Marathon milestone for Banbridge beautician Elaine - and she's going global

This Saturday's event at Florida Manor in Killinchy will see the Banbridge beautician break the barrier of 350 marathons in her long-running 20-year career!

It's a double celebration as she was recently named in the World Mega Marathon Rankings for having completed 300 races.

Elaine is the only woman from Northern Ireland in the 1,200 names from all over the globe.

She is ranked as the 146th female and was included in the prestigious list after completing her 332nd marathon – but with 350 on the cards will now go even further up the ratings.

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LANDMARK

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She'll reach her next landmark on Saturday and will do it in style.

The owner of The Retreat in Newry Street told the Chronicle: "I'm doing an ultra marathon.

"That's anything over 27 miles, but I'm hoping to do the 50k which is 31 miles, just for a bit of extra craic!"

Seven of the so far 349 marathons were completed during a trip to England last month - in seven days!

That was an event in Milton Keynes called 'Week at the Knees' - a marathon a day for a week.

Her husband, ex-Bann hockey star David, is the stat man and he recorded that of 200 people who entered over the week, from 11 different countries in various categories, only 13 completed the seven in seven, with Elaine among them.

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MOTIVATED

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Another great achievement and - after 50 marathons in the past year - one which has motivated her to stay on the road.

"When I was in Milton Keynes it brought it home to me about being fit and able to do it.

"If I can keep going, why not?"

Elaine’s exploits have taken her to events across the globe and she has also landed a string of accolades.

That included a big one last year when she received the Inspirational Woman in Sport Award in Belfast.

A night to remember included meeting Olympic gold medal-winning icon Lady Mary Peters at a glitzy gala dinner in the Europa Hotel.

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TRAINING

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Elaine is taking it all in her stride though and is modest about the success achieved over the past two decades after she decided to step up her exercise regime to keep fit and stay in shape.

"It just sort of happened, I hadn't planned on it, hadn't planned on any of this," she says.

It takes hard work to keep it up though, hours of training on a daily basis, and a lot of time is also invested taking part in events at home and abroad.

Elaine adds:

"There's a lot of talk about the six majors, I've done four of them, with Boston and Tokyo still to do.

"That's not on my radar at the minute, but maybe one day."

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BELFAST

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The next adventure will be a little closer to home – the Moy Park Belfast City Marathon, on Sunday, May 5.

Elaine explains: "A bunch of us are going in fancy dress. We try to do it every few years to raise money for charity.

"This year we'll be in 'Where's Wally' costumes. We've done the Smurfs, Batman and Robin, Minions - more for the spectators and kids, and that's always a bonus."

She also has words of encouragement for local people planning for Belfast, or any other marathon.

"When you've done your first marathon, you're buzzing, but a couple of days later the pain will hit. I'd just encourage people to persevere, because they have all the training behind them and subsequently they'll find it a little bit easier - a lot of the hard work has been done."

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This weekend will see the Banbridge beautician break the barrier of 350 marathons