My Marathon: Mary Hickey Nolan
Why I'm running: My main motivation is still the competition and challenge involved in the marathon.
Age: 53.
Level of experience: I would be one of the more experienced amateur women marathon runners in Ireland. This is my 26th Dublin City Marathon.
Best running achievement so far: I broke three hours in 1981 when I did it in two hours 56 minutes, finishing fourth woman over-all. I'm also proud of my slowest time in 1989 - I walked and jogged the marathon when I was six and a half months pregnant.
Where I train: I train on the highways and byways of Arklow in the evening with a group of women. Anyone can join in.
Estimated completion time: Hopefully around three hours 35 minutes.
I've run in every Dublin City Marathon since it began in 1980. The first year of the marathon there were only around 40 women running in it - we were like aliens. But, as Paula Radcliffe has shown, women are well cut out for marathon running.
This is my 26th year and I am now the only woman to have completed all of the marathons. I didn't set out to run every marathon, but now that I have I must admit I'm proud of the achievement. My body is still able for it and I do quite well for my category (the masters over-50 category) and I usually take home a prize.
In my youth I was regarded as a delicate child, but as a bored teenager I discovered St Benedicts Athletic Club Arklow, through my brother. I started out as a sprinter, but began marathons in the 1960s.
Generally, I run from one end of the year to next. I have a down time after the marathon, when I don't do a very high mileage. But nine months before the marathon, I start doing about six to eight miles once a week along with shorter runs four times a week. As the time gets closer, my weekly long run will go up to 10-15 miles. Sixto eight eight weeks before I would run 20 miles nearly every weekend.
I run with the Civil Service Athletic Club, but I live in Arklow, where I work for a medical device company, so I train with a group of women in the area.
Two days before the marathon I recommend that you do hardly any running at all, just a light jog, and to get plenty of rest plenty and drink lots of liquids to build up for the day. My diet is nothing special. I just eat plenty of good food and try not to eat rubbish.
A marathon is obviously a physical event but you have to be mentally strong to get though it. A marathon can go very wrong for anybody. Twenty-six miles is one hell of a journey and if something goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong. You could start off feeling grand and up around 15-18 miles you could get a cramp, run out of energy or feel really bad. Then you need to draw on your mental energy. No one gets through it easily. It's not a fun run, even the winner will feel pain.
I enjoy the feeling of being able to run 26 miles in fairly good condition. Each marathon feels different. You have different highs and lows. I enjoy all the lovely people you meet before, during and after the race.
Next year I'm looking forward to the marathon in Sables. It's a week-long, 150-mile race in the Sahara Desert.
(In an interview with Fiona Tyrrell)