Report by Gareth Murran
Photos by Eoin O’Brien. Full Facebook Album: Click here
No lie on this Sunday! Even if that usually means 8.30 on a Sunday. I woke up at 6:30 and went for a short jog. Thankfully the weather forecast was correct and was it beautiful very little wind. I’ve done an early morning jog, no more than a mile before every race for the past 7 years. I like it because it gets the body moving and identifies any tight spots that you might need to work on before leaving the house.
Race reporter Gareth
For those not familiar with the course the Dublin rock and roll half marathon starts at the 3arena and finishes in the Phoenix Park. Now in its fifth year the race gets a lot of flak from running purists that see it as too commercial. Now having seen how well it was organized how much fun it was to run I would encourage anyone to reconsider their opinion. It represents good value for money. It was a perfect day for racing with the sun shining, not too warm at the start and very little wind.
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Because the race starts in the city centre my first problem was how to get to the start line. I decided to run the 4.4K down and use that as my warm up. By the time I got to the keys there was people everywhere. It was good to see some friendly faces at the start in chatty Sinead, Phil and Stephen.
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The last time I ran a half marathon for the club was in 2009 6 months after joining. After all that time, it would be disappointing to not see a significant improvement in my time. I have recently done four 25K long runs in and around 4:10 kilometer pace in the park with Michael Cunningham who unfortunately could not make the start line today.
When the race set off at 8:30 myself and Phil had already decided that we wanted to run the same 75-minute time so we set off together. Chatting away for the first few kilometers we did not let those that had gone out too fast distract us from sticking to the task. By the time we got to Guinness we were on the back of a group of 10 lads, all aiming to run between 73 and 75 minutes.
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It’s about this time but the course starts to get a bit challenging. As you go uphill towards Kilmainham there is a lot of twists and turns. It was shortly after we exited the gates that I contributed to my own downfall. Feeling that the pace has slowed a bit I went to the front of the group Mo Farah style and tried to encourage the rest to move it on.
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That was not a smart move as soon after I started to feel those extra 20 seconds for that one kilometer. By the time we reached the 10K marker in about 35:40 I was starting to feel fatigued. I have been suffering with the man flu all week (head cold) and although it was gone by race day I think it added to the fatigue and a general feeling of queasiness for the second half of the race. My dehydration seemed levels seemed worse than normal.
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By 12K marker my head has dropped and I had all but given up on getting back on terms with the group ahead. My pace slowed to 4 minutes plus at times and it felt like everybody in the race was passing me.
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Stephen O’Donnell put in a great performance and passed me looking strong with 4 kilometers to go. I struggled to the finish with every ounce of energy spent not to be beaten by the second lady on the finish line. It was great to see all the Sportsworld supporters, stewards and friends of the club near the end of the race.
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Had I still been fighting for places it would have been a massive benefit. Well done to all those doing the marathon, everyone for the most part seemed pleased with their run.
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Sunday racing can end up taking up your whole weekend. The longer the race the more you worry about what you’re eating and what you are doing on the Saturday.
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For the rock and roll half marathon having to go into the city Centre to collect my number on Saturday afternoon was a welcome distraction. The course itself was good and brings you on a grand tour of Dublin.
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My original plan was to run the Dublin City Marathon this year. I’m now happy that Emily talked me out of it until next year. In 2018, it will be 10 years since the one and only time that I did the Dublin Marathon. I have 14 months.
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Sportsworld Results
Half Marathon Results
41st Phil KILGANNON 01:16:44.2
58th Stephen O’DONNELL 01:18:07.88
67th Gareth MURRAN 01:18:55.4
129 Mark HOGAN 01:23:34.4
146 Martin DOYLE 01:24:15.7
155 Sinead TANGNEY 01:24:42.8
238 Damien GERAGHTY 01:28:12.1
245 Catherine BAMBEICK 01:28:24.05
272 Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain 01:29:10.8
321 Jose CHAPA 01:30:33.8
000 Emmet Wardell 01:31:33
360 Naoise WALDRON 01:32:15.5
378 Adelie REINAUDO 01:32:37.9
595 Gerard NEENAN 01:37:14.27
617 Justin MCKEEVER 01:37:30.8
670 Paul O’Connell 01:38:24.8
783 Deirdre O’CONNELL 01:39:54.28
912 Caoimhe COSTIGAN 01:41:44.30
1043 Patricia FITZMAURICE 01:43:17.98
1088 Lucy DARCY 01:43:41.0
1107 Aidan CURRAN 01:43:58.6
1157 Eileen ROWLAND 01:44:29.2
1162 Adrian LANIGAN 01:44:32.8
1329 Phillip KERR 01:46:33.7
1545 Derrick LONG 01:49:02.2
2593 Karen O’CONNOR 01:58:58.4
2783 Kathryn POTTERTON 02:00:34.90
10k Results
3 Conor MCCARTHY 36:31.3
15 Dermot SULLIVAN 39:31.1
76 Aoife O’LEARY 44:46.5
214 Katie NUGENT 49:55.0
216 Grainne LYNCH 49:55.6
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