Home Race Report Bohermeen Half Marathon

Bohermeen Half Marathon

By Grainne Lynch

Some pictures by Peter Mooney

Second time lucky I thought when I signed up for the Bohermeen Spring Half Marathon. I had to skip it last year due to injury. My training this year was going great until the beginning of February when yet again my hip let me down accompanied this time by a bit of plantar. 10 days off running and then lowering my mileage considerably meant training was not ideal but I was just delighted to make the start line!

I travelled down with Martin and Karl, Martin kindly driving us down. The lads chatted about race times and strategies but I was more concerned about my impending trip to India being cancelled by an outbreak of the Corona Virus so I produced a massive bottle of hand sanitiser that I forced the lads to use as well – I did consider masks but figured that might be pushing it! Parking facilities consisted of a massive, mucky, swampy field. Martin grumbled that his car was built for a race track not a mucky field. There were a few cars wheel spinning trying to get parked and as the field proceeded to get muckier there is good chance they are still there trying to get out. That is exactly where my car would be had I driven so I appreciated the lift!

Once in the hall familiar Sportsworld faces began to appear. In a panic I managed to get one photo (Peter Knaggs messaged me the day before telling me not to bother coming back without a photo and a race report). I did a quick warm up with Jess, David and James on the track where we met Laura Kenny anxiously looking around. She told us her aim was not to be last in the entire race (needless to say she was nowhere near last)! 11.05 and we were off. Emmet sailed by me within the first minutes. I shouted after him to keep me some soup and sandwiches after to which he replied “I can’t promise anything”. True to his word he kept me nothing! I settled in with a little group and we kept a steady pace until the14th KM where my lack of long runs showed and I started to struggle despite their words of encouragement to keep with them. I fell behind a bit but managed to keep them in my sights. I stumbled across the finish line in a time of 1:44:45 delighted with life to break the 1:45. Not a PB but less than a minute off it.

The course itself consists of 2 loops, one big and a slightly smaller one on winding country roads with some rolling hills. We were treated to a hail shower in the middle which whipped up a wind. Poor Karl was on the hill with the wind in his face for this. Luckily for me I was a lot slower and on a nice flat part with the wind behind me.

There was a great spread of soup, sandwiches and cakes afterwards and of coarse the goodie bag consisting of a potato and a packet of Tayto (only in Ireland would you get a spud in a goodie bag).