Catherina McKiernan of Ireland en route to winning the 1998 London Marathon (© Getty Images)
Ireland's Catherina McKiernan the former fourtimes World Cross Country runner-up and one of the major names of women's distance running in the 1990s will retire on Sunday (10 Oct) after competing in a 10K in her native Cavan.
The 34-year-old won four consecutive World Cross silvers between 1992 and 1995, losing by only two seconds to USA's Lynn Jennings in the first of those races. However, she did capture the European Cross Country title in 1994.
McKiernan carved out a successful career on the roads in the latter half of the decade. She won the Berlin Marathon in 1997 (2:23:44) and the following year was in her prime taking the London Marathon (2:26:26) in the spring and then lowing her personal best to 2:22:23 in the autumn to win the Amsterdam Marathon.
However, her career was blighted in recent years by a string of injuries. This year she finished 30th in the World Cross Country in Brussels, and last raced on 25 September when she finished 12th in the Great North Run Half Marathon in a time of 75:10.
Her personal best for Half Marathon was 67:50 (Lisbon, 1998), and on the track for 10,000m, 31:08.41 (1995) and for 5000m, 14:49.40 (1996).
IAAF and BBC
