""Back in 1980, women out running on their own were viewed like aliens," Hickey said. "We got a lot of stick, to be honest. In some towns you'd have fellas howling at you, but it never stopped me, because I'd been running track and cross-country for 12 years beforehand.""
""My longest run beforehand was 18 miles," she said. "When I got that far, I was terrified to see what would happen next. My calf seized up a bit, but I kept going and finished in 3:38. It was an awesome experience, even though I immediately said, 'Never again!'""
""The only real constant in my life has been getting to the start line of the Dublin Marathon every year," she said. "In challenging personal times when everything else felt unsettled, the marathon was always there.""
""I knew my body very well," she said. "I even knocked on doors along the way to use the loo! I was ready to stop if anything felt wrong, but it all went well.""
Mary Nolan Hickey is a pioneer of women's marathon running in Ireland and will be celebrated with the Mary Nolan Hickey Perpetual Cup. She has competed in every Dublin Marathon since the first race in 1980, totaling 43 races plus two virtual editions during the pandemic. Early female runners often faced suspicion and mockery, yet Hickey persevered after an initial 3:38 debut when only 40 of 2,100 entrants were women. She ran the 1988 marathon six months pregnant, monitored her condition closely, and has relied on the marathon as a steady constant through personal challenges. Support for women runners has grown substantially.
Read at Irish Independent
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