{"id":4512,"date":"2025-08-17T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/4512\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T08:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:48:09","slug":"how-niamh-allen-has-combined-motherhood-with-a-sharp-rise-to-the-top-of-irish-womens-distance-running-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/4512\/","title":{"rendered":"How Niamh Allen has combined motherhood with a sharp rise to the top of Irish women\u2019s distance running \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The text from Niamh Allen lands at 6.37am. She\u2019ll be driving from Cork<\/a> to Dublin<\/a> for work and is leaving at around 7am. She suggests that once she\u2019s on the road, it might be a good time to chat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a bit of an early-morning riser,\u201d she says, already close to Dublin by the time the call is made. \u201cEspecially having been in Australia<\/a>, where some people seem to have everything done by 5.30 in the morning. You start feeling lazy if you stay in bed past 6am. You just get into the swing of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen is clearly an athlete with no time to lose and there\u2019s lots to chat about. Since returning from a two-year spell in Australia in April 2024, then almost six months pregnant, she\u2019s been juggling motherhood<\/a>, marriage, a return to work and a sharp rise to the top of Irish women\u2019s distance running. She wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an impressive trajectory: Allen is arguably the most improved Irish athlete in the last year. After finishing second in the National Cross-Country in November, just 12 weeks after giving birth to daughter Lily, she went on to finish 11th in the European Cross-Country, her first international. In March, she won the National 10km road title in 31:44 \u2013 the fastest time ever clocked by an Irish woman on home soil.<\/p>\n

She made some headlines in May when winning the Midleton five-mile road race in Cork by 22 seconds, beating all the other women and men in the field of 340 runners. A spontaneous return to the track saw her run 8:51.08 for 3,000m at the Cork City Sports, before she came out earlier this month and won the 5,000m at the National Track and Field Championships, beating plenty of younger and more experienced athletes.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also a breath of fresh air. She turned 30 in April, her daughter Lily turns one at the end of August, and there\u2019s no moaning about lack of funding or facilities, or false modesty. Just an infectious enthusiasm to be the best she can possibly be. All while ensuring running stays fun.<\/p>\n

\"NiamhNiamh Allen on her way to winning the senior women’s 5,000m ahead of Leevale clubmate Anika Thompson at the National Track and Field Championships in Dublin. Photograph: Sam Barnes\/Sportsfile <\/p>\n

\u201cNot having any pressure to perform, I think that does me the world of good,\u201d she said. \u201cJust enjoying each race as it comes. It\u2019s working so far, so I\u2019m just trying to keep that mentality. Rather than start setting any expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just need to stay in your own lane, do the best you can do with your own ability. I\u2019m still learning a lot on the job and that\u2019s why I love jumping into all the different kinds of races.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t even thinking of running track this season. Maybe I was a bit too old. I\u2019d kind of written myself off as a track runner, would stick to more cross-country and the road. My coach, Donie Walsh at Leevale, just told me to jump in, see how it goes.<\/p>\n

\n

I was lucky to be able to keep training during most of the pregnancy<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Niamh Allen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019d only done one 5,000m on the track before and ran 17-something. So there was definitely a chunk to take off that. But winning the national title also gave me confidence that maybe I do still have a bit of speed in these old legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a hard-won race, Allen dropping a 67-second last lap to win in 15:35.90. In doing so, she saw off the challenge of her Leevale clubmate Anika Thompson (22), who last month won gold in the 10,000m at the European Under-23 Championships, then added silver in the 5,000m. <\/p>\n

Allen made sure to get a photo of Lily sharing the medal podium with her afterwards, just like she did after finishing second in the National Cross-Country last November. She\u2019s also quick to point out that none of this would be possible without the support of her husband Will. <\/p>\n

\"NiamhNiamh Allen celebrates with her daughter Lily after winning the 5,000m race at the National Track and Field Senior Championships at Morton Stadium, Dublin. Photograph: Sam Barnes\/Sportsfile <\/p>\n

\u201cLily\u2019s been with me now since my first race back in Ireland, so she\u2019s my lucky mascot. I\u2019m still trying to find that balance, but that\u2019s the same for every parent. Some days you\u2019re just tired, but because running is not the priority, I think that\u2019s why you can enjoy it more. The family will always be number one. Running is just something I do for myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven today, I can\u2019t train because I have to collect Lily on the way home. I know I\u2019m not a full-time athlete, I have a lot of balls to juggle, but I think that\u2019s a good thing. It puts a lot less pressure on my running. There have been days I\u2019ve been super-exhausted and you just can\u2019t train.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven from a nutritional standpoint, you need to be a lot more mindful. But I\u2019m lucky to have a very supportive husband and parents. Any high-level athlete, full-time or not, is a team effort. And I heavily lean on my support network. I couldn\u2019t do it without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of this was exactly planned either. Allen says her running pre-motherhood and pre-Australia was more of a social thing. She admits to \u201cprobably going out way too much for an athlete\u201d.<\/p>\n

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She ran a bit while studying at UCC, then after moving to Dublin joined Crusaders AC, further encouraged by coaches Michael McGovern and Susan Walsh. The plan had always been to spend some time in Australia. With that in mind, and once the pandemic cleared, she headed to Sydney with Will in April. 2022. The move helped reinvigorate her appetite for running. Especially in the early mornings.<\/p>\n

There is plenty of circumstantial evidence that women can also return to distance running after childbirth with renewed vigour and strength. And well into their 30s too. Allen references Mayo-born Sinead Diver, who only started running competitively in 2010 at 33, following the birth of her elder son, after moving to Australia with her husband in 2002.<\/p>\n

\"NiamhNiamh Allen representing Ireland at the 2024 European Cross-Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

In 2022, Diver ran a 2:21:34 at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, at age 45. It was an Australian marathon record and the fastest time by an Irish-born woman \u2013 faster than the current national record of 2:22:23 held by Catherina McKiernan.<\/p>\n

Other women closer to home have inspired Allen too. Sonia O\u2019Sullivan finished fourth behind a trio of world-class women in the 1999 Great North Run Half Marathon, just 13 weeks after giving birth to her first daughter Ciara. A year later, O\u2019Sullivan won the Olympic silver medal in the 5,000m<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to be able to keep training during most of the pregnancy,\u201d said Allen. \u201cBut there are a few factors. I suppose you never feel as old as you probably are. Maybe I still think I\u2019m a spring chicken a lot of the time. And because I don\u2019t come from a running background, and would hang around with a lot of non-runners, you don\u2019t consider being 30 as that old.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe age will be a hindrance over the next few years, but I\u2019m enjoying the process. And with the running technology, the improved running shoes, maybe the life cycle of the athlete is extending. So maybe you can still set ambitions and goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was always to come back from Australia after two years and it\u2019s worked out well timewise. I also feel I\u2019ve got all that travelling and fun part over with, I\u2019m more prepared to give the running and training a bit more now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Niamh Allen makes her way through the field at the 2024 European Cross-Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The early-morning trip to Dublin is more a once-off, as Allen is working in HR with IT specialists Nostra, based just a few minutes from her home in Cork city. Still, everything about her day is based around flexibility<\/p>\n

\u201cWork are very supportive, and it\u2019s three days a week for now, up to four days when Lily starts creche, in October. The easy or steady runs, I would do a lot of those by myself. I can keep to my own pace, depending on how the day\u2019s going. So I throw on a podcast, keep to my own pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the training sessions, I try to meet up with the Leevale group, on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Because you\u2019ll definitely get pushed along in the group like that. But I\u2019m always mindful of the need to be flexible. <\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose my whole family would be competitive. Like in Midleton, once I got in front of the men, there was no way I was letting them overtake me. That competitive nature is definitely in me. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut next year, and long-term, it will be the marathon. All my coaches have said the marathon, and endurance, would be my strong point. Even if I do think I still have a bit of speed. But I\u2019m definitely not a 1,500m runner. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do hope to give the marathon a good crack, and of course every athlete has the Olympics in their head somewhere as the ultimate goal. So I\u2019ll see how it goes next year, then maybe think about LA in 2028. Just putting that out there for now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The text from Niamh Allen lands at 6.37am. She\u2019ll be driving from Cork to Dublin for work and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[4890,18,2215,19,17,4889,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-4512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-athletics-ireland","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-for-you","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-niamh-allen","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512","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=4512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}