Bohermeen Half Marathon and 10Km

Meath Spring Half Marathon (AKA Bohermeen AC Half Marathon)

Race report by Paul Hamilton, Burgers by Bunsen

I signed up for this race some time ago when planning my training for the Paris Marathon. There weren’t a lot of options at this time of the year for half marathons close to Dublin, but on the recommendation of a work colleague I completed the registration. There was the promise of a potato in the goody bag but unfortunately this never materialized.

On the morning of the race I was a bit nervous, as apart from the Leinster Cross Country race in January (which didn’t go well) I hadn’t completed any races since the Dublin Marathon last year. My training for Paris was going pretty well though and on Myles instruction I was to give this race a good go to see where I was. My nerves weren’t helped by the fact that after frantic searches I couldn’t find my Sportsworld singlet when getting my gear together 5 minutes before I headed out the door. I reassured myself that I wouldn’t be the only idiot not wearing the singlet and therefore in danger of having to pen this report. I suppose you can guess that yes I was the only one and I am an idiot.

The weather, which I had been keeping an eye on for the week, had promised to be good and it didn’t disappoint with the only negative a slight headwind in parts. The 10k was scheduled to start at 10.30am with the half at 11am. I met up with some of the large contingent of Sportsworld members running the race and we went for a good warm up before heading down to the start line.

As this race was also the Meath Half Marathon Championships the field had a lot very good club runners in attendance and the atmosphere on the day was excellent. I started the race just behind the 1.30 pacers with my plan trying to keep them in sight for as long as possible.  Someone had said that the course was flat but there were some sneaky inclines, which coupled with the headwind, made for a few tough spots in the race, but overall the course was good. I kept up a good pace throughout but struggled a little over the last kilometer. When I checked my splits at the finish I was delighted to find out that I had PB’ed for every distance from 10k up to half marathon.

The post mortem from any Sportsworld runners I met seemed to be very positive and there were quite a few PBs. Mark Ryan of Rathfarnham won the men’s race in 68.22 and Maria McCambridge won the lady’s race in 77.46. First home for Sportsworld was Martin Doyle with an impressive PB of 80.53. This was even more impressive when he told us that he had already eaten 5 and a ½ full size Mars bars that morning. Then it was time for what I thought was going to be a quick cool down before tucking into the ham sandwiches and goodies in the GAA club. But be aware. Do not go on a cool down with Martin and Diarmuid unless you want to add another 5k to your weekly kilometers.

A few of us met up later on in town to get our protein requirements and hydration needs met and a good night was had by all. Martin continued to fill us in on his ideal race day nutrition of red bull and mars bars and who am I to argue when you see the results its getting him.

Overall the race was very well organized and apart from a few cars on the road there was no issues and I would have no problem recommending it in the future.