SHE MAY HAVE enjoyed unprecedented success this past year but Ciara Evererd’s latest achievement has come away from the track.
The Irish 800m runner and UCD scholarship student received her Bachelors Degree in Physiotherapy last week and is glad to put full-time studying behind her after a testing final academic year.
“I’ve always been busy so having something to distract me from running has helped me but last year I found it very tough to balance the two,” she told The Score at Amphibian King, Ashtown earlier this week.
“It was quite intense as we had a lot of clinic placements and were often out in hospitals for long days. Thankfully I’m finished now and it should be a lot more manageable this year.
“I’m looking forward to taking a step back from the studies and putting a lot more into running.”
Belfield will remain the Kilkenny native’s base as she begins a part-time Masters while working in one of the clinics with her coach James Nolan in between training.
It was during a journey home from the Dublin 4 campus one evening in April 2012 that Everard suffered something of a freak accident which would put her out of action for over six months.
“It was just before the outdoor season was about to begin,” she explains. “I had my last session done and was cycling homee. It was a really wet day and a car came up alongside me. As I went to go up on the curb, I fell over the handlebars.”
The fall left her with a broken arm and a fractured kneecap. Despite the damage, she managed to take positives from the incident.
I did a lot of damage and it took a lot of time to recover from it. It was a really tough time but I got through it and used it to my advantage.
“I was just so happy to be back running and really enjoyed the indoors. I had a massive success with a PB (personal best) and getting to the Europeans. It toughened me up and getting through the injuries stood to me.”
On top of being a personal best, the 2:02.54 the 23-year-old recorded at Athlone Institute of Technology in February saw her break a national record which had been held by Aisling Molloy since 1990.
Incredibly, the previous year saw Everard set a new record time in the U23 category – ousting Sonia O’Sullivan out of the history books.
It was brilliant but completely unexpected for me. As I said, I was just happy to be back running again and wasn’t even thinking about the Europeans.
“Now that it has sunk in, it has given me a lot of motivation and shown that I can get back pretty quickly from an injury. It also helped me realise my potential and what I am capable of doing when I’m fit and healthy.”
That performance earned her qualification to the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg where she reached the final and finished sixth in what was a world class field. In the heat of the moment, Everard expressed her disappointment to reporters afterwards.
Having had time to digest it, however, she says: “It was my first senior championships so was a massive learning experience from me. Straight after I had finished the final and was wishing that I had done a bit better but, looking back, I had run a 100th off the national record and that was on the third day.
“I hadn’t been used to running in three races back to back. Reflecting on it, I got the best out of myself in that championship.”
One big positive from the Swedish trip was that it gave Everard the opportunity to improve different parts of her game.
“The biggest thing from the Europeans was learning all the various styles of racing. The first day was kind of slow and I had to hit the bell to get a good sprint finish. The next day was a real boxy race and the final was flat out.
I learned a lot about what I need to do in each round but also save a bit of energy for the next day. It was a massive experience.”
The World University Games in Russia followed in July and although she missed out on a place in the final, Everard seems satisfied with how it went considering she wasn’t 100% fitness-wise due to a foot injury which she has since had to nurse over the past couple of months.
Thankful of the rest, she is eager to throw everything into training with the World Indoors on the horizon and the European Outdoors also taking place next year. Has she set any goals for those events?
“I just hope to get there and when you do you never know what’s going to happen. I try to take it one race at a time as you don’t know what’s around the corner. My injuries have thought me that much.”
Ciara is a brand ambassador for PUMA – for more information on PUMA Running go to www.PUMA.com/running or visit your local Amphibian King store
