Trailblazer, inspiration, role model, absolute legend. Nuala Reilly fits right into each of those brackets as an athlete who ran the roads in the 1980s – almost alone – and today, remains at the top of her game on the Irish and international stage.
Not only that, she became a world record holder in 2025, proving that grit and determination will take you very far in this world.
So no better figure than Nuala to become our latest Flogas Ireland/Drogheda and District Chamber ‘Sporting Hero’ award recipient.
A Cavan woman by birth (Lavey), Drogheda has been home for more than half a century and in that time, she has played an enormous part in the promotion of athletics and getting people active by the Boyneside.
But her journey was a personal one to start, running the roads at 6am so no-one would see her. At that time, there were only two women doing it around Drogheda and she was one of them!
Only when her family grew up did she seek out the racing world.
She joined Drogheda and District AC in 1999 when they had a handful of members. Today, they number 500.
She travelled everywhere running, half marathons and cross country, Berlin to New York, Lisbon, Prague. She won world gold in Poland in 2019 and ran in the green of her country numerous times.
Earlier this year, she was part of the Irish relay team that set a new 0/65 800m world relay record.
There are no signs that Nuala Reilly will be slowing down anytime soon. Long may she pound the roads and make us proud.