Ironwoman Grace from Carlow completes second triathlon

CARLOW woman Grace O’Reilly has completed her second Ironman triathlon in Portugal.

Grace took on the relentless challenge – a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km extremely hilly cycle and finishing with a full marathon of 42.2km. Completing the triathlon in just over 14 hours, Grace said she took to athletics later in life.

“I was that kid that looked for a note in PE,” Grace joked.

She started running during lockdown just to get out of the house and maintain her mental health. She started competing in 5km races but soon she was running marathons. She described running as her “comfort blanket”.

The Iron(wo)man completed her second race in Cascais, near Lisbon, on 17 October. Just over a year ago, she finished her first Ironman in Barcelona and a day later, as is tradition, she had the emblem tattooed on her arm.

Much of Grace’s training is completed solo. Grace is a single mother and cares for her son, who is autistic. On a Sunday, her mam will bring Grace’s son out for the day while she sets the alarm early and clocks up to seven or eight hours of training.

Grace said her friends and family all have the “patience of a saint”. When she feels any self-doubt, they’re the best motivators, but they’ll also sit her down and help her to hammer out any issues with a sense of realism.

Grace said she spends a lot of time in her head during long training blocks. “You have some very funny conversations with yourself,” she said. “Some are very deep and meaningful.” 

At the height of her training, Grace clocked up more than 18.5 hours in one week. “I wasn’t very bubbly after that,” she said.

Grace has a great relationship with Carlow triathlon and Tinryland athletics clubs. She often joins the triathlon sessions for open water swimming in the summer and some weekend bike rides.

“No achievement is too small for Tinryland,” she said about the athletics club. She said they’re always incredibly supportive of her, even when she competes abroad.

Now that fitness is such a massive part of her life, even her holidays can revolve around a race. She spent a week in Portugal this time around and felt that she had time to get settled. She has already signed up for next year – “better make it a hat-trick,” she said.

Grace is going to take it easy for the rest of the year, but it’s a testament to her incredible fitness that ‘taking it easy’ means eyeing up the Waterford half-marathon in November. Last year, she took on the Dublin City Marathon just three weeks after completing the Ironman.

Triathlons, particularly the full Ironman, are often male dominated. In a recent Ironman, 20% of participants were women. If Tinryland’s Facebook page is anything to go by, she is certainly an inspiration to others.