Leevale athlete makes European Championships just 11 and a half weeks after the arrival of her first child
Leevale AC’s Niamh Allen with her three-month-old daughter Lily, after finishing second in the National Cross Country Championships at Castle Irvine Estate in Irvinestown, Fermanagh. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Eleven and a half weeks. That’s all it was. From the day Niamh Allen gave birth to her first child, Lily, to the day she raced to a silver medal at the National Cross Country Championships, earning a spot on the Irish team for next weekend’s Europeans in Antalya, Turkey.
Her first major international, at the age of 29, amid odds that seemed so outrageous. Amid the creaks and twinges and lingering effects of childbirth, off limited training and limited sleep, the Cork native produced the best performance of her career at the Castle Irvine Estate in Fermanagh earlier this month.
