Collette O’Hagan’s regular post-race recovery menu consists of a glass of wine and a plate of salty chips. She jokes that the unorthodox meal might not work for everyone but plain food suits her. At 75, and recently the first woman home at the Trasna na Blianta Leixlip 24hrs Irish National Championships (that’s running for 24 hours), who is anyone to argue?
The Dundalk grandmother of 10 is a dynamo – and a pure tonic to talk to. Her infectious enthusiasm exudes sunshine – but there's a fair bit of steel in there too.
There has to be when you consider that, over a 24-hour period, starting on 5 April, she ran close to 85 miles, not only winning her age group but taking the crown for first woman home overall.
She is also second overall in the World 24-hrs Championships stakes for the over-75 ladies, courtesy of her mammoth run in Kildare.
Collette – who is known in running circles as the ‘Pink Lady’ because of her love of the colour, as seen in her brightly-coloured hair – says, “There is one lady ahead of me [in the over-75s]. By God, in my next 24-hour championship, I’m going to try beat her. I’m throwing the gauntlet down now,” she says, laughing. “It’s giving me something to focus on.
“To me, that’s a big boost. I know people say sure there are not many 75-year-olds doing that, but there are actually. There’s quite a few. It’s not just Ireland, it’s the world. I’m taking on the world,” says the mother-of-five.
Active childhood
While not particularly sporty in her youth, Collette believes an active agricultural childhood played its part in where she is today. She took up running at 40, following an illness and some persuasion from her husband Larry to get out on the road.
Last year, she completed her 1,000th marathon – the Dublin City Marathon – still one of her favourite events. “I think it shaped me totally,” she says of growing up on a farm on the Louth/Armagh border.
“It gave me great resilience and tenacity to keep going because we were all small kids, and we all had chores to do. When I think back, I was only four or five, carrying in buckets from the well, washing spuds and feeding pigs."
One of 18 children, Collette also walked and ran the five kilometres to school every day to Glasdrumman just over the border in Armagh, perhaps an early indicator of her running prowess.
“I had a very active childhood and I loved it because I enjoyed being on the farm. It was a small farm. All the animals had a name – the pigs, the cattle, the cows, the chickens and hens. "I had a turkey called Molly and there’s still a picture of me with her,” she says.
I got to the finish line [of the mini marathon] and I said to myself, ‘There is no finish line. This is not my finish line’
However, when Molly disappeared, Collette discovered that the family bred the turkeys to sell to locals for Christmas dinner. She turned vegetarian and has remained so to this day.
Of running she admits it wasn't an immediate love affair, “I hated it when I went out first, but he [husband Larry] persisted and thank God he did.
"Eventually, I got stronger than he was and I was ahead of him. Then he says, ‘now you’re on your own’.”
She later joined a group of women training for the ladies mini-marathon with Joan Brady [another marathon runner] heading it up. That's when she knew it was start of something big for her.
“I got to the finish line [of the mini marathon] and I said to myself, ‘There is no finish line. This is not my finish line’.”
Overseas events
From there, the goal moved to her first marathon which she did aged 41. Initially, she only did two or three marathons a year, and the thinking at that stage was that was the limit physically.
With the encouragement of Larry to try some overseas events, she entered Boston and got a taste of being abroad. She has never subscribed to gels or anything fancy during races, bar a banana or a sweet, and her post-race celebration is legendary.
“Everybody knows how I celebrate with the glass of wine and the bowl of chips. The wine has all the vitamins in it and the chips has all the carbs and salt [you need after a race]. I’m sorted then and in my happy place.”
Collette was later asked to join the 100 Marathon Club in the UK, where you “aspire to do 100 marathons”. In disbelief at the idea at first, she later “got into the numbers” and having reached 100 it “inspired me to keep going” taking part in many multi-event series. In fact, she is just back from doing five marathons in five days in the UK.
Asked if people tell her she’s mad, Collette replies: "They’re probably right. I am [mad] but in a nice way.” The most she reckons she did in one year was 100 marathons, she now probably averages 60-70 a year.
Running gives her a great centre in her life and she could not be more thankful for it. “I find a lot of older people look back. I look forward. You have to keep going and not give up and as I say ‘just keep trying’. If you try something it’s not failing. There is no failure in trying. If you don’t try, you’re failing. That would be my motto.”
Getting older is something she accepts and the running times she did in her 40s are not what she does now, but that doesn't stop her.
“I don’t try to deny my age, I try to defy it. I don’t make age a barrier, if you do you just give up,” she says.
Reaching the 1,000 marathons mark in Dublin last year was “the best day of my life in terms of marathon running” and a “wonderful moment” for Collette and her family, some of whom ran alongside her.
Collette O'Hagan (750 has run over 1,000 marathons pictured in her home town of Dundalk, Co Louth. \ Arthur Carron
“It gives you mental strength,” she says, and running has helped her navigate the challenges of raising a family of five and fostering up to 80 children.
“When you go out for a run sometimes you don’t feel so good. When you do and come back, you feel great and you can tackle anything,” she explains, adding that she loves letting her “mind go free” when she's pounding the road. A lot of problems get solved in a few kilometres.
Another motivation for Collette over the years has been fundraising for Hospice, Féileacáin and the Chernobyl Children’s Project. She also travelled to Romania years ago with an NGO working in the orphanages and running helped her deal with what she saw.
“Running has definitely made me a better person and I can handle situations better because of it,” says Collette, who goes running everyday, even if it’s only for a mile. While she wishes she glided like a gazelle, she insists she's “the most awkward-looking runner you’ll ever meet” but she gets places all the same.
“It’s not about the grace, it’s about the pace,” she says, joking with a quick wit that’s evident throughout our chat.
Over the years she’s been lucky that her injuries have been relatively minor. A metatarsal fracture didn’t stop her memorably doing four half-marathons in Donegal with a boot and crutches.
She admits that her stubbornness is a strength and she never wants to give up. While she may have to slow down at some stage, running will always be part of her life. Her next goal is to reach 1,111 marathons, which she says is an angel number and a special one by next year.
And finally, her advice to the rest of us: “Keep moving. Don’t sit in the chair and not get up. You have to move and keep moving. You don’t have to do anything mad like I do, but keep moving.”
Collette O’Hagan’s regular post-race recovery menu consists of a glass of wine and a plate of salty chips. She jokes that the unorthodox meal might not work for everyone but plain food suits her. At 75, and recently the first woman home at the Trasna na Blianta Leixlip 24hrs Irish National Championships (that’s running for 24 hours), who is anyone to argue?
The Dundalk grandmother of 10 is a dynamo – and a pure tonic to talk to. Her infectious enthusiasm exudes sunshine – but there's a fair bit of steel in there too.
There has to be when you consider that, over a 24-hour period, starting on 5 April, she ran close to 85 miles, not only winning her age group but taking the crown for first woman home overall.
She is also second overall in the World 24-hrs Championships stakes for the over-75 ladies, courtesy of her mammoth run in Kildare.
Collette – who is known in running circles as the ‘Pink Lady’ because of her love of the colour, as seen in her brightly-coloured hair – says, “There is one lady ahead of me [in the over-75s]. By God, in my next 24-hour championship, I’m going to try beat her. I’m throwing the gauntlet down now,” she says, laughing. “It’s giving me something to focus on.
“To me, that’s a big boost. I know people say sure there are not many 75-year-olds doing that, but there are actually. There’s quite a few. It’s not just Ireland, it’s the world. I’m taking on the world,” says the mother-of-five.
Active childhood
While not particularly sporty in her youth, Collette believes an active agricultural childhood played its part in where she is today. She took up running at 40, following an illness and some persuasion from her husband Larry to get out on the road.
Last year, she completed her 1,000th marathon – the Dublin City Marathon – still one of her favourite events. “I think it shaped me totally,” she says of growing up on a farm on the Louth/Armagh border.
“It gave me great resilience and tenacity to keep going because we were all small kids, and we all had chores to do. When I think back, I was only four or five, carrying in buckets from the well, washing spuds and feeding pigs."
One of 18 children, Collette also walked and ran the five kilometres to school every day to Glasdrumman just over the border in Armagh, perhaps an early indicator of her running prowess.
“I had a very active childhood and I loved it because I enjoyed being on the farm. It was a small farm. All the animals had a name – the pigs, the cattle, the cows, the chickens and hens. "I had a turkey called Molly and there’s still a picture of me with her,” she says.
I got to the finish line [of the mini marathon] and I said to myself, ‘There is no finish line. This is not my finish line’
However, when Molly disappeared, Collette discovered that the family bred the turkeys to sell to locals for Christmas dinner. She turned vegetarian and has remained so to this day.
Of running she admits it wasn't an immediate love affair, “I hated it when I went out first, but he [husband Larry] persisted and thank God he did.
"Eventually, I got stronger than he was and I was ahead of him. Then he says, ‘now you’re on your own’.”
She later joined a group of women training for the ladies mini-marathon with Joan Brady [another marathon runner] heading it up. That's when she knew it was start of something big for her.
“I got to the finish line [of the mini marathon] and I said to myself, ‘There is no finish line. This is not my finish line’.”
Overseas events
From there, the goal moved to her first marathon which she did aged 41. Initially, she only did two or three marathons a year, and the thinking at that stage was that was the limit physically.
With the encouragement of Larry to try some overseas events, she entered Boston and got a taste of being abroad. She has never subscribed to gels or anything fancy during races, bar a banana or a sweet, and her post-race celebration is legendary.
“Everybody knows how I celebrate with the glass of wine and the bowl of chips. The wine has all the vitamins in it and the chips has all the carbs and salt [you need after a race]. I’m sorted then and in my happy place.”
Collette was later asked to join the 100 Marathon Club in the UK, where you “aspire to do 100 marathons”. In disbelief at the idea at first, she later “got into the numbers” and having reached 100 it “inspired me to keep going” taking part in many multi-event series. In fact, she is just back from doing five marathons in five days in the UK.
Asked if people tell her she’s mad, Collette replies: "They’re probably right. I am [mad] but in a nice way.” The most she reckons she did in one year was 100 marathons, she now probably averages 60-70 a year.
Running gives her a great centre in her life and she could not be more thankful for it. “I find a lot of older people look back. I look forward. You have to keep going and not give up and as I say ‘just keep trying’. If you try something it’s not failing. There is no failure in trying. If you don’t try, you’re failing. That would be my motto.”
Getting older is something she accepts and the running times she did in her 40s are not what she does now, but that doesn't stop her.
“I don’t try to deny my age, I try to defy it. I don’t make age a barrier, if you do you just give up,” she says.
Reaching the 1,000 marathons mark in Dublin last year was “the best day of my life in terms of marathon running” and a “wonderful moment” for Collette and her family, some of whom ran alongside her.
Collette O'Hagan (750 has run over 1,000 marathons pictured in her home town of Dundalk, Co Louth. \ Arthur Carron
“It gives you mental strength,” she says, and running has helped her navigate the challenges of raising a family of five and fostering up to 80 children.
“When you go out for a run sometimes you don’t feel so good. When you do and come back, you feel great and you can tackle anything,” she explains, adding that she loves letting her “mind go free” when she's pounding the road. A lot of problems get solved in a few kilometres.
Another motivation for Collette over the years has been fundraising for Hospice, Féileacáin and the Chernobyl Children’s Project. She also travelled to Romania years ago with an NGO working in the orphanages and running helped her deal with what she saw.
“Running has definitely made me a better person and I can handle situations better because of it,” says Collette, who goes running everyday, even if it’s only for a mile. While she wishes she glided like a gazelle, she insists she's “the most awkward-looking runner you’ll ever meet” but she gets places all the same.
“It’s not about the grace, it’s about the pace,” she says, joking with a quick wit that’s evident throughout our chat.
Over the years she’s been lucky that her injuries have been relatively minor. A metatarsal fracture didn’t stop her memorably doing four half-marathons in Donegal with a boot and crutches.
She admits that her stubbornness is a strength and she never wants to give up. While she may have to slow down at some stage, running will always be part of her life. Her next goal is to reach 1,111 marathons, which she says is an angel number and a special one by next year.
And finally, her advice to the rest of us: “Keep moving. Don’t sit in the chair and not get up. You have to move and keep moving. You don’t have to do anything mad like I do, but keep moving.”
SHARING OPTIONS