Hitting the goals again: Nakita Burke savours Mini Marathon win

As Nakita Burke came towards the line on Lower Baggot Street, the mind spun.

The Letterkenny AC woman spoke with her coach, Maria McCambridge, from a long way out about this moment.

They had targeted a win in the Vhi Women's Mini Marathon for Burke.

At the 9k marker, close to Lansdowne Road, McCambridge urged Burke, now with a 30-40m advantage, for home.

“I started to really believe that I could win it then,” says Burke, a schoolteacher at Letterkenny Educate Together NS.

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Burke crossed the line as the winner, after 34 minutes and 27 seconds in searing heat.

As a footballer, Burke was a prolific goalscorer. It is 13 years now since her goal gave Lagan Harps a memorable win over Eureka Kells from Limerick in the FAI Women's Intermediate Cup final.

“When you play football, there's always mad celebrations,” Burke says.

“I thought about winning the Mini Marathon and what I would do if I won. I had thought about celebrations, but I had never broke a ribbon before and I was just so happy when I crossed the line, none of it happened.”

Burke led the way from Courtney McGuire of Clonmel AC, who finished in 34:33 with Finn Valley AC's Teresa Doherty, on her 45th birthday, third in 34:58.

“Teresa has been so good to me,” Burke says. “She is one of the really genuine people in the sport; someone who just likes to see you do well. Teresa is just a lady and she's a phenomenal runner. When I came into running, Teresa was one of the people I was striving to compete with.”

Burke has been working alongside McCambridge, an Olympian in 2004 and a three-time competitor at the World Championships.

The Slieve Sneacht woman says: “Every year has been like a building block working with Maria. It is amazing to train under someone like her. Maria was almost happier than I was on Sunday.

“She is great, but she has been there and done that. The last thing she said to me on Sunday was that I needed to believe in myself. Maria is low key, but she has turned into a really good friend and it's so reassuring to have someone like that.”

McCambridge's stellar career also includes a Mini Marathon win and Burke almost had a double take when reading other former winners.

The Letterkenny woman joins an elite band including Sonia O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan to win the race.

“It's unbelievable to have won it,” Burke says. “It is a race that I targeted to win. I did have this as a goal, more so than any other year. Winning it still feels so surreal. Even though you're targeting it, you don't think that you're actually going to win it.”

In May, Burke was the silver medallist in the women's 3,000m at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet when crossing the line in 9:28.27.

A few weeks earlier, Burke won the Hugh Gallagher Memorial 5k in Milford, shattering the course record in the process, clocking 16:14 and shaving 29 seconds off her winning time from 2022.

“Everything that we set out was gearing to the Mini Marathon,” she says. “When I got to 9k, I was tired. I probably wouldn't have been as tired on a normal day. The start wasn't overly fast-paced – with the heat, no-one was willing to take it on.

“The legs had done the training so I was okay. There was a small breeze, which was a saving grace. It was proper warm. I had been in Portugal at Easter so the body was a wee bit conditioned for the heat.

“When we turned at 6k, I thought to myself: 'This is amazing, I'll be in the top two'.”

Soon, the top of the podium beckoned and a dream became reality.