Saturday the 18th of July was the Adidas 5miles race in Phoenix Park. For some this is the first step on the long road to the Dublin Marathon in October and for others it’s a chance to put the Thursday Farlek training into action and show some of the 5800 participants the difference between runners and joggers.
There where several warnings at the start of the race that this was not a flat course and that the first 2miles was a misleading easy down hill section followed by a punishing 2 mile section of climbs for those that got carried away with the Rocky theme music in there head at the start. The final mile was a nice flat section to either hold your place or pick some people off. Personally I didn’t like the row of portacabins on the final stretch just as your trying to get your lungs to work their hardest and I can think of half a dozen things I would like in a goodie bag at the end of a hard race, Hollywood tooth paste and a cheese sandwich didn’t make it on my list, thank God for the Swiss Deli.
There was a huge Sportsworld contingent, with Paul O Connell and Lucy Darcy the fastest man and woman home. Most people had their singlets but if anyone wants one who doesn’t have one they can be got at the club, it makes it easier to make your way to the front at the start and it intimidates the joggers not to mess with you.
Race results http://www.dublinmarathon.ie/
Race Photos http://www.racepix365.com/
