{"id":177413,"date":"2025-12-10T15:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/177413\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T15:20:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:20:17","slug":"gaelic-footballer-becomes-kiwi-marathon-queen-in-record-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/177413\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaelic footballer becomes Kiwi marathon queen in record time"},"content":{"rendered":"

She overcame a few speed bumps along the way. In the final week her pacer, Tokyo Olympian Malcolm Hicks<\/a>, tore his calf, leaving Dennehy scrambling. <\/p>\n

She quickly found experienced runner Jono Jackson to step in, and he teamed up with Luke Cotter to guide her through the 42km.<\/p>\n

Last month\u2019s race \u2013 with more than 17,000 people across all distances \u2013 was only Dennehy\u2019s third marathon, after what she calls a \u201cdisaster\u201d debut on the Gold Coast in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a good experience for my first attempt,\u201d she says, after getting sick late in the build-up. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave it too long and get scarred by it, so I thought, let\u2019s do Auckland and maybe get on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lure of long distance had always appealed, but her coach Paul Hamblyn wanted her to build more speed first.<\/p>\n

\"BrigidBrigid Dennehy running over the Harbour Bridge during the 2025 Auckland Marathon. Photo \/ Auckland Marathon<\/p>\n

When Dennehy moved to New Zealand from Ireland in August 2019, it was supposed to be a chance to see the world. Instead, she found home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Covid came, I would have lost my visa if I\u2019d left. But I stayed and looking back, I was so lucky,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Growing up in County Kerry in the west of Ireland, Dennehy dabbled in running but Gaelic football was her first love. <\/p>\n

Arriving in Auckland knowing no one, she found community through sport \u2013 first through the local Gaelic football community, then through the North Harbour Bays running club.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long before she was running most evenings and discovering a tight-knit team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just loved the team \u2013 the Bays Babes \u2013 and everyone is passionate about running, so it makes it really enjoyable,\u201d Dennehy says.<\/p>\n

Just six months before moving to New Zealand, she had only just broken 20 minutes for 5km. <\/p>\n

Her goal with Hamblyn was to crack 18 minutes. In 2024, she ran 16m 10s to win the New Zealand 5000m national title. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the power of teammates and enjoying what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

More \u201cpinch-me moments\u201d followed, including a sponsorship with adidas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so lucky to have their support. The shoe technology, especially the carbons, helps so much in training and on race day,\u201d Dennehy says.<\/p>\n

Over the final two months before the Auckland Marathon<\/a>, Dennehy loved seeing crowds of runners training along the waterfront.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only downside was the hundreds of gel packets littered. I don\u2019t get it because they carried the gel in their pocket to start with, so why not just put it back in after?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"BrigidBrigid Dennehy is surrounded by supportive runners during the Auckland Marathon. Photo \/ Auckland Marathon<\/p>\n

Jackson grabbed each of her 10 drink bottles from the aid stations so she could keep her rhythm and nail her nutrition. After a few sips, she\u2019d hand them back through the small pack running with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 25km I could feel it in my legs, but by 30km I was confident I was in a comfortable position.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the race, Dennehy and her pacers settled into a 3m 45s per km rhythm, intentionally keeping the first half conservative. <\/p>\n

They hit halfway in 1h 21m before unleashing a 1h 17m negative split.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually didn\u2019t ask how we were tracking until the last kilometre. I just said, \u2018Are we safe?\u2019 Past 35km in a marathon it\u2019s hard to do the maths,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Dennehy works as a community physiotherapist Monday to Thursday, with the odd shift at a private hospital on weekends. After her marathon win, some of her patients spotted her on the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey asked why I didn\u2019t tell them I was a runner,\u201d she smiles, with typical Dennehy humility.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s now easing back into training with a plan to race an international marathon next April to bring her time down even further. <\/p>\n

Her long-term goal: to make an international team for her beloved Ireland even though New Zealand has her heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call New Zealand home, but I\u2019ll always be Irish.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She overcame a few speed bumps along the way. In the final week her pacer, Tokyo Olympian Malcolm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[35435,113595,52168,113594,78,194,14719,33031,111,139,69,3366,1974,40584,6967,213,2044],"class_list":["post-177413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-becomes","tag-cowley","tag-footballer","tag-gaelic","tag-in","tag-kiwi","tag-lockerroom","tag-marathon","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-queen","tag-record","tag-ross","tag-sarah","tag-sports","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}