Moy Park Miles Blog – Elaine

‘Moy Park Miles’ is a collection of interviews that are showcasing some of our wonderful staff as they prepare for Belfast City Marathon this year (you might have heard we’re the title sponsor)!

Today, we’re chatting to Elaine McAnulty. Elaine is the daughter of one of our treasured Moy Park Poultry Farmers. She spends some time telling us how she’s getting prepared for the Belfast City Marathon.

Hey Elaine, how are you? Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi everyone, I’m Elaine McAnulty. I am 53 and my connection to Moy Park is that I am the daughter of a Moy Park Poultry farmer. I was raised with chickens my whole life and was proud to see my parents feature in Moy Park’s ‘Homegrown’ series last year.

Wonderful to meet you, Elaine. Are you doing the relay or the full marathon?

I am doing the full marathon this year – I try to take part every year in the Belfast City Marathon. This will be my 355th marathon/ultra-marathon.

Wow, Elaine! That is incredibly impressive Any fun facts to share?

Well, as mentioned, I have ran a few marathons! So, considering this, I think it’s pretty impressive that after 350+ marathons I still have all my toenails! The runners out there will understand.

I mean it certainly is considering the amount of miles you have ran! Any trainers you couldn’t live without.

There is only one brand for me – ASICS. Always ASICS.

That’s good to know considering you must spend a lot of time in trainers! Belfast City Marathon helps raise money for charities every year. Are there any charities you are supporting this year?

I’ll be running for Cancer Focus NI, a charity close to my heart that I have been supporting for a number of years.

A great cause. Where do you love to run, and do you do any extra training to help with your running?

This might come as a surprise to some people, but I don’t follow a training plan, nor do I use an app – I just get plenty of miles in! Equally, I don’t have a favourite route per se, more I just love getting out into the fresh air. I am looking forward to running in the sun soon!

That’s incredible. Considering your method of running, do you have any quotes that help motivate you when training?

I do – ‘Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up’. This keeps me going in the harder miles.

We love this – super inspiring! Do you listen to anything when you’re running?

I don’t have a playlist and I don’t listen to music on my runs. What I love doing is chatting with friends who are running with me or getting to meet new people when I am on a route. Always time to make new running buddies!

That is a lovely way to approach runs, Any Moy Park Chicken dishes thst you’ve been using to fuel your runs?

Oh, there’s too many to choose from but my favourites are probably the Cajun Steaks, recipes with the Chicken Breasts, or the Zingy, Hot & Spicy Mini Fillets. Super tasty and great fuel for those longer runs!

Oh, this is great recipe inspo - thanks! Thanks for taking the time to chat to us today, Elaine. Wishing you all the best for your 355th marathon!