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Jingle Bells 5Km December 4th 2021

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 3rd Jingle Bells mug and realised it’s the 30th year of the event.   A total of 27 Sportsworlders took part in a field of over 1,000 with Andrew (pic) leading us home.

Lanzarote Running Challenge 2021

30 of Sportsworld’s finest headed for Lanzarote last week for the annual International Running Challenge. The club has been going on the same trip in late November for twenty plus years but this time we welcomed a few newcomers. Most of the group this year flew out on Friday, November 26th. The excitement in Dublin airport was palpable with the majority of us have not been outside Ireland in 18 months.
Club La Santa is a paradise for active people. Most sports are included in the price so that you can enjoy the facilities, group classes and entertainment for free. Everyone is welcome at Club La Santa, regardless of level or ambition. With so many activities on offer and great company, it is a unique experience that will never forget.
Arriving on Friday just as the sunset meant we had all day Saturday to get ready and prepare ourselves for a ferociously windy 10k. You might consider Terenure windy in the Winter but you ain’t seen nothing until you’ve completed 3 laps of the La Santa Lagoon.
The group is always a real mix of fitness levels, injury comebacks, supporters, and those hanging together with only sticky tape. Special thanks to full and part-time supporters Tom, Nickey, Loobs, Jim, Breeda, Aileen, Emma, Garrett, Katie, Nick, Adrian, Stephen, Alan, Anne, and of course coach Emily. With that list assembled, we were, without doubt, the best supported team each day.
There was to be no Sportsworld beer mile this year but there were a night runs added so overall there were 6 runs on offer, throughout the week. I don’t think anyone did all 6 but some did 5 for sure.
It all started with aerobics and the 5k breakfast run on Saturday morning, followed closely by the Saturday night run. On Saturday I decided to join rivals Crusaders to get the low down for the races and Wednesday night Disco groundwork.
Sunday saw the first of the main races, the 10k Vince Regan Memorial. This was followed on consecutive days by the 13K Ridge, 5K Beach, and 21K Trail Run. The races have prizes for the top 3 individual, top in your age category, and top 3 teams as awards. In years past you took home a piece of Volcano rock but now the awards are plastic. Is that good for the environment or not? I’m a left bit confused.
This was my 10th year running. There are a few newcomers each year and some people come infrequently but you get to know your club mates, the regulars and the competition.
I’ve been training well over the Autumn so I decided to go out hard this year. I went out in 3rd place on the first lap of three and started to hurt after only 4K. It was windy (45km/pH). Emily was giving sound advice to give up but I plowed through. We lost a couple of good runners that day through injury and resignation. Special mention to Anne who has been running so well but had to hang up her fast shoes for the week.
Things remained interesting though as female favorite Kasper was beaten by a young buck dressed up as Avril Lavigne. Kate the great Kelly put her favorite running singlet back on and ran a blistering 10K, describing it as grand afterward. No complaining about the horrid wind from the hardy Roscommon crowd.
Monday saw us take on the 13k ridge run. This is rarely my finest hour but today was my worst effort in quite a few years. Disappointed with how I felt I dusted myself off and watched the teams come in. This was followed by a very satisfying dip in the lagoon. Kudos to Kate who really won the challenge by putting in an incredible run up and down the ridge. Would need to confirm but I’d put money on it being the female record.
Tuesday should have been better than Monday but the alarming number of grumpy looking hungover (I include myself here) Sportsworlders on the 8.30 AM bus to the racecourse was very apparent. Some whiff of booze out on the course, especially from some tall fella in a red and white singlet. I ran this one in a steady effort to save my legs for day 4 and avoid any puking incidents. Charming!
The 21k is the last race and my favorite. If you’re silly enough to go boozing before this one then you asking for trouble. The bus drops you out in a small town and your only way home is to run. For many, this is the most difficult run because they may not have the miles in their legs, so extra kudos to those who ran despite being apprehensive.
I received the best pep talk in recent memory from Elaine Kennedy in Tinajo, she might have a calling as a sports psychology or maybe I was just too afraid to run back home with another frown.
By the time we started the wind had died down and it was getting warm. I ran this one fast for the first 5k and questioned if I was going backward. Luckily the course flattened out a bit and I started to work into it. I knew the course would be short but didn’t know exactly by how much. By 10KM I was running well and started to feel like I had this. I had a young lad from Tullamore to keep me company but the chats stopped pretty quickly.
This course is beautiful, running along the coast and quite literally through collapsed volcanoes. Some drinks at 13k from the most incredible support crew ever really helped me push for broke in the last 4k. Once I saw a few guys struggling up ahead the taste for blood was there and it was a very enjoyable, albeit all-out effort finale. After crossing the finish line, the satisfaction of lying flat out on the ground looking up at the blue sky was immense.
Managing to finish the final race in 5th position and 6th overall for the series I was satisfied. My only major disappointment was up on the ridge. Coach Kennedy maybe could have given her advice a bit earlier in the week. Still, 49K of running in 4 days is an achievement not to be sniffed at.
I’m now working on getting rid of a couple of niggles before the cross country picks up again in January whilst focusing on getting my sessions in. People pushed themselves hard, given the number of visits to Gunther the on-site physio over the week.
As first Sportsworlder home, I had the pleasure of watching Kate race herself so hard to the line, Kevin run with such good form, MC running better than he has in years, and newer runners like Tim, Gemma, and Emmet finish all 4 races looking super strong.
3 easy days of easy running finished out the running challenge for 2021. It was all kinds of great, especially given the stressful last 18 months for everyone. Kate Kelly was sublime, the star of the show winning the women’s award outright and leading the women’s team (Kate, Maura, Deirdre, Elaine) to victory. Our lads  (Gareth, Trevor, Michael, Paul Flemming) finished second and picked up a few age group awards.
615B was the funhouse where Padraig Loobey held court whispering sweet nothings in French into the ear of passers bye whilst interrogating anyone and everyone who wanted to enter his all-day sun trap.
The great thing about these races is getting to know people in the club a bit more intimately than you can on a Tuesday or Thursday night at training. You don’t need to be a marathon runner to take part. You don’t even need to run all the races but you will enjoy it immensely and go home with hundreds of photos to look back on in years to come. A little anonymity can be found if you want it but overall this trip is just good for the sole. Some fun facts about the group.
  1. Loobey not only speaks fluent French but is also a master chess player.
  2. Emmets ancestors planted tea leaves in India.
  3. Alan was formally a professional motorbike rider.
  4. Emma recently graduated with an MBA and loves her travel.
  5. Anthony and Jim have both lived abroad (not together) for much of their lives.
  6. Garrett was a top-class rugby player before taking up running.
  7. Stephen is an amazing swimmer whilst Martina is a top-class scuba diving expert.
  8. Elaine is your go-to person for kinesiology tape tips and wins Junior Cup GAA games in her spare time.
  9. Deirdre has her own RTE interior design show and loves a cycle to chill and get some alone time.
  10. Trevor Sweeney made a return after 5 years to show off his tango skills. Only Val and Gemma were in his league on the dance floor.
The nightclub was open despite the no dancing signs. It was a bit of a paired back night compared to some previous years but some great tunes were played. Mr. Brightside and Maniac 2000 are notable songs to get the Irish crowd dancing in reckless abandon and forgetting about worries back home.
Too much-jiving leads to running injuries but that didn’t stop all sorts of socially distanced, not socially acceptable dance moves in the La Santa Disco. Amazingly, some people made it to the start lines intact. I will add that negative tests were obtained for the whole group before returning home. Though you might want to avoid those smug sun-blushed smiles.
Unfortunately, we missed much of the race awards due to some finishing off of a few dozen bottles of local wine. Some trophies went missing too, so if anyone has a male 40-45 age group award, do let me know. Because we didn’t get our time on stage here’s my own top 10 Sportsworld La Santa Awards for 2021
  • Best Diver: Emmet Wardal for giving it max effort every day and showing huge improvement.
  • Best Dancer: Trevor Sweeney because the old moves never go out of style.
  • Best Sprint Finish: Martin Doyle for trying to outsprint anyone who came in his way and maxed out his heart rate. Tim deserves a mention here.
  • Best Chatter: Katie Nugent keeps the conversation going on the walk to La Santa. Reducing the perceived journey time.
  • Happiest Runner: Maura Ginty for the constant smile on her face on the finish straight, even when Martin ran straight by here.
  • Best Runner: Kate Kelly the great comeback queen. How do we get her back to Dublin in the red and white?
  • Best Looking Runner: Kevin Curran because he always looks so smooth, even after 20k of trail running. Hopefully, you didn’t think I meant something else there.
  • Best Craic: Padraig Loobey narrowly beating Val. He has his form of method of acting and gets away with anything. He also plays a mean game of chess and is a big softy.
  • Best Support Photography: Tom for his Spielberg Esque volcano shots. I was impressed.
  • Best Supporter: Emma who gives it socks to shout for the runners.
  • Best New Comer: Garrett Bannon for coming and being good fun despite not knowing anyone before the trip.
  • Best Overall Person: Emily because she is the glue that holds the club together, organizes everything, and enjoys watching the races so much.

 

This year was particularly good for catching up with the ‘Humans of Sportsworld’ whom I hadn’t seen in ages. It was great to mix it up and sit with different people at dinner or lunch. Everyone had such interesting stories and plans about how they spent the last 2 years since La Santa 2019. You honestly couldn’t meet a nicer bunch. I would invite them all over to mine for Christmas dinner if it were allowed. It was great to mix it up and sit with different people at dinner or lunch.

I’ll end it by saying there were no bust-ups, no shifting, no club transfers, or marriage proposals in La Santa 2021. There was a lot of abuse taken and given but we’re all better people for it. I kept this bit for last so you wouldn’t just read for the first 14 seconds and skip the rest.
You can read the full breakdown of the results here.
Thanks again to Emily
Note to self: Ask Emily for the sunny apartment next year.

Run the Line 2021 – Short Course (long report)

by Olive Fogarty

It’s almost a surprise. Saturday morning. to be standing in a corrale in Glencullen at 10am with Eileen, Neil and Tim about to do an actual event. After over a year of injury, false dawns and increasingly concessional deals with God, I resolved, if I could get back running at all. I would stop chasing PBs (and the surprisingly elusive life-goal of lasting a 4 races on a Meet and Train team) and instead target interesting and enjoyable one-off experiences. Hence, after stringing together 3 jogs one week at the end of September and a having a coffee-infused chat with Eileen in the Phoenix Park, I signed up for the Run The Line  ( short course !) on the basis that ,even if I did my usual and injured before the day. it was money towards a good cause.

 

Saturday brings perfect conditions of blue skies and a fresh breeze.   This is a popular event.  Even  at 9.15am there’s a queue of cars from the road and half a field already parked up.  The organization though, is excellent, with car, registration and toilet queues all moving well.

 

Sometime after 10.30 we are off, jogging into a steepish climb on a gravel path.  It’s a bit of a lung buster to start but, keen to look athletic, I cling onto that pace for a good 2 minutes.  A level bit in a forest then gives a few minutes of respite before the climb up to Fairy Castle.  Into  the 2nd kilometre thankfully a lot of the crowd give up on the running. Even so, the walk burns the calves so there’s extensive view-admiring.  To be fair, the view is worth admiring.  Whatever mist hugged the hills earlier has burnt off and low winter sun is carving the beauty out of the mountains.  We arrive at Fairy Castle, another photo stop, the track becomes more rocky but is wide and levels off so we can trot again.  At kilometre 3 we say goodbye to Neil (Tim’s long gone). This is quite emotional  as, despite his assurances that he has enough provisions strapped on under the jacket to survive a few days,  we’re not sure if we will ever see him again.

Then the climbing for the short course– short and sharp – is largely over.  The field has emptied out so myself and Eileen settle into a chatty pace and soak up the big sky and the great views of Dublin opening out below.    A short boggy bit gives way to a more rocky and narrow descent.  We drop our pace to a walk again with our enjoyment only marginally impacted every so often by having to dodge someone sweeping by at speed while shouting “COMING THROUGH ON THE RIGHT!”.   We settle our hair, nod respect to the pace and resume the chat.  (Later it transpires that our nifty side stepping routine has facilated the ultimate victor Sean Hehir, so kudoes to us.) I guess this is what they call technical terrain.  It’s not hugely technical though.  It’s mercifully dry, there’s no skiddy scree and only once am I forced to employ the butt-shuffle technique which I’ve been practicing on the stairs at home to get down over a large rock.

We are back on track or forestry for the next few kms and encounter a jellies station.  I’ve packed 2 heavy duty protein bars and have been sipping the Berocca with Guarana from one of my “water” holders but we are nearly an hour on the road at this stage so don’t pass on the opportunity to top up.  Better safe than sorry. Now fairly high on all the sugar I natter the ears off Eileen as we go through what might otherwise have been some quite soothing forest trail.

Before we know it a steward tells us only a kilometre to go.  I’ve been enjoying the day so much I’m almost disappointed but we pick up the pace and lash into the final descent at a reckless 12-13 kms per hour, even breaking into what you might call a sprint for the last hundred metres.

Soup, tea, coffee, large muffins and friendly volunteers at the finish top off what has been a lovely day out.  We bump into fellow Sportsworlder Majella Hayden and later see that Noel Lynam has also completed the short course.  I’d highly recommend this run to anyone who fancies trying a mountain course.  We got lucky with the day but the 13km at least seems doable even in less clement weather.  The course is very well marked and stewarded and the tricky terrain is minimal.

Run the Line 2021 – Long Course

by Tim Murphy

Long Course 26k

Climb  1,000m

There was an eclectic mix of clashing colours gathered at Glencullen Adventure Park, on a bright November 20 morning – bandanas and buffs; trail shoes and runners; shorts and leggings; sunglasses and tattoos; rain jackets and t-shirts. 1,800 feet ready to tackle either the 13k or 26k route. I am writing about the 26k race, whilst Olive has the honour of telling us about the 13k of fun.

The Run the Line race raises funds for the Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team (DWMRT). This great team of about 60 highly trained volunteers provide a 24-hour service to respond to emergencies in the upland areas of Dublin, Wicklow and Louth. Most of the Run the Line (RTL) participants enjoy the beauty that these areas offer –  hiking / running / camping / cycling / picnicking in the area, and value the service provided by DMWRT.

It was great to meet up with Neil (and Olive and Eileen 13k) before the race started.

The 26k race was first to set off. Along with myself, was Caroline Conway, Neil Purdy and Shay Brady.

1.5k uphill before a steep climb (walking) and a levelling off, as we move towards Fairy Castle. Terrain is rocky underfoot at this stage. A tough start, with the biggest climb, and a few small bottlenecks, before the field spreads out. Down from the Fairy Castle high point, towards Tibradden next. The 13k crew branch to the right, towards Ticknock.  Into Tibradden Woods the 26k crew go, for a fun downhill run on the pine; twisting and turning; jumping roots and the odd mucky patch. We arrive at Pine Forest, and cross the Road and Owendoher River, before tackling the long drag up Cruagh; and then the reward of a fun fast downhill stretch, jumping rocks en route.

Half way reached 😊. I have enough water – no need to stop at the water station. Feeling stronger than I had expected, given my patchy training. But I know there is the challenging climb up Tibradden again, this time following the waymarked trail. Past the ‘Tibradden Cairn’ and heading on up towards Fairy Castle, we branch off towards Ticknock, and follow the 13k route all the way home. I pick up speed on the slight downhill towards Ticknock, and start taking encouragement from the fact that I am passing people; and that I haven’t passed out yet. I know that the bulk of the climbing is behind us. We are on lovely trails – can now see Dublin below us, and the sea to the East. I am wondering whether Olive is finished her race and is now enjoying a sea-induced recovery. Before I know it, I shudder to a walk at the commencement of the final big climb. 1k up and ready for the final 2.4k down. I am feeling the legs now, and it seems like I am not alone with this.  Had I known that Caroline was not too far ahead of me, I might have put in an all-out effort to say ‘hi’ (though I suspect I wouldn’t be able to talk). Shay is long finished, by this stage !

Was a fabulous day out. Shay finished in an amazing 15th place overall.  Caroline was an awesome 10th Lady home. Neil and I prioritised the views. Indeed, I think Neil was brushing up on his photography, and is flying with that, judging by the photo I saw. Run Glencullen 18k is up on 18 June 2022. Another great run. Nice technical t-shirt. Early bird registration open now. Put IMRA 2022 annual membership on your Christmas wish list 😊. €10. Races throughout the year €7 usually.

Wherever you run. Whatever your speed. Have fun 😊.

Saturday Training Tymon Park

The Saturday morning training can be in different locations each week so check the weekly email or club Whats App group for location and time. At the moment one of the sessions is in Tymon park just beside the National Basket Ball arena. You can park beside the Basketball arena or beside St Faugh’s and jog over. At the moment the ground is really dry and you can get away with wearing runners but if you want to get used to wearing and running in spikes you can bring them. The Saturday training is similar to the Tuesday and Thursday training so if you miss a day or cant make a day you can train Saturday morning instead. Below is the standard lap in Tymon, 1500m with recovery between each lap.

Like the Sunday long run and week day sessions there are different groups and paces. The more people who go to the Saturday training the more groups there are and people to run with.

 

 

Sunday long run Phoenix Park

Couldn’t find the exact history of the Sunday long run in Phoenix park but I was told a number of years ago that the route has been going for over a hundred years. Above is one of the photos from Donore Harriers clubhouse just outside Phoenix park showing some of their runners from 1896 who would of run parts of the route we run today.

The meeting place for the last few years for the long run is the Visitor Centre Car Park near Aras An Uachtarain. Its normally an easy place to get parking at 9.30am on a Sunday morning and the scones and soup are pretty good after a long run too. The below Strava map shows the route is mostly around the inside edge of the park on trails. At the moment the trails are dry and not too soft and are good for doing a long run off the concrete.

It takes a few Sunday runs to remember all the turns in the standard loop but if you need to make the run shorter its easy to cut off sections or if your doing marathon training its easy to add on loops without having to run on the same ground twice. There are normally different groups on Sunday at different paces but mostly it’s a pace you can talk at. Some people can talk more than others.There are roads through the park but its easy to stay away from any traffic and even though the park is in the city centre it feels like you’re a million miles away.

Tallaght 5km Dublin Championship

When Emil Zátopek said that “a runner must run with dreams in his head and hope in his heart”, he was warning against the distractions of success and admiration. But the sentiment fits for the long absence of races in our calendars during the Covid-interupted 2020 and 2021 seasons. Most of us will have struggled at various points with some combination of overtraining or undertraining, injury, a lack of motivation, isolation or just the plain old fear of catching or passing on the coronavirus so the buzz to be back racing was a common topic of conversation before the Tallaght 5K on Sunday.

It was great to be back! The weather played its part too. Sunday morning was fine, still and dry – as good a day for racing as November could ever deliver. I was already warm and loose from cycling out so a short warm up of one or two kms with a few strides had me ready to go by the time I ran into Myles who had a few tips on the course. All downhill bar the hill at about 3km and then a flat run in to finish on the track. Easy-peasy.

Paul Hamilton was the only Sportsworlder who had told me he was running, but a Strava report of a 31km run on Saturday gave me a hint not to expect him. The race was doubling as the Dublin Novice Championships so there were lots of Sportsworld entries but as the race had been rescheduled, who knew who would turn up on the day. I saw Carmel, Anne and Val warming up and gave them a wave before fistbumping a very in-the-zone Timothy Morahan near the start. I had time for a quick chat with Anthony, Declan and Bruce before we got the call and then we were off.

The first 200m were run in tight formation along one side of the Greenhills Road so it was a shock to check the watch at the lights in Tallaght and see that I was running at an unsustainable 3.30km pace. I eased off a bit and found myself running nicely a little behind Anthony who was setting a good pace for his group about 30 metres in front.

As we turned onto Castletymon Road, my group was flagging a little, so I made the decision to start bridging across to Anthony. This was going pretty well until Myles’ hill appeared in the third kilometre. This knocked my pace a bit but I dug in to get up to the junction with Greenhills Road without dropping off too much. I was still congratulating myself on a job well done when the actual hill appeared on a bendy part of the Greenhills Road. My pace and spirits dropped in unison and I struggled on this section. As badly as that section went, the 4km marker beyond the crest of the hill reminded me that there was still time to repair the damage by knuckling down for the 600m to the turn into the track. At that point, with a downhill ramp onto a 300m lap of the track, it was time to go all-in on a gut bursting dash to the line.

To look at me curled up and moaning on the ground after the finish, you’d be forgiven for overlooking my delight at my time. I was aiming at sub 20 minutes, so a 19.26 chip time was a pleasant surprise and a good benchmark to bring into 2022.

In all the chats and coffee afterwards, everyone was saying the same things. ‘Good to be back’ and ‘onwards and upwards for 2022’. Well done to Tallaght AC for putting on an excellent race, even if there were some murmurs of complaint at the single bar of chocolate on offer in comparison to the riches on offer in Raheny in January!

Special congratulations to Aoife O’Leary who finished 5th in the Women’s race and to Bruce Campbell who won the Men’s over 50 race.

Leinster Senior Cross County 2021 Avondale

This was brutal but beautiful. All cross country races ought to be. None of this running monotonous laps around a GAA field on a bleak Sunday afternoon. Let’s have scenic courses flanked by trees and bends that sweep down and around and up again.

Avondale Forest Park is a gorgeous place. On a mild mid-Autumn day it’s especially magic. A special place to bring the family for a looped wooded walk and a sensational venue for cross country. Avondale House, originally built in 1777, was the birthplace of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-91) – Home Ruler and the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the late 19th century. He also had one of the most luxuriant beards in modern Irish history. If only he could see his estate now playing host to Leinster’s best club runners. The 500 acre park is also regarded as the historic home of Irish forestry. Perhaps we could consider it the future home of or the “Croke Park” of Irish Cross Country.

In the day’s first Senior Race, Sportsworld Women’s team finished an impressive 3rd with the talented Lisa Madden – bouncing back with gusto after her Dublin Senior DNF last week – taking an individual Bronze behind Una Britton (Kilcoole) and Fiona McKenna (UCD). Caoimhe Daniels ran well and placed in the Top 20 (16th) with Aoife O’Leary (31st) and Deirdre O’Connell (55th), Katie Nugent (59th) and Maura Ginty (60th) bunching well towards the back. A brilliant team performance and good to see the club’s ladies representing on the podium again.

The Men’s race was a gruelling 10,000m (5 x 2k laps) through the “Great Ride” of Avondale (I thought that was Parnell’s adulterous lover!). The runners headed out down the centre of the “Ride” in what’s a furious first few hundred metres. Always hard not to get carried away here. Slight turn right and the course opens out to amazing views of the vale of Avoca. It bends back around into the first of the tough ascents. There was nice support around here before a sharp turn right onto an out-and-back spur complete with contraflow nods and waves before joining the lap again. Another hard and draggy climb here but mercifully not as long as previous years. While this was a hard course no doubt there were at least a few sections where you could recover and pick up the pace, particularly on the marginally downhill far side.

Perma-fit Gareth ran incredibly well from the gun and held on for 22nd place in 35:50 (an incredible time for 10k cross country). For a man who’s infamously apathetic towards XC, he’s getting better with age. I wasn’t feeling confident or racefit so went out steady hoping to be comfortably hurting at threshold later rather than sooner. Ended up feeling stronger than last week’s horror show in Santry at the Dublin Seniors and even managed a moderate kick in the last few hundred metres. Was there more in the tank earlier on? That question is always there I suppose. But with lacklustre training and motivation this year, top 50 was the best I could expect. The evergreen club stalwart Michael Cunningham was close behind in an impressive 49th in that (younger) field. Cross country debutante Conor Cavanagh (52nd) ran an outstanding race for his first effort. A bit more training and race experience for Conor, and he’ll do well in the future.

Despite a dizzy collapse after the finish line, this was such a joy to race: the low afternoon sunlight and Autumnal colours and perfect running grass and mud and the competitive field and energy and adrenaline of club racing with no watch and team camaraderie and cheering support. Special mention to Emily for getting me a Mars Bar to resuscitate me post-race!

Well done to all who raced and many thanks to those who supported us out there.

Gavin

Results:

Gareth Murran 22nd 35:50

Gavin Finlay 46th 38:28

Michael Cunningham 49th 38:44

Conor Cavanagh 52nd 38:56

Full results here

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_xc_senior_and_u23/4237/results

IMRA Powerscourt Ridge race

This one was a bit like a thriller – it starts out positively, things get a bit hairy, but the intrepid heroes somehow pull through to live happily ever after.  The movie was a cross between Twin Peaks and Cape Fear – 15km or so of mountain running on Maulin and Djouce, and the wind, oh god the wind.

 

Everyone was excited at the start in Crone Wood car park, but race director Lillian set an ominous tone when she said that IMRA legend Joe was on the top of Maulin and he wasn’t sure it was safe.  And Djouce may be worse, so they would see how it went and maybe cut it short.

 

The Sportsworld crew were dispersed – Tim showed up early, and avoided the epic car park congestion, I met Liam on the grassy ride going up Maulin before he upped the pace.  John and Phillip were also flying the club colours in the large (200+) field, and Bruce was leading us out – he is kindof a Caballo Blanco figure to me, always that bit further ahead.

 

It’s a stunningly beautiful course, and even though it is rated 3/3 for terrain, ascent & distance, it’s a very enjoyable mix of tracks & trails, okay underfoot even on the steep up and downhills, and relatively little water to deal with.  There were three climbs in total, so you needed to pace yourself and keep something back for the second ascent of Maulin and the final dash down the fire roads.  But the real story was the 50+ kph wind, which many people said was the strongest they’d experienced, certainly while running.

 

And so we were grateful to complete the full route, including the loop around the peak of Djouce which someone compared to standing in front of a jet engine.  You know the way people go to Wicklow on a spa day to relax and maybe get a facial – like that, except the facial involves the top layers of skin on your face being peeled off by ballistic rain, and you wish you invested in better jacket, hat, gloves, everything really.

Which made the mostly downhill return through some of the most beautiful scenery in the country around Powerscourt especially powerful.  We were greeted by an intense double rainbow descending from Djouce, and everyone finished the race with a broad smile, more invigorated than they started – the wind made us all feel more alive.

 

So despite or because of all that, it was a brilliant start to the weekend, and superbly organized by IMRA as usual, with some fruit, drinks and banter in the car park post-race.  The day was all about survival and digging deep, and enjoying a great running experience you’d be keen to share – d’you remember the time we did Djouce with the crazy wind …

https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2088

Dublin Senior Cross Country 2021

An ode to XC

 

It was the night before Halloween

When all were asleep

My eyes are open, my mind still awake

Cross country is upon us, the seniors no less

A 10k is a beckoning, and my hair is a mess

 

With a venue named Trinity, my prayers begun

As I head for the start line, the cries are rung

“Run, run, run” said the voice in my head

But boy oh boy my legs feel so dead

5 races in 5 weeks could be the answer

Yet the shouts from the sideline, made me run faster

 

Around and around the merry field we went

Until the line we crossed and our energies spent

A team of warriors, our sportsworld hero’s

A team of supporters, our sportsworld crusaders

 

After all is said and done

I’m glad for this race that I’ve just run

For those who fear the rain and the muck

Don’t worry at all, we’ll not see you stuck

Come one, come many and join in the fun

Cross country is calling, it’s time to run

 

Authors Note:

Well done to Lisa for championing sportsworld in the women’s race and to all on the men’s team including Gareth, Gavin, Karol, Michael, Conor and Brian for battling through the somewhat mucky terrain and strong competitive field of athletes. Also a big thank you to all who came out to support including Paul, Emily, Myles et all and even those from other clubs were shouting us on.

The results can be found at the below link

Me still wondering “what the hell was I thinking”

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_senior_and_junior_cross_country_championships/4210/results

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