Sunday 21 July saw the first of the eagerly anticipated Dublin race series; part of the build up to the Dublin marathon in October. 10km was the distance required and as always there were plenty of Sportsworld singlets and that distinctive diagonal red stripe on show.
I car-pooled with me old pal Andy Gordon and as we made our way over to the Clondalkin course, two things struck me:
1. Aren’t we very early for a 10.35am start? Turns out Andy sets his own time in his head and was mentally tuned in for a 10am start!
2. Why are we using a sat-nav to find Clondalkin? Where is Andy from? You guessed it. Clondalkin.
Anyway as I was co-pilot only, I said I’d keep quiet. Until now.
Conditions on arrival were reasonably good, a warm and mostly overcast summer’s morning, with a stiff enough breeze. My usual pre-race routine followed – nerves – bag drop – toilet – laces check – few kms warm up – pretend stretches – into the start chute – push up past people you think you’re faster than (note: I’m not; but I don’t let reality get in the way)
Those last few minutes before the start feel like eternity, but finally the gun sounded and we were off at 10.35am (FYI Andy). The first part of the race was along one side of a dual carriage-way and while that might not sound appealing it was actually fine. However, one of the great mysteries of running is how one day you feel great, the next day you feel awful. Today it was the latter for me & after 2 km I pulled back. It was not going to be my day. Excuses (part real, imagined and outright lies) are available on request, they are too numerous to list here. Having made my peace with my fate, I enjoyed the rest of the race on a nice course. From the dual carriage-way, we turned into Corkagh park for a nice down-hill section before taking in Clondalkin village and then onto the banks of the Grand Canal for 2+ km. The finish came pretty quickly after leaving the canal; back in the business park where it all started.
As always there were some good performances; none more so that Ronan Masterson who clocked 35.32; a huge PB & well deserved.
Full results: http://kbcdublinmarathon.ie/results-certificates/
