Report By Enda McMorrow
Yesterday I set off with only my trusty (?) companion Mandy in tow (of whom more anon) for the Dunleer 4 mile race, celebrating its 5th year of running. I had earmarked this race all year as it was the venue at which I had last won a prize of any description (well with the exception of the spot prize of a kettle at the Raheny 5, that Stephen keeps reminding me of, when I get a bit depressed about it but which I have trouble counting as a real prize).
The Spot Prize
I left nothing to chance – I carefully analysed the results from the last 3 years of the M55 class and reckoned if I could get in under 29 minutes I would probably get another set of Galway crystal (the very generous prize I had won 2 years ago for 3rd in this category ) – next I was careful not to mention I was doing it to anyone else in the club eligible for this category – well there are only three prizes!
As I couldn’t find my Sportsworld vest I decided I would have to wear the club’s unofficial blue away jersey and off I went. To be fair it was good to have Mandy with me for company going up the M1, or the E03 as she called it, as I am not great on directions at the best of times and she is a v good navigator though she lost me when she started talking about Dro Keda (where !?).
Any roads we got there in good time ( race starts at 3 every year ) – it was nice to see a familiar smiling face at registration as Lucy was on duty for precision timing (fresh from her trip to the Portarlington half marathon the previous day as described in Joe’s report ) – this girl is always in good form and a pleasure to be around. She informed me that I would be flying the flag solo for sportsworld as no one else had made the journey – a great pity in my opinion as this is an excellent race. The only other person I knew there was the legend that is Frank Greally as he was using this race as part of his comeback.
The race itself is a fine one with a course that both challenges and lends itself to fast times – the winner set a new course record of just under 20 minutes. As for myself I got the sub 29 I had hoped for but still only finished 5th in the M55 category – as I said to my slightly disappointed wife Anne when I returned home empty handed there are some damn fast old lads out there!
As for that one Mandy I don’t know if I will ever take her to another race – on the way back she almost sent me into the port tunnel to pay another toll and when I just avoided that she insisted I do a U turn at Collins avenue (ok maybe I wasn’t listening to her earlier when she told me which lane to get into for the M50 southbound but that accent was killing me)
Mandy
Next time I use old fashioned maps instead of Google map.
Full results: Precision Timing
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