Strandhill’s Sports Mass
Mary Cullen, Irish International athlete and current indoor 3000m record holder was the guest speaker at the annual Sport’s Mass in St. Patrick’s Church, Strandhill recently.
The Drumcliffe woman, who won a European Indoor Bronze medal, spoke passionately about her life as an athlete and the importance of her Faith.
Mary catapulted the athletics scene in Sligo and is a huge inspiration to young runners following in her footsteps.
She has done so much for running in her home county and her club North Sligo AC. She outlined her progression from a promising club athlete, to representing Ireland at international youth level, running at Collegiate level in the USA and her achievements at senior level for Ireland at 3000m, 5000m and cross-country events. At the Sports Mass she was very honest in describing the pain she experienced leaving home to go to Providence College, she described it as “scary and exhilarating in equal measure”. The congregation listened attentively to her many successes and the subsequent heartbreak of not making qualifying times for the three different Olympic games due to a series of injuries.
However, she is not giving up her dream and is currently in training for half marathons with the intention of qualifying for the full marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.