Age is no barrier as Colette keeps on running

We wonder, when Colette O’Hagan agreed to answer the questions for a feature which used figure for this column, could she imagine that in ten years’ time she would reach what can only be described as a magnificent milestone.

We spoke to Colette in March of 2013, and the first question she was asked: How many marathons (have you run)? The answer: 236. A decade on and that figure has reached an astonishing 900.

And it’s set to get higher. One thousand is a figure, not her target, because when – not if – she reaches it, she won’t be packing her runners away. Plans are to keep going, and along the way, she’ll continue to raise money for deserving causes.

Those she was supporting when we spoke to her were Cerebral Palsy, Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Cystic Fibrosis and her main one, Aurelia Trust, which helps orphanages in Romania. North Louth Hospice is now benefitting from her endeavours, which over the years have raises countless thousands.

Colette’s age? She’s proud to say it’s 73, and along with that, she’s a grandmother. She didn’t take running up until she was in her forties, and avoiding serious injury, hasn’t stopped since.

All the encouragement she needs comes from her husband, Larry, children Gerard and Sarah, and other family members. Not that she has ever thought of giving up.

It certainly wasn’t a family member who advised her when she was starting out: “Don’t run, it will only ruin your knees.” Over 30 years on, her knees cause no problems whatsoever, having stood up to the rigours of long-distance running all over the world.

Larry, a junior soccer player of note in his younger days, was the one who suggested to Colette to take up running. He was going out for a run and asked her to come along. What got to Colette most was how unfit she was, and she didn’t like it.

Larry urged her to keep going when she really wanted to stop. She listened, and that was the beginning of it all. The Dublin mini-marathon was her first-ever race, and she competed in it for a number of years. That, however, was chicken-feed; more to her liking was full marathons, covering 26 miles-plus.

Among the many questions Colette was asked to answer in 2013 was this one: Any thoughts of retirement? Her reply: “Absolutely not. I will run as long as there is breath in my body, and hopefully I can set the record for the oldest woman in Ireland to run a marathon. We all need to keep motivated.”

Colette has kept her word; and if she hasn’t broken that record already, she surely will in time to come. And maybe even be the first ever to run 1,000 marathons.  She is surely one of the country’s great athletes.