9.05am at the start line and right on time the start gun is fired and away we go. The first few miles are lovely, and it is not long before we enter the Phoenix Park. Myles is at the entrance gate providing encouragement and is followed shortly by John Blake who has supported me many times in the marathons, many thanks to you both.

The route then takes us through Castleknock, Chapelizod, Islandbridge, Rialto, Walkinstown and onwards towards Crumlin. So far so good. We then head for the KCR as we make our way towards the KCR and onwards to Terenure and Rathgar. As always there is great support here and this year is no different. From Patrica, Thomas, Tom, Aine, Padraig, my wife Eileen, Joe and many friends and Sportsworlders sincere thanks to you all for the support on the day.

Onwards to Dartry, Milltown, Clonskeagh and thankfully no problems so far with just over 4 miles to go. Starting to tire a little at this stage, but soon we pass the mile 23 marker. The crowd support is always good for the last few miles in the Dublin marathon, but this year is better than ever. The 24- and 25-mile markers are passed and there is just over a mile to go. The atmosphere is electric and suddenly the 800 metres to go sign comes into view.

Around the corner, across the finish line, somehow, I have finished in 3 hours 47 minutes, a new personal best. Thrilled and relieved, again my sincere thanks to all who helped and supported on the day and throughout the year. It is very much appreciated and here is hoping for another run in 2025.

Cheers,

Gerard

It was a golden day at Dunboyne for Sportsworld with a great haul of medals coming home with both the male and female teams.

I was quite apprehensive ahead of the race with storm Ashley breezing its way across the country. With gusts of up to 90km/hr, we were in for some tough racing conditions. Luckily, when we arrived at Cowpark, the ground was nice and firm, compared to the usual mud bath we are usually treated to on this course.

The novice ladies were up first. With a field of almost 80 athletes, we were going to be in for a competitive race. Sportsworld had a strong contingent of ladies competing and after their medals at Dublin Novice, they were hungry for more. The gun fired and off we went, with the usual sprinting start to jostle for position. All the ladies got out strong and performed brilliantly throughout. I managed to get a leading position and remained in the lead pack for the first lap. Then, coming in to the second lap, I found myself in second place. I felt extremely strong at this point and planned my attack on first position. I managed to pull away and create a gap with the wind as a slight aid. (shoutout to Paul O’Beirne for the mid race pep talk).I was delighted to come away with first place, earning my first Leinster (or any?) gold medal. I was very swiftly followed home by the rest of the Sportsworld ladies who all smashed it out of the park. So much so that we won team gold, as well as two more county gold medals. Congrats to the medal winners Veronica Burke 10^th, Lorna Sheehan 11^th and Rachel Calvey 15^th and to the rest of the team Roisin, Michelle, Kate, Katie and Megan.

Next up we had the Novice men’s race and again had a great number of runners competing. The men had the privilege of doing an extra 2km than the women, which I couldn’t even imagine given the weather conditions.  The men all ran brilliant races, with Paul O’Beirne leading them home in a fantastic 12^th place which won him yet another county gold medal to add to the haul. Following him home was Donagh Egan in 21^st , Andrew Finan in 29^th and Karl Chatterton 51^st , winning them all team bronze medals. Adam, Liam, Stephan Anthony and Brian also put in fantastic performances.

It’s days like last Sunday that show what all the hard work is for, and it was brilliant to see such strong teams fielded for Sportsworld. It has been an exciting start to the 2024/25 cross country season and I am so excited to see what both the ladies and mens teams can achieve.

Race Report – Dublin Novice Cross Country – Sunday, 6th October 2024

The day of my first cross country started like most firsts: a glorious blend of excitement and naivety but also nerves and anxious panic. Naturally, it led me to frantically googling ‘how to run a cross country race.’ in the hours before. Thanks to Wikihow,How to Run a Cross Country Race (with Pictures) – wikiHow, I became an expert on the subject in only a few minutes!

‘Preparation is crucial’ was the first wise piece of advice. I had a decent breakfast and dressed for the typical Irish rain, which definitely made me question my life choices. When we arrived, Veronica and Michelle whipped out the resistance bands and started doing ‘activation exercises ‘ and I followed in their footsteps. Emily sent the six of us on a jog and we then did some strides. At that stage, I would lie if I said we weren’t all second-guessing our fitness levels, murmuring to each other that we can’t imagine how we could hold a similar pace for 100 metres let alone 4km.

In the minutes before the race, I tried the visualisation technique, envisioning myself having a great race! The gun went off and, unsure of what to expect, I set off like it was a 400m race, very quickly realising that everyone else was pacing themselves… like sensible people!

I soon set into my own race, with Rachel by my side, remembering the advice to get a good position early in the pack, cause if not “it’ll be psychologically tough to catch up later in the race”.

By the second lap, the lactate in my legs was building and my body was sending me SOS signals. Luckily I remembered the next piece of advice, ‘If your legs start to hurt, don’t slow down. (As this will make them hurt more seemingly.  If you run, you actually can’t feel them anymore…) Great! Thanks to the many Sportsworld supporters hyping us on, everyone was having a great race.

Up above, I heard Emily yell ‘she’s not looking strong at all’ about the runner in front of me. The poor woman had a good 25 metre lead on me and was probably just dying inside as much as the next person, but Emily’s words gave me hope, and I eventually caught up with her.

On the final stretch, I was running solely in fear as multiple screams warned me to speed up, as the girl behind was catching up. Luckily I held on and crossed the finish line in third.

After finishing, I found my team and we were delighted to finish second.

After our race, we sat back to watch the men’s race… a gruelling 6 km. Everyone put in a great effort with Paul O’Beirne leading the team home, finishing tenth team overall.We finished the afternoon off with free sandwiches which the food truck was handing out at the end of the day. They were delicious!

Although I’ve only been a member of Sportsworld since the start of Summer, I’ve learned a lot about the power of teamwork. Before, I’d say I viewed running as an individual sport. But, there’s a unique feeling of camaraderie within the club. Everyone is genuinely so friendly and inviting. Emily and Michael are just great! I don’t know how they do it but although the club is so big, they make everyone feel like they’re worth it and a part of something bigger. People are there for you through your small and big wins (and the losses too). This cross country has also shown me what the power of belief can do. By both having self-belief and when others believe in you, you can achieve great things!

Written by Lorna Sheehan

The 50^th Berlin Marathon 29^th September 2024

As if the marathon majors were not hard enough to get into already, on a nice round anniversary year it seems almost impossible. I say ‘almost’ as some of the 6 members of the club managed to wiggle their way into the event in a variety of creative ways. Eoin (with later notice than most to book flights etc.) got in on the second round of offers. Kim got straight in with the ballot first time, but I can’t shake the feeling that her local expertise and knowledge may have given her some sort of immeasurable advantage… 😉. Siobhán and Padraic very creatively entered as a ‘team’ (minimum 2 members needed). This way if 1 person on the team gets in through the ballot, then all other team members automatically get an entry too -well played guys! -I will be joining their team for the ballots for Tokyo, Boston, London and New York and any other new ‘team’ members are also welcome. Eileen played a little bit more ‘hard to get’ -she got her offer, but decided to ignore it for a few months and when she was debited the race fee she promptly cancelled her card and had the transaction refunded! Luckily once she checked her junk mail folder, she found her successful ballot email and no doubt the cause of such a large debit on her account. As it turns out, this situation happens all the time and she got everything resolved quite quickly. I didn’t get in via the ballot so managed to get a charity place with Childline by the ISPCC. I spent the last few months as, if not more worried about raising the money than I was about doing the training.

As I reflect on the Expo there seems to be a lot of mixed reviews. On one hand you had the fantastic setting; the old Templehof Airport which is a sight to behold in itself, with old war planes parked next to the modern BMW Timer Cars. I found the local team who work at the expo a pleasure to deal with, and as always when in Germany nearly everyone was impressively multi lingual. However on the other hand there were reports of huge delays getting in on the Thursday, Friday and early Saturday with participants having to queue outdoors for a long time before even gaining entry into the building. Also I believe the merchandise area was equally as busy at those times, but I missed a lot of that as I arrived an hour and a half before closing on Saturday evening. On the event page this was actually one of the recommended times to arrive, but they had run out of the marathon bags an hour earlier so all I got was my number handed to me and any pre-ordered merchandise. A kind volunteer gave me his own copy of the map of the start area/race route which my family needed. I assumed there would have been enough bags for all marathon participants -the Germans were perhaps not prepared as well as one would have thought…🤔

By the time Sunday arrived I think everyone had been to Vapianos at least once. I had to queue to get into one on Saturday evening, but it was worth it. They provide the perfect pre-marathon meal and all in the surroundings of plenty of fellow runners creates a real sense of pre-race excitement. The official start time was 9:15am and the marathon entry allowed everyone taking part to travel on public transport for free from Thursday to Sunday. I have to admit that I love this, as I feel like the atmosphere starts to build as you start to see fellow runners on the S Bahn/U Bahn/Bus/Tram en route to the start line.  It was a cold but dry morning in Berlin for the race, ideal conditions. If anyone is running Berlin in future, it may be good to know that you must pay for the bag drop separately. And if you decline to pay up front you only have a certain amount of time to book it, as they withdraw it as an option a few weeks before the race. I entered the race area using my number and a fabric wristband which they give you at the expo. Once they put it on, this wristband has to stay on your wrist until the end of the race. So, if you go to the expo on Thursday you will end up with a wristband on for 4 days potentially. -Not that it bothers me, I still have mine on now (Thursday).

When I entered the start area one thing that became apparent was the sheer volume of runners. The queues for the Portaloos were huge and I barely had space to do a warm up run. I know a few of the Sportsworld team could not get near the start at their allocated times as the queues to the start were backed up. There were just queues of waiting runners filling up the paths in the forested areas of the Tiergarten. Also a word on the Portaloos, always a less glamorous part of running, I had used one in both Hamburg and at the start line. The German versions are definitely a tad more ‘primitive’ than what we are used to in Ireland -not for the faint of heart….

Anyway, back to the running. The MCs at the start did a great job of animating everyone in the crowd (anyone that wasn’t still stuck queueing in the forest). There seemed to be very little enforcement of the corral areas, I was in corral C but was surrounded by people with D, A, C, E and B on their numbers. We got a nice introduction to some of the elite runners on the big screen and then there was a blast of ‘Sirius’ and we were off. The huge volume of runners starting the marathon were split into 2 sides of an avenue for the first few kilometres. Then when everyone comes together, it starts to feel a bit tight. I have never bumped elbows or shoulders with fellow runners as often as during this marathon. 2 separate runners also stepped on my heel from behind, both very apologetic but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were a bit overcrowded.

The route winds clockwise around the City Centre until you finish just beyond the Brandenburg Gate. It is surreal to run around a city which has had such a rich history and it is impossible not to think of how things would have been here during World War II and the Cold War. The sun started to shine early on and was quite strong by the time I was finishing. We ducked in and out of shaded areas along the route and shade was definitely something I tried to maximise running in. There was a variety of musical acts along the route with even a Native American Pipe Band playing at one stage. Along with the standard water stations and 1 tea station (hot) there were also several informal ‘rehydrating stations’ with a variety of different homemade-looking drinks in different sized and coloured unmarked bottles. These were manned by friendly local people who seemed to just want to help the runners between water stops. I thought this was great and very typical of Berlin, although I didn’t touch any of them…but that probably says more about me and my trust issues to be fair. The whole race went by in a blur for me as I focused on trying to chase down the 3-hour pacers. The route really is very fast and very flat, but ‘not totally flat’ as Siobhán correctly pointed out later that night. The Brandenburg Gate really appears quite quickly and as soon as you pass it you still have 400 meters to go. I knew this in advance thankfully, and I am sure it would have broken a few runners who were not expecting it. Crossing the finish line was a great feeling. All of the Sportsworld team had a positive result in some way, shape or form on what was otherwise a tough day’s running in the sun within such a huge field. Kim and I both ran PBs, Eoin took 2 minutes off his time from his first Berlin Marathon 9 years ago, Padraic who has been injured most of the year opted to do the race at the 11th hour and managed to finish comfortably and earn his medal and Eileen and Siobhán displayed true teamwork as they took on the challenge together and finished almost alongside one another with very respectable times. The medal is definitely one of the nicest I have ever received.

The next day it was revealed that there were 54,280 finishers: making the 50th Berlin Marathon the largest marathon in history to date. It was a spectacular event to take part in and a very quick course which I would recommend, but there are a few organisational things that need to be looked it. Particularly a more staggered start and better enforcement of the starting waves/corrals. I am sure the organisers will listen to the feedback provided by runners, and this will serve to make the event even better next September.

As I forgot my Sportsworld singlet I have been delegated to write this race report!

We have come to expect warm sunny conditions in Tallaght for the club’s annual 1500, 200 and 4x400m championships, and the 2024 edition did not disappoint. Beautiful late August sunshine greeted us on Saturday morning, as Sportsworlders began to arrive at the West Dublin venue from 8.20. There was excitement in the air as Aileen and Emily handed out numbers, and we set out on our warm ups.  

After a couple of strides, the women lined up for the 1500 and a very competitive race ensued.  In the end, I managed to edge out club newcomer Lorna in second and Aoife in third. It was fantastic to see a large number of club newcomers lining out and running awesome races. At the end of the race, Emily could not contain her excitement about teams for the upcoming cross-country season. 

The men followed quickly after the women crossed the line. In a speedy race, Karol prevailed with Paul taking silver and Donal bronze.  

The 200m races followed, and getting to the start line of this race was an achievement after the exertions of the 1500m. Gearoid Crowley surprised us all with his speed, edging out David Saunders in a very exciting race. While Stephanie Bergin and myself won the women’s races.  

The 4×400 had all the chaos and excitement as a day in the Colosseum, with the lead changing several times over the four laps. Stephen O’Donnell held on in the final lap to lead his team of Aoife Carroll. Declan Brady and Stephan DeVries to victory.  

A morning like Saturday reminds us all why we love sportsworld and running. The sense of camaraderie (with a competitive edge) and fun was infectious. As always, a morning like this would not be possible without volunteers, led by Emily and Aileen. On behalf of everyone who got the opportunity to run, thanks to each and every volunteer and supporter.  

Congratulations to all our medal winners today 1500m Women 1st Elaine Kennedy 2nd Lorna Sheehan 3rd Aoife Carroll Over 40 1st Caroline Conway 2nd Stephanie Bergin 3rd Linda Prendergast Over 45 1st Lisa Singleton 2nd Maria Finnegan Over 50 1st Anna Delaney Over 55 1st Noelle Brown

Results by Aileen Melody

1500m Men

1st Karol Cronin

2nd Paul O Beirne

3rd Donal Brennan

Over45

1st Adam Furlong

Over 50

1st Karl Shevlin

2nd Nevan King

3rd Jose Chapa

Over 55

1st Ed McEntee

Over 60

1st Declan Brady

Over 70

1st Brian Carthy

In the 200 m for the Women there were 2 races

Senior

1st Elaine Kennedy

2nd Caroline Conway

3rd Lorna Sheehan

Master

1st Stephanie Bergin

2nd Maria Finnegan

3rd Carmel Breen

Mens 200m only 1 race

1st Gearoid Crowley

2nd David Saunders

3rd Stephan DeVries

Relay

1st Stephen O Donnell

Aoife Carroll

Declan Brady

Rachel Calvey

2nd Lorna Sheehan

Roisin McMahon

Michelle Burke

Bronwyn Murphy White

3rd Kate Burke

Anna Delaney

Karl Shevlin

Elaine Kennedy