McKiernan ends with a win

Catherina McKiernan won the London Marathon in 1998

Four-times World Cross Country runner-up Catherina McKiernan brought the curtain down on a distinguished career on a winning note on Sunday.

McKiernan won the Annalee 10k road race in her native Cavan.

"I do not have the hunger any more and did not want to do it half-heartedly, said the 34-year-old.

McKiernan won four World Cross Country silvers in the early 1990s and a successful career on the roads included her London Marathon win in 1998.

The Irishwoman also won other city marathons in Berlin and Amsterdam when she set her personal best of 2:22.23 while she was European Cross Country Champion in 1994.

However, the latter part of her career was affected by injury - including a stress fracture which ruled her out for over two years.

That caused her to miss the Sydney Olympics when, at her best, she would have been one of the favourites to win a medal.

McKiernan competed in the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics and had hoped to achieve the 10,000m qualifying standard for this year's Games in Athens.

However, the Cavan athlete was frustrated in that ambition by a lack of form.