Every off-season brings some period of reflection, and for Sarah Healy it’s also prompted her decision to leave her training base in Manchester and consider a fresh approach to what lies ahead.
Healy first moved from Dublin to Manchester in November 2022, joining the M11 Track Club coached by the wife-and-husband team of Jenny Meadows and Trevor Painter, and built around British stars Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell.
“That was definitely the right move for me, obviously I developed a lot, and just learned so much from being around those athletes,” says Healy. “And I’m proud of myself for making that move at the time.”
It did bring some memorable success too, highlighted by Healy’s European Indoor title over 3,000m in March of last year. At 25, she’s now second fastest on the Irish all-time list across the women’s 1,500m, mile, 3,000m and 5,000m, and although not yet decided on a new training group, she is likely to remain in the UK.
RM Block
After running her first serious 5,000m this summer, Healy is also considering her event options ahead of next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing, and ultimately the LA 2028 Olympics. Her fourth-place finish over the 5,000m at the European Championships in Birmingham in August, just .30 of a second off bronze, demonstrated her clear potential in the longer distance, although she’s not quite finished with the 1,500m either.
“I definitely didn’t finish the season feeling very satisfied, but if I do look back, there were still some good moments. It was up and down, one of my more challenging seasons to date, for a number of reasons,” she said.
“It’s interesting because I was fourth in Europeans by such a small margin. But if I’d come third, my whole outlook on my season would probably be different, just because I would have a medal. I know everyone says it, but the difference between third and fourth is just huge.”
Five days later, Healy also finished a close fifth in the 1,500m in Birmingham. On further reflection, she certainly believes there was a medal for the taking in the longer race.
“For sure, on the back straight, it was definitely a mistake not to go wide. And I think had I got into the home straight in a medal position, I would have held on. But I’d literally zero experience of 5k, so it’s not too surprising I made some mistakes. But I did believe I could win a medal. That’s positive.
“I know there’s a lot more left in the 1,500m, but I’m sure, at some point, I’ll be doing the 5k more seriously. But I kind of lacked momentum the whole year, I was injured for a lot of the winter, missed indoors. Which is always quite important for me. Then in the summer I felt I never hit my stride that well, and I’m definitely someone who races well with confidence, and momentum.”
Home in Dublin last weekend to attend an athletics camp supported by Davy, for which Healy is a brand ambassador, she also made clear her first target for 2027; the defence of her European Indoor title in Valencia next March. And after running 14:48.88 on her 5,000m debut, she’s closing in on Sonia O’Sullivan’s national record of 14:41.02, clocked when winning silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“I don’t have any outdoor senior records. I’d love to hold one, at some point. And I’m sure I can get one of them, if I get everything right. It’s not to break records, I personally want to run fast, but they’re nice targets to have.”
