Áine Flynn, Fit4Life member and Fit4Life volunteer/coach with Togher AC.
This month we celebrate Fit4Life member and volunteer coach Áine Flynn. Áine is one of our original Fit4Life members and will be familiar to many in the club as a 0-5km and Fit4Track leader. She regularly reminds us of the Fit4Life ethos of supporting all levels of runners and can always be relied on to welcome our new members and ensure everyone feels included. As the Togher Fit4Life celebrates its 10th birthday this year, it is fitting that we catch up with one of the founding members and celebrate the ethos of volunteering and inclusivity that makes Togher AC such a special club to be part of.
About 10 years ago I got an email to join a group called Après Run. I was a tiny bit apprehensive at first but then I broke it down and it didn’t sound too scary:
Après: coming after in time, typically specifying a period following an activity.
Run: to move at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time.
My previous running experiences dated way back to when I was a teenager, mainly on the hockey pitch. Like a lot of people, I forgot about the value of physical activity in my twenties. In an effort to reclaim myself and to get fit, I signed up to participate in a Fit4Life 1 mile challenge at MTU (at the time CIT). Over the course of 8 weeks or so a group met up every Saturday for essentially a 1-mile speed challenge. I came in a last, every-single-week, but I felt like a winner, every-single-week because the experience made me so happy. And as it turned out I was an actual winner too; I was crowned (slight embellishment) most improved over the duration of the 8 weeks! My prize was a nice t-shirt, but really my prize was a wide smile and courage. Courage to join a soccer team at work. Technically I was not great, to say the least. My assets were my height and size but if I am being honest, it was really my elbows that came into their own on that particular pitch.
The timing of the email to join Après Run was fortuitous as my soccer career was on a downward trajectory and I was in danger of being dropped and a Bosman transfer wasn’t even on the cards.
From the get-go those thrice weekly running meet ups were a joy. It was like physical and mental therapy. So many of the world’s problems were solved on those runs. Sundays were the best, as the Après not only involved coffee, but also brunch and more chats and laughs. Not long after its formation the group joined Togher AC and became its Fit4Life branch. To be fair the Club could not have been more welcoming, and we soon infiltrated all levels and got to know all the excellent coaches, committee members and the very many wonderful volunteers. Over the years I have had the honour to be the Registrations Officer, Assistant Secretary, 0-5K leader, Fit4Life volunteer, member of the organising committee for the 50th Anniversary celebrations back in 2016, and other events like the annual Togher AC 5K and various fund-raising activities. And I have also managed to run a few 10K, 10 miles and half marathons, though to be fair they are usually ones that involve a nice location with lots of Après activities.
My main running goals are to keep moving at a speed faster than walking, enjoy the great outdoors and continue to support those adults who are starting out on their running journey or getting back on track after a break.