Chapter 1: What inspired Nadia Power to support the Dublin Half Marathon?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. Now, if you're looking for some inspiration to get outside and go for a run, our next guest is certain to provide it. I'm joined by Olympic runner Nadia Power. Nadia, you're so welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
I was chatting earlier on to Anton about running. The Dublin Half Marathon was on this weekend. You were there watching, is that right? Yes.
Yeah, watching and supporting and yeah, helping out with the content as well with the team.
Chapter 2: What does Nadia Power think about the atmosphere at marathons?
So that's great. So not running?
No, so I am not a half marathoner. I'm a big cheer on people doing half marathons, but my distance is actually 800 metres, so a lot shorter.
So not even for social reasons would you go out and do a half marathon? It's just not on your...
No, not on the training plan right now. Definitely something I'd love to do in future. To be honest, the atmosphere on the roads is really something else. So it's kind of you'd be jealous watching them.
Chapter 3: How does Nadia Power's training differ from marathon running?
Well, Anton was saying earlier that he was watching it and he saw one only one person smiling and he was wondering whether everyone, whether people in general enjoy it. I take it you would dispute that now that there was only one person smiling.
It depends where on the course he was, probably. I was based on the finish line. So I actually saw it all. I saw like happy tears. I saw a lot more vomiting than you would have expected. Yeah, I was kind of shocked, to be honest, like literally crossing the line.
puking straight away so people really trained hard and then yeah I guess a few people really gave it their all and needed to be carried off on wheelchairs but then hopefully the vast majority was just people delighted with themselves for the achievement and buzzing So what does that tell you then people are really pushing themselves right?
Yeah big time big time yeah I think it only hit me really at the finish line this like how many people are putting their body on the line for this of course everyone doesn't have to some people run it at kind of their own pace and they just want to enjoy the atmosphere and then some people yeah want to give it their all
Chapter 4: What challenges has Nadia faced in her running career?
So talk about your training. You mentioned that, you know, the half marathon wouldn't fit in your training schedule. So where are you at? What are you doing?
So right now I am training for track. So I'm on a little down year. I'm still training away probably a lot more than a lot of people are racing. So still six days a week. But just as my job has gotten quite busy, I'm not going to compete this summer, but I'm healthy and training hard and hoping to go back competing next year.
So competing is definitely there for you.
Yeah, I hope so. I've had a bad few years and I think mentally the best way to kind of overcome it was last year I decided after a few years of injury that I just need to like go back enjoying it and go back and get a healthy year and kind of take away that deadline of a competition coming up.
Because I feel I have a lot of time like Ciara McGeehan and Mark English set the Irish records when they're 32. So I'm 28. So I feel like that peak for 800 is in a few years, hopefully still for me. So I just wanted to give myself some time.
And are you enjoying it now?
Yeah, I really am now. I am now. And I've been healthy for nearly a year now.
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Chapter 5: Why did Nadia decide to start her own running brand, Swifter?
I joined a new training group and it's at home in Dublin where I'm comfortable. And yeah, I'm really enjoying it. So I'm actually almost excited to start training harder next year.
And tell me about the company. This is exciting. Now, you mentioned you're busy at work. This is Swifter.
Yeah, this is Swifter. So this has been the accidental, I guess, upside of a few hard years for me with running. So while I was injured, I guess in around 2022, 2023, me and my boyfriend James started thinking about starting a running brand. So we started with Swift Fest, which is... Better tell people who James is now. Sorry. James is a nature county hurler as well.
So he plays for the Dublin team. So, yeah, we're we're very sporty.
James Madden. Yes. And so you both said, let's use our expertise to produce some products for people. And so you came up with this brand Swifter.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What products does Swifter offer and how do they benefit runners?
Yeah, we did. And we started with a running vest. I think people have mixed feelings on running vests. A lot of people love them and then a lot of people don't want to be seen dead in one. But for us, it was a brilliant product. We just wanted to come up with products that help people run and kind of solve problems that we face while we're training.
So it's a vest. Is it weighted at all or does it just have pockets for things?
It just has pockets for things. So waterproof phone pocket and it's also reflective and also has space for water. So that's really been our hero product and we've just expanded after that.
So that started the business. And then where did you go from there? What was the next product?
Our next product was another running vest, a different version. And then since then, we've released a running belt for someone who doesn't want to carry as much. And then also our running socks have done really well as well. They are anti-blister socks.
Anti-blister? Do they work?
They do. They do. They definitely do. I think kind of like we go off gaps we see in the market. So I think a lot of people would see sports socks in the shop and they go, oh, that's grand. But actually, you don't want cotton on your feet when you're running because... As a lot of people, I'm sure, who ran the half marathon know, you can get blisters if you wear the wrong socks.
See, it makes total sense for you to go into this because you know exactly what people need because this is your whole life.
Yeah, exactly. And to be fair, like the other side of it is I've really enjoyed connecting more with the like social runner or kind of the everyday runner through Swifter.
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Chapter 7: How did Nadia's elite athlete experience influence her business?
And it's really helped me like step away from that elite side where every second mattered and it was like all or nothing. It's kind of helped me like see the love of running I had again.
So you can see people just taking joy in it taking some time for 40 minutes for themselves that that's how they run which is completely different to how you run.
Yeah yeah exactly and I think when you're like at an elite level and trying to make it to Olympics and Worlds and everything like there's days I've been crying over a second you know what I mean that I didn't run I didn't run a second faster in a race and then when you step away and just look at a half marathon or the everyday runner and they're so happy they've achieved something they never thought they would so it's kind of brought me back to reality I think.
But you'll probably never be that person who can run like that, like a half marathon or a 10k runner. Like that's just not who you are, is it?
Yeah, look, it's different. I guess I do have that elite mindset. And obviously, as I said, I do want to go back to competing and I don't want to be competing unless I'm competing at a high level. So I guess I am built like that. But I think seeing that whole side of running and all the different areas of running you can enjoy has also helped me.
So coming back to the business then and the need for it, it's very hard to be an elite athlete, isn't it? And make a living, like have enough money to eat and heat and all of those things. So that's why is it that you decided I'm going to have to find something else here?
Yeah, I think for me it was there was two things like funding wise. It's difficult. It was I think it happens to a few athletes. As soon as I got enough funding and sponsorship to be full time was kind of coincided when I got injured. And then the clock starts ticking on when you're going to get caught from your funding and your sponsorship. So I think I wanted to train myself up in other things.
So I went to learn graphic design and kind of website design, which ultimately helped me start Swifter. And that was something I can do anywhere in the world if I'm on training camp or something like that. So there was a thought process behind how I could be flexible and work for myself if I want to go back competing seriously.
And do you see that across your colleagues in elite athletics that everybody's looking for the thing that's going to last and make them a living?
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Chapter 8: What can participants expect from Nadia's Run Club at Wellfest?
So whatever you can do to to support that is necessary.
Are you comfortable with that, with having your face out there, being the face of your own brand and then sharing more of yourself online?
Yeah, no, I am by now. I still could be more comfortable. I think when I started Swifter first, I was still competing a bit more and I was kind of embarrassed to show that I was doing something different. It felt... a little bit outside of the grain of an elite athlete to do this and start my own business, especially a business for kind of everyday runners.
So I didn't really show myself for a long time. But now I think that founder front facing content is doing really well. And yeah, I guess he was going to advocate for your brand better than you. So, yeah, I'm happy to.
And have you have you got a business brain? Do you like that side of it?
Yeah, I do. I studied marketing in DCU, so I do more of the marketing. James is a lot better at numbers and does, to be honest, the boring operations stuff and also spends more time in the stockroom lifting boxes and stuff like that. But together, we kind of have all sides covered, hopefully. So you started selling through Amazon, is that right? Yeah, we did, which is unusual.
But the reason was because we were both training and competing and we couldn't ship it ourselves. And there was also data behind it was that Running Best were selling great on Amazon. And we thought the ones that were selling were really bad, were really bad photos. And we just thought we could make a better product.
So, yeah, I don't know that many other Amazon sellers, but for us, it's been amazing. And it's been an amazing way to sell our product in different countries as well.
But now that's changed now, hasn't it?
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