’t think is right.
“I don’t think there is enough backing from the FAI, I think they’re a shambles and to be honest I feel like they only get involved when things are already too far gone,” Lester said.
“It was sad to see with what had gone on with Dundalk, but I do think that something should be done as if it was the likes of Rovers or Bohs and there would be more fuss over the situation,” she said.
She continued, “I think the last few years the clubs have gotten way more fans through the gates, and you can see it every week in the stadiums. I just feel that without the support of the FAI or even the media coverage, you will see these teams like UCD or Drogheda who don’t have a massive stadium so they wouldn’t get as many home fans as the bigger clubs in this country and won’t take in as much money due to this.”
The Irish boxers going to the European Under-22 Championship were asked to sign a contract by the sport’s governing body stating that they would withdraw from a fight if they drew a Russian or Belarusian opponent.
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) got this directive from the Irish government. They declined to comment but a representative said, “The IABA’s decision is in recognition of the fact that Ireland is a signatory to four successive Collective Statements on Russia’s war on Ukraine and international sport.”
Kian Hedderman was the first boxer to have to forfeit his fight on the opening day of the championship in Budva, Montenegro due to the policy.
“I was devastated to be honest. I felt like all my hard training and sacrifices just went towards nothing. It’s a personal dream to box in the Europeans even with taking time off work. If you’re not working, you’re not getting paid, so it was a loss all around, especially coming up to Christmas,” Hedderman said.
He stayed at the championship to show support despite his forced withdrawal.
“Going home wouldn’t make it any better. As I was team captain, I felt like I had to be there to support the others and one of my good mates was still in the tournament. I know in my heart that I’ll be there again, and the coaches were great to me there. They would do anything they could for you,” he added.
Hedderman had the choice to stay in Ireland and do the Irish Elite Championship instead, but he chose to go to the European Championship knowing the risk of what could happen.
“I don’t think I’d ever turn down the choice to put the Ireland vest on. My coach was keener on me doing the Irish Elites because he believed that I was gonna win it out, but it was too hard for me to turn down the Europeans.
“I have no regrets. I believe everything happens for a reason. I got to see how it runs, how it works and what’s the level that it takes to bring back a medal. This will put fuel in the fire for 2024 as my mental has changed for the better now. I can’t wait to perform in the squared circle and win again,” he added.
Image: Unsplash
Hedderman says that the new rules won’t stop him from pursuing his dreams. Players and coaches have accused the Irish government and IABA for bringing politics into the sport.
“Politics don’t belong in the sport. They don’t understand what us young boxers go through. Boxing was an escape for me, and it gave me a purpose. Decisions like this may end a career, but they don’t obviously see that. I’ll be back again and this time, even better and stronger,” he added.
Gavin Rafferty was the second Irish fighter who had to withdraw from the championship due to drawing a Belarusian opponent.
“I think it’s wrong. I think it’s a political situation that’s been brought into sport and I don’t think it’s right,” said Rafferty’s boxing coach, Philip Keogh.
“He’s a very good boxer. He’s been preparing for the last twelve weeks for the European Championships. It was a pity to see Gavin having to withdraw because he missed out on getting the medal. It would have been a lifelong memory to achieve a European medal in boxing,” added Keogh.
Rafferty’s boxing club risked sending him to the championship in the hopes that the circumstances would work out in their favour.
“We took the chance. We only found out Russia were going in the last few days, and we didn’t know if they were going to send a full team, so we just went with it. It wouldn’t have been right to pull out just a couple of days before. We hoped that they would’ve been knocked out of the tournament in the earlier rounds by other opponents,” added Keogh.
Image: Unsplash
Evelyn Igharo was the third Irish boxer to withdraw after she had already claimed the European bronze medal in the championship, which meant she could not continue competing for the silver.
“When I drew the Russian, I was heartbroken. All of us knew before we went over that there was a chance that we had to pull out. I thought it would be sooner on that I would meet my Russian,” Igharo said.
“We only brought three bronze medals back to Ireland, but I think it could have been a lot more because we weren’t really prepared for it. We were told we weren’t allowed to enter the Elites. I was the former Elite champion so now my title went to someone else because I couldn’t box and defend my title,” she added.
Igharo witnessed the implications that the rules had for Hedderman and her team.
“Kian had it really bad because he just went away for a little holiday. He came down and just got told that he wasn’t boxing, but they did arrange spars for him.
“I don’t think politics belong in sport because I don’t see how what a country is doing affects the athletes. We’re the only country to send out a team and spend money on transport and then at the end of the day still pull out. They shouldn’t send a team if they were going to do that, it doesn’t really make sense,” she added.
She is pessimistic about her future in the sport in Ireland.
“At the moment, I’m still going to be training but I don’t think there’s anything in Ireland for boxers. There are great fighters, but they’re not funding it properly. There isn’t any incentive to stay at the amateur game because the IABA isn’t really doing anything for the boxers,” she added.
Meath Ladies GAA footballer Emma Duggan was nominated for the 2022 TG4 Player’ Player of the Year award, following a stellar season.
Despite her success at both club and county level, Duggan was pipped to the award by Donegal’s Niamh McLoughlin.
Duggan – who is clubmates with previous POTY winner, and current AFL player Vicki Wall – starred as Meath completed back-to-back All-Ireland wins beating Kerry. An icon in football in Ireland, Duggan kicked 1-12 in this year’s championship.
Reflecting on the year, Duggan expressed her delight at starring in another All-Ireland final.
‘’It was just great to be back on that stage competing for another All-Ireland. I would say a lot of people had sort of wondered if we could do it again after being a bit of a surprise package last year,” Duggan said.
“We weren’t really playing as well as we could have, certainly at the start of the year, but as the year went on, we got better and better.”
Meath’s All-Ireland bid had stuttered with a draw to Armagh, meaning they would face Galway in the quarter-final in Tullamore. With less than 10 seconds left on the clock and the game level, Duggan stepped up and scored a ‘buzzer beater’ point to win the game.
‘’It was a great win in Tullamore, we always knew that Galway were going to be such a tough team to play against and it went right down to the wire,” Duggan said.
“The ball kind of just came to me and I didn’t really have a lot of time to think about what I was going to do with it, I was just delighted when I saw it went over, even though it held in the air for a long time,” she added.
Beating Donegal in the semi final set up a clash with Kerry in the final, which Meath would later win in style. Duggan’s well rounded performance contributed to their nine-point win.
‘’Kind of like our year, we got better as the game went on. We obviously didn’t start well but the goals in the second half gave us a bit of a cushion,” Duggan said.
‘’I remember having the ball as the clock was ticking down. Honestly, it’s one of the best feelings ever to know all the hard work has paid off.”
Following the Championship success, Duggan also won her first Senior Division One league title, beating Donegal on a scoreline of 2-8 to 1-9. It completed all the accolades she could win after winning both trophies at Junior and Intermediate levels.
‘’The league was a weird one because we were coming back from being All-Ireland champions. We had two great games with Dublin and then a really close battle with Donegal in the final,” Duggan said.
After the Inter-County season, Duggan won her third Meath ladies final in a row with her local club Dunboyne, scoring 1-9 in the decider. A hectic season came to an end, finishing with her third title.
Duggan told thecity.ie of her delight at winning yet another County title:
‘’To win three-in-a-row with Dunboyne was a special feeling. We weren’t great in the final, but we got the job done against a really good Dunshaughlin team and that’s all that matters.”
Nicknamed “De breeze”, Aaron hill is a 20-year-old professional snooker player from county Cork. Born on February 28th 2002, he entered the world with a fierce thirst for the game of snooker, proving his abilities from a very young age.
Aaron Hill in action
“I was in every sport you could think of from the age of four to sixteen. I knew it was time to fully commit to snooker when at the age of 16, I finished number 1 (ranking) in Ireland, senior level and won the u18 European title in the same year. It was then I realised I could potentially be a professional; I am now and hopefully I won’t look back,” added Hill.
Starting at the limber age of twelve, Hill was quite a late bloomer on the snooker scene. “I always watched it on TV and my dad always said he’d bring me for a game once I got tall enough to see over the table,” said Hill.
He began fighting professionally in 2020 and has won the European Championship three times. He defeated England’s Hayden Staniland to win the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships in March 2020. His victory earned him a two-year World Snooker Tour card for the seasons 2020–2021 and 2021–2022.
De Breeze has made his mark on the snooker world tour since entering the scene. In the round of 64 of the 2020 European Masters, the native of Ireland took on Ronnie O’Sullivan, the reigning world champion and No. 1 player in the world, on September 24, 2020. In October of 2022, Hill took to the table world number two Judd Trump and defeated him four frames to one in the northern Irish open in Belfast, taking him to the next round of the tournament.
“It’s a great feeling playing against two of the best players to ever pick up a cue. Ronnie was a player I watched every-day on television when I was growing up. But I see myself beating these players and If I don’t, I’ll be disappointed, hopefully I meet them at some point later down the line in my career,” Hill admitted.
Some athletes will go to extreme lengths in their pursuit of maximising their performance whether it’s a goal, a good marathon time or in Hill’s case, potting a couple of snooker balls. For some individuals, using pre-match traditions in the belief that it will give them an advantage on the pitch is a necessity, in Hill’s case, he just sticks to the basics. “The week of a tournament I eat well and get a good rest. I take it handy with my practice the week of a tournament as you don’t want to be burned out when the tournament comes.”
Many people have superstitions to bring them good luck and for De Breeze it’s no different. “I wear my lucky shamrock socks every time I play a match so I suppose you could call that a superstition,” Hill Laughed.
With his whole life ahead of him, Hill speaks confidently about his short-term goals such as keeping his pro-card with hopes to continue competing on the professional tour. In the long run, “The skies are the limit. I believe there is a long career in this game for me so I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me,” he added.
Aaron Hill is one of the few snooker talents to emerge from Ireland, since the beloved “Darling of Dublin” Ken Doherty broke into the professional scene back in the 1990’s. His advice for young people trying to make a name for themselves in any aspect of life is “Hard work and dedication. Take risks, when it feels too scary to jump, that’s exactly when you jump, otherwise you’ll stay in the same place your whole life.”
High speed, low emissions. Is there a better answer than Formula E to a sustainable future for motorsports? Photo by Tom Verdoot via Pexels.com
The idea of Formula E was conceived in 2011 in Paris when Spanish businessman, Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag and fédération internationale de l’automobile (FIA) president Jean Todt met in Paris to discuss the possibility of an all-electric international single-seater championship.
Now in its eighth season, it shows no sign of it slowing down with new teams like Jaguar, Nissan, Porsche and Audi joining the championship in recent years and with new locations being added all the time.
The official Formula E website proudly states that the founding mission of the sport was to “race through the streets of the most iconic cities in the world – with a grid full of the best racing drivers and teams around – to show just what sustainable mobility was capable of”.
The cars used in Formula E are similar to those used in Formula One, the body style of the car is ostensibly the same, the key difference is, of course, the use of batteries rather than an engine.
Although the cars are slower, with a top speed of 280 km/h as opposed to 360km/h in Formula One, this can be seen as a small price to pay for an eco-friendlier motorsport. With constant improvements being made, Formula E could close the speed gap sooner rather than later.
Back in 2017, Dublin made a bid to host an E-Prix with former Fine Gael TD Noel Rock advocating for Dublin’s inclusion in the racing calendar.
“Dublin would perfectly fit the bill for such a race, and it would make for exciting viewing,” said Rock.
“I fully support Fáilte Ireland and Dublin City Council exploring the possibility of acting as a host city and I would expect that the Government would support such a bid if one was to be made in the future,” he continued.
The benefits of Dublin hosting a Formula E event would have seen a boost in economic growth and tourism, along with the possibility of Ireland becoming a permanent location for the Formula E racing season.
Unfortunately, Dublin was overlooked for the race. Instead Marrakesh, Hong Kong, Rome, Paris, Berlin and many more reaped the benefits of the popular motorsport.
The Formula E Ireland Fan Site gave some insight into the future of Formula E in Ireland “I kind of feel like we might have missed our chance with it. There was a thing a few years back about potentially holding a race here when the series was still finding its place.
“After Battersea cancelled their contract, we could have had a chance to slip in and be the English-speaking race location on this side of the Atlantic, but the series has grown so much now and has cities all around the world looking into hosting and bringing FE to big, exciting locations.”
So, as the motor sport continues to grow what will the future look like for Ireland with regards to the possibility of hosting an E-Prix? The Formula E Fan Site holds onto the hope that someday Ireland will host a race “honestly, I’d absolutely love it if I were proved wrong.”
Currently, only one driver who hails from the island of Ireland has taken part in the Formula E championship – Portadown native Adam Carroll.
Carroll took part in the 2016-17 championship driving for team Jaguar and coming 21st in his solitary season in the motorsport.
With the success of Formula E, Alejandro Agag has also gone on to create Extreme E which is a climate-conscious electric rally series.
This form of E-Motorsport could fit perfectly into Ireland as there is already an established rally scene across the country. However, time will tell as to whether Ireland will capitalise on the ever-growing world of electrical motorsports.
Who really has the upper hand? Pictured above: a roulette wheel by Naim Benejoullon via Pexels.com
A study by the Gambling Awareness Trust has concluded that online gambling in Ireland has increased “drastically” since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
The findings conclude that up to 0.8% of the population (50,000 people) in Ireland are believed to have a serious gambling problem, with almost two-thirds of the population taking part in gambling in some capacity.
It says the most popular types of commercial gambling in Ireland include buying scratch cards, playing the lottery, betting at a horse or greyhound track and sports betting.
Co-author of the report, Gambling trends, harms and responses: Ireland in an international context, Professor John O’Brennan says the gambling industry is growing at a “worrying” rate since the lockdown restrictions have been put in place.
“It’s very clear that online gambling is one of the only industries that has actually thrived over the past year,” Professor O’Brennan tells The City.
“Gambling companies are doing better than ever before, even though sport betting came to a halt for a number of months in 2020,” he added.
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In Ireland, 75.4% of sporting broadcasts show at least one gambling advertisement. They are the most common type of ad shown during any televised sporting event.
“Advertising has been central to developing gambling problems in specific cohorts of the population. You can particularly notice that young people ages 18 to 25 are targeted through advertisements, with betting companies using young sports stars to promote special offers,” says Professor O’Brennan.
Today @SkySportsRacing is basically wall to wall gambling adverts, punctuated by the odd horse race.
Many countries throughout Europe such as Belgium and Italy have implemented a full-scale ban on gambling advertisements. However, Ireland is yet to apply any bans on gambling advertisements and they are the 7th most common form of ad shown on television.
“Online gambling is like having a casino in your back pocket’’
Professor John O’Brennan
Regulation
Professor O’Brennan says that Ireland is seriously “lagging behind” the UK in terms of handling problem gambling, as the Gambling Commission was set up over two decades ago.
“Almost every other country in Europe has a gambling regulator to help deal with the issue, but for some strange reason, Ireland still hasn’t established one. Governments in the past have promised but failed to deliver on establishing a gambling regulator in Ireland,’’ said Professor O’Brennan.
Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne hopes to bring proposals for a gambling regulator to the government towards the end of 2021.
After releasing a statement following a Cabinet meeting , Minister Browne said legislation that may be introduced will check age verification for mobile gambling and monitor spending limits for people on gambling apps, and a prohibition on promotions aimed at luring customers back into gambling.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said work is underway on establishing legislation by developing “the necessary modern licensing and regulatory provisions for the gambling industry”.
Updated Cabinet today and gained approval for the new National Youth Justice Strategy which will be published in the coming weeks.
An update was also provided on gambling legislation/new gambling regulator which is a key commitment for Govt.@DeptJusticeIRL@fiannafailparty
“It [online gambling] has increased exponentially during Covid-19 with so many people stuck at home on their mobile phones,” says Pam Bergin, the executive co-ordinator of The Gambling Awareness Trust.
The Gambling Awareness Trust is an Independent charitable fund that helps the prevention and treatment of problem gambling in Ireland. They work in partnership with numerous problem gambling organisations and agencies to help reduce gambling-related harm.
“This is an issue that will keep growing throughout lockdown. Online gambling is continuing to grow in terms of accessibility as people can place bets on any sporting event across the world, including 24-hour virtual events,’’ Bergin said.
All bookmakers across Ireland currently remain closed under the level five Covid-19 restrictions.
“That social outlet of being able to visit the bookies has been taken away for a lot of people, forcing people to move to online gambling instead.
“Online gambling is growing in terms of accessibility with 24-hour virtual events”
Pam Bergin
“We noticed that a lot of the people who contacted problem gambling websites were people who conducted online gambling for the first time,’’ Bergin says.
If you require more information regarding problem gambling, visit gamblingcare.ie.
A peek into Galway Girl Skate Day. Image courtesy of @eimear_film
“But like, if you deflower a girl man, man, you’re the man. No one, no one, has the power to do that again,” muses the character Telly, in the opening scene of the genre defining skate flick, Kids.
With this charming line in mind, it’s not difficult to imagine why the subculture from which Harmony Korine and Larry Clarke (the film’s creators) drew their inspiration has gained a reputation for being less than welcoming to anyone falling outside of the scene’s hypermasculine ideal.
“I was always too afraid to start. I started going to skate parks, but finding other girls in Ireland who did it through Instagram made me less nervous”
Jodie Galvin
Rather than gaining the acceptance of a male-dominated culture that can be hostile to their participation, women and nonbinary skaters have been using social media to build their own infrastructure and support their peers, who have often been excluded from the narrative of mainstream skateboarding.
“Talking to skaters from all over the place via Instagram has been really fun and motivating,” says Betty Wright who runs the Galway based skatefeeks Instagram page for “queers and girls”.
“I love the fun and creativity of skating, as well as meeting people I wouldn’t have otherwise. The sense of community is really amazing,” Wright tells me.
“I was always too afraid to start, and I’d think girls couldn’t do it because I’d never seen any girls in any of the edits or films I’d watch. I was so nervous when I started going to skate parks, but finding other girls in Ireland who did it through Instagram made me less nervous,” says Jodie Galvin, a Limerick skater.
Another snippet of Galway Girl Skate Day. Image courtesy of @eimear_film
As the skills of skating can be honed in socially distant solitude, the pandemic provided the perfect environment for Galvin to find her feet in skateboarding last summer.
“I would say skating saved my life. I don’t think I would have made it through 2020 alive or in a good place without it,” Galvin says.
“The misogyny shows up in covert ways”
Betty Wright
Old media has been playing catch up to the Instagram explosion of all-girl skate gangs – last year HBO aired the six-part series Betty, based on the 2018 film Skate Kitchen which followed a group of Gen-Z skater girls.
The series title, ‘betty’, refers to a derogatory term for women thrown around at American skateparks – but does this outright misogyny exist in the Irish scene?
“The misogyny shows up in covert ways. When I’ve personally experienced misogyny I’m aware the person is not present in their behaviour, I’m almost certain they are unaware they are acting harmfully,” says Wright, reflecting on her days spent perfecting tricks in the Irish scene.
“I can see where it comes from and how most times the person acts out of complete naivety. I can acknowledge these things while still believing each person has a responsibility to be a better person and be considerate to those around them,” Wright continues.
Betty Wright skating in front of the NUIG engineering building. Image courtesy of @eimear_film
Galvin has actually experienced supportive skater boys: “You would see a lot of gatekeeping online in the skate community where they think girls aren’t allowed or a girl is a poseur until she proves herself otherwise, but that hasn’t been my experience here in Limerick,” She initially felt intimidated by the prospect of joining in and skating, she says.
“I’d land the wimpiest trick ever and all the boys would explode with cheers,” she laughs.
Skaters caught in action on Galway Girl Skate Day. Image courtesy of @eimear_film
A shared obstacle facing Irish skaters of all genders is the lack of infrastructure compared to what other countries with a more established skateboarding culture may have, and both Wright and Galvin are keen to draw attention to this.
“Dublin and Cork have some nice parks but it could be so much better. Galway is lacking – fingers crossed we get our first concrete park this year,” says Wright.
“I think more indoor infrastructure would be better,” Galvin says. “The only one we have in Limerick closed down and it makes it difficult to get out and skate in bad weather.”
Abderrahmen Ben Chouchane presents the artist Nelson Jamal, an ex-MMA champion who decided to retire to pursue his artistic career. From a young age he was involved with art and sports. In his latest exhibition called “Vale Tudo”, which means everything counts, he demonstrates how sports and art work perfectly together to describe us.
Dublin marathon legend Mary Hickey has a very impressive record to look back on as she heads into her 41st marathon on Saturday, which is now virtual. With the new Level 5 restrictions, that might mean running “zig-zags around my garden,” she tells TheCity.ie‘s Ciaron Noble.
Mary Hickey from Co. Wicklow. Picture courtesy of Mary Hickey.
Mary Hickey (68) from Arklow in Co. Wicklow has competed in every Dublin Marathon since its inception in 1980, being the only woman to have run in every single staging of the event. Although the 41st year of the race won’t be like any of the previous forty races, participants from across the globe will run the race virtually, tracking their progress on an app.
The 26.2 mile challenge will be done in different settings by everyone. Current restrictions state you cannot travel further than 5km from your home, this will greatly limit how far people can travel while doing the challenge.
“I’ll start at 7am on Saturday morning and just keep going until I have the 26.2 miles done, even if it’s a case of just doing a zig-zag around my garden, I’ll get it done, it might be a bit boring and repetitive but sure look it is what it is,” said Hickey.
Despite the remarkable times we find ourselves in, it comes as no surprise to most that the Wicklow runner won’t let the pandemic stop her from moving forward and taking part in the event. She has to take part in the race this year to maintain her record as the only female to compete in every Dublin Marathon. She has also had to power through other physical and mental obstacles over this 40-year period.
In 1989, she was six and a half months pregnant but that didn’t stop her competing in the race. “In those days it was almost taboo for women to exercise while pregnant, never mind doing a marathon. However, as long as you are fit and healthy and know your own body, you’ll be ok” she said. She had to take her time and make plenty of toilet stops along the way that year.
She admitted that this year’s marathon will be a really challenging task as some illness and staggered training has prevented her from being as physically prepared as she would usually be.
“I know it’s going to be a struggle and it will be very slow but I don’t care about times anymore like I did in my younger days, I just want to get it finished, that is the most important thing for me”, said Hickey.
The Marathon veteran has done a few virtual events since the pandemic raising much needed money for some worthy causes. She will be doing the event on Saturday to raise money for the Arklow RNLI. She has also convinced four other local friends to do the race, with one more friend doing the half marathon, a ‘strong lady’ who has faced three different types of cancer. “She’s some survivor”, said Hickey.
The runner touched on the effect the pandemic has had on people’s mental health, understanding that many people will be at the end of their tether. Hickey pleads with people to just ‘dig deep’ as we all hope for better times ahead.
It hasn’t been the easiest road for the runner through injuries and personal grief as she has lost family members over the years, including one of her sons in a tragic incident. “I wonder sometimes how I ever got to the starting line as all these things were happening, but we have to keep going, nothing in life is easy,” she reflected.
She is a big believer that physical activity is the best medication a doctor can recommend to anyone, urging people to stay motivated and try to look after your physical health as well as your mental health.
In 2019 Hickey reached the milestone of her 40th consecutive Dublin Marathon, keeping up her record as the only female to achieve this feat. But the question is, how long can she keep going?
“To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll do many more, the body is already telling me I need to slow down and take it easy, but as long as the mind is willing and I believe I can do it, we’ll see how it goes.”
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