What better way to haze the new people than to jump in front of them at the finish line of their first club race and ask for a race report.  This week that duty (guilty pleasure) fell to Michael Cunningham for the Dublin Masters 2022. That still feels weird to write.

Fresh from the fields of Raheny we have excellent reports from Darina Hynes in the Women’s race and Adam Furlong in the Men’s race. Adam was later awarded the honorary best running cravat 2021 by Raheny Shamrocks, as can be seen in the video below. First up I’ll give you a look at the two of them so you can say hello at the club. Great reports and races from the two of them.

Overall it was a great day for the club with our F35+ women taking gold and the M35+ lads getting bronze. High place finisher of the day was the ever-impressive Noureen Brouder in 4th place. Full Results with team and age group breakdowns are on MyRunResults. Thanks to Raheny for hosting an excellent race and congrats to them on winning the inagraual Pat Hooper cup. Pat was a great supporter of grassroots athletics and is sorely missed at these meets.

Darina Hynes

I agreed to be part of the entries for the Raheny Masters Cross country race which was a race into the unknown for me!

It was a full-circle moment for me as I grew up in Raheny and took me to join Sportsworld to embrace running! It brought back happy memories of my childhood like going to the annual St. Anne’s Rose Garden Festival with my granny, doing the KitKat tennis summer camps with my brothers and trying out the pitch and putt course with my friends!

A crisp morning faced all the runners but it was an amazing atmosphere to see everyone warming up together and trying out the course ground before the starting line.

Emily kindly arranged for my first pair of spikes and were worn for my first ever cross country race to match my singlet and shorts! My spikes were officially christened and were very muddy afterwards, I am still trying to clean them!

The overall winner of the women’s Masters was Barbara Clearly who dominated the race from start to finish. The women’s over 35 team winners were Sportsworld RC. Points were allocated to each club based on over all finishing place in their age team results.

Well done to all the ladies especially the gold medalists, our ever encouraging coach Emily and all our supporters. It was great to hear your name being called from the sidelines which gave you an extra push to get through the mud!

It was so inspiring to be part of the Sportsworld ladies team and thank you for your help after reaching the finish line, I was so happy to cross and take my spikes off!!

Thank you to fellow twin Mum Kimberly for treating me to a hot cuppa afterwards at the Last Lap Café J

Looking forward to coming back for the Raheny 5 mile race on Sunday, January 30^th!

Adam Furlong 

So it was with a frisson of excitement that I approached not only my first Dublin Masters (only just making the age grade, ahem) but my first cross country full stop. I had heard a few horror stories, getting “spiked” avoiding obstacles “tree trunks in the middle of the course” or my favourite “avoiding swans swimming on a waterlogged course”.

As it transpired it was a bright brisk afternoon when I arrived in camp & myself & John Skehan headed out for recon on our warm-up lap discovering certain sections were quite testing. We also discussed tactics & as debutants, I would tuck in behind John at the start who was keen to go quickly early but having sought Emily’s advice this was shelved in favour of finding a position & enjoying the first lap before the field began to string out.

As we lined up at the start I got a tap on the shoulder from a former primary school classmate running for Blackrock & a fellow debutant, we both agreed we hadn’t run around a field since those halcyon days and the gun was off.

Well, you may have guessed it but tactics went out the window immediately as John sped off into the distance & I took an elbow from a lad from Brothers Pearse no love lost or runners community spirit here. I did manage to find a good position & settled into a nice rhythm but having to go wide on a number of turns only meant I was lengthening the course for myself.

As I went out for the second lap I could see Paul Hamilton not too far ahead & comforted myself that after his recent heroics in Valencia I must be traveling well. It wasn’t long for the comfort to melt away as I went out on my third lap, I was really starting to hurt & to be honest the only thing that kept me going was the incredible support I was getting from the sidelines. It genuinely spurred me on. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

Now here’s where I feel a bit bad for Mick Clohessy as I got such a huge roar when I took the bell coincidentally as he was crossing the finish line…. Ahh who am I kidding I’m sure he found comfort in his individual & team gold.

I could smell home as myself & Karl Shevlin traded places going up the straight as we passed a few but his finishing kick caught me & I just missed coming in under 27 minutes clocking 27.04 which for my first attempt in heavy ground(Anthony & Brian Conway may beg to differ re ground conditions) I’m actually quite pleased. As they say in National Hunt parlance I should come on for the run.

A big congratulations to Karol, Gareth, Andrew & Gavin for taking the team bronze. I really got a big kick out of the experience but especially the comradery. I’d just like to thank Deirdre O’Connell for motivating me to train over Christmas.

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Report by Gary Murray

The Streets of Wicklow 5K takes place on St Stephens Day each year, around Wicklow town. I have been doing this race since 2009, managing to win a couple of times and only missing 2 years. Over the years I have gotten to line up against greats like Fionnuala McCormack, Martin Fagan, Mary Cullen,  Roisin Mcgettigan, Deirdre Byrne, and Hiko Tonsoa. Despite running all those years the race announcer still calls me Gary Murray each year.

For some, the prospect of a race straight after Christmas may send them into a tailspin, but I savor the prospect of keeping my post-Lanza fitness boost going with a few races over the festive season.

One of the fun things about these local races is that you never know who might turn up. More often than not I am part of the top group of lads in this race. This year the announcer was bigging up a young guy named ‘Tudor’ who runs with Clonliffe. Tudor has a 14.46 time to his name. These races don’t mean anything so you can play a few games and go out hard, sub 15 is a bit too hard so I decided to hold court in the second group. A good junior runner Jonas Stafford went with Tudor. At the start, the two lads ran off and I sat back with a larger group.

With local races up to and down the country you have a few local lads in GAA shorts who shoot out and then die after the first kilometer, this particular Sunday in Wicklow was no different. I don’t claim to be any good at the hurlin’ lads so get a grip. You cant start a race with a sprint and expect to finish. Maybe it’s to get their photo in the local paper, who knows?

At the start, there was a group of 12 which was down to 2 up front and 3 in my group after 2K. It stayed that way for much of the race. The lads in front were good enough to make up five seconds every kilometer on the chasing trio. The weak point in my races of late has been the middle section. I start strong and have a good kick but the mindset seems to be to settle in the middle. If I can give myself one bit of advice looking back it would be that fast times aren’t run by holding back. The top two lads ended up running 15.28 and in hindsight, I should have tried to stick with that pace. That said both of them are 20 years younger than me so maybe I should be more self-effacing.

By the time we entered the 4th kilometer, I was locked in a battle with Matthew Kane of Rathfarnham. Any thought of a good time was out the window at this stage and the focus was on getting 3rd place. With 600M to go, I went for the lead, only to be rebuffed, again at 400M I went and was passed. With 200M to go, I dug deep and started the sprint for the line, which is uphill and still seemed far away. Happy to say that my competitor had nothing left and I made up 4 seconds to snatch 3rd overall and €75. It was amazing to hear ‘Gary Murray is having a great race’ yet again.  The last bit of a 5K hurts. It’s in the last kilometer that the anaerobic part of the race really gets going. My finish time was 16:04 which would have been a sub 16 run if not for a young kid on a scooter driving straight at me in the 3rd kilometer.

At the time of writing, I have also run the Tom Brennan in 15.55. That was a much tougher race in really strong winds. I’m in decent shape going into the Master’s XC season but also contemplating if my best times are in the past. I might need to do a track race or two and get some endorphins back.

I really like this race. Maybe it’s because I have been doing it for so long and my family always come to watch but it’s also because it has a great grass route, electric atmosphere and is clearly put together by runners.

The course itself starts at the school, you run up the big hill in the middle of town, then it’s a flat but exposed stretch along the waterfront. The stretch from 3K to 5K has a few uphills so it can be a challenging route on a windy day. The end is a long straight of 600M which I really like as you feel like you are almost finished at 4.5K.

Also running was Eoin O’Brien who finished in a time of 00:23:58. Eoin ran 4 races in 4 days over Xmas and finished 4th in the Toblerone 10 Mile in Tipp (Sponsored by Cadburys).

I signed up to the Farranfore St. Stephen’s Day 5k Race just a few days beforehand. The fear of racing after the Christmas day feast deterred me every other year, but after a couple of years of no road races at all, I decided the time had come to stop making excuses!

An early morning of showers gave way to glorious winter sunshine for the 60th Annual Farrenfore Road Race. This year’s race attracted a field of 301 runners, which included Olympian Michelle Finn, as well as a few brave souls who told me they were hoping the run would cure their Christmas hangover! There was a great atmosphere beforehand, lots of cheerful, friendly faces and a fantastic buzz around the place. It really seemed like everyone was genuinely delighted to be there, after last’s year’s race, like so many others, went virtual. The morning kicked off with a 2K Fun Run, which had nearly 100 participants and was full of lots of smiling young kids & families with buggies in tow.

I spotted a few friendly faces I recognised from running groups in Tralee & unashamedly invited myself to join their warm-up, which consisted of a very easy 14-minute jog and 4 X 200m sprints. The start & finish of the 5k race was at the Kerry Mill in Farranfore, running close to the cross-roads in Firies and returning via the same route. The pre-race nerves didn’t get a chance to kick in at all, until I was at the start line looking at the hill ahead of me, but even then, I felt markedly more relaxed than I usually do!

The gun went off and pure adrenaline forced me up the hill without too much exertion. Before I knew it, I was taking advantage of the downhill reprieve that followed and happy to be back to the flat part of the course. I tucked in with a small group of runners, we got a nice rhythm going, and it wasn’t long before we were approaching the small uphill to the turn-around mark of a little cone. I was totally immersed in the buzz of racing & the encouragement from onlookers and fellow racers was fantastic. It was great to see the crowds of runners coming towards us as we headed home and the ensuing nods, waves & cheers of encouragement, on both sides, made the next kilometre fly by. I could see Niamh, the 3rd lady, ahead of me for the whole race but couldn’t quite muster the energy to catch her! As we hit the last uphill in the 5^th Kilometre, the fatigue had kicked in and my pace slowed but once I got to the top, momentum gathered in the little pack of racers around me, adrenaline building up again with a downhill finish line in sight. The last few hundred metres felt like a sprint as the racers beside me powered on until we crossed the finish line, all delighted to be done!

My goal for the last couple of years was to get a sub 18min 5k so it’s not an understatement to say I was over the moon to come in at 17:23. I honestly questioned whether my watch might be wrong! Obviously, a testament to the success of Emily’s ever demanding training sessions!

First 3 Men & Women:
1 15:13 Oisin Spillane M Sen Tralee Harriers
2 15:58 Derek Griffin M Sen
3 16:02 Aogán MacDomhnaill M Sen West Limerick AC

1 16:05 Michelle Finn F Sen Leevale AC
2 16:19 Sorcha Ní Dhomhnaill F Sen Donore Harriers
3 17:20 Niamh O’Mahony F Sen An Ríocht

Full results here

This was the second win in 8 days for the spectacular Michelle Finn, who won the Newmarket 5k on the 19^th of December, and then went on to win the Togher 5k on the 28^th of December, the day after her Farranfore win!

The Baldy Man Run takes place every year between Christmas and the New Year in Tramore. The race consists of a full loop of the peninsula at Tramore beach before returning to the prom via the Back Strand. Named after the largest of the sand dunes in Tramore, the Baldy Man is an 8km course and has a great variety of terrain including stones, sand, dunes and sometimes the sea. No prizes for guessing why the sand dune is called the Baldy Man.

The conditions on the day were tough going (think cross country meets Takeshi’s Castle) with a lot of wind and rain thrown in for good measure. The only respite from the ankle deep sinking sand on the beach was a couple of rocks and pebbles every 30m or so – as such most of the course involved either trying to not break your ankles or wondering where your ankles are.  The tide was also in so hard sand was tough to find unless you wanted to find yourself paddling.

My melodrama and excuses aside – the race was a great morning out. After a little chat with myself in the car about how it would probably be all grand, I eventually plucked up the courage to get out and collect my chip before doing a short warm up. The pace was quick to start off with (too quick from me as usual) and I could see the kilometre splits getting longer on my watch as my calves got progressively heavier on the sand. A slog is the word that springs to mind for the first 7.4km – I was close enough to euphoric to receive the welcome feeling of tarmac under my feet for the last 600m – I crossed the line in 32:50 and 12th overall. Very happy to get the experience of another race under the belt and after a week of eating and drinking over the festive season it could have been much worse.

This year’s event was organised primarily to raise funds for WLR’s Be A Little Star Christmas Appeal in aid of St Vincent De Paul. The race was efficiently organised and there was a great buzz about despite the conditions the day threw at us. A shoutout to the race stewards and Coastguard for their support throughout is definitely also warranted.

It was the night before the Tom Brennan 5km race and New Years Eve. The tension was mounting. I really wanted to start 2022 with a new PB and to run sub 23 minutes. I’d managed 23:17 at the beginning of December (although it had half killed me) and had trained hard since. I knew I was fit enough to do it. But despite telling everyone who would listen to my racing talk that I wasn’t drinking on New Year’s Eve so I’d be in top form, I caved, and ended up staying up much too late despite all my good intentions. I knew it was a mistake – how was I going to achieve my goal now? As the wind picked up in the early hours, I was awoken to the sound of my neighbours’ trampoline being flung over the wall and wondered if I might be off the hook. It’s sure to be cancelled I thought. Alas, as dawn broke, I realised the first day of 2022 was actually going to be unseasonably warm and sunny – perfect racing conditions! There was no getting out of this. The pre-race nerves increased, along with the post wine headache.

I got to the Phoenix Park at around 11.20am and saw another few Sportsworlders warming up. The familiar faces and smiles helped settle my nerves. I did a 3km warm up and felt like I was running well. Maybe I could do it after all. Time to head to the start line. By my watch the race started a few minutes early, so there was no time for fretting, I just had to get going. Off we went, I looked at my watch and realised I was going a bit fast but felt great so just went with it. I lost my nerve at the 1km stage though and decided to ease up in case I crashed and burned. The route is two laps starting on Furze Road, going clockwise around to Chesterfield Avenue, back to Furze Road and around again. The conditions were great, windy at times, but it was nice and flat and very sunny.

The last 1km was when the going got tough, I held on to my pace as best as I could. It felt like the longest 1km ever and it was only later I realised it probably was. As I approached the finish, I saw the seconds just coming up to 23 minutes. I didn’t bother picking it up as I knew I wouldn’t get under 23. Initially I felt despondent, but then I looked at my watch – the distance was showing as 5.06km. Where had those extra 60 metres come from? Had I not stopped my watch on time? I was pretty sure I had, but I’d still somehow managed to run over the 5km – maybe I went too wide somewhere or off course. Whatever happened, my watch had my 5km time below 23 minutes. While not sub 23 minutes officially, I’d still knocked 13 seconds off my old PB in the official results with a time of 23:04 and now I knew I could run under 23 minutes in the future if I stuck to the right distance (and resisted pre-race wine) – who knows, maybe there is even sub 22 minutes in me for 2022.

Overall, it was a great race, great atmosphere and there were some brilliant times from club members. A total of 18 from Sportsworld ran in the race, with Gareth Murran leading the club and coming 10^th overall with a super time of 15:55.  There was also good news later when we heard Sportsworld got 2^nd place ladies team thanks to amazing runs from Maria Jones, Aoife O’Leary and Katie Nugent.

The history of Valencia, one of the oldest cities in Spain, begins over 2100 years ago with its founding as a Roman colony under the name “Valentia Edetanorum” on the site of a former Iberian town, by the river Turia in theprovince of Edetania. Blah, blah, blah. (sorry Jose)

The only thing I cared about one night in September (other than having another glass of wine) was that Valencia is very flat, the weather is usually good in December, and most importantly they had a marathon that was still open for entry through a waiting list. So I stuck my name on the list and was notified I was position 84. No chance I thought. I woke up the next morning and I checked my phone and I was now down to no. 20. Within three days my entry was confirmed, flights and hotel booked. Viva Espagne.

My last marathon was in New York in November 2019 bp (before the pox) where I set my PB of 3.14 which confirmed my place in Boston for April 2020.I started getting notions of myself and started to think that (whisper it) a sub 3 marathon might be on (it really wasn’t). I made the mistake of mentioning my lofty goal to a customer in a meeting who very kindly pointed out that I was probably a bit too old and had left it too late. This is the last thing you should say to a man in the mist of a full on mid life crisis who can’t afford the
traditional route of buying a flash sports car. So I upped the training milage and decided I’d show him.

Now you don’t need me to tell you what has happened over the last two years but suffice to say marathons weren’t the most important thing on peoples minds and we all had to find our own ways to cope. Mine was to try to learn french and up the milage to average 50 miles a week for the year. I had entered the Frankfurt Marathon in 2020 more in hope than expectation but this too was cancelled. So I continued to train (et apprendre le français) awaiting for a chance to race. This summer when a few more races started to open up I managed to get a 5k PB and a new half marathon PB of 1.25. So the dream was alive and I was starting to think what colour paint I would use to decorate the afore mentioned customer’s house with the numbers 2.59, how do you like them apples.

I entered Frankfurt again and started training hard. Once again though, the pox (that’s my wife’s name for it) has taught us not to get our hopes up and the marathon was cancelled again. So this brings me back to the beginning of this report where instead of going training on a Thursday I found myself on the couch at a one man pity party thinking what’s the point. However another thing the pox has taught us is resilience. So after I realised no-one else was coming to my pity party I copped myself on and started looking up other marathons to enter. Et Voila Valencia.

So I had 13 weeks to train and I got stuck in. Training went well and by the time the taper came I was felling pretty fit and optimistic. Then a week before I was due to fly – OMICRON. This time though was different and I found myself on a 7.30am Ryanair flight on 4th December ready to run. Much like the last two years, this report has dragged and I apologise so I’d better get to the race. My schedule was pretty tight due to flights and it meant flying in on Saturday, collecting my bib, racing at 8.30am Sunday and then flying home at 4.30pm after finishing. (throw in a covid test as well) I woke up good and early on Sunday (in truth I never really slept) and had coffee and breakfast checked out of the hotel and walked the 30 minutes to the start.

My plan was to run with the 3 hour pacing group but I arrived a little late and by the time I got into the starting area I was at the back and couldn’t make my way up to the front. No problem I told myself and just go off easy and run within myself. The race started and although the starting area was pretty packed the wide roads meant this wasn’t a problem and I soon found my rhythm. I checked my pace at KM 1 and all was well. So I settled in found a group to run with and turned my brain off. Valencia is a great marathon course for fast times (1847 people went sub 3 on the day). It’s very flat with long straights. The only problem on the day was the stiff breeze (gusts of 60kph) which I often found myself running into. However I maintained my pace and crossed halfway in 1.30.08. I was still feeling good but I just noticed that at the next few 5k checkpoints my pace was just dropping off ever so slightly. By 20 miles I was struggling a little bit and for about 2 miles I really struggled as I saw my goal slipping. The best bit of advice I ever got about the marathon was from Ronan Masterson when I was training for my first Dublin. He told me whatever you do don’t walk. Even if you need to slow your pace right down just keep running (sounds simple doesn’t it – it isn’t). I followed that advice here and dropped the pace a bit and managed to regroup and aim for my B goal which was sub 3.05 and managed to finish strong and cross the line in 3.03.07. The finish line in Valencia is brilliant with a great atmosphere and setting. After regrouping I soaked in the atmosphere and cheered the other runners in. Then it was back to the airport and catch my flight home.

I met a couple of the Irish elites on the flight home. Gary O’Hanlon came second in the O45 category in 2.20. I also got to congratulate Fionnuala McCormack who smashed her PB to run 2.23 and move to 2nd fastest Irish lady ever.

This marathon has made me eager for my next attempt at a sub 3 marathon but more importantly I’ve decided on red paint for your man’s house when it does happen.

It was a bright, fresh afternoon in Gowran, Co.Kilkenny on Sunday 5th December where the National XC Novice Race took place. 

Sportsworld Running Club was represented with competitors taking part in both the women’s novice 4000m and men’s novice 6000m. This was my second cross country event and the previous days heavy rain made the going tough (so I was glad I purchased the XC spikes two days before). The challenging course was offset by the brilliant atmosphere created by supporters along with my fellow competitors and team mates !! 

Majella Hayen

Don’t know about you but it doesn’t feel very Christmassy yet; nonetheless, I headed into Phoenix Park last weekend to take part in the ever popular Donore Jingle Bells 5k.  As I got closer to the start line I could see some Santa hats and reindeer antlers ding their warm-ups and could hear the brass band pumping out Christmas tunes, trying to knock the bah-humbug out of me. After running a PB at the Rathfarnham 5k some time back, I was told there was a bit of rivalry between it and Jingle Bells as to which was the fastest 5k – it’s definitely a target race for PBs and I was hoping to give it a shot.Warm up done (as I’d parked what felt like miles away in Inchicore), I found a spot at the start close enough to the front where there were a number of familiar faces from the road running scene, trying to keep warm.  Bumped into Andrew and Maria, discussed tactics, whether we were wearing too much or too little for the cold weather, and after very little faffing we were off. Up past Fifteen Acres and the Papal Cross before the long drag up the avenue against the wind (I’ve been told that the Castleknock gate is at the same altitude as the top of the Wellington Monument at the entrance to the park). Gave Crona a wave as she was out supporting. The next left turn provided some shelter from the wind. Clocked the 3km sign soon after and felt pretty much spent at this point. But I threw my legs out in front of me to make the most of the downhill; the actual Phoenix Park reindeer with their real antlers providing a brief but pleasant distraction from the pain in my chest.

The downhill section ends just shy of the line but it feels like a major haul to the finish. I saw the clock on the gantry and realised I was in unfamiliar territory, so I emptied the tank, and got a PB.  Chuffed. Was handed my 3^rd Jingle Bells mug and realised it’s the 30^th year of the event.   A total of 27 Sportsworlders took part in a field of over 1,000 with Andrew (pic) leading us home.