Meet the Laois mother chasing the Six Star Medal at the Tokyo Marathon this weekend

Few journeys stretch from a couch-to-5k in Abbeyleix to the bright lights of Tokyo, but that is exactly the path Pamela Bradley has travelled.

The Laois woman, who owns Ego Boost Hair Salon in Abbeyleix, is married to Conal and is mum to two teenagers, Roisin and Connell. 

This weekend, she is in Japan preparing to complete the final leg of an extraordinary nine-year adventure at the Tokyo Marathon, the last of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Her running journey began not with grand ambition, but with a simple desire to get moving after having her children.

“After I had Roisin and Conal, I have two kids, one is 17, and the other is 15, and when they were about three and four, I saw a group in Abbeyleix out running. They were doing a couch to 5k, and I just said I'd go and do that and maybe lose a bit of weight or something. I started running then and met lovely people like Ann Churchouse from Ballyroan, and there was another guy, Tim Fahey, they were the people who were over the couch to 5k. When I started it, I absolutely loved it, and I loved that feeling of feeling lighter and physically and emotionally better. I suppose I got a bit of confidence and was really happy when I completed the 5k.”

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What followed was a gradual progression from 5k to half marathon, inspired partly by local connections and charity. From there, her marathon journey gathered momentum. A fundraising effort for the Irish Cancer Society brought her to New York, where she raised over €20,000 through a three-day event in Abbeyleix before running the New York Marathon.

“We have a local girl in town, Emma Fogarty, I would have gone to school with her. At the time, we decided to do a half marathon and raise money for Debra Ireland. A few of the girls and I decided that we'd do the Limerick half marathon, which was massive at the time. After doing the half marathon and after people had donated to charity and were watching the watches and supporting it and following the journey, it actually felt good. That's when I decided to do the Dublin City Marathon. 

“I did Dublin first, and then Edith Pratt, a lady from Abbeyleix. Her son passed away, and he was turning 50, and they were doing a fundraiser, and Edith was minding my children at the time. She asked me whether I would like to do a charity marathon, and that there was a place for the New York Marathon. I didn't feel comfortable with the fact that they were going to send me over to New York and that their son would love for somebody to have his 50th year celebrated, and a marathon would be amazing. With that, I decided to do a fundraiser myself in the Manor in Abbeyleix. I collected 1,000 second-hand dresses from ladies, and I did a massive three-day fundraiser down there and raised over 20 grand for the Irish Cancer Society; I was delighted with that.”

It was in New York that the idea of completing all six majors truly took hold.

“When I was over in New York then, that's when I was like, I'm definitely going to complete these. I did London then, and then I did Berlin with my best friend Livia, and then we went on to Chicago, and I did Boston then last year, so now I am over doing the sixth major of the world, which is a bit crazy. It was a dream that I can’t believe is a reality now. This is just the most amazing thing you can do, like, starting off from a 5k to going and running marathons, and not just within the country, but, like, internationally. I've done most of my travel with Sports Tours International Ireland, and I’ve done all the majors with them. They are a company, and they bring people across the water, and they do cycling and, and running depending on what you want. 

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Most of her travels have been with Sports Tours International Ireland, who have since asked her to act as an ambassador.

“When I was in Boston, I met the guys from that, and they asked me to be an ambassador for them. So now I'm working with them and I've started doing a few little social media posts and things like that with them, which is lovely. They've asked me to go and do half marathons with them and things like that as well. So I don't know what's next after this, but this is major. It's just amazing what running can do for different reasons and the opportunities it has.”

While the world stage beckoned, Pamela has remained deeply rooted in Abbeyleix. The support of her local community has played a major role in her journey, and she has given back in kind. A year ago, she started a Sunday morning community run after noticing clients in her salon speaking about lacking motivation.

“When I was doing the long distance running, sometimes it's lovely having a friend with you and that. A year ago, I decided to start a local community run. When I was in the salon, I was behind the salon chair, and people were saying, oh God, I feel a little bit heavy, or I don't know where you get your energy from, and I don't have the motivation. So I started putting up on Facebook that I’m going to be down in the Manor on a Sunday morning. I’m not a coach, but I will support anybody who wants to come out and just have a little bit of movement. On that WhatsApp page, there are currently 40 women. So every Sunday morning, there are different girls all coming from, you know, families at home, girls who've had bereavement, some have even gone through cancer. They are coming down and coming back to running. People who just want to move now and get out.

“I also like as well that, I'm not like the young girl who's the gym junkie. I'm a middle-aged person, and I think that's bringing people out as well. There's no watch in this; there's no timing it. There's no go beat everybody out there. It's your own independent, it's your own personal goal and achievement. There are no watches turned on or anything on a Sunday morning. We meet at Polly's, and we do like a little 5k loop. If somebody wants to walk, there's someone at the back who will walk with them, and if somebody wants to go and run faster, somebody at every level, like everyone's nearly meeting up. I'm not there this weekend, but the girls are texting on the WhatsApp, saying will we meet on Wednesday and there are lovely friendships being made and connections and that as well, and I love that.”

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Now, as she prepares for Sunday’s race in Tokyo, there is no obsession with time.

“I want to arrive at the start line, and I want to soak in every single second of it. There'll be no watch. I'm just going to go and see out this dream, it doesn't matter about the time. I even get emotional talking about it now. I just want it to be the journey and like get to the finish line and get that six-star. It’s something that I never thought could happen from a couch to 5k. There’s a good headline now for this, from the couch to the marathon majors, but it definitely has like changed my life. There's a sense of purpose, and it's just crazy, like, it's actually crazy.”

Though she has yet to cross the finish line, Pamela already knows the emotion will be overwhelming.

“I think I’m going to be an absolute emotional mess, yeah, I really do. I really do, I don't know what I'm going to do next.”

For Bradley, the finish line of any marathon carries a unique comparison.

“Crossing the finish line, like I would have always said, was like giving birth, but the only thing is you bring home a medal instead of a baby. Every marathon is different, every experience is different, like no marathon is the same. You can train for a marathon, but you could get sick a week beforehand; you never know what your life's going to be like; you don't know about sleep deprivation or how you're going to feel. It's the most amazing feeling, but it's definitely like going into the labour ward.”