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16 Oct 2025
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16 Oct 2025
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Credit: Donore Harriers on Facebook
An 86-year-old woman from Drimnagh in Co. Dublin has won a gold medal at the European Masters Championship in Madeira, Spain.
Ann Woodlock came ran the 1500m race in a time of 9 minutes and 49 seconds, securing first place for Ireland.
"Oh sure it's brilliant. Once you win anything for your country and you put that green vest on it's brilliant," she told RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
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Ann described the environment as a "cauldron" saying that there are mountains on either side of the track that just trap all of the heat.
When asked what her strategy is while approaching a race, Ann said she just starts the race and figures it out as she goes.
She has been running for almost 44 years and started after having all five of her children.
She said when she started running, you wouldn't have seen many women going out of their houses in shorts but finds the community of runners great now.
Ann used to play badminton but got tennis elbow and didn't want surgery to fix it so she decided to start running instead.
When she went to the park, she met a woman who spoke about setting up a women's only 10k run.
Ann took part in the first one and has never looked back, saying that although she may not have speed, she does have endurance.
She said that the friends you make in the running community become family.
She added that despite being 87 in two weeks, she only feels 60-years-old.
"It's only when I see those numbers up somewhere that I think 'is that really my age' but in my head I'm not 86," she said.
Ann will compete at the European Masters Championship again this weekend where she will be running in the 800m race.
With a start time of 9am, Ann is delighted that the sun won't have risen over the mountains yet and is hoping it won't be as hot as last weekend.
At the moment, the Irish masters have a total of 18 gold medals between them.
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