Report by Padraig Looby

The Grant Thornton 5k took place in the city centre on Tuesday, October 4th. It is mainly a corporate event and my office decided to field a team with 20 or more of us. The entry fee of €35 was pretty steep, but once I heard the company was putting its hand in its pocket, my mind was made up!

With ongoing marathon training, I was going to be on tired legs but I felt a nice sharp 5km 26 days before the marathon is probably not the worst idea I’ve ever had. The course is run on the quays on both sides of the Liffey. While it is pretty flat, it is open to the wind but we were lucky enough in that regard with just a moderate breeze blowing. The course itself is not great – it is pretty dark in places and there are lots of pot-holes and man-holes which are hard to see and I find they can be momentum breakers as you run a race which is essentially a long sprint. Last time I raced here, there was one U turn on the course but that has now become two. Not ideal but that’s city racing for you.
The 7.45pm gun time meant I had plenty of time after work to get a good warm up and strides done. I always like to have sweat on my brow starting a 5k because once the gun goes, its game on.

I was pleased enough with my run. I missed 6 months due to illness earlier this year so I still consider myself to be on the comeback trail (good pun). With that in mind, I ran conservatively for the first kilometre and built from there. There is no time to make up lost time in a 5k so from the 2nd kilometre onwards I was working harder. Kilometres 3 + 4 are the hard one’s mentally. Why am I putting myself through this? Why didn’t I take up golf? Why don’t I just run gently and enjoy it more? Will I come last like Emmet did in Tymon Park? I feel you just have to get through that portion. Before you know it, it’s the last kilometre and its empty-the-tank stuff from there. I finished in 19.24; approximately one minute off my best time. All things considered, I will take that happily and press onto the Dublin marathon next week.