Denise Toner brought a gold medal back to her home village of Donagh this week after her victory in the women’s 35 800m at the European Athletics Masters Indoor Championship in Toron, Poland.

The PE teacher from St. Mary’s College in Irvinestown, who is a member of Clones Athletics Club under the guidance of coach Paul O’Neill, attacked early in the race and held off her pursuers to win in a time of 2:15:73.

“It’s all a bit surreal. I’m not sure it has sunk in that it is all over because I have been focussing on it so much since Christmas,” she said. “It was something I have been preparing for all year. I had a good track season last year and I decided this year I would go for it. I knew I had a pretty good chance of coming home with something but I didn’t think it would be gold. I decided to attack it aggressively. I had a good race in Athlone the week before and I knew I was in good shape. It was a really, really good experience.” The school teacher had done her homework on the opposition, and after watching two of her main rivals in action made the decision in advance of the race to make a break at the front earlier than normal. “We watched them on Tuesday in the 400 and we knew they were both fast, so I went out with the intention of taking it on early in the race and hoped she didn’t have the endurance to stick with me, and it worked out well,” said Denise. “I got a bit of a lead and made a break for it half way round the second lap. I would usually go a lot later than that but I thought I would go for it and luckily I held on. My legs were tired coming up the final straight and I was hoping she had nothing left, but she didn’t seem to close in any, and it was a good enough gamble to take. There was about a second between us at the end.” Denise only started running seriously on the track a couple of years ago, and she has not looked back since making the switch.

“I’m on the track because I twisted my ankle in the international cross country in Antrim a couple of years ago and after that I wasn’t fit to run cross country because I was twisting my ankle a lot,” she explained. “I went down to Athlone and ran a couple of indoor track races and loved it. I did the Home Counties in Lee Valley last year and did the 1500 and 3000 and that was really the first competition I did outside Ireland. Hopefully this is the start of it now. I really enjoy it and love the track racing.” Denise has a gruelling training regime to ensure she maintains her high standards, and has to fit in work and the duties of being a mother to three kids around a schedule that sees her training six days a week. She is taking a hard earned break for a week to bask in the glory of her gold medal, before setting her sights on more competitive action. “I hope to do the Northern Ireland and Irish masters,” Denise revealed. “All being well I will then be going to the World Masters in Lyon in France in August. I may as well go and give it a rattle!” Denise Toner brought a gold medal back to her home village of Donagh this week after her victory in the women’s 35 800m at the European Athletics Masters Indoor Championship in Toron, Poland.

The PE teacher from St. Mary’s College in Irvinestown, who is a member of Clones Athletics Club under the guidance of coach Paul O’Neill, attacked early in the race and held off her pursuers to win in a time of 2:15:73.

“It’s all a bit surreal. I’m not sure it has sunk in that it is all over because I have been focussing on it so much since Christmas,” she said. “It was something I have been preparing for all year. I had a good track season last year and I decided this year I would go for it. I knew I had a pretty good chance of coming home with something but I didn’t think it would be gold. I decided to attack it aggressively. I had a good race in Athlone the week before and I knew I was in good shape. It was a really, really good experience.” The school teacher had done her homework on the opposition, and after watching two of her main rivals in action made the decision in advance of the race to make a break at the front earlier than normal. “We watched them on Tuesday in the 400 and we knew they were both fast, so I went out with the intention of taking it on early in the race and hoped she didn’t have the endurance to stick with me, and it worked out well,” said Denise. “I got a bit of a lead and made a break for it half way round the second lap. I would usually go a lot later than that but I thought I would go for it and luckily I held on. My legs were tired coming up the final straight and I was hoping she had nothing left, but she didn’t seem to close in any, and it was a good enough gamble to take. There was about a second between us at the end.” Denise only started running seriously on the track a couple of years ago, and she has not looked back since making the switch.

“I’m on the track because I twisted my ankle in the international cross country in Antrim a couple of years ago and after that I wasn’t fit to run cross country because I was twisting my ankle a lot,” she explained. “I went down to Athlone and ran a couple of indoor track races and loved it. I did the Home Counties in Lee Valley last year and did the 1500 and 3000 and that was really the first competition I did outside Ireland. Hopefully this is the start of it now. I really enjoy it and love the track racing.” Denise has a gruelling training regime to ensure she maintains her high standards, and has to fit in work and the duties of being a mother to three kids around a schedule that sees her training six days a week. She is taking a hard earned break for a week to bask in the glory of her gold medal, before setting her sights on more competitive action. “I hope to do the Northern Ireland and Irish masters,” Denise revealed. “All being well I will then be going to the World Masters in Lyon in France in August. I may as well go and give it a rattle!”