{"id":146039,"date":"2025-10-26T10:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/146039\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T10:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:16:11","slug":"i-see-women-in-their-40s-who-had-no-interest-in-sport-growing-up-but-are-much-fitter-now-than-they-ever-were-in-their-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/146039\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I see women in their 40s who had no interest in sport growing up but are much fitter now than they ever were in their teens’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serial winner Denise Toner has credited cross training and the Hyrox fitness competition for helping her achieve amazing success on the trackDenise Toner <\/p>\n

A super fit Irish mum of three who has become a European and World athletics champion in her forties says women her age are getting fitter than in their twenties thanks to the latest fitness crazes.<\/p>\n

Serial winner Denise Toner has credited cross training and the Hyrox fitness competition for helping her achieve amazing success on the track.<\/p>\n

Denise, 47, won gold in the European Masters W45 800m final in Madeira, Portugal, only last weekend, to add to two gold medals she won at the World Masters in Finland in 2022.<\/p>\n

Fermanagh woman Denise, a member of Clones Athletics Club in Co Monaghan<\/a>, was also part of the Irish relay team that won gold in the 400m last weekend.<\/p>\n

Her success is all the more incredible given Denise only took up competitive running in her late twenties, and is now regularly competing, and even beating, former Olympians.<\/p>\n

Denise told the Irish Sunday Mirror<\/a>: \u201cI only took up running again after my youngest of three son was born, and started training for competitive international competitions in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m coming up against former Olympians who have years of training and experience behind them, but sometimes it\u2019s having fresh legs that helps at this age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irelands W4O 4OOM relay gold medal winners Snezana Bechtina, Denise Toner, Sinead O Connor, Bronwen McDonald<\/p>\n

Denise also reckons that competing in Hyrox competitions, which are indoor challenges that include running, sled pulls, burpee jumps and weights, is making her a much stronger woman.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cHyrox competitions are very popular in Ireland now and while they are very tough, they are good craic too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sort of cross training certainly builds up your strength and is very beneficial for athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise, who also gives spin and cross training classes to locals in Monaghan, said it is great to see so many women in their forties getting into the fitness craze.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI see women in their forties who had no interest in PE or sport growing up but are really into their cross training and fitness and are much fitter now than they ever were in their teens or twenties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s great to see as it\u2019s so beneficial for them. I enjoy giving classes as it\u2019s a great workout for me too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise Toner in action<\/p>\n

Denise\u2019s success in Madeira was a real family affair as her husband Phillip and three sons Piaras, Dara and Cillian came out to cheer her on.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt was the first time my three boys came out to one of my competitions like that so it was special to have them there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll three are football mad and love sport themselves so I think they got to enjoy seeing me doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Denise joked that the Toners may look into competing on RTE\u2019s hit show Ireland\u2019s Fittest Family some day. She added: \u201cI think my boys would love that as they are very competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: <\/strong>Sign up here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serial winner Denise Toner has credited cross training and the Hyrox fitness competition for helping her achieve amazing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[18,525,25436,135,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-146039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-fitness-and-health","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115439952977968356","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}