Frank Duffy 10 mile 2022

The infamous Frank Duffy 10 mile took place on a windy, yet mild late August morning. The third race in the series, one characterised by demanding hills and luscious park land, it is a great test for anyone wishing to compete in the Dublin City marathon. This was my first 10 mile race (contrary to my claims on Strava that this was a PB) and I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone any better.

I had been debating the week leading up to the race whether or not I was actually going to run it as I had been feeling off and a bit unmotivated recently. This was somewhat disappointing since I have been looking forward to the race series since I started back running earlier this year in Colombia after a near 2 year hiatus due to a niggly hip injury. Saturday morning came and I decided, against my gut feeling, to don the red and white singlet and head for the Phoenix Park. I arrived around 20 minutes before the start of the race and was met by some friendly familiar Sportsworld faces ( Cian Buckley, Padriac Moran and Siobhan Clarke to name a few) and felt a bit more at ease with what was to come.

The wheelchair race took off slightly before 9 am and then we were baited forward to the start line by the organisers. The race began quite fast, and I was being overtaken by the world and its mother, but I knew I had to be prudent through the first hilly 8km of the race and stick to a sustainable pace. The rolling hills began as we turned off Knockmaroon Road heading down to the Furry Glen, onward to Upper Glen Road and eventually making our way up Military Road. I decided to stick and sit at the back of a pack of Raheny runners until we made our way back to Chesterfield Avenue. The pack somewhat dispersed and I found myself fighting against a cross field wind in the exposed area near the Magazine Fort until Acres Road. Coming back onto Chesterfield Avenue, there was a random spectator counting us as we went by “71, 72, 73” and at this point I knew I had clawed my way back up the field and was feeling relatively strong. I decided to push the pace for the last 3km, managing to overtake a few people on the way and finishing strongly on Furze Road in 1.01.23. The men’s race was won by Peter Somba in 51 minutes and 15 seconds. Speaking with him briefly he said that he was relatively happy but bemoaned the wind saying it had cost him a minute or two. The winning female, Kate Purcell made it home under the hour mark in 59.36. The results for the 18 Sportsworlders are below.

All in all I’m delighted I went against my gut feeling and ran, as racing always gives you feedback, good or bad, about how your training is going. The Dublin City Marathon is the next race on the calendar for me and one I’ve been looking forward to ever since I headed down to Sportsworld early 2018.