It's safe to say that Sinead Diver came to athletics late.
The Mayo woman, who moved to Australia in 2002, was 32 before she started running as a hobby, and approaching 40 before she "got serious" about it.
Her phenomenal natural talent has seen things escalate.
On Sunday, she secured the qualification time for the 2020 Olympics, following a seventh-place finish at the London Marathon.
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Diver, who competes for Australia, clocked an impressive 2:24.11, cutting 67 seconds off her previous best. She is now 42 years of age.
That run in the English capital made her third-fastest Australian marathon runner ever- she was actually leading the race at the halfway point - and reflecting on her achievement with Ray D'Arcy on RTÉ Radio 1, Diver admitted it still hasn't quite sunk in.
"It's almost ten years ago that I started running," she said.
"I was 32 at the time. I started running recreationally with a social group and got serious about it maybe four years ago. I went to Beijing in 2015 [for the World Championships, where she finished 21st in the marathon].
"I clocked 2:24.11 in London. That qualifies me but the team won't be officially selected until next April or May so I need to hang until then to make sure of it. After yesterday's results I'm in a strong position, which is good.
"It was a really really strong field. I expected the Africans to go to the front and I expected to be two groups behind actually. But everyone started slowly. It was very windy and nobody wanted to go to the front.
"I was determined to get a good time so I needed to race from the start and not kind of race from the halfway, which the Africans like to do. They like to get to halfway and then put in a strong second half, but for me it's better to go form the start, so I did."
Diver has two boys aged nine and five. They were among the massive Irish support roaring her on.
"I've never experienced anything like that in another marathon. There was only one section of the course that was quiet and that was only for maybe a couple of kilometers.
"For the rest of it there was people out shouting; a lot them knew my name was Sinead and they were cheering for me. It was great.
"I'm still on a high. My family were all over from Ireland. That was really nice. I have two boys. Eddie is nine and Darragh is five. They're very proud of Mum. My husband watched most of the marathon with Eddie and Darragh watched about 5km and then he wanted to watch something else!
"I don't think the soreness will kick in until tomorrow. Then I'll be in all sorts."
Diver ran 2:34:15 back in 2014 and believed that was enough to represent Ireland at the following year's Worlds. However, Athletics Ireland changed the required time to 2:33:30.
That meant she would running for her adopted homeland, and since IAAF regulations now mean there's a three-year wait before you can change your allegiance, it's extremely unlikely Diver will ever run in a green vest.
"I did qualify for Ireland in 2015 but Athletics Ireland changed the qualifying time after I ran my marathon," she said.
"They set their own standard so I run for Australia and have done since 2015.
"I'd be really proud to represent either country. I've live nearly half my life in Australia. I feel like I represent both countries so I think I'm in a very privileged position.
"Most people would have a running career that would span 20 years or so. Just because I started later in life I don't think that needs to be cut short!
"I'm 42, not 92. People seem to think you shouldn't be able to run after you're 40. I think I'm proving them wrong. I'm proud of that."
