Caitriona Jennings (born 17 June 1980; from

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

) is an Irish long distance runner who competed in the marathon at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom.

Early life

Jennings attended

Loreto Convent Secondary School, Letterkenny Convent Road ( ga, Bóthar an Chlochair) is located to the north of Letterkenny, County Donegal, in the parish of Conwal and Leck, Ireland. It is situated beside the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba. Cathedral Road forms a link with Convent ...

, and went on to study Law and Accountancy at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

before taking up a job as a tax advisor with

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

in Dublin. She is the sister of Irish international rower and Rio 2016 Olympian Sinead Jennings.

Athletics

Jennings is a former

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

who represented Ireland at youth level. Since moving to Dublin she has trained with the

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council a ...

club and has been coached by Terry McConnon since 2007. In December 2009 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.

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 The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

. 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. Jennings was selected to represent

Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics Ireland competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's twentieth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Council of Ireland sent a total of 66 athletes to the Games, ...

in the women's marathon along with

Linda Byrne Linda Byrne (born 13 May 1986) is an Irish long distance runner who won team gold for Ireland at the 2012 European Cross Country Championships in Budapest. Finishing eighth overall in the women's senior race, Byrne's gold-medal-winning teamm ...

and

Ava Hutchinson Ava Hutchinson (born 30 March 1983) is an Irish long distance runner who won team gold for Ireland at the 2012 European Cross Country Championships in Budapest. Her gold-medal-winning teammates were Fionnuala Britton, Linda Byrne, Lizzie Lee ...

Maria McCambridge Maria McCambridge (born 10 July 1975 in Dublin) is an Irish long-distance runner who competed mostly in the 3000 and 5000 meters before moving up to the marathon. She represented her country at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as well as three outdoor a ...

, who had also run the 'A' qualifying standard missed out on selection as only three athletes from a nation may compete in the event. It was the first time that three Irish women have competed in the Olympic marathon. In June she won the Newry

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

in a time of one hour, 15 minutes and 25 seconds. Suffering from

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain (PHP) is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the f ...

and a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

, Jennings finished last in the marathon at the 2012 Olympics in a time of 3:22:11, an hour behind winner

Tiki Gelana Erba Tiki Gelana ( am, ኧርባ ቲኪ ገላና; born 22 October 1987) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. Her personal best of 2:18:58 had been the Ethiopian national record for the event from 2012 ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Caitriona 1980 births Living people People from Letterkenny Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Irish female long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Alumni of the University of Limerick PricewaterhouseCoopers people Sportspeople from County Donegal