There has been a call for a warden to be appointed to patrol the Plassey and Canal Banks in Limerick after the British runner Paula Radcliffe met a loose galloping horse there while on a training run.
The world cross-country champion was on one of her last training runs for tomorrow's London City Marathon when she saw the horse bearing down on her. "The horse was being followed by a couple of kids and was going quite fast," her physiotherapist, Ger Hartmann, told the Limerick Leader.
The 28-year-old athlete had to take cover behind a tree. It was the second incident involving the runner on the Plassey bank in a couple of days. The previous day she collided with a training companion who was on a bicycle. Both escaped injury.
The British runner, who has regularly run against Sonia O'Sullivan, was in Limerick for physiotherapy and a check-up at the International Sports Injury Clinic owned by Mr Hartmann. Ms Radcliffe hurt her knee when running in New Mexico.