National half marathon/Rock n Roll Race Report
By Anna Delaney
There was an awful lot of giving out done about this Rock n Roll/National half marathon. Firstly, the course looked a bit mental throwing in hills all over the place and not to mention the start being in town and the finish in Phoenix Park. How would we figure out the logistics of that as well as the very early start? PBs were predicted to be thin on the ground with the hilly course. And then there was the Expo with its €6 parking fee and the water stations would only be giving out cups. Has anyone actually ever managed to figure out how to drink out of one of those things and run at the same time? I certainly haven’t. And with 6,000 people predicted to run, I was already dreading the portaloo queue. See, this is how I approached the Rock n Roll half, not very positive at all!
However, I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised on the day. Bank Holiday Monday was bathed in sunshine after a monsoon weekend. The luxurious Maldron Hotel had no toilet queues so that was one hurdle crossed on the way to the start line. There was a good buzz around, the city looked great in the sunshine and there was no wind. So far, no complaints. Without any delay we were off down the quays and on our way. I took it handy at the start and felt good till our little detour off the quays to take in the hill number 1 at Christchurch. Then back onto the quays and on up through the Museum of Modern Art and out through Inchicore and Chapleizod and into Phoenix Park for the reminder of the course. The course was tough but the hills were spread out and for every uphill we had a nice cruisey downhill. By the time we got to mile 12 and the last uphill out of the Furry Glen I’d had just about enough of hills but we were near the finish at that stage and all was well.
There were some outstanding results from the day. The Senior girls team (Orna, Ciara and Ruth) won gold. Paul Duffy finished in a fantastic 14th place followed by Gavin in 28th. Orna was our first Sportworld woman home in 12th place. And there were PBs despite the tough course, Ciara Foster got one, as did Mark Small who had a fantastic race. He’s certainly one to watch for the future. There was a huge turnout from Sportsworld. Well done to everyone that ran, the times were very impressive. And great job Stephen Willoughby and Alan Dignam doing the 2 and 3 hour pacing.
Thanks to Myles and Emily as always for the encouragement and for the gruelling training plan to get us to the finish. And thanks to all the stewards & supporters on the course. The shouts were all very welcome.
Sportsworld National Half Marathon/Rock N Roll Results!
14 Paul Duffy 01:13:52
28 Gavin Finlay 01:16:09
71 Mark Small 01:23:02
77 James Brady 01:23:14
106 Paul O’Connell 01:26:04
107 Karl Chatterton 01:25:56
114 Michael Cunningham 01:25:51
120 Orna Dilworth 01:27:07
124 Sadanand Magee 01:27:25
127 Conor Keating 01:27:07
141 Denis Mccaul 01:28:40
148 Robert Mcmahon 01:29:31
149 Ciara Foster 01:29:32
154 Ruth Kelly 01:29:45
236 Eoin Cartwright 01:37:04
256 Gerard Byrne 01:38:15
257 Anna Delaney 01:38:54
258 Orla O’Flynn 01:39:12
271 Michael Mckeown 01:39:19
272 Francis Mahon 01:40:12
281 Stephen Doyle 01:40:17
386 Aileen Melody 01:48:34
418 Catherine Gilmore 01:51:35
430 Bronwyn Murphy-White 01:53:26
439 Maeve Keane 01:54:14
453 Deirdre Heavey 01:54:56
565 Stephen Willoughby 01:59:53 (2 Hr Pacer)
582 Paula Dooley 02:04:16
4774 Alan Dignam 2:59:43 (3 Hr Pacer)
