Carey May won the Osaka Marathon in January 1983 in a world-best time for an all-women’s race of 2:29:23 – one of the outstanding results by an Irish distance runner of that era – and represented Ireland in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, finishing 28th in 2:41:27.

Born in Portsmouth, England, May was a remarkably versatile athlete who represented Ireland across multiple disciplines before finding her true vocation as a marathon runner. She won the Dublin City 100m hurdles and Dublin long jump titles in 1978, represented Ireland at the World Orienteering Championships in 1979, and competed in cross country.

In August 1980 at Letterkenny she became the first Irishwoman to break the three-hour marathon barrier (2:53:43). She won the inaugural Dublin City Women’s Marathon in 1980 (2:42:11) and the first Irish women’s national marathon championship in 1981.

In August 1981 she became a scholarship athlete at Brigham Young University in Utah, and followed the Osaka victory with 13th place at the inaugural World Championships marathon in Helsinki in 1983 and victory at the Toronto Marathon that same year.

At Los Angeles she was ‘never as nervous in my whole life’ before the race. ‘I came to LA well prepared but the combination of heat and nerves destroyed my chances of turning in a really good performance.’