Corkonians Abroad: A sportsman’s life amid lovely UK lakes

SPORTSMAN Paul Tierney, from Blackrock, Cork,has forged a new life amidst the natural beauty of the Lake District in the north-west of England.

I asked the athlete, running coach and former GAA player about his life there.

When did you move to the Lake District?

I moved originally for a year in 2013. And then moved again in October, 2014, and have been here since.

The main reason was I really liked the area and it was an ideal place to be at the time for the work I was planning to do

What is life like in your new home?

It’s a lovely place to live if you enjoy the outdoors. For people that don’t know the area, it is like the mountainous areas of Kerry. It’s quite rural in places but there are also some large towns in the area.

We are about a 90-minute drive from Manchester Airport, to give some context.

The local economy relies on tourism so it can be a busy place in the height of the summer and at weekends. But you can always find a quiet spot to go for a run with the dogs.

Like myself, a lot of people have moved there because of the outdoors. There are mountain bikers, climbers, trail runners and hikers all making the most of the area.

What has been the biggest challenge, and how have you tackled it?

To be honest, it hasn’t been all that challenging. Getting my own business off the ground and to a point where I can make a living has been a bit of a challenge, I suppose, but it’s been enjoyable.

I’ve watched the documentary about you running ‘The Wainwrights’ in 2019, can you tell us a little about what that was like?

‘The Wainwrights are 214 mountains or hills in the Lake District.

In the 1960s and ’70s, a man called Alfred Wainwright wrote guide books about the area in which he wrote about his favourite hill walks. So he wrote seven of these books and the mountains included in the book have become known as The Wainwrights.

Keen hillwalkers like to walk all the Wainwrights over the course of a number of years. But in the ’80s, Alan Heaton decided he would try to do them all in one go. It took him a little over nine days, which included a trip to hospital for an infection in his foot, I think.

Then, a year later, the great Joss Naylor had a go and he did the challenge in seven days and 1 hour.

That was 1986 or ’87. No-one bothered with it again until Steve Birkinshaw decided to give it a go in 2014.

Steve was someone I looked up to at that time and still do, but it just seemed absolutely inconceivable to try something like this. The total distance of Steve’s route was 525 kilometres and the total ascent was about 36,000 metres.

Anyway, five years later I had accumulated a bit more experience and decided I would give it a go myself. 

The challenge itself was obviously quite tiring and I was totally wrecked at the end of it, but it was also incredibly enjoyable.

 I had so much support from local runners and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone who helped me.

With an array of sporting achievements to your name, is there a highlight?

My favourite sporting highlight was winning the Cork county senior hurling championship with Blackrock in 2001.

Myself and Dave Cashman were the youngest members of the team at 18 years old and we were playing with grown men who were our heroes at the time like Wayne Sherlock, Alan and John Browne, Fergal Ryan, Alan Cummins and Brian O’Keeffe.

It was the best feeling I’ve ever had in a sporting context. Bringing the cup back to Blackrock that evening to hurling-mad people was the icing on the cake

What kind of effect do these elite Ultra Races have on the body and mind?

I think, as I have gained more experience doing events like that, it becomes easier to regulate your emotions. It probably took much more out of me the first time round. But you begin to learn little tricks or coping strategies that keep you on a much more even keel.

I would still have moments where I’d get pissed off or feel like stopping, but I’ve just become better at putting those thoughts to the back of my mind.

Finishing an event like that is a great buzz, and generally, it makes up for the hardship along the way.

I would say though that it is a choice to go and do these things, so it isn’t real hardship or suffering. You can stop whenever you like and because of this it allows you to keep a good perspective on things. It’s what I enjoy doing so it can’t be real hardship.

Tell us about your elite athlete journey and running coach work?

Well, I’m not an elite runner but it is a big part of my life, especially as our work also revolves around it. I just got into it because I loved training and competing and being out in nice places.

Sometimes, I haven’t trained in the optimal way because I don’t look at it as training. It is something I love doing and that probably hasn’t helped when it comes to performing at your best because you end up being less structured. Because my work involves putting structure on so many other people’s training, I worry about mine last. But I’ve been enjoying being more structured recently and hopefully that will help in the year ahead.

In terms of that work, myself and my partner Sarah McCormack run an online running coaching business. 

I also work out of a physio clinic called the Body Rehab near where we live. Here I do some injury rehab, sports massage, movement assessment and coaching with runners. 

It’s very enjoyable work.

Any special mentions to friends or family back in Cork?

Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing my parents who are now back living in their homeplace in Tipperary, and my brother and his wife Ann Louise and the kids Leo and Eric, who are in Dublin, and my sister, who’s still in Cork with her husband Ronan and two kids, Joe and Frankie.

I’m looking forward to meeting the lads for a pint at Christmas - Cash, Conor, Eddie, Damo, Collins, Kearney, Roy, and maybe even Billy Mills if he decides to grace us with his presence.

If you were back in Cork for one day, what would the ideal day look like for you?

It would be great for a trip home to coincide with a Blackrock championship game. I was home last year for the county final against the Barrs.

They have a really talented group there at the moment and great people over the team, so hopefully they will be given a chance to keep building on that and I’ll get to see them in action next year.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

I’m looking forward to going home for Christmas. I will get to see my family and meet up with my friends.

We will also be doing some work on an Irish Mountain Running High Performance weekend as well as a private workshop in Cork.

I’m looking forward to racing some shorter races in the coming months in preparation for something longer later next year

Given the fact, that you’re a former Cork senior hurler and a former Farna player, do you ever get the chance to puck the sliotar around nowadays?

Ya, I have two dogs so I puck a ball every day for them. They love it!

You can watch Paul Tierney running The Wainwrights in an incredible documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laMBEjxlst8

And if you are looking for expert Running coaching, you can check out Pauls business at: https://www.missinglinkcoaching.co.uk/