PHIL Healy loves indoor running. It’s not for everyone, she admits, but the Ballineen woman relishes the challenge it brings.

‘Indoors takes practice, it’s a skill – you need to be smart, be able to read the race, and that comes with experience and age,’ she explains.

Healy’s record haul highlights her indoor brilliance. Alongside her nine senior national outdoor gold medals, she has won eight national indoor titles between 2016 and 2024 – 60m (one), 200m (three) and 400m (four). But the Bandon AC sprint star won’t add to her collection at the national indoor championships at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena this weekend, missing out following shoulder surgery last September.

‘I absolutely love indoors, but this is my first time in 14 years not doing indoors,’ Healy says.

‘I have been to every major indoor championship since 2017,’ she adds, a run that included her brilliant fourth-place finish in the women’s 400m final at the European Indoor Championships in 2021.

So, who better to explain the art of indoor running than one of West Cork’s fastest-ever athletes?

First, the obvious differences.

‘From indoors to outdoors it's 200 metres instead of 400 metres. It’s either four or six lanes instead of six or eight. And it is banked,’ Healy explains.

‘Different tracks have different gradients – some are tighter, some are not. I have travelled all over the world racing indoors and it’s so hard to beat the National Indoor Arena in Dublin and Athlone – they are state-of-the-art tracks in terms of surface.

‘Tracks do vary. The surface is either Mondo or tartan, though the majority of indoor tracks are Mondo. In certain places they have hydraulic systems so they can be completely flattened for other sports, like gymnastics. There are countries where the track is put down just for the event and they can be very bouncy, or sometimes there are built-in tracks that can be very dead – there is no response from them.

‘Indoors, you also know it’s always going to be dry and warm.’

Phil Healy finished fourth in the women's 400m final at the 2021 European Indoor Athletics Championships.

Because of the gradient on an indoor track, lane position is crucial.

‘The bend is massive,’ Healy says.

‘If you are in lanes four, five or six, you are at more of an advantage because it is really tight to run in lanes one, two and three. You need to accelerate hard off the bend, but you also need to work into it to get that momentum so you can get your slingshot off it.

‘I would say your stride is slightly different because you have to accelerate hard to make sure you are getting that momentum in the first 50 metres. Then you can float slightly – like free speed when you are rolling off the bend – particularly in lanes five and six.

‘Then you have to drive into the bend again because if you don’t, you are going to be at the top of it and your legs will feel flat – you have to make sure your hips are tall. If you are not getting that momentum, especially in a 400, you are not going to get that slingshot to help you make the break at 150 metres, where you can cross lanes.

‘Outdoors, it’s flat. You have a longer bend to start with, you can build momentum and then float down the back straight, and you have your lane the whole way.’

Indoors is as much about tactics as speed.

‘Sometimes you look at your start list and see a certain athlete in the race, so you know you need to be ahead of A, B and C at the bell. If I’m not ahead of them, what do I need to do?’ Healy says.

‘I always remember David Gillick saying to me: do not pass on the bends. Indoors is a huge game of tactics.

‘For me, being speed-based, I always want to be in the best position at the bell because if you are first or second, it makes it very hard for the people behind you to pass. If you run slightly wide down the back straight on the second lap, it makes it harder again, and then they have to go even wider into the bend.

‘There is so much more thinking indoors compared to outdoors, and you have to think on your feet all the time.

‘You can have all the strategies laid out, but you have to react in the moment.’

There are physical battles, too.

‘Indoor racing is more physical. There is more pushing and shoving when it comes to the bell and you need to make that break – keep your arms strong, maintain your technique and have no mercy,’ Healy says.

‘It’s a fine line because if you are pushing and shoving you could get disqualified, fall or lose your balance.

‘You need to be smart. Some people try to race to the bell and then they blow up. Some people just hate indoors because they don’t like the tactical element or having to react so quickly.’

Healy’s record proves she has been one of Ireland’s top indoor performers for the past decade. It hurts, she laughs, but the Bandon AC ace comes from the no-pain, no-gain school. And while she will miss the indoors this weekend, expect to see Healy back in action in the outdoor season.