In 2018, Athletics Ireland launched The Endurance Project to support HP endurance athletes and their coaches from U20 upwards. The project aims to support athletes tracking towards representing Ireland in International Championships. The project supplements the carding system, which supports a more focused group of athletes currently performing at a high level against international standards for their age group. Athletes meeting published standards and accepting places on the project have received regular communication with links to athlete education opportunities. The athlete and/or their coaches have also been given access to various workshops and other supports including:
- Training camps in Portugal and Spain
- Workshops and squad days with:
- Steve Vernon Team New Balance Coach
- Stephen Seiler (Norway Endurance Physiologist)
- Ciara Sinnott (Sport Institute Ireland-Workshop on the practicalities of taking lactate reading during sessions)
- Ciara McCallion (Athletics Ireland physio- Lockdown S&C mobility classes)
- Access to Sport Institute Ireland Nutrition publications
- Courses to support their career outside of athletics
COVID-19 has limited activity, and is likely to prevent squad days and training camps taking place in the near future. With the potential for reduced competition, instead, we will prioritise providing endurance project athletes with subsidised physiological testing and online workshops to look at making effective use of test results to track physiological development. Details will be sent to athletes and coaches on this shortly. The online S&C classes set up this summer with Sport Institute Ireland to support athletes in strong contention for Euro Cross 2020 are being retained this autumn and due to restart Monday 28th. There will be a few places made available for any U20 athletes joining the Endurance Project. Eligible athletes are asked to apply before Monday 28th September.
Standards for marathon and cross country are also included in the project document.
Athletes that believe they have met performance standards and other criteria should apply here
The project will be reviewed in 2021. Until then, athletes already on the project will be retained.
Athletes or coaches with questions, please contact National Endurance Coordinator, Matt Lockett at endurance@athleticsireland.ie