When she was 25 years old Ann-Marie McGlynn hung up her spikes happy with what she had achieved in athletics and had no intention of ever racing again.
Over the next seven years, in her own words, she worked, partied, got married and had kids. She met and settled down with her husband Trevor, moving from her native Offaly to Tyrone.
Her children Lexie (8) and Alfie (6) are getting big now, but shortly after Alfie was born in 2012 he was diagnosed with a serious case of bronchiolitis, a potentially life-threatening lung disease.
"We were told to prepare for the worst," explained McGlynn, who competed as Ann-Marie Larkin first time around. "It’s not something we expected to come to our door and it’s not something we were prepared for.
"It was not a nice time and I found that I had to do something to clear my head so I pulled out my runners. I wasn’t exactly running, it was more of a walk-jog because I wasn’t very fit at the time."
Thankfully Alfie recovered and along with his big sister are just a normal, everyday family. McGlynn found that she still loved to run and it didn’t take too much training to get fit again.
"I decided to pick a goal, so I targeted the national indoors the following year, February 2013, and I came second in the 3,000m - I haven’t looked back since.
"For the seven years I took off I didn’t even follow the sport. My husband did and he kept me informed, but I had done all that I wanted to do in athletics.
"I have no regrets because I stopped when I wanted to stop and I had no intention of coming back; it just happened."
First time around McGlynn ran on the road, track and cross country. She competed at world and European cross country at junior level and at European Under-23 level on the track in the 1,500m.
"Qualifying for Tokyo opens in January and I definitely have that in mind."
Since her comeback she has been to two European Cross Country Championships, 2013 and as captain in ’14 when Ireland’s women won the team bronze.
She’s part of a 39-strong Ireland team that will compete in Tilburg, Netherlands on Sunday and there are high hopes of bringing back more medals.
Ireland will be represented in senior men’s and women’s races, both Under-23 and Under-20 in men’s and women’s and the mixed relay.
The senior women’s team of Ciara Mageean, McGlynn, Fionnuala Ross, Michelle Finn, Sara Treacy and Kerry O’Flaherty looks particularly strong. Mageean, Finn, Treacy and O’Flaherty were all at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Former European 1,500m bronze medalist Mageean pipped McGlynn to the national cross country title at Abbotstown recently and it was a bittersweet day for the Lifford AC runner.
"Everyone knows how strong Ciara is and she never turns up under prepared," she said, speaking to RTÉ Sport. "Three seconds is nothing, but when you’re trying to find it at the end of a tough race… But I had never medalled at the nationals before so I’ll take it."
Sunday’s course is at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park, containing wooded and sand sections. The women run 8.3km (the men 10.3km) and conditions are similar to Ireland so expect a fair bit of muck.
This should suit Ireland, who have a strong record in the competition, particularly in the team events.
"There’s a great buzz there at the minute," said McGlynn. "The Europeans will be in Abbotstown in 2020 and this is a stepping stone towards that, particularly the Under-20s and Under-23s who will be our seniors then.
"It’s a challenging course, but we’re all ready for it and we’re going there confident."
McGlynn ran her first half marathon in October this year at the Commonwealth Championships in Cardiff, she qualifies because she lives in Lifford, County Tyrone, and clocked a healthy 1:13.41.
It didn’t take her and her coach Colin Roberts long to decide that she should turn her attention to the full marathon distance and now her ambition is to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
"I have done a few halves before but I never specifically trained for them. I went to Cardiff with a few niggles and got the job done," she said. "Qualifying for Tokyo opens in January and I definitely have that in mind."
McGlynn, who is a qualified sports masseuse and fitness instructor and works part-time as a childminder as it suits her family life and training, will be 40 by the time the next Games roll around, long past most athletes’ primes.
"As an underage and junior I never did huge mileage and then I took seven years out so my legs are fresh," she said. "I haven’t that many miles done so I feel like I have a few years left in me yet."
Watch live coverage of the European Cross Country Championships from 12pm on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player on Sunday, 9 December.
