I was late to the fitness game having been overweight all my life. In 2007 at the age of 38 I was struggling with two small children & a friend of mine said I should do a triathlon. Not knowing even what it entailed I signed up! I started running in the dark where no one would see me & the following year I did my first Triathlon.

However due to a tragic accident & subsequent long term illness of my son Ian followed by his death in 2012 training actually became a release for me & became an important part of my life.

I wasn’t any good at any of the three disciplines but running was the most accessible so I decided to do a marathon in my home town of Limerick, followed by Dublin & then New York in 2014 & London in 2016. Each time I went to the start line I was full of hope but struggled to break the 4:30 mark.

My life dream was to run a sub 4 hour marathon but I felt I would never achieve it.

I then for some insane reason signed up for Ironman Austria in 2019 what was I thinking!!! I spent two years training for it & completed it but I it was a sufferfest & safe to say I will not be back!!!

I decided to run Dublin Marathon again 3 months later having not allowed myself sufficient recovery & suffered a grade 3 High Hamstring Tear which took months of rehabilitation.

I realised that for all the work I was putting in I was getting very poor results, I had no focus to my training & I was in fact over training..

A friend of mine introduced me to Joe O Connor in Coachpact & it changed my life quite literally!

One of the first things Joe said to me is the worst thing you can have at a start line is hope!!!

Joe takes the time to get to know you. He looks at & analyses all previous results. There literally is no hiding from him. He then sets very real targets that are easy to achieve.

And so started our journey together where Joe analysed all my previous training history & abysmal race results & set very real achievable goals for me.

I remember telling him I wanted to run a sub 2 hour half marathon & he quite bluntly said to me that looking at my previous results it was not achievable at the time, but within 10 months of training with him I ran Charleville half marathon in 1:46 a 17 minute PB and I have been on a upward trajectory since then, achieving PB`s in almost all my races & achieving age group placing in most of them.

The most important part of Joes training program is his personal approach. He treats each of his clients as individuals & I am always safe in the knowledge that my plan is specific to me.

I consider Joe a very good friend now & the support & understanding he provides is beyond compare. Joe is a real family man & he brings that to his coaching always emphasising the importance of balance with work family & training.

I am never afraid to discuss any problems, doubts I might have & his incredible positivity is contagious. Joe checks in after each session & will always give feedback & encourages it to be a two way thing.

He combines run training with strength work & movement & mobility & gives advice on general nutrition but most importantly pre, during & post training fuelling so that on race day it is second nature & not a hope that the plan will work!

Last year I discussed with Joe my dream of a sub 4 hour marathon & after a PB 1:43 Half Marathon in Alicante Joe said lets go for it & we did.

My plan involved a slow build up of miles with plenty of recovery weeks built in & I went to the startline believing in myself & ran an incredible 3:37 a massive 52 minute PB exceeding all my expectations & I enjoyed every minute of it.

Then on to my ultimate bucket list of completing the 6 major marathons a plan which I started 9 years ago!

And this year in April we started my training for Berlin Marathon in September again we started with plenty of time & this summer was particularly busy for me with family commitments most weekends, but Joe tailored my plan to suit this & monitored closely my recovery sleep etc to ensure that my body was coping with the long term training.

Berlin was a challenging course with large crowds, high temperatures & humidity but again I went to the startline believing in myself & I had another great race.

And so the journey continues with Joe by my side as I received a qualification entry to Boston in April 2024 another dream come true, On the way to Star 4 of 6!!!

Watch this space….

Top Performances

Charleville 1/2 Marathon 1:43 (2021)

Charleville 1/2 Marathon 1:39 (2022)

Alicante 1/2Marathon 1:43 (2022)

Rome 1/2 Marathon 1:38 (2023)

Dublin Marathon 3:37 (2022)

Berlin Marathon 3:49 (2023)