Caitriona Jennings

Last updated

Caitriona Jennings
Caitriona Jennings.jpg
Jennings in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born (1980-06-17) 17 June 1980 (age 45)
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
CountryFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
SportAthletics
Event(s)
 Marathon, Ultra Marathon
Achievements and titles
National finals Half marathon , (2009, 1st place)
Highest world ranking469 (marathon)
Personal bests
  • 100-mile: 12:37:04 (2025, WR)
  • 100km road: 7:07:16 (2022, NR)
  • Marathon: 2:36:17 (2012)
[1]
Medal record
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg IAU 100 km World Championships 2022

Caitriona Jennings (born 17 June 1980; from Letterkenny, County Donegal) [2] is an Irish long distance and ultra distance runner who competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and holds the world record for the women's 100 mile distance. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Jennings attended Loreto Convent Secondary School, Letterkenny, and went on to study Law and Accountancy at the University of Limerick before taking up a job as a tax advisor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin. [5] She is the sister of Irish international rower and Rio 2016 Olympian Sinead Jennings. [6]

Athletics

Jennings is a former triathlete who represented Ireland at youth level. [7] Since moving to Dublin she has trained with Rathfarnham WSAF AC although she currently runs for Letterkenny AC. She has been coached by Terry McConnon since 2007. In December 2009 she became involved with the Marathon Mission squad and in 2010 she won the Dublin Mini-Marathon. She ran her first marathon in Dublin in October 2011. [5]

2012

Jennings achieved 'A' qualifying standard for the 2012 Olympics with a personal best time of two hours, 36 minutes and 14 seconds at the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon. [8] Having taken two months off of work to train full-time for Rotterdam, and competing in just her second full marathon, her qualifying time was an improvement of nearly seven minutes from her first marathon. [9]

Jennings was selected to represent Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's marathon along with Linda Byrne and Ava Hutchinson. Maria McCambridge, who had also run the 'A' qualifying standard missed out on selection as only three athletes from a nation may compete in the event. [10] It was the first time that three Irish women have competed in the Olympic marathon. [11]

In June she won the Newry half marathon in a time of one hour, 15 minutes and 25 seconds. [12]

Suffering from plantar fasciitis and a stress fracture, [13] Jennings finished last in the marathon at the 2012 Olympics in a time of 3:22:11, an hour behind winner Tiki Gelana. [14]

2015

From 2012, Jennings slowly transitioned to longer distances and eventually ultra races. Her first major ultra was when she represented Ireland at the 2015 50k World Championships in Qatar, and finished 30th overall, 4th place woman, in a time of 3:31:58. [15]

2021

Jennings won third place in the women's full marathon in the 2021 Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon, with a finishing time of 2:51:31. [16]

2022

Jennings won bronze at the IAU 100 km World Championships in Bernau bei Berlin with a new national record of 7:07:16. [17]

2025

Jennings set a new women’s 100-mile world record at the 2025 Tunnel Hill 100 Mile in Vienna, Illinois on 9 November 2025, finishing in a time of 12 hours 37 minutes and four seconds. [18]

References

  1. ↑ "Catriona JENNINGS | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org.
  2. ↑ "Biographies Jennings Caitriona". International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. ↑ london olympics
  4. ↑ "Donegal's Jennings smashes 100-mile world record". 9 November 2025 – via www.rte.ie.
  5. 1 2 Walsh, Harry. "Caitriona Jennings – April 2012 Donegal News Sports Personality Winner". Donegal News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "Catriona Jennings Track and Field". Irish Times. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "London 2012: Introducing… Caitriona Jennings". thejournal.ie. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Jennings achieves Olympic marathon time". RTÉ Sport. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  9. ↑ "The focus is all on London Olympics for Caitriona". Donegal Democrat. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "Jennings for London Olympics". Donegal Democrat. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Olympic heartbreak as McCambridge misses out on marathon place". thejournal.ie. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  12. ↑ McKevitt, Sean (3 June 2012). "Newry City Marathon a runaway success". Newry Times. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "Caitriona sets the record straight". DonegalLive.ie. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "Athletics: Streets of London sing out for brave Jennings". Irish Independent. 2 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "2015 50k World Championship results" . Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  16. ↑ "Hong Kong Marathon: dream debut for men's overall winner Wong Kai-lok as local star Christy Yiu Kit-ching claims women's gold". SCMP. 24 October 2021.
  17. ↑ Bedkowski, Jacek. "2022 IAU 100 km World Championships Race Report". IAU - International Association of Ultrarunners.
  18. ↑ "Patience pays off as Jennings smashes 100-mile mark". 10 November 2025 – via www.rte.ie.
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