Born to run: The new 1,500 metres European Champion, Portaferry runner, Ciara Mageean, on always being that 'active, super competitive kid'

Portaferry runner and 1,500m European champion Ciara Mageean said she was always an 'active, super competitive' chid

The 32-year-old, who crossed the line in 4:04.66, just ahead of Great Britain's Georgia Bell, who was undergoing altitude training in the high Alpine resort town of St Moritz at the time, ahead of the winter season, offered advice to Belfast marathon runners.

She said: “It is important to fuel well and rest well. Take your recovery as seriously as you take your training. And don’t forget to have fun, because that what sport is all about.”

Ciara’s superlative talent has seen her notch up many wins, including a bronze in the 1,500m at the European Indoor Championships in 2019, then securing the Olympic standard before going on to make the World Championships final in Doha where she placed 10th in a new best of 4:00.15, to become the first Irish woman to make a World final since Sonia O’Sullivan in 1997.

Ciara said she was always “that active kid” and “super competitive”.

“I raced two small cross-countrys in primary school and that was probably my first taste of running outside of sports day. From that I got invited to the Mary Peter’s Trust to a talent event. Then when I went to secondary school at Assumption Grammar in Ballynahinch my PE teacher spotted that I probably had a little too much of a competitive nature. She asked if I wanted to do cross-country, so that was my intro to athletics and I got pretty good at that.

“But I always like to remind young kids that I wasn’t the best straight away. I maybe came 40th in my first cross-country race, but eventually kept improving and then won the districts and got a talent ID from Athletics NI, who had a talent academy. Eventually I was asked if I wanted to race on the track and that’s where I found my true calling.

“I started being coached in Belfast and went from strength to strength, winning world junior medals. It all spiralled fairly quickly, but it wasn’t always a very smooth path. My junior years certainly were, and I always seemed to be on that upward trajectory, but then I got to under 23 and senior level and you get injured and you get niggles and the journey isn’t quite so smooth, but that’s the same as everything in life and I think it makes you value those good days even more.”

She added: “One thing which is great about athletics is that you can compare yourself to yourself instead of other people. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing. It’s about bettering yourself each time and I think that’s a lovely approach to have to it.

And when she’s not pounding the track, Ciara loves gardening to relax.

“I just got an allotment, so I am currently trying to grow fruit and veg. I’ve got three drills of potatoes, some peas, carrots, onions. I’m trying to have nice healthy home-grown food for my dinner table. I am also trying to grow flowers, but I’m not quite as successful as that!”