Missing a meet and greet with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be worth it if Ava O'Connor can make her senior Ireland bow with a bang in Krakow today.
The Adams State women's running team were recently invited to the White House as part of a College Athlete Day.
Unfortunately for O'Connor, she was already back home in Laois having made the trip when the season ended.
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"I'm kind of gutted because you don’t often get the chance to meet the vice-president and the president of the United States," she said ruefully.
"I was home for two or three days and then the team was invited over.”
Making a quick trip back for the occasion was out of the question. “No, flights are so expensive at the moment," explained O'Connor.
“They were sending photos into the group chat and Adams State has its Facebook and Instagram so they really enjoyed it. There were a lot of other big schools at it, like NC State and NAU, so it looked good.”
But she is only 19 and the kinesiology and exercise science student can dream of bigger days.
While still at school she took the plunge and applied for a scholarship to the Colorado college that is close to the Great Sand Dunes, a famous national park in the state, and that is situated in Alamosa - a small city similar in size to Portlaoise.
O'Connor was making real progress as an athlete through her teens. When Covid struck, she knew where her future lay. “I had my mind set on what I wanted to do," she recalled.
That there was already a mini-Irish athletics community at Adams State in the form of sisters Eilish and Roisin Flanagan, Steph Cotter and James Dunne, pushed her towards the sports-oriented college.
In particular, watching how well the Flanagan sisters ran for Ireland in the Euro Cross Country in Portugal four years ago, and learning how they were progressing under head coach Damon Martin's guidance was a massive influence.
Then there's the chance to train at altitude. Alamosa is just under 8,000 foot in elevation.
O'Connor recalls how, in her naivety, she thought she would easily adjust when she arrived ahead of schedule to prepare for the start of college life.
But she was moving to the high life from Ireland's flattest county.
"It wasn’t too bad at first doing the easier runs but the first time I really noticed it being tough was the long runs," she said. "To mile six was OK-ish, you still felt like you had to work a lot harder with your breathing.
"After that it just felt like breathing through a paper straw.
"It was definitely tough to adjust the first few months. Then the first cross country race of the year every year is one we host, the Joe Vigil Meet. Just racing cross country at altitude is very tough.
"When you come down to sea level it is a huge benefit. Now I really enjoy altitude training and Coach Martin has been there so long and he’s worked under one of the best coaches of all time, Joe Vigil, so he knows what he’s doing.”
O'Connor would have liked another couple of weeks at altitude ahead of the European Games but staying on was too expensive, so she has prepared for this morning's 3,000m steeplechase - her debut in a senior Ireland vest - at home in the woods around Emo Court and with the help of her club, Tullamore Harriers.
Sixth in the steeplechase in the NCAA Division II Nationals just a few weeks ago, plus PBS in the 1500m and steeplechase in April, have her trending in a strong direction as she uses the trip to Poland to bank valuable experience.
"It's a really big deal to be part of this," she said.
And, as for so many other Irish athletes - particularly those in the American college system - Rhasidat Adeleke's stunning NCAA performances are a constant source of inspiration.
"No matter what sport you do or even in athletics, whether you're throwing or jumping or sprinting, Rhasidat is just someone that anyone can look up to, she's just phenomenal," stressed O'Connor.
"What she's doing is insane.
"I would have been on a couple of teams with Rhasidat, the last time I think was probably for the European Youth Olympics in Azerbaijan and obviously she was really good there as well.
"She's getting better and better with every competition. It's just crazy. For Irish people it would be like winning an All-Ireland final at a full Croke Park.
"That's how big it is out there. Crazy."
