Sporting hopes, dreams, aspirations and fun

I have absolutely no idea what roads, paths, boreens, mountains, hills or thrills 2025 will bring – but I am up for anything. I am mad for road and I sure intend to make the most of every opportunity the year brings.

It’s only during the holidays, when one stops still, even just for a very short space of time, you realise all that happens in a year and how quick a year passes – the good, the bad and everything else in between. Take it all in or it will pass you by. Life sometimes consumes you so much that you don’t have time to think. The daily errands just keep coming and piling but I am a great believer in sticking to the motto that I can only do what I can in a day and some things just have to wait.

That is one of the reasons why I train early morning before the world awakes, before the madness begins. While the world sleeps, I get to have some fun. When that light appears, when the day begins, when that world awakens, that valuable ‘me’ time is so precious. For that short space of time, the world can wait, the world can cope. It’s to have the strength to leave loved ones behind only for a little while, to go and maximise the most of once in a lifetime opportunities.

Sometimes life throws us up a bad deal, we can lie down and not get up or we can gain a strength to push through. Sport provides the most wonderful chances; it brings people together no matter where we are from, no matter what our beliefs are, no matter what our backgrounds. There is a world out there that we don’t know about and when given a chance one must explore it. I don't have any regrets in life and so when the next chances crop up, I intend to take them.

2025 will begin in sunshine for me – literally. A well-deserved few days away, where one can have a break from cooking, cleaning, driving, working and all the other errands, this brightness will ignite my yearly path ahead. There comes a time where you need to come down in order to face all the uphills that lie ahead.

Some precious time with loved ones with no distractions is a valued treasure for me. As I run along the shore in sunshine, it allows me to reflect and appreciate all I have achieved and how lucky I am to have experienced so much. This puts a pep in my step and gives me an opportunity to think what might be possible in 2025. I like to set a few small goals but also a few long-term ambitions because goals give us a focus. Thoughts of ambitions make us work harder, goals provide direction and measurable milestones to strive toward.

As the weeks pass by, setting more specific but manageable goals help us focus, motivate us and keep us doing what we love. These are the reasons we train, we commit, we push on when it feels hard. I’m a live from week-to-week person as best I can because as I have well experienced, one cannot predict what's ahead. Of course, there are times when I need to plan way far ahead but with sport, I get up each morning and the body and mind take the road that leads them to the path ahead; some days it's the boreen, some days it's the track, some days it's the mountains, some days it's the trail.

As the weeks go by, the seasons change, the racing calendar changes, the weather changes and the fun times begin. When the body feels good, it’s easy to train and training helps the mind feel good. When these are in sync, the rest falls into place. The training comes together, the races begin and the dreams start becoming true. My year will involve local events, club events, national, European and World events, I hope.

But even though sometimes I aim big, it’s also the simplicities in sport, the local events, the friends, the West of Ireland countryside, remembering where I train week in week out, that are all very close to my own heart. Supporting a local charity, fun event, running with the community while raising well needed funds is self-fulfilment at its best. For us who are able to rock up, move our bodies and give up a little of our time for people who can't, or for people who are in need, is important to me.

I enjoy supporting my weekly park run when I can. With a busy training and racing schedule, sometimes it's hard to commit to everything but when I can, an early Saturday morning run with friends is a nice way to start a busy day. It’s all the more rewarding that it’s not an easy 5k, through trails where the surface is rocky, the terrain uneven, and there’s hills, winds and chills.

I am blessed to live in a place where I am surrounded by the most scenic, natural, enthralling routes, where one moves into a world of nature, beauty, freedom, where the birds are the only company, the trees are our protection and the history makes one appreciate the present. I am very thankful to the many who allow me the time to run in these beautiful local places that have gotten me through many events in life and to my rocks who push me up over the daily inclines.

Knockma has got me through many griefs, the higher up one goes the nearer you become to something I don't know what, but it makes you feel alive. Clonbur Woods has sorted many work problems, providing a clear head to make decisions for the day ahead. The bog roads, hills, and openness have toughened the body for the racing challenges, running by the lough clearing the head from the daily chores, running on grass bringing me back to my youth, running through the mucky fields that combined cross country training with helping on the land.

Representing my club and my county is important to me. I am very passionate about where I am from, always bringing the green and red with me. When running abroad, for people to recognise who you are, where you are from and what you represent, people coming over with a story, their history, their past, to meet someone who knows someone you know, a connection, a bond exists.

When you run around Dublin with thousands of people in the marathon and people scream “C’mon Mayo”, it fills you with pride, it makes you smile. The passion bringing people together wherever one is, whatever era one is from, however far apart we seem, there is a deep connection. Particularly, the West of Ireland’s connection exists wherever you go, and I don't think it ever leaves you.

To represent one's country, to run with a team, to win world medals, is a wonderful experience. It's not only about the victories, but the people you meet from home and abroad, the competitors who become your friends, the teammates who become your training partners, the life experiences gained through the toughness of competing, through the journeys travelling through these countries. The experiences outside of your control and overcoming many obstacles provides one with an escapism, a strength and a belief to get through each day. It’s these skills gained through sport that makes us a better all rounded person.

No one can predict the future. No one can foresee what's to come but to feel good, to have the health to do what one loves, to do something that makes one feel good, to do something that one enjoys, that fits into life, that comes easy, that provides a distraction from the busyness of daily life for me is a gift for which I am thankful. Yes, I have been through some tough days but I do love life. I am a positive person, I believe in the power of looking forward. It is easier to smile than frown and also easier to say something nice than nasty.

When you are motivating people, encouraging people, supporting people every day in many walks of life, they need you to smile because they depend on you. When you see the transformation in someone because you have helped them, it’s a reason to face the next new day.

In life we have many paths and it’s how we travel these that creates the journeys ahead. For my family to be happy allows me to begin to plan. For now, I will take it week to week; the goals are there, the ambitions are in the background, the training will happen, the races will begin.

Walk out the back door and take a look around. Beauty exists everywhere, it’s how we see the road ahead that leads the way; yes it can be hilly, but there is always a downhill, allowing us to breathe. Set some goals for the new year. A new year brings new beginnings, spring will come, brighter days lie ahead. Think positive and the journey will be enjoyable. The front door will open easier, the hopes, dreams and aspirations will come true.

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh. Happy New Year everyone.