Today we were delighted to welcome an Irish international female runner, Cheryl Nolan, to our school as part of our athletics initiative aimed at encouraging greater participation among girls.
From the moment she walked into the hall, there was a real buzz of excitement. All of the 100 girls in the school gathered to meet Cheryl who has represented Ireland on the international stage for the Irish Cross Country team as well as winning medals at the National Indoor Championships over the past few years.
The girls listened intently as she talked to them about her running, explaining how she started out at their age running for fun and joining her local Athletics club.
Some of the wonderful questions included:
- “Who inspired you to be a runner?"
- "What do you eat and drink to run fast?"
- "What's your favourite medal you've won?"
- "What's your favourite country you've ran in?"
- "How many medals have you won?"
- "Do you always run indoors in winter?"
Of course, we couldn’t finish without getting active! The hall quickly transformed into a training ground as the girls took part in a fun warm up session before going outdoors. There were fast arms, high knees, balancing on one leg and plenty of laughter. The energy in the room was incredible.
We went outside (in the drizzling rain) and got to run laps with Cheryl with some music blaring and we had an absolute ball before finishing with a group photo.
We are incredibly grateful to Cheryl for giving her time and inspiring the next generation of runners. Who knows? Perhaps one of the girls in that hall today will one day pull on an Irish vest herself.
And even if they don’t — we hope they all left believing that that there's a sport out there for them that they can take part in and enjoy as part of their daily lives!
