Patricia O’Halloran crossed paths with her husband Vincent in 2000 when they attended a Macra Christmas party. Five years later, the pair tied the knot and together they manage a dairy farm in Killaloe, Callan, Co Kilkenny
The O’Hallorans milk approximately 160 dairy cows and when they have calved, Patricia takes ownership of rearing the youngsters. While there may be no set start or finish time for a farmer, Patricia makes sure to take time out for herself.
In 2014, she joined the newly formed Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club and witnessing how much enjoyment and satisfaction she was getting from running, Vincent decided to follow her lead.
“Gary Bourke put out a message to see if there was an interest in starting up a running club. The first night we had 40 people at the meeting and from there, it took off. We have runners from every background: dairy farmers, vets, teachers, nurses and accountants, lots of mams and dads who need an hour or two to themselves.
“I gave up work when I had my second child in 2006 and apart from being on the farm, I wasn’t doing anything else. The running club was more of an outlet to meet people as much as for fitness.
In your head
“The first time we ran, we ran the school pitch. I think we did 30 seconds of a run and then you had a break. I thought I was going to die.
"You build it up over time and once I had my first 10k done, I was thinking: ‘How am I going to do anymore?’ But you do, it’s all about the training and getting fitter. Getting your head around it is probably the hardest.
“I didn’t think I would ever run a 5k, let alone anything else. I had no intention of running a marathon. I did my first 10k in February 2015 and my first marathon (Dublin City Marathon) in October 2015. I have missed one marathon since then through injury. When I crossed the finish line in October, I said I was never doing another one and sure I signed up again two days later!
“The running keeps you fit physically and mentally for farming. Sometimes you need to be mentally tough to get through hard, long runs and that stands to you during the busy calving period. If you had a tough day, you go out and run, you’ll talk it out with people and you get great support from those in the club.
“I am not your typical runner. I’m not tall and skinny, but I get such a kick out of it. After you finish a race, you are buzzing. It’s great for your health and the days when you don’t want to run, those are the days that you need to do it.
Quality time
“Vincent joined three years after I did. It’s amazing the difference it makes and he saw that in me, the benefits from the health and social side. They started up a Couch to 10k programme for men and he joined. Vincent took to it like a duck to water. He completed his first marathon in October. The two of us did it together.
“It’s nice to be able to do it with Vincent. The kids are old enough now that we can go in and do our run and don’t have to be worrying about them. We get a bit of time to ourselves and we have something more in common other than farming.
“We meet on Tuesday, Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday at the weekends. When we come in from milking I would say: ‘Are we going running?’ and Vincent would be like: ‘Yeah come on, we’re going.’ It’s five minutes in the road, you’re away for an hour and in that time, you have your head cleared and you’re ready to go again.
“You will never regret joining any kind of sports club, particularly running because all you need is a pair of runners and shorts, and off you go. Our club is about running at your own pace and your own level, you will always have someone to run with. You don’t have to be the fastest or fittest, but the joy you get out of it, I absolutely love it.
Social club
“Sometimes we say that we’re a social club that runs because we have such craic, you have half your run done before you realise it. After the marathon we always go back to one of the pubs, we get a bus and on the way home we get off in Kilkenny and have a few drinks. You like to sit down and chat, and see how other people went.
“We held our 10k run recently, 110 registered and 250 or more did the 5k and family fun run. For a small club in the middle of the country, to have that many people show up on a bank holiday Monday (18 March) was incredible.
Runners taking part in Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club 10k on Saint Patrick's bank holiday weekend.
“This year we were able to give medals for our club 10k run thanks to the generous sponsorship of Ballykeefe Distillery, and our family vets Village Veterinary, also came on board as sponsors. We gave some of the proceeds from the run to our local national school who were kind enough to let us use their facilities on the day.”
If you would like to find out more about Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club or
join, see their Facebook page.
Read more
My Country Living: how mum gave me the gift of life a second time
My Country Living: going for gold with Shirley McCay
Patricia O’Halloran crossed paths with her husband Vincent in 2000 when they attended a Macra Christmas party. Five years later, the pair tied the knot and together they manage a dairy farm in Killaloe, Callan, Co Kilkenny
The O’Hallorans milk approximately 160 dairy cows and when they have calved, Patricia takes ownership of rearing the youngsters. While there may be no set start or finish time for a farmer, Patricia makes sure to take time out for herself.
In 2014, she joined the newly formed Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club and witnessing how much enjoyment and satisfaction she was getting from running, Vincent decided to follow her lead.
“Gary Bourke put out a message to see if there was an interest in starting up a running club. The first night we had 40 people at the meeting and from there, it took off. We have runners from every background: dairy farmers, vets, teachers, nurses and accountants, lots of mams and dads who need an hour or two to themselves.
“I gave up work when I had my second child in 2006 and apart from being on the farm, I wasn’t doing anything else. The running club was more of an outlet to meet people as much as for fitness.
In your head
“The first time we ran, we ran the school pitch. I think we did 30 seconds of a run and then you had a break. I thought I was going to die.
"You build it up over time and once I had my first 10k done, I was thinking: ‘How am I going to do anymore?’ But you do, it’s all about the training and getting fitter. Getting your head around it is probably the hardest.
“I didn’t think I would ever run a 5k, let alone anything else. I had no intention of running a marathon. I did my first 10k in February 2015 and my first marathon (Dublin City Marathon) in October 2015. I have missed one marathon since then through injury. When I crossed the finish line in October, I said I was never doing another one and sure I signed up again two days later!
“The running keeps you fit physically and mentally for farming. Sometimes you need to be mentally tough to get through hard, long runs and that stands to you during the busy calving period. If you had a tough day, you go out and run, you’ll talk it out with people and you get great support from those in the club.
“I am not your typical runner. I’m not tall and skinny, but I get such a kick out of it. After you finish a race, you are buzzing. It’s great for your health and the days when you don’t want to run, those are the days that you need to do it.
Quality time
“Vincent joined three years after I did. It’s amazing the difference it makes and he saw that in me, the benefits from the health and social side. They started up a Couch to 10k programme for men and he joined. Vincent took to it like a duck to water. He completed his first marathon in October. The two of us did it together.
“It’s nice to be able to do it with Vincent. The kids are old enough now that we can go in and do our run and don’t have to be worrying about them. We get a bit of time to ourselves and we have something more in common other than farming.
“We meet on Tuesday, Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday at the weekends. When we come in from milking I would say: ‘Are we going running?’ and Vincent would be like: ‘Yeah come on, we’re going.’ It’s five minutes in the road, you’re away for an hour and in that time, you have your head cleared and you’re ready to go again.
“You will never regret joining any kind of sports club, particularly running because all you need is a pair of runners and shorts, and off you go. Our club is about running at your own pace and your own level, you will always have someone to run with. You don’t have to be the fastest or fittest, but the joy you get out of it, I absolutely love it.
Social club
“Sometimes we say that we’re a social club that runs because we have such craic, you have half your run done before you realise it. After the marathon we always go back to one of the pubs, we get a bus and on the way home we get off in Kilkenny and have a few drinks. You like to sit down and chat, and see how other people went.
“We held our 10k run recently, 110 registered and 250 or more did the 5k and family fun run. For a small club in the middle of the country, to have that many people show up on a bank holiday Monday (18 March) was incredible.
Runners taking part in Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club 10k on Saint Patrick's bank holiday weekend.
“This year we were able to give medals for our club 10k run thanks to the generous sponsorship of Ballykeefe Distillery, and our family vets Village Veterinary, also came on board as sponsors. We gave some of the proceeds from the run to our local national school who were kind enough to let us use their facilities on the day.”
If you would like to find out more about Graigue-Ballycallan Athletics Club or
join, see their Facebook page.
Read more
My Country Living: how mum gave me the gift of life a second time
My Country Living: going for gold with Shirley McCay
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