The Finish Line meets Clíona Murphy

This week, the team here at reached out to some of the runners on social media. We follow a whole host of great runners as well as up and coming athletes. We will showcasing these runners in the weeks to come! 

This week, we chat with Clíona Murphy. Clíona is the 5th runner in our weekly series of “The Finish Line” where we talk to club runners around the country. The goal of the series is to highlight the achievements of runners of all abilities around Ireland.

Name

Clíona Murphy

Club

Dublin City Harriers

Favourite Event

1500

Running Level

Advanced

How did your athletics journey begin?

Started running in secondary school as a back up to my camogie, and fell properly in love with the sport when I got to the varsity athletics scene.

What were the early challenges you faced? How did you over come them?

Time investment is probably the biggest challenge. As a student athlete (I do engineering in Trinity College) it’s sometimes hard to juggle training and college, not to mind trying to earn money on top of that. Learning to prioritise and make the best use of my day, e.g. running at lunchtime, and figuring out when I’m most productive study-wise, has been important for me. My family are definitely a big help, giving lifts to training and races.

Do you use data for training? What wearable tech do you use?

My watch is the Polar M400, and I usually use Strava to log my miles. I got out of the habit of using a heart rate monitor, and go off effort instead.

What have been your biggest achievements to date? What are some of your PB’s?

My biggest achievement to date was my 3rd place finish in national u23 Cross Country this year (November 2018). Varsity medals are also up there, and our team silver in the inter varsity road relays this year was very special.

My 1500m PB is 4.36

800m is 2.18

3k is 10.18

5k is 17.10

10k is 35.48

What is your current goal?

At the moment I’m training for track, and hoping to target new PBs in the 1500m and 3k.

What would you do differently if you had to start again?

I think if I had started running at a younger age I might have progressed sooner, but there’s not much else I would change!

What’s the next event you've planned?

National indoor league 800m on 12th Jan, then the German University Indoors in February (I’m studying in Frankfurt for the year).

What advice would you give the readers of Run Republic?

Put in the miles and the hard work will start to pay off

Quick Fire Questions

What is your favourite song?

Don't have one

What is your favourite movie?

Love Actually

What is your favourite TV Show?

Friends

What is your favourite food?

Peanut butter and banana

Who is your sporting idol?

Sonia O'Sullivan

What is your favourite thing to do when you’re not training?

Drink coffee