Newcastle AC
By Declan Leung
IT was a third trip in as many weeks for Newcastle AC athlete and Junior coach, Siobhan Grant to Tullamore, County Offaly, as after accompanying the Newcastle AC Junior squad through the National Juvenile Championships, it was her turn to practice what she preaches at the National Masters Championships.
Having only embraced athletics in her 30s, Siobhan Grant has gone on to complete numerous endurance running events, with a number of these as a guide runner for a visually impaired athlete at marathon and ultra marathon distance.
Injury however took her off the roads and she threw herself into coaching at both club and school level, with squad members winning Ulster Championships in cross country and doing exceptionally well across the board.
As a coach for the Newcastle AC Junior squad, Siobhan completed various athletic courses in coaching multi-events and took those skills into the club, creating a love for all disciplines, throwing, jumping as well as running.
It was through coaching the juniors that she began to challenge herself within the throwing discipline and reached out to the Athletics NI Development Team for further support.
Attending a Throws Workshop with Dave Sweeney, who is the Field Event Lead for Athletics Ireland and currently trackside in Paris, instilled the core event skills, and from there Siobhan worked towards being consistent in a number of events, developing her abilities within the sport to be able to compete at Masters level in the 2024 season.
Attending the Northern Ireland Masters Track and Field Championships in June, Siobhan achieved four podium positions, including a first place in javelin and three silvers in the other three other throwing events; hammer, shot putt and discus, within the F35 age category.
It was a pivotal conversation with Newcastle AC member and Irish Mountain Running squad member, Aine Gosling that made Siobhan consider accepting the invitation to the National Masters Championships in Tullamore.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d be good enough but Aine pointed out these opportunities don’t come around everyday so go for it and enjoy it as you never know what next year will bring,” Siobhan said.
The full report is in the current issue of the Mourne Observer. In it Siobhan reveals how she felt when the final results were called out.
