A/rtist in the Spotlight: Marthastew

Before anyone else asks do you ever sleep

back with more later !

PaulieC wrote: »

You seem endlessly upbeat about everything. Is there anything at all that gets you down ?

carol singers!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Blocky's and quirky's Q&As and I'm looking forward to answering all these wonderful questions......



What is the greatest race of your career (so far)
I ran my two best races last year; Winning a marathon in my hometown of Athlone was an amazing achievement for me but I wouldn’t consider it my greatest race as I didn’t have to race it all-out to get the win. I’d have to say Donadea 50K , I was so, so proud of myself for pushing and racing all the way to the line as it would have been easy for me to slow after I had lapped the second female and passed marathon distance (bagging a new PB). I’ll always cherish the memory of Mr Stew and I collapsing into Anto’s arms Bodygaurd-style at the Finish Line;)
Tea or coffee?
Coffee, coffee and more coffee

Meno or Digger?
That’s just mean… You know I hate conflict:)
Depends what for….. Digger wins hands down on "the guns" front but lots of the LSRs in my training bank are thanks to Meno.

Do you have a sporty background? (before running)
No, I’m pretty sure I played a bit of hockey at school but obviously not very well if I can’t really remember. I joined a really nice gym when we lived in London 20 years ago and have been fairly active since. I tried golf before running and let's just say it's a good thing I’m not too bad at running;)

Favourite meal?
Filet steak medium rare, béarnaise sauce and chips, big glass of Pinot Noir

Before anyone else asks do you ever sleep
I used to be an air hostess so I’ve learned the art of surviving on very little sleep, having said that I go to bed early when I can as I’m an early riser.

You seem endlessly upbeat about everything. Is there anything at all that gets you down
I’m sure Mr S would disagree with you at times but in general I’m genuinely quite happy. I’m lucky enough not to have to work (outside the home) so what’s not to be happy about?:D

Carol Singers…
I haven’t forgiven myself for my nastiness last Christmas, in my defence I was ill!

What age were you when you started running?
Like a lot of people on here I left it a little late to get started, just before my 42nd birthday

Did you love it straight away?
Yes! I couldn’t believe how much fun it was

Did you join Crusaders pretty early in your running career or jog around on your own for a while first?
I jogged round on my own for a very long while, in fact I had already run 3 marathons before I even discovered the wonderful world of Boards:) We joined Crusaders 18 months ago and although I can’t make it down to the club sessions very often because I’m busy with the boys I am very proud to be a member. My running has greatly improved since joining the club.

Can you pinpoint anything that really helped to improve your running - miles and more miles, or any specific speed training?
For the first couple of years I was one of those runners who went out and ran all my miles at pretty much the same pace and the only speed sessions I did were races. I’m not sure I could pinpoint anything in particular, I’d say it was a combination of the miles and miles I ran for Connemara Ultra 2012 followed by more structure to my training.

Can you guess that I am using this questionnaire to get some of your success to rub off on me ?
You are hugely successful in your own right, I’m pretty sure some national medals have come your way

Do you have any big running goals this year?
My current lofty goal is 3.09 in Barcelona (current PB is 3.19; London 2013), my calf seems hell-bent on scuppering that plan but it’s still almost 8 weeks away so I'm still optimistic. I’m hoping for a strong block of training over the summer and another PB in Berlin, with only 2 and half years left before I join the F50:eek: category time is obviously not exactly on my side but I’ll keep chipping away at my marathon PB as long as I’m still enjoying it.

How do you have such a good tan?
I am naturally very sallow-skinned…. (In the winter I get some help from Johnson’s Holiday Skin moisturiser:))

With your love of skinny dipping would you ever consider doing a Tri?
I actually started out on the dark side, my first event in 2008 was a Sprint distance in Triathy, and I LOVED it, despite being almost the last person out of the water I finished quite respectably. While I love swimming in the sea I can’t actually swim very well and I’d need to take a lot of lessons if I ever decided to venture back to the dark side.

Do you always shop for your runners in The Kildare Village outlet?
Nearly always but I recently paid a trip to the wonderful people in Amphibian King Bray, this trip was partly funded by a voucher I had won in Bohermeen:D

Does Meno really live in your shed?
We felt sorry for him out in the cold so he has moved into the spare room;)

How long where you running before winning the marathon.
I had been running 5 and ½ years at that stage, it was very small field and I got lucky on the day, nevertheless my 88 year old aunt was extremely proud of me:)

You were that far ahead you lapped the second placed girl ? How big where the laps. What was your winning margin ?
Donadea is a wonderful race, 10 by 5K laps on forest trails, I was just over a half hour ahead of the second female finisher, again, I had a very lucky day.


Favourite Irish female athlete?
I was over the moon for Maria McCambridge when she won DCM last year, her hard work and determination are inspirational. I’m lucky to be training with a group supervised by her on Tuesday mornings and she has recently been helping me out with my training plan.


Favourite International female athlete?
Paula Radcliffe’s world record was impressive when she set it almost 11 years ago but the fact that it still stands (despite the men’s record falling 5? times since then) is pretty phenomenal.

I also like Kara Goucher because she shares a birthday with me:)

You're obviously an extremely happy positive person. Do you think running has given you that 'edge' of happiness that you mightn't have if you didn't run?
Running definitely has made me happier and more appreciative of life in general. I also genuinely believe that life is short so being happy comes easy to me.

If you couldn't run what sport would you use to replace it?
I joined a new yoga studio in late 2012 when I was injured but I have come to really, really enjoy yoga, it strengthens me both inside and out:)

Did you realise that someone has their eye on Mr. Stew? On the Boards xmas night out there was one Boardsie who was looking for some Mr. Stew lovin' and it wasn't one of the girl
I did not know that! But to be honest Mr Stew is a fine catch so I don’t find that at all surprising:) It’s fair to say I hit the jackpot when I bagged him:D.
Will you run the next Beer Mile?
I’m not sure, I rarely use age as an excuse but I honestly think that there comes a time in a woman’s life when she knows she is too old for a beer mile… that time is now I think


Do you know who Stazza is?
No idea who he is but I’m enjoying his posts and I’m tempted to go out and buy some Maca Powder:)

Athlone to south county Dublin.. Not many make it...To successfully take such a leap must surely give you confidence in your running.
You can take the girl out of the bog but you can’t take the bog out of the girl.....

Favourite grape? From what country?
Do you ever get into the 40ft and ask yourself 'why the hell am I doing this'?
Any regrets about not taking up running earlier in life?
Will you continue to race, when your times start to go backwards?
Masters running and category prizes: should we be striving to measure ourselves against everyone in the race, or just those in our age group?
What (if anything) do you listen to while running? (answer can't be Menoscemo).
Do you run the same routes all of the time, or look for a lot of variety?
Will you go back and do NY marathon at some stage?

Great answers so far.

* Best piece of running advice received?

* What did you and Mr Stew do with your lives before you ran?? (remember, this is a family show...)

* Does a 'skinny mocha chocha chino latte' even exist?

* Any bad habits

* Best holiday destination & why?

Does Mr Stew lurk on Boards ?
Is TRR newby runner ?
I’m pretty sure Mr Stew is in fact newbyrunner;) Mr S relies on me to fill him in on the goings-on here, it’s just as well he doesn’t post/lurk, he is terrible with names and can just about remember our boys names, if he had to contend with boards/real names it would be a nightmare. Occasionally when he has a goal race coming up he’ll use it for research for the course, I’m pretty sure he knows Tunguska’s outline of DCM off by heart:)

What was your first running event ?
My first standalone race was the 10 miler in Phoenix Park 2008, I LOVED it! At the time I had no clue of anything running related; pace, age group placing etc., in fact I even ran with an iPod:eek:

Of the "majors" you've ran which is your favourite and least favourite and why?
That’s a tough one, I’m fortunate to have run Chicago 2009, Boston 2010, Berlin 2011/2012 and London 2013 and I loved all those races for very different reasons.
Chicago was my first big city marathon having only run DCM ’08 and not surprisingly I lapped up the American support, I also have lots of friends there from my airline days and they were dressed head to foot in green, leprechaun hats etc. at mile 15 and that memory still makes me smile:) I was blown away by it all and I took a big chunk off my time, when I crossed the Finish Line the girl beside me was screaming about BQing and I honestly thought she was talking about a barbeque, in fact I was disappointed when there was no burger;) That’s how I ended up in Boston the following Spring and I can still remember walking to the start line and the volunteers all lined up and clapping for us as we filed past, again the race was so much fun, I did find the hills tough going but I passed the Hoyts on Heartbreak Hill and soon stopped feeling sorry for myself. Berlin is a magnificent race, probably Mr. Stew’s favourite but because I studied German I’ve always sort of felt my trips there were a bit like a school tour. London; I still get goose bumps thinking of Tower Bridge and having lived there I really enjoyed the race despite blowing up and missing my target. Mmmmm…
Favourite; Chicago, because I was so young and innocent:)
Least Favourite; Berlin because I have yet to PB there.

When you say you run early in the morning during the summer, what is early?
Now that my kids are older early is not so early since they will all sleep late given the chance. Probably 6.30? Last year I did a few LSRs with a pal where we’d meet before the sun came up and I really loved those, there’s something great about starting the day before it has officially started.

most days do you run solo or do you run with other yummy mummys?
A mixture of both, a lot of runs on my own and some with yummy, yummy mummys:):) last year in the run up to DCM I had lots of friends tell me they had heard me and my pals out running before they actually even saw us, we have a lot of fun! Recently I’ve joined the legendary Anto/Ultraman and some of his running pals on a few runs up the Dublin mountains, I landed on my ar*e the last time so I’m planning on picking up some trail shoes before the next trip (if I get invited back;))


Who started running first, you or mrstew?
Me and yes; it does annoy me that Mr Stew is faster than me even though he’s only been running 3 years versus my 6;)

while working as an air hostess did you ever catch anyone joining the mile high club?
Altitude and alcohol consumption are a dangerous combination so I’ve seen plenty of interesting stuff on board a plane!

Were you ever tempted yourself?
As much as I really enjoyed my job, the smell of an airplane or “Eau de Boeing” as we used to call it, is a very big turn off for me!

You owe me 12 mars krispie buns! Where are they?
12???? I may owe you one or two, I will have them for you at Donadea but you’ll have to wait for me to finish before you can have them:)

Favourite yoga pose?
Downward facing dog because it’s so super after a long run.
(Digger will have a field day with that one;))

Favourite place to swim?
I really do love the 40 Foot but given a choice I’d have to say any beach on Antigua in the Caribbean (Mr S and I went on our honeymoon there a zillion years ago)

Hi Marthastew,

Who's log do you most enjoy (apart from mine!)

Who's log do you get most inspiration from?

Have you ever raced on the track? And if not, would you ever consider giving some of the shorter races a go?

Chocolate or crisps?

Beer or wine?

AMK or RK???

Did you find out who was looking for some Mr.Stew lovin' on the boards xmas night out? (just curious!!)

If you got injured in the morning and could never run again, would more yoga and the 40ft dips replace it or would you say running is irreplaceable?