The Sportsworld ‘Meet & Train’ ladies were back in action again last Sunday, and we had a new recruit. Namely, Atiyah. When looking up this unique name, the dictionary informs me that it means ‘gift’, ‘modest’, ‘caring’, ‘beautiful in appearance’, ‘always cares for others’. Hhhmmmm, interesting. The weather forecasters had warned us that this “beautiful” stormy presence would be making herself felt during the weekend, and we ‘Meet and Train’ ladies, and all the supporters on the day, certainly felt her colder and perhaps less “caring” side! It was bitterly cold!

The ‘Meet and Train’ race series is a brilliant opportunity for all female runners to meet in a friendly, less pressured race environment. There is a light-hearted rivalry between clubs. Of course we all want to do well, and we enter each race hoping to do really well, but I think the focus really is on taking part, being part of a team and of course, getting to enjoy the chat, tea and gorgeous cakes and biscuits afterwards! The hosting club also have a raffle where all runners race numbers are randomly selected and the lucky winners receive books, running gear and all sorts of gizmos and gadgets.

So, to the race itself. All ‘Meet and Train’ races are two miles long. Sunday was the second in a series of four races. Sportsworld are currently holding second position in the club charts. Crusaders Athletic Club hosted this race. The two mile course consisted of a figure eight like route in Irishtown, with beautiful views of Sandymount beach to distract us from Atiyah’s brisk wind and cutting cold temperature! We all got off to a flying start with the winner of this race setting a very fast pace from beginning to end. We had such wonderful support throughout.

Okay, maybe not quite that many. But we did have the ever supportive and super encouraging Emily and Myles cheering us on, along with Olive, David and Padraic. Thank you!

Once we got to the finish line and cheered on all the runners as they made their way to race completion/body-numbness/near collapse……..we gathered our belongings and made our way to the ‘Star of the Sea’ National school, where a banquet of cakes, biscuits and hot teas and coffees were laid out. Atiyah was a distant memory. Well not quite. Being soaked through and wearing wet runners was a pointed reminder that our stormy friend hadn’t quite left us!

By 11.30am, the race was over and we could return home with a perk in our step having completed our second ‘Meet and Train’ race in rather testing conditions! All runners had really strong performances and Sportsworld continue to be a leading club in the ratings. It must be said that the club Christmas party was the night before in a local Indian restaurant……there is a lot to be said for a Tikka Masala pre-race!

Congrats to Sportsworld on yet another fine racing day! Our next ‘Meet and Train’ day out is on January 19^th, hosted by ‘Brothers Pearse’ followed by the fourth and final race of the series in Abbotstown on February 9^th.

We might even find a singlet for Atiyah. Judging by her strength and gritty display last weekend, she could be quite the asset on the racing circuit!

Some snaps from the day!

Conditions for the Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championship were perfect, blues skies, temperatures in the early 20s and just a light breeze to cool the bronzed athletes down, as they made their way around lagoon

Apologies I’m getting my Sundays mixed up, that was the 10k in La Santa! A cold crisp afternoon greeted us in Tymon Park and thankfully the rain stayed away, making for an enjoyable day’s racing.

The heavy rain over the last couple of weeks meant the ground was mucky in spots, but what cross country runner doesn’t love a good mucky course, well maybe Nicola as her runner was almost claimed by the muck. The ladies’ race was 5k consisting of 2 big laps and a small one, with some sharp hills thrown into the mix. The team was lead home by the ever improving Lorna, and finished 4th in the team standings. It was a great team effort with the team all finishing close together.

In the men’s 8k race Andrew lead the charges and the team also finished 4th. Many of the team had just stepped off the plane the day before after a week of running so for many it was a challenging course.

As well as being the top Sportsworld finisher Andrew has also made it on to the Dublin team for the National Novice Cross country on December 15th

As always the support was fantastic the whole way around the course.

Full results from the race can be found on the Dublin Athletics website www.dublinathletics.com

Also if you want to look the part we have a full range of Sportsworld club gear available at the clubhouse.

Run The Line, is a fundraising event for The Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team. Although relatively new to the mountain running calendar, it has established itself as the top winter race. This year’s staging attracted 850 runners from around the country to the short (13k) and long (26k) course races. 

As a regular IMRA runner, I have to say that Run The Line is superbly organised from its base at the Glencullen Adventure Centre. I could list all the good stuff that happens to make the race success but I think what stands out overall is the effort by endless numbers of Wicklow Mountain Rescue volunteers and their families. Before, during and after the race they ensured everything went smoothly and they did it with a smile. We just had to turn up and run! And run we did, and climb and hike and scramble up and down winding fire tracks and stoney heather bordered trails, through stunning woodland with beautiful carpets of leaves underfoot, across babbling streams and of course over the grassy and sometimes muddy Dublin Mountain pastures – really just a hilly version of the Sportsworld Sunday run in the Phoenix Park!

Seven Sportsworlders made it to the starting line this year (after maxing out Martin and Peter’s car batteries huddling around their heaters until the last minute) and everyone to a man and woman had a great day out.

Eileen as the club’s sole representative in the short course race did us proud. Her time of 1h.28 saw her home 4th in her age category. Grainne excelled in her first-ever mountain race. completing the long course in 3h20. That’s a brilliant time for a novice when you think of the 840m total climb that goes with the 26k! And that’s saying nothing about the 840m descent which was a challenging mix of terrains that meant you had to be 100% focused to avoid a tumble (my post-race research revealed that Peter was the only one of us to stay on his feet for the duration!).

Andrea came home in 2h.46 for the long course which saw her claim a fantastic 6th place overall in the women’s results. I have to tip my hat to Denise who I hadn’t seen since an IMRA half marathon back at the end of March, which she tells me was her last race. 3h.23 is some brave effort in that context. Fair play.

Though we were outnumbered 4 to 3 (Martin, Peter and yours truly) the guys had adventurous outings. Martin flew around in 2h.33 using his unique technical ability to speed up on the descents (tumbling :), while us two Masters hung out up in the hills together for most of the day, coming home in 2h.47 (Peter) and 2h.51  (your reporter). We were buzzing afterwards (probably helped by the copious quantities of energy-enhancing jelly babies doled out at the drink stations) and savoured our hot soup with chocolate muffins (yes, soup and muffins, you read correctly) around the welcoming braziers at the finish line.

IMRA – https://www.imra.ie/ – is the Irish Mountain Running Association. Join up and enjoy the challenge and beauty of running the hills and mountains that are on your doorstep. Chairman Michael is a big fan and asked me to mention that it is not always cold and muddy (who is he kidding), it’s great training for cross country racing with the club and you get to be in the Sportsworld IMRA WhatsApp group (34 and growing!).

It was a cold but beautiful sunny morning in Dunboyne as runners from all over made our way to take part in the first of four meet and train cross country races. A great mix of running newbies (including myself!) and cross country veterans took part, and Sportsworld had several teams entered for the race so there was a good crowd between runners and supporters.

As I hadn’t run cross country since I was a young one in school I didn’t really know what to expect from the race but there was great support and advice from others on the team! Our warm up lap allowed us to discover the muddy part on the course (which was good to know about in advance!) and to get a feel for the lap of which we’d be doing four.

The race started at about 11am and was 3km in distance which probably sounds shorter than it felt! The grass was long and we had our bit of mud but the course was nice and flat and it was a fabulous dry day so we were winning. Everyone ran brilliantly and after doing our post-run photoshoot we went back to the Dunboyne A.C clubhouse for a well-deserved cup of tea, biscuits and chats. Between the race itself and getting a chance to meet so many new people it was a great day. A special shout out to Lorna who led the pack, running brilliantly and coming in first. Well done to all!

Over 1,500 athletes from all over Leinster travelled to Ferbane on Saturday to compete in the Leinster Cross Country Championships. Sportsworld had both a male and female team competing in this well attended event, which saw senior males run a 10K race and senior ladies run a 5K race.

We were all geared up! 11.30am was our call time to meet at Bushy Park, where two cars drove to the hallowed grounds of landowner/farmer Joe Wynne’s grounds in rural Ferbane! It was clear a lot of organisation and planning had gone into preparing the grounds. And we believe, it is these three gentlemen who we are to thank for planning such a professional and well organised race event!

Emily drove Lisa, Maria and Lorna to Ferbane, with Maura making her way from Mayo after volunteering her help at a local race! Myles drove the men’s team. The weather was very temper-mental with sporadic heavy downpours in between bright, fresh and crisp conditions. We made good time, which allowed us stop by the nearby Spar for a coffee and a light snack. All refreshed, we made our way to the course where the ladies team did a quick recce of what lay ahead! Two laps of a 2.5K course which consisted of hills and lots of twists and turns to keep things very interesting indeed! We also had a little sidestep into the aforementioned Farmer Wynne’s farm.

The ladies were off first for Sportsworld at 3.05pm. The field consisted of fifty-eight runners from clubs across Leinster.

It was an extremely high standard but Sportsworld runners held their own with strong, determined and consistent running throughout. Lisa and Maria led the team with Maura and Lorna not far behind.

There were cheers throughout the course from Emily, Myles, Naoise, Noreen, Maria’s wonderful mum and sister(!) and of course all the men’s team who generously gave us their support while warming up for their own race. We were all thrilled with our individual races and also our team-effort, finishing fifth overall as a team. Well done girls – Brilliant running by all!

Individual race times:

Lisa Madden – 20.06

Maria Jones – 20.42

Maura Ginty – 21.22

Lorna Quinn – 21.38

Next up were the men! A difficult 10K course of four 2.5K laps was in store.

Karol, Michael, Conor and Brian took to this course with great grit and cross-country spirit. All four men looked fresh, fit and very comfortable throughout the race. I can’t imagine what it must have been like! But they certainly made it look very do-able as they ran with a consistent and steady pace throughout, making up ground as they went along.

Congratulations to Karol who won a gold medal with the Dublin team. All men finished with impressive times. Congratulations yet again, on another successful cross-country race day out!

Individual race times:

Karol Cronin – 35.29

Michael Cunningham – 40.20

Conor Keating – 40.50

Brian Conway – 43.27

Our Lucy in action!

myrunresults always have race times and results out within minutes of a race finishing – Super efficient and super professional and super appreciated by all runners and clubs!

Cross country season has well and truly begun. We have many races ahead, with the Intermediate, Novice and Masters races looming, as well as the wonderful Meet & Train races. Best of luck to everyone with their training in the weeks ahead!

Upcoming Races:

National Senior – November 24^th

Dublin Intermediate – December 1^st
National Novice – December 15^th
Dublin Masters – January 5^th

Meet & Train

Dunboyne – November 17^th

Trim – December 8^th  

Brothers Pearse – January 19^th   

Abbotstown – February 9^th  

Thanks to Max Feehan Photography for the photos!

What a great weekend for Irish sport – Katie Taylor, the ladies hockey team qualifying for the Tokyo ’20 in the most dramatic fashion, and Maria Jones’s great solo effort in Santry Park. That said, the real sporting story of the weekend was the unveiling of the new Sportsworld Marquee.

It is oft said of great sporting teams and individuals that their opposition has already lost in their heads before taking to the field. Big Red was assembled at the entrance to the start and finish area and you could see that this shiny new architectural gem was catching the attention of the other participants; their dreams crumbling behind wide eyes.

No drought in Dublin last week as the course was replete with various water features, a stream, and marshy corners long, long before the junior races had finished. Diarmuid Gavin would’ve loved it. After jogging the route for my warm up I wondered might I need a snorkel for some parts of it. It wasn’t the worst I had witnessed. On a scale of 1 to Clarinbridge it was a 7 at worst. Still, I knew this would be an effort that would be with me for many days hence but I was optimistic as during the week I was told by a clubmate, who must remain nameless, that the course is a good bit short of the 10k and basically flat. You take all the breaks you can get.

First up to bat in the red and white was Maria Jones in the Ladies Senior 6k. There was a deep field in the ladies and Jonesy ran strongly and comfortably throughout. In the last 400m there was a surge in her group but Maria dug in and her finishing sprint down the last straight took her past her usurpers and into 12^th place.

This was the first time in a number of years we had entered a mens team in this race and there were great spirits in the group as we toed the line. The race began at a ferocious pace. Our race would be 10k in length and consist of a single 1k lap followed by a half dozen 1.5k laps around the perimeter of the park, which is not hilly, but definitely not flat either.

The day itself was bright, dry, and cool. Conditions I like. I settled into a group with Conor Keating and Justin and I tried to keep my pace up as best I could. There was fabulous support around the loop from our fellow club members – it’s amazing what a shout does for your spirits.

We pushed on and picked off a few people as we went. My lack of racing and hard training over the summer this year becoming apparent to me in the last 2km of the race as I was really feeling it. I couldn’t keep up with Conor and Justin but I was happy with my effort. As I crossed the line I noticed that the course was about 200m longer than the 10k making it about 800m longer than I was led to expect from my anonymous friend. Won’t be fooled again.

Covered in mud I washed my shoes and legs down in a cold calf deep puddle before entering our tent to get changed. As we were leaving I volunteered to take the metal structure of the tent to Michael’s car for him. This turned out to be greatly heavier than I anticipated and I quickly regretted my offer. Arriving in the car park I realised I didn’t know which car was Mike’s. After much searching I spotted one with a HB ice cream flag displayed in the back window (A-ha, this has to be his!!), so I plonked it down and waited. It wasn’t. He did find me after about 15 minutes.

Maria Jones                                        25:09

Karol Kronin                                       36.09

Stephen O Donnell                          38.55

Phil Kilgannon                                    39.03

Conor McCarthy                               40.32

Sadanand McGee                             41.16

Michael Cunningham                      41.33

Conor Keating                                    41.48

Justin Mckeever                               42.18

Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin                    42.38

Brian Conway                                    45.25

Michael Lillis                                      46.03

I’m sitting here composing this race report carrying out my usual post marathon workout of stuffing my face with chocolate and crisps trying to decide where to start. I was very lucky (jammy) this year. First I got a place in the London marathon from a sponsor competition on strava followed up by getting a place in the New York marathon through the lottery. (If you need some luck try rubbing my bald spot)

After a short break post London I got back into training and as there was only a week between the Dublin Marathon and New York I could follow the plan that Myles and Emily prescribed for the Dublin group. Following a trip to Morocco I got stuck in and churned out some 100km weeks and was feeling good. However disaster struck five weeks before the marathon when I suffered a leg injury which meant little or no running for a couple of weeks.

I’ve never really had an injury before in my short running career and the level of frustration is now something I can really appreciate. After two weeks of rest and ice the leg was better and I was able to get one more week of training in before a two week taper. Usually before a marathon I look back at my training and this gives me confidence when you see all the weeks and the milage you have accumulated. However with holidays and injury when I looked back I could see a lot of gaps in my training and I really did feel under prepared and expectation levels were low.

After spectating at the Dublin marathon and seeing such fantastic times and performances from the club I was suitably inspired and enthused. Myself and Martina flew out to New York on Friday arriving in New York at around 1pm and after checking into the hotel we went to the expo to pick up my number. I’ve done a few international marathons now and generally I arrive the day before the marathon and by the time you get to the expo it’s jammed and I can’t wait to get out. Turning up two days in advance meant the atmosphere was more relaxed and it was the first expo I enjoyed and spent a bit of time there looking around and listening to some talks.

The next day I had signed up for the Abbot Dash to the Finish which is a 5k race through the streets of Manhattan. I usually don’t run the day before the marathon and try to put my feet up as much as possible but I’m so glad I signed up for this. The start was outside the UN headquarters and the morning was sunny and crisp. There was a great atmosphere and it was a fantastic experience to run up Fifth Avenue and into Central Park which was beautiful. My goal was to run as slow as I possibly could and stopping to take photos certainly helped. After the race we went to see a few sights including One World Trade Centre. Following dinner I had an early night as I would need to be up at 4.30am the next morning.

Karol had warned me the week before that the NYC Marathon wasn’t as glamorous as you think. I found out what he meant by this the next morning. I was in the first wave so I needed to get the bus from 5th Avenue at 5.30am for the hour and half journey to Staten Island. This was my first experience of the incredible volume of people and logistics involved in this event. Over 50,000 people need to be transported to the start line which is on an island which can only be reached by a bridge or the ferry. I hate queues and to my horror when I arrived at the bus I was greeted by the mother of all queues that for anyone familiar with NYC stretched right around the full block of the Public Library. In fairness it moved quickly enough and I was on the bus on my way to the start village. I arrived at 7am and it was freezing. I met one lady who had been at the start village from 6.30am and wasn’t starting to 11am!!! I had two and a half hours to wait here and after helping myself to some coffee and bagels found a spot in the sun and tried to keep warm and amuse myself with some of the outfits that people were wearing. At 9am I entered my start corral and spend the next 30 minutes queuing for the loo.

Finally we were walked to the start area for the start at 9.40am. The atmosphere on the bridge was fantastic with the highlight being flyovers from the NYPD in the police helicopters. And then finally after such a long wait they played New York, New York, the cannon sounded and we were off.

The start was mayhem. For some reason they organisers let big groups of either VIP or charity runners start at the front of the 1st wave and they caused carnage. People were elbowing, pushing shouting trying to make their way through the slower runners who were in front of them and this really didn’t sort itself out for nearly eight miles as the initial part of the course is quite narrow for the amount of runners.

The marathon course takes you through the five boroughs of New York and you start the race crossing the Verrazzano Bridge which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn. Apart from the mayhem at the start this is an amazing spectacle as you are running over a two mile bridge with clear views of the Statute of Liberty and the NYC skyline ahead of you. The first mile is quite a steep uphill followed by a downhill off the bridge into Brooklyn. There are no spectators allowed on the bridge and it was great to be able to take in the views. When you hit Brooklyn you get your first taste of the amounts of people who come out to support the marathon which is estimated at over two million. The noise and support in Brooklyn was overwhelming. The crowds narrowed the roads and it felt like you were running in a tunnel made up of people. While this was great it did cause a lot of log jams at the water stations and it was almost single file running if you weren’t stopping to get water.  You stay in Brooklyn for the first half and then cross the Pulaski Bridge into Queens for about two miles and then you cross the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan and First Avenue. After the silence of the bridge once again you are hit with the sheer noise and crowds on First Avenue. You can’t help but increase your pace here as you get swept up the length of the avenue with the atmosphere. After Manhattan you cross into the Bronx where the crowds are a bit sparser. There was one guy who was jokingly (I hope) shouting at the runners to “get the hell out of here and go back to Manhattan” Finally you cross back into Manhattan onto Fifth Avenue for the last five miles. It’s a tough finish but the crowds carry you through and once you turn out of the Park by the Plaza you can smell the line which you cross after turning up the hill by Columbus Circle back into the park and pass Tavern on the Green.

As a spectacle and experience the New York Marathon is hard to beat. This year there were a record number of finishers of 53,629 with the average finish time 4.23.45. When I ran London earlier in the year I thought it would be hard to match the atmosphere generated by the crowds but I have to say the supporters and bands in Brooklyn and First Avenue surpassed London and I found myself being genuinely overwhelmed by it all. As a race New York is tough. The course has a lot of rolling hills, the bridges are difficult, the ground is quite uneven and the volume of runners make for tough conditions.

As for my own race, I had a goal time of 3.10 and aimed to run with the pace group. This went out the window quite quickly as I found it hard to fight my way through the crowds for the first 5 miles and although I was just about on pace until about mile 18 I think the lack of training and the energy taken up by the course and fighting the crowds

 took its toll and my pace slowed for the last 5 miles. I did however mange my B goal of a PB and crossed the line in 3.14.01 so was happy out.

It goes without saying that if you get the opportunity to do the NYC Marathon jump at it. It is an amazing event.  The advice I would give is to run it for the experience rather than trying for a PB and be prepared for a long wait at the start. Apart from that soak up the atmosphere and enjoy running in the city that as they said at the start welcomes everyone no matter who you are or where you come from which I thought was a great message especially in the current political environment.

Well done to Derek Saville on a Frankfurt PB

On Sunday, October 27th, DCM day, I took part in the Frankfurt version. Though it doesn’t come close to the great Dublin support and atmosphere en route, it does provide a flat and fast course. I felt the latter more important to me than the former. Particularly as I was chasing a particular time that I knew was on the very outer limits of my ability. Sub 2:50.I had come agonizingly close in two previous attempts; gave up on it; then dusted myself off for ‘one more attempt’ this year.

I changed my preparation for this one. I went back to basics. Namely, get down to the club for the Tuesday and Thursdays and try and hammer out really good quality speed stuff with great training partners like Mark, Ronan, Wes, and others. The fitness gained here complemented the longer runs over the week really started to show as I got closer to the marathon. I did about 14 weeks which was down from my usual 18. 

Anyway, to the day itself. Another key difference from previous years was my decision to take much more fluids on board. I wore a bottle belt which I always dismissed in the past. But when you have no support on the course to hand you drinks and water stations have paper cups only, you can’t really avoid carrying your own. I tried to keep really disciplined throughout, keeping to my target pace. I managed a big negative split in the 2nd half which is always pleasing.

The finish line is in an indoor arena which is really cool. When I looked up to see 2.47 at the time I was really surprised, elated and in running dreamland! As I lay with legs raised, close to the finish line, I reflected on all those runs in darkness, rain, before work, late into the evening, on holidays, pints and take-aways resisted, babysitters sought, torturous intervals; I was somewhere between laughing and crying… a wonderful place to be. Finish Time: 2:47:26