Catherina McKiernan is in danger of missing the World Cross Country Championships, which are due to take place at Leopardstown Racecourse at the end of March. The 30-year-old Cavan runner has been struggling to overcome the lower back injury which kept her out of this summer’s Olympics in Sydney, and it is unlikely she will return to full training until early April.
McKiernan, who has been on the sidelines for over 18 months with a succession of injuries, and this latest news is another setback for the talented athlete. Despite long periods of rest and treatment, her back problem has been slow to disappear. McKiernan has recently enlisted the help of sports injury therapist Gerard Hartmann, who has put her on a special recovery programme which he is confident will solve the problem. Hartmann, while confident of a full recovery, insists the process will take time. He urged: “It is a slow, but worthwhile process. She has made good progress over the last few weeks and is now running up to an hour. There is no reason why she can't get back to the top level, but it will be early April before she can get back to the sort of training that she needs to do in order to start racing competitively again."
Speaking to The Irish Times, McKiernan herself added: "I'm still not able to run painfree at the moment. I’d like to think I could run in Leopardstown to help the Irish team, but I'm not sure how much longer it will take before the injury totally clears up. It is very disappointing. I am still very eager to get back competing but it is hard when you go out every day and it's painful to run."
Sonia O'Sullivan is almost certain to compete in the long-course race.
The full schedule for Leopardstown, meanwhile, will be announced at the racecourse tomorrow.
Filed by Shane Murray
