Irish Runner 5 Mile 2017

Report by Sibeal Waldron

Photos by Will Greensmyth. Full album on Facebook: Click here

On a blistering hot (27⁰C) Saturday morning in the Phoenix Park the 15^th running of the Irish Runner 5 mile was set to start.  I had been up early for breakfast and picked up my sister Naoise (the very fast one in the family) on the way. I had signed up a few months beforehand when I was going through a good patch of consistent training …..unfortunately this hadn’t continued so I knew I wasn’t in great shape going in but it was a nice day and thought sure I’ll give it a go.

Race reporter Sibeal with sister Naoise during their warming up routine

Myself and Naoise warmed up together and got a few strides in and met a few familiar faces along the way. This is where I made my big mistake…..getting into the waves, I was going to stay back I didn’t want to be dragged along at Naoise’s pace but as I was standing there with Patricia we decided sure why not move up and be with all the Sportsworld gang. Sure what’s the harm we can still run at our own pace? So we moved up to the first wave. This is also where I bumped into Eoin (who was not wearing his Sportsworld colours)….and somehow got roped into writing this report.

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Eventually the race got going, there was about a 10 minute delay, which didn’t help in the heat. We headed down Chesterfield Avenue turning left at the Áras and left again at Ratra House onto the North Road. Luckily this part was somewhat in the shade, however I realised I was running way too fast & I knew I couldn’t keep it up. On towards Chesterfield Avenue where we went down the road and did a turnabout.

It was good to see a lot of the other Sportsworld contingent around plus I had my supporters there to cheer me on. From there we turned onto Ordinance Survey Road and towards the Knockmaroon Gate, down into the Furry Glen. Up until this point the course was mainly flat and I was feeling fairly ok. My legs had started to feel heavy at around 3 miles but I was thinking sure I’m over half way it’ll be grand….how wrong was I.

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Coming out of the Furry Glen and on up to the Upper Glen Road was a steady uphill for the last 1.5 miles to the Furze Road. At this stage the heat was almost unbearable and the water station felt like it was 10 miles back rather than 0.5 miles. For me I just walk/jogged the end of the race…..and ended up with a time that I think could be a personal worst…if there’s such a thing.

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I think a few others had bad days with the heat being a big factor, however there were also some great performances as you can see by the times listed below, with a 3^rd in her age category for Eileen Rowland and a PB for Naoise.

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After the 5 mile race came the serious business of the Family Race. I had entered along with my husband (and ex-Sportsworld member) Rory, our 2 boys Eamon (5) and Odhrán (3) and dog Rua. This was a 2.7km loop starting on Chesterfield Avenue up towards the Castleknock Gate, down Ordinance Survey Road and finishing on the Furze Road. The boys did a great job Eamon running the entire loop and Odhrán with a little help from Daddy’s shoulders. They were delighted with their medals and goodie bags.

The day as a whole turned out to be great fun and although my race didn’t go to plan I’m happy that I got out there, had a bit of banter with fellow club mates and seem to have passed my love of running onto my kids. Here’s hoping there will be a 3^rd generation of the Waldron family to keep Sportsworld going into the future!

P.S Thanks to Eoin for doctoring my time and letting me beat Naoise for the first time in about 5 years.

Sportsworld Results