Wednesday saw a number of Sportsworld runners do the midweek IMRA (Irish Mountain Running Association) race. This week it was the Belmont and Little Sugar Loaf, 8.6Km long with a climb of 360m.

After months of anticipation, IMRA summer races resumed this week with Belmont &“Little” Sugarloaf.  Launch evening is perfect; sunny, mild, windless and in the beautiful setting of Belmont Demense.   I find Deirdre and Eoin (fresh-ish from his car-nap) in the registration queue.  Neil mooches along after a few minutes, looking far too relaxed.  I’m keeping the head down and having a little panic as my phone (emergency navigation aid, registration details and camera for my first IMRA race) has randomly crashed and to my surprise, rubbing the screen and holding down buttons isn’t fixing it.

10 minutes later,  we find Tim at the early start line – a cluster of friendly people in the long grass at the top of a field beside the car park.  People seem to have come here of their own free will and are in good form.  Anthony has arrived but he’s still in long pants and a jacket and doesn’t have the same fear of losing daylight that has some of us itching to make a start.

I kick off cocky enough. I’ve done longer runs and how bad can a few hills be if I take my time?  We jog a decent pace meeting some downhill on the woodland track early on.  I’m not sure how to run downhills yet but letting loose is the chosen technique this evening – relatively effective speed wise,  but an absolute jackhammer on the body.

Within the 2nd km we start a climb and though it’s still a nice gravel track, my good feeling gets erased by the unbelievable calf burn on the climb.  To add to the evening, my phone has somehow resuscitated itself on full volume and the calm lady in Garmin Connect is keeping anyone within 5 metres regularly appraised of my heart rate and average speed.   Sunglasses on, head down.

The gradient eases and I stop to take a photo of Neil coming up behind but then I’m too tired.

Eoin eases past in power walker mode. Deirdre keeps glancing back at me with mild concern…like she’s trying to remember the emergency procedure should she be stuck with the task of getting me off the mountain. I’m consoling myself with the amazing views but really having doubts if I’ll get down in daylight.

The track ends and, after an oddly easier climb o

ver rock steps, we summit. I take some more photos to stretch the recovery moment then commence the bum shuffle over the short steep descent on rock and scree.  It’s a relief to find a grassy path. Deirdre tells me it’s all downhill from here but also that she got lost on it last year.

Armed with new enthusiasm, we fairly “steam”

up the grassy path but that bubble bursts when the flags indicate another steep incline. Reluctant to follow any flags that don’t work in harmony with our current preference for downhill, we consult with some ladies trotting along behind.  “The fxxckers!” someone exclaims, a reference to the designers of this trail who we will later be thanking for a lovely evening on the hills.

The fading light and tangible chill to the air push us on so we actually do ok on this bit and soon we are looped back to the calf-burner of a gravel track.  Happily,  this time it’s upside down so we can lash into it.

I carry on with the jackhammer technique of downhill running as if I’ll never need these knees again.   I’m too knackered now to stop my legs flailing about anyhow. We traverse a field of unimpressed cows. Despite what I think is my blistering downhill pace there is no sign of Eoin or Neil, nevermind Tim.   They must’ve been even more blistering.

The last 1.5k is more undulating than expected.  Deirdre cruises past me while I struggle to stay moving at all.  I finally fall over the finish line,  last of the sportsworlders,  in 1.09, narrowly missing out on being overtaken by 7.30 starter Anthony Gillen. (50 mins).

Much more challenging than anticipated but worth it for the views and the experience and if I recover in time I’ll be signing up for the next one.

The midweek races are an easy way of getting away from work, into the mountains and get a work out in some of the nicest scenery around.

To do an IMRA race you have to pay the annual registration fee (€10) and then each race is €7. You can enter online and you are given a chip at the race to record your results.

As well as midweek races there are weekend races too and the website gives the details on the length, amount of climb and difficulty of the race so you can start with an easy one.

https://www.imra.ie/events/

Next IMRA evening event is Scalp

DATE:Wednesday 27 April, 2022TIME:19:30

https://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/2210

The great Ireland run took place the 9th April at 9:00 am in the beautiful Phoenix Park (if my grandmother was alive she would have bet on that number). As a matter of fact, the race also included the National 10k Championship.

As I do for every race, I woke up early, had breakfast and chose the clothes I was going to wear for the race. Since I moved to Ireland, I only follow one simply rule: I put on the warmest clothes I have… and if they are waterproof even better!

Around 8 am, Bel and I, started our journey to the park. Two buses and a little walk later, we arrived to a frozen and white park. The weather was really cold but sunny and, fortunately, not rainy at all!

As soon as we arrived, we found part of the team and we all went to the starting line together.

Some of them went to the very front and others, like me, preferred to start the race in a later place. After a funny and motivating warm up (I really hope nobody saw me doing the “right – left” exercises) my first race of 2022 started – what a moment! If you are good keeping secrets, I would admit that I was a bit moved. The run started and I was enjoying it a lot. At the beginning, we ran downhill making things easier. Then, the hardest part begun and the downhills turned to be uphills. All of a sudden, I was again at the starting point, initiating my second and final lap. This one was shorter and a bit different from the first one and had more zigzags than I expected but it was a good crack!

49 minutes and 34 seconds later, I was crossing the finish line and my race finished. If you need a proof here is the amazing medal I received:

Aligned with the slogan “Be your greatest” I made a PB!!!

Massive well done to everyone who took part in the race!

¡Que viva el running carajo!

Club results can be found here

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/great_ireland_run_2022/4371/results

by Will Martin-Smith

This is not a running race report so if you are easily offended, please avert your eyes.

My brother-in-law, Conor signed me up for Quest Glendalough as a Christmas ‘present.’ Quest is a series of multisport or adventure races run across the country. The races tend to be a mixture of hill running, hilly cycling and kayaking. I think the organisers would prefer if the kayaking sections were hilly too but thankfully gravity gets a say in the course too. The Glendalough race is 59 km long, split into sections of 6km (cycle), 6km (run), 13km (cycle), 5km (run), 18km (cycle), 6km (run), 1km (kayak) and a final 4km run. The mathematicians amongst you may note that this only adds up to 59km, but they somehow managed to sneak in an extra 1km along the way.

My plan was to coast the cycling sections and let my running background do all the hard work in the race but alas, a series of illnesses including Covid, and various niggles in early 2022 left me overly fresh and under trained. No matter I told myself, confident in my ability to tough it out. However, worrying reports of serious road work being done by Conor all over his home county of Laois planted the seed of doubt.

Beautiful weather the weekend before set expectations too high and the Saturday morning of the race was cold and drizzly as we set off on the bikes at 8.15 from Laragh GAA Club. The cold day didn’t dampen the mood and there was plenty of friendly chat flowing amongst competitors as we made our way up the steep Shay Elliot climb between Glendalough and Glenmalure. Once we reached the top, it was off the bikes and on to a beautiful 6km trail run to the top of Cullentragh Mountain. Having started at the back of the second wave, I had passed a  good few on the cycle and managed to pick a few more off on the way back down the hill to the bikes.

Once back out on the bikes, we headed steeply downhill towards Glenmalure but, most unfairly, the 800 metres downhill before Glenmalure Cross had to be run alongside your bike for safety reasons. Having worked hard to get up the hill, being denied the sweet pleasure of a downhill section was hard to take, especially as the next section was another long pull up Slieve Maan. On this climb, cycling muscles not worked since September 2021 screamed all the way to the top. This time though, the descent was glorious. Nose down under the handlebars and level with my knees, my Garmin told me I hit a top speed of 65kmph. This is a fine way to travel!

But as we all know, downhill sections are dearly bought, and I was soon in the hurt zone again finishing the second cycle uphill to the bottom of Croaghnamoira Mountain where we had a date with the second run of the day. Lactic acid, fatigue and a steep incline conspired to relegate this run to a trudge as we ascended a brutal 250m in 1.5km. The route to the top was dead straight leaving no room for mind games or tricks to allow you mentally break the climb into manageable chunks.

Below is an image of Conor and I taking a breather before starting the climb up Croaghnamoira.

Once at the top, the downhill section allowed me to shake some of the fatigue out of my legs and I  picked off a few of the hardy souls who had passed me on the way up. Back to my bike again and I set off on the final cycle at a good clip. This was an undulating section passing through lovely scenery which was a pleasant distraction from my still-protesting thigh muscles.

In the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, all roads lead to Laragh, and I soon rolled back into to the GAA Club to take on the last hill run which zig-zagged up the lower slopes of Derrybawn Mountain before dropping back to the valley floor at the upper lake for the kayak section. You take your chances here in your shipmate and, luckily, I teamed up with a chatty and useful paddler. This made for a most enjoyable paddle in the sunshine through the dark waters of the lough under St Kevin’s Bed. After the race I spoke to a man whose kayak was the only one to capsize into the freezing waters so it could definitely have gone a different way for us!

Once out of the kayak, we had a short 4km run along the Green Road back to the finish. This was mostly flat and uneventful with lots of walkers shouting encouragement. Back at the GAA Club, there was one final sting in the tail as we were sent on a lap around the pitch before the final dash to the line. All in all, a great day out!

I didn’t see any other Sportsworld Athletes so the only time to report is my own in a 4.41.30, a mere heartbeat behind the winner Shaun Stewart (3.12.31 and 93 places above me). Modesty dictates that I cannot disclose whether Conor beat me home or not.

Race reporter Will on less competitive day when he had time to take photos.

 Another race, another race report – this time it’s the turn of the 2022 Generali Berlin Half Marathon.

I love Berlin and have long been fascinated by its character, history, architecture, people and diversity. When I started running, I wanted something to aim towards and knew completing a half marathon in the German capital would be a special experience. I signed up for it last September, just a few weeks after joining Sportsworld in fact. When registering you provide your estimated finish time and I would be starting in Wave 4, Block F, at 11:10 a.m., a group suitable for people who had never ran a half marathon previously or had done one in 2 hours 14 minutes or more. The block would set off a full hour and 5 minutes after the start gun. I’d just done the 10km Mini Marathon in 58 minutes and this seemed like a suitable wave for me.

My running has come on a bit since September, and I wanted to change wave to start with runners at a similar pace to me to make me push to run faster. I emailed but heard nothing back. Maybe I’d just have to go along with where I was. Then I did parkrun in Berlin the day before the race and was shocked at how cold it was. My hands were numb even after running the 5k. There was no way I wanted to hang around in those temperatures for over an hour after the first runners had set off. I could also feel pre-race nerves setting in and wanted to start as early as possible. Luckily, at the Expo they accepted my 01:43 time from Mullingar and moved me to Wave 1, Block C, meaning my start time was 10.05am with all 3 blocks in Wave 1.

With that pre-race concern sorted, I was ready for race day. As I set out, the scale of the event hit me, there were runners and inline skaters everywhere! I had overheard someone say there would be 35,000 participants, I’m not sure how true that was, just over 22,000 runners finished and there also seemed to be hundreds of inline skaters speeding around. Everything was well organised, with runners entering the event area by the Reichstag, and lots of information to make sure we all found our way to the correct place. As we waited light snow began to fall, but nervous energy kept me warm. The speeches began and the elite runners were introduced. I was just in awe at their times, these people run faster than I can cycle! During the speeches I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of the speakers talked about how we all had different journeys there and had set our own goals and we would all be winners at the end.  I thought back to exactly a year ago when I finished week 5 of the Couch to 5k programme and ran for 20 minutes nonstop for the first time in my life – I think I managed about 2km in that time then. I nearly had to pinch myself to believe I was about to run 13 miles along the streets of Berlin now. Luckily before I had chance to get too overwhelmed, we were off. I pulled myself together to focus on the job at hand.

I had a vague plan I would go out with a 4.45min/km pace and try to hold it. The race starts on Straβe des 17 Juni, just west of the Brandenburg Gate, and runners first head towards the western area of the city, passing the Siegessäule, on towards Ernst-Reuter-Platz, then northwards towards Charlottenburg Palace. It was clear early my race plan wasn’t going to work – the start of the race was so congested, I found myself stuck behind rows of people. I knew I needed to follow the green lines to ensure I ran the exact half marathon distance, but it was impossible, I had to go wide to get by crowds. Somewhere along the way though things did open up though and I managed to pick up my pace.

We reached the western Charlottenburg area and Charlottenburg Palace, turned south and headed towards Kurfürstendamm (Ku’damm), the main shopping area in west Berlin and home of KaDeWe, Germany’s equivalent of Brown Thomas, as well as the Gedächtniskirche. At some point, before Ku’damm, we went over a cobbled area. I had to slow down there but can honestly say it was the only bit of the course that was any bit difficult, it’s really a nice flat route overall.

Disaster struck on the next part of the route – I noticed my lace was undone. As I stopped to tie it I wondered what impact it would have on my time, I just put it out of my mind and got back running, heading on towards Potsdamer Platz, an area that went from being a bustling central part of the city, to being almost completely destroyed during World War II, to then becoming part of the no man’s land between east and west in the DDR time as it was divided by the Berlin Wall. Post reunification it became the biggest building site in Europe, and then the modern intersection it is today. We were about 15km in at Potsdamer Platz and I noticed I’d slowed a bit. Then with horror I realised I’d forgotten about the green line and was running wide. I tried to move nearer as we weaved around Mitte, passing Checkpoint Charlie, on towards the Museum Island and the Berlin Cathedral. We seemed to take turn after turn, and then it happened, we arrived onto the wide Unter den Linden boulevard and finally the Brandenburg Gate came into sight!

Back on the green line and the race to the finish line

The last few hundred metres were amazing; it was a brilliant feeling passing the Brandenburg Gate. The support was incredible. In fact, the spectators throughout were brilliant, hundreds of people cheering. I don’t remember a single place where there were not lines of people. The party atmosphere ramped up further at the end and there were massive cheers as we crossed the finish line. There were smiling faces everywhere as we received medals and refreshments, and then a logo poncho, not my usual style, but given the temperature it was very welcome!

The men’s race was won by Alex Kibet of Kenya in an incredible 58.55. The women’s race by Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich, also of Kenya, who had promised she would set a new course record and did just that, finishing in a jaw dropping 01:05:02. They were both long gone and hopefully well into their recovery by the time I eventually crossed the finish line in 01:41:23. I was delighted with that time, especially as I’d managed to add 370m to the route and stopped to tie my lace. I was shocked to also see I was within the top 10% of women finishers. I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day!

The half marathon is a super way to get a sense of the size and layout of   Berlin. I’d been to a lot of the places on the route before, but always using public transport and had no idea where places were distance wise relative to each other until taking part. Berlin is a super city; my weekend there went much too quickly. I spent Sunday afternoon doing some sightseeing and then it was home on Monday morning. I can’t wait to go back and hope this is just the first of many races I’ll take part in there, I’m already thinking of next year – I’ll be aiming to get under the 01:40:00 for sure.

Full results are available here: https://berlinerhm.r.mikatiming.net/2022/?lang=EN_CAP

The Leinster Indoor Senior Championships took place in Athlone Institute of Technology on March 25th. This was a welcome return for the championships, which were not possible in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, since the 2020 edition which was held in the National Sports Campus. I Competed in the 3000m both this year and in 2020.

This was my second time running in AIT: the first time being in January 2017 when I competed in a 1500m there. The facilities at AIT are fantastic – as well as the great track there is a dedicated warm up area for strides etc. upstairs, overlooking the track. There was a good crowd of spectators for the busy day of field and track events from the 60m up to the 3000m.

A brief look at the start list, in advance, told me that I would be out of my depth vis-à-vis a number of athletes in the race but there was a few I was confident of beating/close to eg. Michael Comer from Celbridge – In the 2020 race I ran 10:06 with him close by in 10:09.

Anyway I have been running well recently, having 4:50 for the mile in the recent NIA Live meet, and I was aiming for circa 9:45 – this equated to 39 secs average for the 15 laps. It is a lot of laps and I prefer not to wear a watch when running in circles on a track so I decided just to have a glance on the timer, when going past the start line. The race started at a strong pace, and having left the superior athletes to do their thing, I initially stayed with Micheal Comer, and another athlete from St. Senans in the hope of having some company for at least part of the race. However looking at the timer, after 2 laps, showed me that I was going too slow for my above target so I took the decision to leave the other two and just focus on my pace per lap. So I ended up running most of the race myself save lapping a couple of athletes as well as being lapped myself – I was only lapped once by the best athletes: The race was won in a speedy 8:39 by Rathfarnham’s David Scanlon who has been a consistent top 10 performer in the Dublin Senior XC over the years.

I managed to run a consistent pace and just about went under my target time by finishing in 9:44 – a 22 second improvement on this race 2 years ago.

As you know I have been working from home in Tipperary since Covid and I am still based there for the time being and train with some local athletes primarily on the track in Moyne. So given my current circumstances I have made the difficult to transfer from Sportsworld to my local club Moycarkey Coolcroo AC effective 1st April.

I have been with Sportsworld since the start of 2014, shortly after moving to Dublin, and I initially just intended to train for the 2014 Dublin marathon and then go back playing soccer which was my main sport at the time. But I enjoyed being part of the club so much athletics became my main sport and I have competed with the club in road, track, XC as well as going to the club trip to Lanzarote twice in 2016 and 2018. Special thanks to Emily and Myles for their help and guidance – they are also great at organising teams for XC races etc. all over the country and I enjoyed competing with Sportsworld the last few years in these races even though I haven’t been at training. Without sounding like a drawn out Oscars speech I’d also like to mention Michael Cunningham and Paul Duffy who do so much for the club. I have made so many great friends in the club and I hope we can keep in touch. If I move back to Dublin, part/full-time I will definitely re-join Sportsworld. In the meantime I’m sure I’ll see some of you at races and other events. Thanks again, Conor