When the focus of the athletics world is on the latest championships or the most recent world record, it is sometimes easy to forget that the sport is not only about high-performance and the exploits of the elite.
Across Europe, every day, hundreds of thousands of people are experiencing the slogan “Your Sport for Life” by participating in the sport they love, enjoying themselves and striving to achieve their own personal goals. And many are doing that thanks to people like Ireland’s Bernie Kelly.
A 2013 recipient of the European Athletics Women’s Leadership Award, Bernie has been recognised for more than two decades of dedication and organisational work to help others enjoy running.
“My start in running was 23 years ago when I got involved with a group of women here in Galway who were training for the Dublin Women's Mini Marathon” she recalls. “It was not an athletics club, just a Meet and Train group with a common goal.”
With some trepidation – “I was quite scared at first as I thought that one had to be a super athlete to belong to an athletic club” – she joined Galway City Harriers in the west of Ireland a few years later, and has been a member ever since, often working as a volunteer on the clubs various activities.
Yet it is the past six years, during which she has been a coordinator for Athletics Ireland’s Fit4Life programme in her region, that Bernie has made her biggest impact.
“Fit4Life is an initiative of Athletics Ireland to encourage non-runners, fun runners and mid-pack runners to get into a club structure that will nurture, mentor, support and inspire them,” says John Foley, Athletics Ireland’s Chief Executive.
“The six years since Bernie started, the group in Galway has gone from strength to strength, with 300 to 350 athletes now turning up to training sessions.”
Bernie explains: “I attended a meeting in Dublin where the idea to get the recreational jogger/runner into the club structure and introduce new people to the sport in a safe way with the guidance of trained Fit4Life Leaders was introduced to club representatives.”
“I came back to my club and the committee members were all in favour of trying it, so I put up some posters around the city. On the first night 30 people showed up and we have just kept growing from there.”
“I am the overall coordinator. I organise and manage and make sure that people are in the correct group. I take all the registration forms and put all the e-mail addresses in my database and communicate regularly with all the participants. I also take the beginners every night and get unfit, unhealthy people out jogging and gradually becoming fitter.”
It’s a big task for a woman with a full time job and a family, but the rewards are intrinsic for Bernie: “I love seeing people improve and become more confident in themselves, laughing and smiling even though we might be running in the rain.”
It might be fun, but, as Foley acknowledges: “the commitment required to sustain a growing group such as this is immense.”
“It is difficult to quantify the impact Bernie has had on thousands of lives through her involvement with this group, but it is certain that it has been positive, supportive and visionary.”
For the woman who has received a European Athletics Women’s Leadership Award it is fitting that many of the runners that she has led have been women, and Bernie has ensured the best possible environment for them to flourish.
“Bernie has a charisma and emotional intelligence that creates a non-threatening environment for women taking their first steps on the road to fitness,” says Foley.
Despite the intense nature of her work and the large administrative load it places on her, Bernie is quick to confirm her commitment to her Fit4Life group.
“Being fit and healthy means so much to me and my enjoyment of life. I just want to continue to show other people that they can feel like I do and have my energy and drive, no matter what age they are. I am 55 but am fitter now than I was when I was 25.”
And that, ultimately, is what athletics is all about.
The European Athletics Women's Leadership Awards
The aim of the European Athletics Women's Leadership Awards is to recognise the behind the scenes work and accomplishments that have helped to make the winners role models for other women in athletics. Coaching young athletes, officiating, setting up and managing clubs . . . their achievements are as varied as the individuals themselves.
In 2013, 26 women including Bernie were selected for the award by their national athletics federations.