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‘It’s a family record’: Mother of three claims world record for crossing Ireland

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A mother of three who has claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest female crossing of Ireland on foot has said it was “a family record”.

Sophie Power (43), from Surrey, ran from Malin Head to Mizen Head in three days, 12 hours and eight minutes in May 2024.

The previous record was set in 2012 by Mimi Anderson, with Ms Power having to run just under 170km every day.

Ms Power has three children – Donnacha (10), Cormac (7) and Saoirse (7) – with her husband John, who is from Co Cork. The latest Guinness World Records holders are being unveiled on Thursday.

“I only found out about an hour ago that it will be in the book. My kids are going to be so excited, it’s going to be in their library. They’ll love it,” she said on Wednesday.

“The certificate is on the wall but they’ll be so excited to see it in the book. It was such a special thing for them. They were so heavily involved. The boys were in the camper van. My daughter was down in Cork with her granny and grandad. I was thinking about running towards her and she intercepted me halfway as we got into Cork, which was amazing.

“They see it as their record as well and I see it very much as theirs as well. It was a family record. My whole Irish family got behind it and supported it. It’s not really my record.”

Ms Power took up ultra marathon running in her mid-20s and set up SheRACES, an organisation to encourage women of all ages and abilities to run. In 2018, a photograph of Ms Power breastfeeding her then three-month-old son during a 106-mile race went viral.

There had been no option for her to defer her place until she was fit to compete and it highlighted what she saw as a big issue facing women and mothers.

‘I had no sleep for the first 24 hours’ – a mother’s record breaking run from Malin to Mizen head

Listen | 23:32

Last June, Sophie Power has just done something extraordinary – she ran 563km from Malin Head to Mizen Head in record time.It took her a record-breaking three days, 12 hours and eight minutes and she beat the existing record by an astonishing three hours. And it’s not even her most gruelling run – not by long way.The 41 year-old mother to Donnacha, Cormac and Saoirse is an ultra runner and the morning after she finished running the length of Ireland she posted on social media: “My body had about 2 hrs sleep over 3 nights so is still in shock. Finally in a proper bed I still woke up last night every 30 minutes thinking it was time to go running again.”She tells In the News how on the first two days she ran in driving rain, on the last day, heading into Cork she got heatstroke. She injured her knee less than half-way through but she kept running and outside Longford she started hallucinating.An unsporty child she took up running at 26 and astonishingly her first race was the infamous Marathon des Sables, a seven-day, 250km run in the Sahara. She has run while pregnant and a photo of her breastfeeding mid-race went viral. She founded SheRaces, an organisation to encourage women of all ages and abilities to run.This episode was originally broadcast in June 2024. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

“That’s the image that completely changed my life, it went viral around the entire world,” she said. “Before that image, I was CEO of a tech company and it was just a sliding doors moment to dedicate my life to getting more women and girls in sport and pivoting into working in sport.”

Ms Power said she “felt destroyed” after completing the Malin to Mizen Head run.

“There was a really long recovery. You see lots of people doing these running challenges of a number of marathons over so many days but they’re sleeping and recovering. I had two hours and 17 minutes of sleep in three nights because that’s what it took to break the record. It was several months before I properly felt back to normal to get training again.”

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Café Sol pesto pasta and chicken recalled over listeria

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25 September 2025

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The Food Safety Authority has recalled a batch of Café Sol pesto pasta and chicken over the presence of listeria.

The impacted product has a use by date of 25 September 2025 and weighs 224g.

The FSAI said notices will be displayed at point-of-sale and urged those who purchased the product not to eat the affected batch.

Retailers have been requested to remove the pasta dishes from their shelves.

Distributors have been asked to contact their impacted customers, recall the affected batch and also provide a notices in their premises.

Symptoms of listeria monocytogenes infection can include mild flu-like symptoms, or gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications.

Pregnant women, babie, and people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly, are more vulnerable to such infections.

The time between initial infection and first symptoms appearing is on average three weeks but can range between three days and 70 days.

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Swinney apologises to injured footballer over ambulance wait

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25 September 2025

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28 minutes ago

imageCharlene Paterson

First Minister John Swinney has apologised to a young footballer who had to wait five hours for an ambulance after breaking her leg.

Brooke Paterson, 19, was injured while playing for Linlithgow Rose away at Cumbernauld United in North Lanarkshire on Sunday.

The central midfielder from Bo’ness, near Falkirk, has since undergone surgery in Forth Valley Hospital.

Speaking in parliament, Swinney apologised to Ms Paterson and expressed his “regret” at the situation.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has also apologised for any distress caused by the delay in getting to the match, which it said was due to high demand and hospital turnaround times.

After the case was raised by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at First Minister’s Questions, Swinney said that it appeared the ambulance call had been misclassified, meaning it did not have “the priority it should have had”.

“That is not acceptable,” he said.

“That is an error that has been made and we have to look into whether that is the case and whether there are other steps that need to be taken to remedy that.”

Sarwar accused Swinney of having “broken the system” and said families across the country were suffering as a result of waits for accident and emergency treatment.

imageCharlene Paterson A girl with long brown hair smiles at the camera. She stands in front of a wire fence with grass behind it and she appears to be wearing a football stripCharlene Paterson

Ms Paterson said she ran to get the ball at the same time as a United player during the Lowland League match.

“She went for a slide tackle and I got the bad end of it,” she told BBC Scotland’s Drivetime programme.

“It just snapped straight away. I heard the snap and knew something bad happened.

“I just remember being in total agony and screaming and crying. I couldn’t focus – people were trying to talk to me and I couldn’t hear anybody. I was in a lot of pain.”

Teammates and onlookers at Guy’s Meadow Stadium rushed to her aid and several phoned for an ambulance after realising the seriousness of her injury.

“The ambulance said that it wasn’t a 999 emergency and I had to wait,” she said.

“The hours kept adding on and adding on, and I was getting more and more upset and frustrated. I was cold as well because I was lying on the ground.”

People covered her in jackets to keep her warm and comfortable as it got dark.

“I was more annoyed at the fact that they let me lie there on the wet grass, completely freezing with a bad injury,” she added.

“They took their time to come and get me. I just couldn’t believe they could do that to anyone.”

imageCharlene Paterson Two people kneel around a woman covered in a pile of jackets lying on the grass of a football pitch. It appears to be the eveningCharlene Paterson

When asked if the apology from the SAS was enough, she said: “I don’t know.

“I don’t know that they won’t do that to someone else and it’s obviously happened before. An apology isn’t enough to fix these problems.”

It is not known when Brooke will leave the hospital, as she is still struggling with the pain as well as putting weight on the injured leg.

“I’m just really, really sore and tired all the time,” she said.

The footballer said she had suffered bad injuries before, adding: “I know I can come back from something like this, but I know it’s going to take a while.

“I just need to remember why I play football in the first place and that will keep me going. It’ll get hard at points but I can’t give up. I’ve came too far to give up on football now.

“When I’m playing football, all my worries go out the door. I don’t have any problems when I’m playing football. It’s always brought me joy no matter what.”

Ambulance apology

A SAS spokesperson said: “We would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Paterson for the delay in the ambulance response and for any distress caused.

“We can confirm that we received a number of calls on 21 September to attend this incident but due to high demand and hospital turnaround times which ranged between 90 minutes to three hours in the area, this significantly delayed our response and we unfortunately could not attend immediately.

“When a time is appropriate, we would ask Ms Paterson or her family to contact our patient experience team directly so we can look into this case further and personally discuss our response. We hope Ms Paterson is recovering well.”

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TB cases in Ireland expected to hit 300 this year

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25 September 2025

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The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Ireland is expected to hit 300 this year, the highest number since 2018.

Prof Anne Marie McLaughlin from St James’s National TB Centre said the incidence has increased by nearly 30% in the past two years – much of which was due to the increase in homelessness.

“Approximately 60% of our patients are foreign-born, who are living in IPAS centres or experiencing homelessness,” she said.

She explained that 30% of patients are Irish-born who are often immuno-suppressed due to issues such as cancer medications.

Prof McLaughlin said prisons are another area of concern, particularly given Ireland experienced “one of the biggest outbreaks in the world” of TB between 2009 and 2010.

“We can cure TB, and that the really good news story. It is 100% curable.”

However, Prof McLaughlin said additional Government funding was required to introduce a new app which enables her medical team to ensure that patients are taking the medicines they have been prescribed.

“The cost of that is €11,000 per annum for a licence, which is nothing by comparison to the cost of what we previously used – which was public health nurses visiting patients or getting patients to visit them. That cost around €350,000 per annum,” she added.

Close up image of Anne Marie McLaughlin, a woman with brown hair and brown eyes, against a white backdrop
Prof McLaughlin said TB is “100% curable”

Prof McLaughlin is also seeking funding for a drop-in clinic for patients, given that it is “very hard” for patients who are homeless to abide by scheduled medical appointments.

“If they develop a problem in-between, we’re the only experts who can deal with it. They can’t just go to their local GP because this is really niche stuff,” she said.

Prof McLaughlin was speaking on World Lung Day at an event organised by the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association and fellow organisations,

Lung fibrosis is a life-limiting very serious and progressive condition affecting 5,000 people across Ireland.

Maureen O’Donnell of the ILFA said today’s event in Dublin was to try and raise awareness of the condition.

She said her association is campaigning for “equitable care” so that no matter where patients live in Ireland, they are able to obtain the care they need.

“75% of our patients are not offered pulmonary rehabilitation, which is critical for them to be able to live a longer life,” she said.

If not, she warned, it will take time off their lives.

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