Twenty years of training will be put to the test in the hot and oppressively humid conditions that will prevail as she runs 26 miles 385 yards from Tian'anmen Square through the streets of Beijing to the finish in the Olympic stadium.
It will be the toughest race of her life but one for which she is well prepared. Watched by a television audience of billions, she will race against most of the best marathon runners in the world including world record holder Paula Radcliffe . This is the race that every elite marathon runner in the world wants to be part of and it is a great honour for Pauline, her club Tullamore Harriers and all concerned with her that she will be there competing for Olympic glory.
Pauline's story is one of rags to riches in athletic terms and an inspiration to every athlete throughout the length and breadth of Ireland and beyond. It is the story of an athlete who has shown tremendous perseverance and dedication throughout her career.
A knee injury almost ten years ago threatened to put an end to her career but she fought back from that to become the most successful female road runner in Ireland over the past six years. However she was not always the elite international athlete that she is now. She ran in school but without much success. She followed her sister, Anne Carroll, into Tullamore Harriers as a 20 year old but did not make much progress in the first few years in the club.
She finished just 59th in the National Intermediate Cross Country Championships in 1992 and was not even a scorer on the Tullamore Harriers club team. At that stage aged 23, she did not look like she would become an international athlete. However, in July 1992, she asked Robert Denmead to coach her and she started to improve. In the following two years she finished 15th and then surprised everyone by winning the National Intermediate CC Championships.
Under Denmead's tutelage she went from being able to run 42 minutes for 10k in 1992 to running a 34 minute 10k eight years later. She made her international debut on the same day as her sister Anne Carroll, when they were both picked to represent Ireland at the Belfast International Cross Country race in January, 1995.
Two years later she gained her highest ever placing at a National Senior Inter Club CC Championships when she came third. That run gained her a place on the Irish team for the World Cross Country Championships in Turin in 1997 where she lined up with her five teammates, amongst them were Sonia O' Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan.
The team created history becoming the first Irish women's team to gain medals at a World Cross Country Championships and Pauline stepped up on the podium to receive her medal along with the winning team from Ethiopia and the runner's up from Kenya. It was a moment that Pauline said recently that she thought she would never top.
Curley continued to be coached by Robert Denmead until 2000 and during that period she won two National 10,000m titles on the track, a National Indoor 3,000m title and gained international honours in countries such as England, Wales, Scotland, Japan and South Korea. She competed three times in Japan and South Korea on Ekiden relay teams for Ireland so running in an Asian country will not be new to her. She can also call on the experience gained on those trips as she prepares for Beijing.
Denmead also coached her husband Adrian Curley during the '90's and he was a fine athlete too. No top athlete can survive without family support and Adrian has provided that, along with good advice, for Pauline throughout the years. Being an athlete himself gave Adrian an insight into the sacrifices Pauline has had to make throughout the years.
When their son, Emmett, was born in 2001, Adrian's support and that of her mother and other family members made it possible for her to pursue her athletic goals. At that time Mick Hayden became her coach/mentor and he has provided huge support to Pauline since then.
Following the birth of her son, Pauline made a brief but successful foray into the triathlon world. She then decided to concentrate primarily on road racing and cross country, although she did make her international debut on the track several years later when she finished fourth in the 5,000m at the European Cup in Iceland.
Since 2002 Pauline has won over twenty road races per annum as well as being successful in cross country and occasionally on the track. The Dublin Women's Mini Marathon is the largest women only 10k race in the world and Pauline was delighted to win it in 2002 and 2006. She was also second to Sonia O' Sullivan in 2005 and to Annette Kealy this year.
She has also represented Ireland at the World Cross Country Championships on three more occasions and at the European Cross Country Championships on three occasions, most recently in December 2007. It is a true mark of her ability and her consistency that she has finished so highly at national championships that she has made these teams so often.
It was always inevitable that Pauline would be a great marathon runner. Initially she was reluctant to go to the marathon when Robert Denmead suggested to her in the late 1990's that she should do one. She decided to train for one in 1999 but injured her knee and it was not until 2005 that she finally lined up for a marathon.
Mick Hayden, a 2:21.30 marathon runner, provided great advice in the run up to that marathon. Pauline ran strongly throughout and came away with the National Marathon title and a great debut time of 2:42.16. The following year she again competed in the Dublin City Marathon and was running extremely well when she saw at first hand why the marathon can be such a cruel event.
With just a mile to go she was well ahead of her nearest Irish challenger, Jill Shannon, when she had to slow dramatically with stomach problems. Just ten meters from the line she was passed by Shannon. Most people would have said never again but Curley was back on the Dublin City Marathon start line the following year and she won her second National title in a time of 2:42.30. Pauline had run all three of her marathons in 2 hours 42 minutes and with the Olympics just ten months away, it was now or never to try for the qualification standard.
The 'B' standard was 2:42.00 and the 'A' standard was 2:37.00. More in hope than expectation Curley decided to have a crack at the 'A' standard. Mick Hayden and Pauline decided to ask Robert Denmead to help her with her preparation. They were thinking about going to the London Marathon but she was not sure of getting a place in it and Denmead felt that the Rotterdam Marathon would be a much better option.
Robert advised Pauline on training and preparation and together with Pauline and Mick a plan was hatched for Rotterdam. Mick Hayden and Adrian Larkin would travel to Rotterdam to support Pauline during the race. The first month of preparation in January, 2008 was wiped out due to illness and Pauline was ill on several other occasions throughout the build-up.
She almost pulled out of the race when she was struck down with a stomach bug just two weeks before it but she recovered three days later and decided to forge ahead. The Rotterdam Marathon went extremely well and Curley ran 2:39.05, just two minutes outside the 'A' standard and a new PB by over three minutes. It looked as if she had come so far by not far enough in terms of Olympic qualification.
The Olympic Council of Ireland had stated that they were not going to bring 'B' standard qualifiers to the Olympics. However, in late July they added two swimmers who had only achieved the 'B' standard to the Olympic squad. As everybody now knows, a few days later three athletes with the 'B' standard were added to the squad and Pauline was one of them.
She got word while on holidays in Spain and has been on cloud nine ever since. Tullamore Harriers club chairman, John Cronin, said it was a great honour for Pauline and for Tullamore Harriers. The club has provided the environment where Pauline has honed her talent over the years. It is great pity that the late Paddy Larkin and her late father, Bill, were not alive to see her receive this great honour.
Commenting on her Olympic participation, Pauline said: "I am going to give it my best shot in Beijing. It is a huge honour to represent my country and my club in the Olympic Games and I intend to enjoy the experience".
She will have huge support in Beijing as husband Adrian, son Emmet and Mick Hayden lead a group which also includes her mother Brid, sisters Anne Carroll, Breda Malone, Alice Cunningham, sisters-in-law Martina Gorman, Marie Gorman and Mick Hayden's daughter Sharon Hayden.
Pauline will also be supported from afar by all her clubmates in Tullamore Harriers, her extended family, her workmates in Café for You in the Bridge Centre, her many friends in Irish athletics and not least by the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, who sent her a message of congratulations on hearing of her selection.
Roll on Saturday night!