Mayo's Sinéad Diver talks about her return to marathon running

MAYO AC member Sinéad Diver has returned to marathon competition with a brilliant run in the Tokyo Marathon. She was the 19th woman across the line in 2:29.57.

It was her first marathon outing since the Paris Olympics in 2024, when she had to pull out due to medical issues.

Last October, on the comeback trail, she finished third in the Nike Melbourne Festival Half-marathon in 1:10.56 behind winner Izzi Batt-Doyle in 1:08.55. Sinéad's personal best for the half-marathon is 1:08.50, which she ran in Japan in 2020.

In Tokyo earlier this month, the Belmullet native set another amazing mark in her relatively short athletics career.

After the race, she said: “Not the time I trained for but I’m proud of the fight it took to get to the line. Some days the marathon feels like a dream. Other days it’s a beast. Today was the latter.”

Sinéad added: “Training suggested more was there, but sometimes the marathon has it’s own plan… I’ll take the learnings from this build and move forward.”

Though this latest marathon (her 18th) was just days after she turned 49, she is not as obsessed or concerned about masters records or status as the media.

Sinéad’s 2:21.34 marathon in December 2022 in Valencia was an Australian record until December 2025 when her team-mate and friend Jessica Stenson produced a masterful run on the same Valencia course, finishing fifth woman overall in 2:21:25 to slice nine seconds off Sinéad’s time.

Stenson is all of 10 years younger! Sinéad Valencia time is still the fastest by an Irish-born woman in the marathon.

It was also in Tokyo that Sinéad made her Olympic debut representing her adopted country, Australia.

The race took place in Sapporo in 2021, when she placed an outstanding 10th in challenging, hot conditions. She was the highest placed Australian woman in the event at the Olympics since Lisa Ondieki won silver in 1988.

It was arguably Sinéad's finest performance to date, and another indicator of her remarkable resilience and consistency over the years.

She made her marathon debut in Mebourne in 2014, where she ran 2:34.15. It was in 2014 also that she joined Mayo AC, and she is a registered member for 2026.

Depending on recovery from Tokyo, Sinéad plans to run another marathon during the year, possibly in Australia.