Mary Cullen
Encyclopedia
Mary Teresa Cullen (born 17 August 1982) is an Irish
long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres
and 5000 metres
on the track, and cross country running
. She holds the Irish record
over 3000 m indoors.
, she competed in international athletics at a young age, running in the junior race at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
and the 3000 metres
at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics when she was sixteen years old. After meeting American coach Ray Treacy in Ireland, he offered her a scholarship
to attend university in the United States
. She went on to study social sciences
at Providence College
and represented their college athletics
team, the Providence Friars
. In her first year in 2001–2002, she ran a personal best for fifth in the 5000 metres
at the Big East Championships, won the 3000 m at the Penn Relays
and competed at the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
. She improved the following year: a fourth place in the regional competition and a 28th place finish at the NCAA National Cross Country Championship earned her All-America
n honours. In indoor competitions, she took third in the 3000 m and fourth in the distance medley relay
. She took fourth in the 5000 m NCAA regionals with a personal best of 15:56.96 and finished in fifth at the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
, gaining her second All-American honours of the season.
Her final year at Providence College
in 2003–04 was perhaps her most successful: she won the mile run
at the Women's Challenge Cup and also won the mile and the distance medley relay race at the University of Rhode Island
Invitational. Cross country competition brought further success: a number of podium finishes included second place finishes at both the NCAA regionals and Big East Championships, and she capped off the season by finishing fifth at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, receiving her third All-America honours for the feat.
, and competed without reaching the final at the 2007 World Championships
. In the 3000 metres
event she finished seventh at the 2007 European Indoor Championships
.
She just missed out on the medals with a fourth position finish at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships
, ending up two seconds behind bronze medallist Inês Monteiro
. She suffered a calf injury a few months later and missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a result.
She broke Sonia O'Sullivan
's indoor 3000 m national record at the Valentine Invitation Meet in Boston, Massachusetts. Her time of 8:43.74 was the fifth fastest that year in the world and she was selected as Ireland's athlete of the month. She won the bronze at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships the following month.
There were high expectations for the 2009 European Cross Country Championships
, which was held in her native Ireland. However, she finished the race out of contention in twelfth position, behind her compatriot Fionnuala Britton
. She later commented that she had put too much pressure on herself to perform and had suffered accordingly. She rebounded the following month with a win at the Belfast International Cross Country, beating Anikó Kálovics
and Cross Country Champion Hayley Yelling
to the finish line.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...
and 5000 metres
5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...
on the track, and cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
. She holds the Irish record
Irish records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Ireland maintained by Athletics Association of Ireland .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceA = affected by altitudea = aided road course according to IAAF rule 260.28...
over 3000 m indoors.
Early career
Born in SligoSligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
, she competed in international athletics at a young age, running in the junior race at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 27th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held 27-28 March 1999 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :...
and the 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...
at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics when she was sixteen years old. After meeting American coach Ray Treacy in Ireland, he offered her a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to attend university in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She went on to study social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
at Providence College
Providence College
Providence College is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state's capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic...
and represented their college athletics
College athletics
College athletics refers primarily to sports and athletic competition organized and funded by institutions of tertiary education . In the United States, college athletics is a two-tiered system. The first tier includes the sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies...
team, the Providence Friars
Providence Friars
The Providence Friars is the name of the athletic teams of Providence College. They compete in the Big East Conference for every sport except for ice hockey, where they compete in Hockey East and in women's volleyball, where they compete in the America East Conference...
. In her first year in 2001–2002, she ran a personal best for fifth in the 5000 metres
5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...
at the Big East Championships, won the 3000 m at the Penn Relays
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and competed at the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
Each autumn, beginning in 1981, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has hosted women's cross country championships for each of its three divisions...
. She improved the following year: a fourth place in the regional competition and a 28th place finish at the NCAA National Cross Country Championship earned her All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n honours. In indoor competitions, she took third in the 3000 m and fourth in the distance medley relay
Distance Medley Relay
The distance medley relay is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. Unlike most track relays, each member of the team runs a different distance. A distance medley relay is made up of a 1200 meter leg, or three laps on a standard 400 meter track; a 400 meter leg, or one...
. She took fourth in the 5000 m NCAA regionals with a personal best of 15:56.96 and finished in fifth at the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA team champions for Women's Outdoor Track and Field-By school:-See also:*AIAW Intercollegiate Women's Outdoor Track and Field Champions*NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship*NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship...
, gaining her second All-American honours of the season.
Her final year at Providence College
Providence College
Providence College is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state's capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic...
in 2003–04 was perhaps her most successful: she won the mile run
Mile run
The mile run is a middle-distance foot race which is among the more popular events in track running.The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races...
at the Women's Challenge Cup and also won the mile and the distance medley relay race at the University of Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...
Invitational. Cross country competition brought further success: a number of podium finishes included second place finishes at both the NCAA regionals and Big East Championships, and she capped off the season by finishing fifth at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, receiving her third All-America honours for the feat.
Professional athletics
In the 5000 metres she finished twelfth at the 2006 European Championships2006 European Championships in Athletics
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"...
, and competed without reaching the final at the 2007 World Championships
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
. In the 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...
event she finished seventh at the 2007 European Indoor Championships
2007 European Indoor Championships in Athletics
The 29th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007...
.
She just missed out on the medals with a fourth position finish at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships
2008 European Cross Country Championships
The 15th European Cross Country Championships were held at Brussels in Belgium on 14 December 2008. Serhiy Lebid took his eighth title in the men's competition and Hilda Kibet won the women's race.-Men individual 10.0km:Total 77 competitors-Men teams:...
, ending up two seconds behind bronze medallist Inês Monteiro
Inês Monteiro
Inês Alexandra das Neves Monteiro is a Portuguese athlete who competes in middle and long distance track running, as well as road running and cross country. She started out as a cross country runner, winning a silver and a gold medal at the 1998 and 1999 European junior race...
. She suffered a calf injury a few months later and missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a result.
She broke Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan in Cobh, County Cork. She began her running career in Ballymore Running Club which is located in the eastern side of Cobh Town. She was one of the world's leading female 5000 m runners for most of the 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century...
's indoor 3000 m national record at the Valentine Invitation Meet in Boston, Massachusetts. Her time of 8:43.74 was the fifth fastest that year in the world and she was selected as Ireland's athlete of the month. She won the bronze at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships the following month.
There were high expectations for the 2009 European Cross Country Championships
2009 European Cross Country Championships
The 2009 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that was held on 13 December 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. Dublin was selected as the host city in 2007 and the event was the first time that a major European athletics championships took place in Ireland...
, which was held in her native Ireland. However, she finished the race out of contention in twelfth position, behind her compatriot Fionnuala Britton
Fionnuala Britton
Fionnuala Britton is an Irish runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase.She began her international junior career in cross country running in 2001, highlighted by 33rd place at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships...
. She later commented that she had put too much pressure on herself to perform and had suffered accordingly. She rebounded the following month with a win at the Belfast International Cross Country, beating Anikó Kálovics
Anikó Kálovics
Anikó Kálovics is a Hungarian runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. She is a three-time Olympian and has won both the Venice Marathon and Italian Marathon.-Career:...
and Cross Country Champion Hayley Yelling
Hayley Yelling
Hayley Higham is a British runner. She is the sister-in-law of fellow British runner Liz Yelling. She married Jamie Higham in 2009....
to the finish line.
Personal bests
- 1500 metres1500 metresThe 1,500-metre run is the premier middle distance track event.Aerobic endurance is the biggest factor contributing to success in the 1500 metres but the athlete also requires significant sprint speed.In modern times, the 1,500-metre run has been run at a pace faster than the average person could...
- 4:15.88 min (2007, indoor) - Mile run - 4:32.29 min (2007, indoor)
- 3000 metres3000 metresThe 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...
- 8:43.74 min(2009, indoor NRIrish records in athleticsThe following are the national records in athletics in Ireland maintained by Athletics Association of Ireland .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceA = affected by altitudea = aided road course according to IAAF rule 260.28...
) - 5000 metres5000 metresThe 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...
- 15:18.34 min (2009, indoor) - 10,000 metres - 32:21.42 min (2007)
External links
- Interviews from Flotrack