Galway Ôwonder womanÕ pushing her body to the limit

Date Published: {J}

SHE has been described as a ‘true super star’, ‘wonder woman’ and ‘bionic woman’ by her friends on Athenry Athletic Club’s website and, indeed, by her peers right across Galway and Ireland. No doubt, these are all apt descriptions of Valerie Glavin, the Turloughmore native who recently set a new Irish record for 24-hour endurance running in Finland.

Saturday afternoon, and Glavin slips quietly out of her business – Quick Cuts Barber Shop in Northgate Street, Athenry – for a chat that at times touches on the bizarre. Simply, it’s not easy to get the head around the notion that any sane person would run around a 400m track continually for 24 hours. How is that fun?

One gets the sense, though, that Glavin is the type of person who can achieve almost anything, once she sets her mind to it. This was reflected in her chosen discipline from an early stage – when she decided long distance running would be her weapon of choice in killing her smoking habit.

“In 2006, I finally stopped smoking and 10 weeks later I ran the Connemara marathon,” says Glavin. “I suppose, I was nearly 30 years of age at the time and it was sort of a mid life crisis. I had done a 10km run the year before, but it didn’t stop me smoking. So, when it came to the following January, I said I was going to do a marathon and that would definitely stop me smoking, because I needed my lungs to do it right.”

Downloading some tips and advice from the internet, Glavin set to work, but, amazingly, she only completed one long run – a 16 mile hike – before undertaking the Connemara event. “Off I went,” she says of that training run, which consisted of 32 laps around Cappagh Park in Knocknacarra. “It took me all day!”

However, she was unperturbed. “Because it was a cure for my smoking, I told everyone and their mother that I was going to run the Connemarathon. So, I couldn’t back out then.” And to her credit, Glavin ran the race in a time of 4 hours 37 minutes.

Later in 2006, she also ran the Longford marathon in an impressive time of 4 hours 5 minutes, although, she says herself, she was disappointed not to break the four hour barrier.

The following year, she spent in Australia – competing in just one race, the ‘Bridge to Brisbane’ – before returning in 2008 to run in a plethora of events, from the Tuam 8km to the national half marathon in Waterford. She also ran the Zurich marathon – in a time of 3hrs 46mins – in Switzerland early in the year before recording another impressive time of 3hrs 23mins in the Dublin City Marathon in late October.

Simply, Glavin was now hooked. She joined Athenry AC – where she received “fantastic advice” – and, on the prompting of Mary Beatty, decided to set herself a new target of the Connemara ultra marathon (39.3 miles) for early 2009. “All through the winter I trained,” she adds. “Six days a week and twice on Wednesdays.”

The work paid off as, much to her delight, Glavin took victory in the event. “It was the first one I ever won and I was on a high for a month after that. I thought then I might be better at the longer distances. Ray O’Connor, who was the Director of the Connemara marathon, later said he was going to put on a 100 mile-race. I said ‘of course I will do it’.”

Starting and finishing in Clifden, Glavin completed the gruelling August run in a time of 18hrs 5mins. “It does take mental strength, but, to be honest, it is more stubbornness on my part,” she says. “I am competitive enough. If I can pass somebody else out, I will. If I think someone is faster than me, though, I will let them off. You have to trust your own ability, but not be too soft on yourself.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.