The sun shone in Gowran on Saturday afternoon as runners from across Leinster made their way to the muddy (in places!) terrain of a well-worn race course for the Leinster Novice Cross Country Championship.

Sportsworld had both male and female teams taking part. Ten ladies represented the female side, whilst we had seven men on the male side. It was a lovely, bright, sunny day with good conditions for a race. The previous day’s rainfall made for a muddy situation in some places……..but we plodded through!

First off were the ladies. A 4K race which involved two laps of the course. We all got off to a flying start and maintained a steady, consistent pace throughout, keeping one another within our sights! Well done to Edel, Rachael and Deirdre who ran their first cross country race with the club today! Fantastic running by all. A little birdie spotted Rachael mouth the words “Never again!!” as she crossed the finishing line(!), but we know she’s only getting started!

The men had a 6K race which consisted of three tough laps. The men put in fine displays of cross country running which requires athletes to dig deep and call on their resources built up from their tough weekly training sessions. All the speed work and cross country training pays off on race day! There were smiles and expressions of relief as the men made their way one by one to the finishing line. Well done everybody – Brilliant running!

After our photo-call post-race(!), we donned our gear, removed our muddy spikes for clean(ish) runners and made our way back to the cars where we dissected the race and our individual race displays before settling into Gowran’s Applegreen for some welcome cheese toasties and tea!

Thanks to Emily and Ann for their support throughout the race – Those words of encouragement make all the difference!

Cross country running is all about team work. Every position counts. We start together and we finish together, and we celebrate the completion of each cross country race together. It’s not easy, but we do it because we love it and because we train hard for days like these! Well done everyone – Here’s to the next one!

by Marie Bradley

Around 20 Sportsworlders plus partners travelled to Amsterdam last weekend for the Amsterdam half marathon. The preparations for this trip began in April and were prompted by the success of last years’ trip to Krakow.  The group comprised the club seniors and juniors and supporters coming along for the craic.  I was the “newbie” in the group, and I think that’s why I drew the short straw to write this report.  However, my revenge tactic is to write a weekend report rather than a race report!

Overall it was a great weekend of comradery and good fun.  The teamwork began when I realised, after my arrival in Amsterdam, that I had left my mobile phone at the security check-in in Dublin airport (every iphone user should ensure they have activated “find my iphone” in their settings!).  Eileen who was in terminal two at the airport passed on the contact details of the terminal one gang and within a few minutes Maria was sweet talking the security personnel to extract my phone from their care and return it safely to me when she got to Amsterdam.     

As the advance party we researched the Amsterdam public transport options, taking account of the location of the hotel, the Olympic stadium and city centre.  Little did I realise what a big part that decision was have on our travel schedules over the weekend.  It was our luck that the rail line from the city centre to the hotel was closed due to engineering works…. that left only one option to get around – the BUS! The magic bus was on route “346” ……not 300, 357 or 397 but more about that later.    

Once the Sportsworld army arrived in the hotel, next step was to set off to the expo to collect race numbers.  The group broke up into mini gangs at this stage and dinner that evening was a random affair in various restaurants in the local area.  Night caps didn’t really feature when people returned to the hotel, so it was off to bed in preparation for the big race on Sunday.

As the half marathon didn’t kick off until 1.30pm everybody had to have breakfast – some were brave and had three courses while others nervously tossed food around their plate, worried about the consequences of eating too much……this was on the menu….

The evacuation from the hotel to the start line commenced around 11am.  Some left it a bit late and had to be escorted to the stadium by the locals….

One of the highlights of the races last weekend was to start and finish in the iconic Olympic Stadium built in 1928.  We had plenty of time before the race to look around and view the sub three-hour marathon runners cross the finishing line.

As usual the race had different starting areas dividend by colour.  There was some shifting between zones but here is the pink zone group. 

Phil was in the orange zone…here she is missing her friends….

The racing conditions were perfect.  A flat course was a guarantee.  The route went through the heart of the world-famous Rijksmuseum, followed stretches along the banks of the Amstel and towards the end went through the Vondelpark and Zuidas district.  

We all know what makes a race extra special – it’s the support of family, friends and followers along the route ….however, there are exceptions – namely Aoife, Olive, Nick and my husband Martin – they were not to be seen ….lunch (and alcohol to help it go down easier) was a greater priority!  Paddy did better…he produced photos of the Sportsworld runners passing by but google maps indicates that he was about 500m from the stadium….       

Everybody had a super race.  Padraic was the first Sportsworlder to cross the finishing line and Grainne led the charge amongst the women folk.  Bronwyn achieved a PB.  As a first timer so did I but I managed to clock up 21.95km instead of 21.1km…. Emily and Myles will kill me!  Ray and Paul with their usual casual but steady strides romped home in style while Rosie and Maria kept a close eye on each other.  Eileen, Audrai, Siobhan and Ellen kept each other company throughout the course and ran super races as did Phil and Anna.  Aileen, Carol, Sean and Trevor displayed their real class and are great mentors to us all as is Judith who ran the 8km race earlier in the day.    

The excitement of crossing the finishing line was displayed in style in the bar of the Olympic Hotel afterwards.  Some gathered Dutch courage (no pun intended!) for the journey home.  For the record it was supposed to be a very straight forward DIRECT bus journey on route 346. However, Olive, Paul and Audrai knew better and insisted on crossing a motorway to take the 397 – it has 22 stops and a total trip duration of 65 minutes -aka the scenic route home.  We even passed Schiphol Airport and they reached out to the WhatsApp group to take orders for duty free.  To make matters worse they missed the stop in Haarlem so we had to go to the terminus – earlier they had got off the bus, decided that it was the wrong bus stop and had to get back on…at this stage my patience was wearing thin but my efforts to hail a taxi using the Free Now app were in vain.  There was no other option but to take another bus to the hotel.  At that stage I stood charge of the situation and carefully, with the assistance of the bus driver, navigated them home safely – we had 12 minutes to get ready for 8pm dinner in the Italian restaurant. 

While we were taking the scenic route back to the hotel, the rest of the group were raiding the mini bars in their hotel rooms, compliments of the hotel (never give an Irish group a complementary mini bar!).  Our only hope was that they had left some hot water and shower gel for us to wash away our troubles.

Dinner was in a local restaurant around the biggest table in the city…..vino, beer, grey goose (of the vodka rather than fowl variety) were flowing……birthday wishes for Maria were followed by lots of laughs and banter….the Irish were in town having a great night out…next up was a visit to a local bar where the DJ had to dig into his archives to find crazy Irish songs like “Come on Eileen” and the like……..the breakfast room in the hotel was empty the following morning.

Plans for next year will begin shortly.  Some initial suggestions are an artic run with polar bear stewards or a Saraha marathon in the desert with some camels……we need some responsible adults to take charge (you’ll agree that some members are just not sufficiently qualified) so all suggestions please to Michael who’ll discretely make the final decision without offending anyone.                     

At training last Thursday, Myles sidled up to me and said “There’s a four mile road race next Sunday in Tinryland in Carlow just down the motorway. Why don’t you and some of the others in the over 50’s go and have a crack at it, Martin Keenan’s heading down”. “Never heard of it! Spell that for me, Myles” says I. “Just Google it!” says he. 

Apparently it was to be the 40^thAnniversary running of a famous local race. Initially I thought, No, I’ll stick with the Phoenix Park but after thinking about it a bit I became a little intrigued about the race and the name. Tinryland, it almost sounded like a mystical place, something vaguely magical conjuring up an image of a castellated Carlow theme park. Understandably, since it’s Cross Country and Marathon season, the others wanted to do the club Cross Country session on the Saturday, followed by the Phoenix Park on Sunday but I opted instead to do an easy parkrun on Saturday and to head down as early as possible on the Sunday to Tinryland, the wondrous place.

Setting off from Dublin on Sunday morning, the race due to start at 1pm, it was bucketing down but the forecast was for the rain to pass over. By the time I arrived, Tinryland was bathed in glorious sunshine, a small little village 5k south of Carlow town. Definitely no awesome theme park here! 

I had texted Martin the day before to say I’d see him there as I thought I would be delayed by an earlier appointment. This was to be Martin’s comeback race after a protracted lay-off and he was keen to test himself under racing conditions. As he said himself with a smile “I’ve had more comebacks than Rocky Balboa but here we go again…” 

Things were shaping up well, the weather was good, I was wearing my lucky luminous orange-pink socks that Joe Byrne, who wears a pair himself, had kindly bought me in Decathlon in Spain after I admired his luminosity on the track. I’m convinced they give me at least an extra 10 seconds per km in races, evidenced recently by an improved time while wearing them in a race on Rathlin island. Weak evidence admittedly but I believe Nike suggest something similar with their 4% runners. I was also inspired by Diarmuid’s recent completely incompatible colour coordination at the Rathfarnham 5k, luminous orange-pink socks definitely do not go with Sportsworld red but y’know sometimes that incompatible colour tension creates a certain magic, right Diarmuid?

Having met up with Martin to catch up with him and discuss the course and race tactics, I wandered off to get a sense of the place and the history of the race. Tinryland is a small village near Carlow town with a proud heritage. On turning up toward the village, there is a memorial to the local people who fought in and supported the 1798 rebellion. I passed a sign that told me I was “being watched – do not litter”, though it remains unclear who or what exactly was watching me, the local livestock, perhaps?  

I chatted to former Tinryland National school principal Denis Shannon who seems to be quite the local legend for his fostering of athletics in the school and village. He told me of the strong tradition of athletics there over the years, where apart from the annual Rockford Rooftile race – which has had the same sponsor for all its forty years – it has also hosted numerous Leinster and National Cross Country events. He took delight at telling me how Dick Hooper in his prime used to come down regularly to give the Rockford race “a blast”. I told him that I ran for Sportsworld in Terenure but with the amount of red I was wearing he’d figured that out long in advance. “I know”, he replied with a rueful grin.

There aren’t many four mile races around these days, so it was a bit of a novelty to try to plan for this unusual distance. I tend to work in km, so 6.43km is the metric equivalent which was quite close to the 6km Dublin Novice Cross Country race distance I’d run recently in the Phoenix Park. So, I had some kind of yardstick to aim for timewise, the undulations of the cross country would be counter-balanced somewhat by the extra .43k of road. However, another local had told me about the steep hill at 2.5miles that went on for half a mile. That would surely slow me down some more. Then, Martin came back from his warm up and told me about the steep downhill at the start for the first mile. The plan was to spring quickly out of the blocks and bank as much time as possible before the hill. Although not a big race numbers-wise, while warming up, I could see there were some serious club (and Olympian) runners there, including Mick Clohisey and Kevin Maunsell. 

With not so much as a 3-2-1, we went off, haring off down the hill, my first kilometre in 3.25, very fast for me. I got away from Martin at this point but I knew he would never be that far behind. Over the years, Martin has been there and done that. I knew that even though I’m in a decent spell of form at the moment and he’s only just coming back racing, I would have all my work cut out to stay in front of him over the course of the race. I hit the hill feeling good, though had nobody immediately around me to latch on to or draft behind. Having run a lot of IMRA races this year, the hill didn’t slow me down too much and Martin confirmed afterwards that I stretched away a little at this point and also in the last kilometre. Martin was never far behind, though, and this may be the last time I’ll find myself in that privileged position of finding myself in front of him, he’s such a strong, experienced and seasoned competitor.

I finished in 24^th place in 25.14 minutes with Martin just behind in 28^th place, in 25.51 minutes, 2^nd and 3^rd respectively in our age categories. Certainly a 4 mile PB for me but then again, it’s not often you get to try for a 4 mile PB, is it?

We were both delighted with how the run had gone but it was particularly great for Martin to get back in harness again by getting a strong race under his belt and I’m sure he will go from strength to strength in the coming months. I’d better start getting used to watching his back from here.

Afterwards we retired to the Tinryland GAA club for a fantastic spread of sandwiches and cake – where my ‘strictly no cake diet’ since last Christmas was completely decimated. Check out the Rockford 40^th Anniversary cake before and after I’d got my hands on it….

The prizes were handed out, Mick Clohisey 1^st in 18.39, the second fastest time in the history of the event, no mean feat considering the quality of the runners who have raced there over the years, including our very own Myles Nugent. The first placed female was Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrocks who finished in 23.27.

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary, all around the hall they had pinned up the results of all the previous races over the years and it was fun to take a Sportsworld athlete spotting tour of all those historic results sheets. You really get a sense from years gone by how Sportsworld legends had targeted this particular race…among them, Myles Nugent 1993 & 1996, Paul O’Connell in 2001, Emily Dowling 1998, Kevin Curran 2012, Lucy D’Arcy 2008 & 2012, Mary Finn 2008, Phil Kilgannon 2003, Michael O’Grady 2003 and quite a few Sportsworld names I’m not so familiar with, though some of you longer serving Sportsworlders would be. I have all your times, ladies and gentlemen, if you want them! 

I was also particularly taken by a newspaper cutting they had put on the wall which detailed the 25^th running of the event in which, incidentally, the Sportsworld women came second in the team event. The article went on to say “Despite the presence of some top Irish athletes in the race, the star attraction last Sunday was undoubtedly Oscar winning Actor Daniel Day Lewis. Competing for Parnells AC of Rathdrum, Lewis, known for his dedication for his film roles, also showed what a fine athlete he is and ran a very good time of 23 mins 34 seconds for the course, finishing 57^th overall. The very large crowds on the day were definitely swelled when word of his participation became known before the race. There was a festive atmosphere with a drummer, a pipe band and music of various stages on the course together with the O’Donoghue School of Dancers at the finish line”. 

There was certainly no Irish dancing when we finished on Sunday and you probably get a little sense there of how the race has contracted a little since its halcyon days. Nevertheless, the race is a tribute to a local community and people like Denis who have given so much dedication to grass roots athletics over the years.

With that, Martin and myself, thanked the locals, bid adieu to each other and headed our separate ways. Home in an hour, put on some dinner and then a sublime full moon swim…but that’s another story. Tinryland had, in the end, been a wondrous place indeed!

Berlin is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors which is a series consisting of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world. The races take place in Tokyo, Boston, London, New York, Chicago, and Berlin. Many a seasoned marathon runner will try to tick off all six.

Dublin in 2018 was my first year to train properly for a marathon. My plan was just to cover the distance in around 2.45 but as fitness improved the speed picked up and a sub 2.40 seemed quite possible. The race went well and despite a tough last 10K I finished with a strong PB of 2.37. That got me a guaranteed entry for Berlin 2019.

This year I had ambitions of getting close to 2.30 which equates to 3.32 per kilometer. It was always going to be a stretch but I set out my easy, tempo, long, half and 10K paces based on running 3.30 – 3.32 a kilometer on September 29th.

After a tired and painful attempt at running a sub 2.40 time in Copenhagen in April, I was all set for Berlin with my last long run being an 18K effort at 3.30. I learned halfway through the Dublin 2018 training that once you have the strength and can cover the 42.2K distance the pace becomes more important than the distance. I tried a new plan with higher weekly mileage and allot more focus on race pace efforts for Berlin and ran some very hard sessions, I ould have run scared from. a few years ago  

The main phase of training was just 10 weeks leading up to the race. The majority of my training was focused on getting comfortable at that pace. Lots of 35 minute 10Ks.

I booked my flight and hotel quite late but managed to get a hotel 1.5 kilometers from the start. Unfortunately, the flights to Berlin were booked solid so I ended up on a flight to Dusseldorf and train to Berlin. I arrived in Berlin at 4 PM on Friday for the Sunday race. The rain was pouring which was to set the tone for the weekend weather-wise.

My first stop after dropping my bag was to get to the expo and pick up my number. I wanted to stay off my feet on Saturday. The former Airport Tempelhof is one of the most spectacular and historically significant expo locations in the world. Famous for the Berlin blockade the building ensemble is being used for different events since it closed as an airport in 2009. The expo was fun but even the Germans struggled to get 48,000 numbers handed out. Queues were long and the place was generally disorganized. I am not sure what to suggest here, get there early. After 90 minutes I left and joined Will Greensmyth for dinner.

All signs were good leading into the race. I felt fresh, well-rested, carb-loaded and eager to get going. I intentionally started out way below the target pace and ran 18.15 for the first then started to pick up. The plan was to break the race into 3 x 14K and progressively pick up at 14K and 28K.

Between 5k and 16k I found myself in a nice group that were running 3.35s. I felt comfortable but was sweating allot. I tried to take on water from early but the plastic cups made it difficult. At 14k, my second checkpoint I started to feel a bit sluggish but worked through it. But then at 18k fell off the back of the group and almost immediately started to really slow.  Although I didn’t feel anything, the post pace data is eerily similar to Charleville a few weeks ago. My heart rate started to drift towards 170 and beyond and at that point, it’s game over, you have to slow.

At halfway I could not believe how much ground I was losing. Plan A and B out the window I tried to pick up again but had nothing.  Under normal circumstances, I would normally try to compose myself and work back up to the group over 2-3K but after going through in 76.54 I was already thinking towards Dublin. If it hadn’t been so costly to get there and the chance to run through the finish I would have pulled up. The rest of the race was less than enjoyable. You might call it a GDR death march. My focus and concentration were gone. I maybe should have stopped at a waster station for 2 minutes and then got going again. It’s devastating how you can train for months, start so positive and see it all fade away in a matter of minutes. Because the race is so far, having the resilience to keep going and push through the pain is I think a better skill than being fast.

I was glad to have finished and get to run through the Brandenburg Gates. The weather had been good for the race with an occasional light shower. Five minutes before I finished it started to rain and almost immediately after crossing the line the heaven opened. I felt terrible for anyone running more than 3 hours as the last bit must have been a miserable last quarter.

Upfront the race was amazing with Bekele, the greatest of all time over 5 Kand 10K coming within 2 seconds of last years world record.

As races go Berlin is epic. The field is stacked beyond belief, nowhere else do you see times like 2.30 leaving you in 300th position. The course is flat, I mean it there is not a single hill and you won’t find many races with that atmosphere.  Organisation could be improved, particularly at the expo, where the lines were just insane. People say you can practice drinking from plastic cups but I can’t figure it out. I wish they could figure this out and provide a better solution. Its something the top runners don’t have to deal with.

The lottery for Berlin opened on October 1st. Here are the time standards you need to nail in order to guarantee yourself the chance to test your own record in Berlin, broken down by age group:

• Age 18 to 44 (2:45 for men, 3:00 for women)
• Age 45 to 59 (2:55 for men, 3:20 for women)
• Age 60 and up (3:25 for men, 4:10 for women)

I was going to focus on running shorter distances next year but now I think I will go back and do it next year. Unfortunately my race time puts me a bit further back in pen B but there may be a chance for a reprieve in Dublin. If you don’t fancy a marathon they have a great half in April with open entry.

It’s a class city to explore. The recent history is fascinating.  The weather wasn’t amazing for most of the weekend so a weekend back as a fully-fledged tourist is needed. .

After the Second World War, Berlin was left completely destroyed and demoralized, (a bit like me at 12pm on Sunday) squeezed in between the East and the West, and divided both physically and metaphorically by a long wall that cut across the city. Today, now that the Cold War and the events of 1989, which ended in the knocking down of the wall, begin to be just far off memories, Berlin is beginning to think about its own future.

New buildings, designed by world-famous architects, have sprung up everywhere in this new Berlin, and although a large part of its historical and artistic heritage was destroyed during the last war, the city has kept its cultural identity and great wealth, with its museums and many monuments. However, Berlin is still a city with two souls. The western part has modern, alternative lifestyles, its nightlife is busy and exciting, while the Eastern part is still a kind of trip through what remains of socialism, a living museum made up of state buildings and grey condominium buildings, but with many hidden beauties.

It wasn’t all about me and my love for seeing new places. Sportsworld had just 4 runners taking part this year. Myself, Gerard Neenan,  Martin Doyle, and Nicola Lenehan. The extended Sportsworld group included former email writer Will Greensmyth supporting his speedy wife Siobhan.

Congratulations to Siobhan (2.44) and Gerard (3.29) on their new PBS. Myself (2.41), Martin (2.51) and Nicola (3.34) were a little more dissatisfied with our runs but a good dinner, some company, and few drinks made up for it. Not pictured is Martin who was warming up the bar.

A big thanks to Will for his support and for all the texts and messages of good luck and congratulations from everyone. When you are visiting a different city to run a marathon, it becomes a very anticipated event! To take all of that excitement and preparation and then have a disappointing race is tough but it is important to remember, it is just a race! It’s good to try and not make it a bigger instance or event than it actually is. There are elite marathoners who run for a living who actually drop out of the Olympic Marathon because of injury or a really bad race. If they can do it, there is nothing wrong with the amateur runner having a bad race.

Don’t over-analyze. This is especially for me.  I looked at every little thing after the race to try and determine what it was that had caused me to be run poorly. I picked apart each thing that I had eaten in the couple of days leading up to the race, I checked the humidity and temperature levels from my previous races to see if that had been the cause, I checked my heart rate and pace – everything I could think of. I do want to find out what is causing the high heart rate spikes. I had a hunch that it was down to dehydration but temperatures weren’t hot or humid. I’m going to change my gels and carry more water in Dublin. The numbers are in the training runs and the fitness won’t go to waste.

I can’t recommend this race enough. Its always harder not sleeping in your own bed, eating the normal foods the days before a race etc so you could make the call to not make it your goal race and just run it to enjoy it. I hope to do that in New York and Tokyo someday.

Conditions were perfect for the annual Rathfarnham 5KM. It’s a popular race with club members but one I’ve never managed to do so was looking forward to it. I had heard that it was a fast, PB course. After a warm up with Martina we joined the other Sportsworld singlets at the start line. There was a good buzz with everyone telling each other to enjoy the race when a voice piped up “5k’s aren’t to be enjoyed” Thanks Adrian, you are right. We have a job to do.

With that we were off. I had heard that it was a fast start but I was not prepared for how fast – we took off like greyhounds out of a cage! Ray Carpenter came up alongside me and said “this is way too fast” as he continued to speed on ahead of me, his fluorescent T-shirt becoming a mere beacon of light in the distance. 1 KM done and my watch buzzed 4.09!! Cop yourself on Grainne I thought, you have no business running at this pace, who do you think you are. So I slowed it down anxiously (my head always wins these battles unfortunately). There were no surprises on the course as it’s one we are familiar with being one of our regular winter training routes. As always there was great Sportsworld support along the route. There were too many of you to mention but thank you!!

I came across the finish line 1 second off my 5KM PB. Not too shabby I thought. Not great but it’ll do! It took me about 3 minutes to realise that this mediocre run was not going to get me any attention. Worried that Gemma White and Martina Nolan-Jones (both ran blinders picking up fantastic PB’s) would take all the limelight I knew I had to do something. Without going into too much detail my plan involved me sitting on a wall, dizzy and disoriented wrapped in tin foil with the Civil Defence checking all my vitals. Not content with this I sent poor Gemma and Martina off in a panic looking for sugar for me. In fairness to the girls they brought me back a nice little stash only for it to be taken away from me as it was discovered my glucose levels were far too high (the cause of me feeling unwell).  Anyway, my plan was going great – I was surrounded by concerned Sportsworlders until Neil Purdy showed up with his camera. Showing a complete disregard for me he announced “club photo”. I swear,  I have never seen a bunch of concerned people lose interest in their object of concern so quickly! Within seconds I was looking at their backs as they posed for the photo (if you look closely you will see my feet right behind Diarmuid). Gemma however was the exception. She pulled me up off the wall much to the annoyance of the Civil Defence and proceeded to argue with them “she’ll be grand, I’ll hold her up long enough for the photo” she lost the argument  but cheers Gem!!

Back to the race: Karl Chatterton was the first male home for Sportsworld in a super time of 16.36 while Maria Jones led the girls in with a fantastic time of 18.25. Well done to Declan Brady who not only got himself a PB but also came second in his age category. The ladies team also did great coming 4^th so congrats to Maria, Katie, Gemma and Martina. There was some great running so well done to all who got out and raced. Post race saw myself (fully recovered you will all be relieved to hear), Maria, Gemma, Katie and Olive drinking coffee, eating cake, talking and laughing for 5 hours!! It was a great day and I’ll be back next year with a PB and without the drama!

Results:

Karl Chatterton                                 16:36

Wesley Harrison                               16:42

Stephen O’Donnell                         17.02

Brian Byrne                                         17.30

Maria Jones                                        18.25

Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain                18.36

Peter Knaggs                                     18.53

Declan Brady                                      18.54

Noel Tobin                                          19.59

Liam Lenehan                                    20.00

Katie Nugent                                     20.31

Ray Carpenter                                   21.18

Gemma White                                  21.55

Martina Nolan-Jones                      22.08

Adrian Lannigan                                22.10

Lisa Singleton                                     22.25

Grainne Lynch                                   22.27

Ann Sweeney                                    24.13

Last weekend marked the start of Ireland’s Rugby World Cup and just as important the start of my 9 days away from the office on annual leave. There was talk that a typhoon threatening the Ireland v Scotland match but thankfully it had blown over to Ireland by match time and it was a great performance to start the tournament (Disclaimer: I started this race report Friday night but then decided to go to the cinema so I finished it Saturday afternoon; to keep positive – the underdog status usually suits Ireland) . With an equal enthusiasm for Cross Country as the RWC I decided to enter a pre-season open XC in Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny and set off shortly after the aforementioned match. It was a good drive down from my family home in Tipperary as Kilmacow is very close to the Kilkenny/Waterford border and is actually much closer to Waterford city than Kilkenny city centre – there was a proposal in 2017 to re-draw the Waterford/South Kilkenny border so that Kilmacow would become part of Waterford but this was shot down as I quote ‘We don’t want our identity to be changed’. On a related subject one of my brothers has recently got engaged to a Kilkenny girl – As for their future kid’s I’ll just say that they’ll be no half and half jerseys in this family…a tug of war maybe?

Anyway during the drive down the severity of the rain made for treacherous road conditions and it had only slightly relented by the time I got there. After a quick dash to register and get my number it was back to the car for cover and thoughts of ‘”Won’t somebody please think of the children!’ – despite the conditions there was a reasonable turnout for the juvenile (U8 up) and senior races;. probably bigger crowd than for the Kilkenny team homecoming if some people are to be believed.

I eventually talked myself into doing a short warm up, in the improving conditions, and shortly before my race the rain stopped which almost made me feel a bit guilty given what the children had to run in. There was about 35 in the senior’s men’s race made up mostly of Waterford and Kilkenny and  athletes plus a few Tipp men including myself. Our 7000m race consisted of 2 small laps and 6 big laps.  I was in a solid mid pack group for most of the race and I ran a consistent pace and ran 27:38 for 7.27km according to Strava which I was happy enough with – a useful exercise to see where I’m at before the start of the championship races. The ground wasn’t actually too bad after all the rain. I was relying on the local club to get a few more photos but their facebook page said the camera was drowned by the time our race came.

Doing that race meant that I could take a more relaxed attitude to my trip to Geneva, Switzerland the next day – I didn’t think I would get much running done especially since the weather was supposed to be bad. However this forecast was as accurate as the Irish paper’s predictions for Ire v Japan so we were lucky that we had nice weather for our 3 day visit. The Hotel was just down the road from the southerly tip of Lake Geneva. I went for a long run on the path along the lake – not quite the full 72km circumference of the Lake but long enough to get to the Swiss countryside which explained why I saw a few tractors in the city centre.

Another day we took the train up the mountains to Montana (around 5,000 ft above sea level) and played golf at Crans sur sierra golf course which hosted the Swiss Open a few weeks ago – The views were amazing and apparently the golf ball goes 10% at this altitude – which doesn’t make much of a difference if you’re not very good.  I did get a short run in as well but didn’t particularly feel the air being thinner or the run being relatively harder but I suppose it would be more of a factor in longer/more intense runs.

We were flew back to Dublin on Thursday and we ended up seeing Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Keith Andrews and some of their colleagues at Geneva airport. I think they were (on a group bonding session) doing some research ahead of the Ireland v Switzerland game in Geneva on the 15^th October. I’ve attached the great photo of the four retired Irish soccer legends – my epic soccer career consisted of lining out for St. Kevin’s (Tipperary) underage, UCC J3’s and St. Kevin’s Senior B team. In terms of legend status I’m still clinging onto my performance the one time in my career where I was team captain. I remember the day if it was yesterday – It was the night of Tuesday 8^th April 2003: Real Madrid beat Manchester United 3-1 in the champions league quarter final first leg but in Tipperary a performance was being given (almost) as legendary as the real ronaldo’s hat trick in the second league of that tie at Old Trafford. Actually I was having a subdued game in central midfield and we were 1-0 down half way the second half. We get a corner, the ball breaks to me on the edge of the box and I hit a sweatly executed first time volley (take a random swing at it) and it nearly bursts the back of the net. I really grow into the game after that and we dominate and are unluckly not to win the game with it finishing 1-1. Unfortunately this was before the day of smartphones so you’ll have to take my word for it when I say it would have definitely made this video if it was caught on camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqAmfI4NMaQ Anyway years and years of mediocrity later I retired from soccer in 2014 to join Sportsworld. I won’t causing any stirs this cross country season but am looking to make progress in terms of time/position relative to last year. They are good days with the club and you have the extra incentive to run as part of a team. I once turned up for an away match with UCC and they were cutting the grass on the pitch shortly before kick-off.  Thankfully I haven’t seen that in at a cross country race and hopefully I experienced the worst of the XC conditions at the race last Sunday which should set me up for a solid and rewarding season ahead. 

The Greenway Half Marathon starts in Kilmacthomas and finishes in Dungarvan. I had never been on the Greenway before and was looking forward to seeing it. I stayed with my friend Kate the night before the race. Alarms were set for 5am to make it to Dungarvan for 7:30am! Runners were brought by bus from Dungarvan to the start line in Kilmacthomas. The race started at 9am. Kate and I met Liam Lenehan and his brother Pat in Kilmacthomas. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and I wondered how congested the start line would be on the greenway path! I was pleasantly surprised by how uncongested it was! The race numbers are restricted because cyclists and walkers can still use the Greenway during the race, though there were very few on it that morning. It’s a beautiful scenic route!

We ran over viaducts with beautiful views of the Comeragh mountains and surrounding farmlands and past the Flahavans factory. There are a few short inclines on the route but it is mostly flat – so a great race for PBs. Towards the end we ran through a 400m long tunnel, and on the other side were trees and walls of rocks covered in moss and fairy doors. Then my first glimpse of the sea.. the sea was flat as a mirror and the sun glistened on the surface. The last few kilometres have stunning views of Dungarvan Bay and Clonea Beach. Waterford was showing off all her beauty in the sunshine. Kate and I crossed the finish line together, and were greeted by Liam who was waiting with glasses of water for us. Really enjoyable race topped off by Liam, Pat and Kate all getting PBs! Liam also came 2nd in his age category! Well done Liam! Sportsworld Results Liam Lenehan 1:33:22 Martina Nolan-Jones 1:53:56

Charleville is a town in north County Cork. It lies in the Golden Vale, on a tributary of the River Maigue, near the border with County Limerick.  It’s half marathon has developed a solid reputation over the past few years as one of the best in the country, and deservedly it attracts a stellar field.

When the chance of a free number came up last week I jumped at the chance to make a weekend of it and see some of East Cork on Saturday and do my last 24K marathon pace run in the race on Sunday.

On Saturday morning I was up at 6 AM and set off to see a list of some of Irelands best touristing sites on route to Charleville. Cashel, Knockmealdown Mountains, Lismore, Ballycotton and Roches Point all got a look in, with a stop into Ballymaloe for a bit of lunch and Cork City for some shopping.

With no accommodation left in Charleville or nearby, Kilmallock County Limerick I made it to Mallow for the All Ireland Final. As the only Dub in the town I was keeping a low profile. You would be forgiven for thinking that the good people of Cork would support Dublin in favour of their neighbours Kerry, but it seems like that the anyone but Dublin attitude prevails. 1.2.3.4.5 Woo!

The race kicked off at 10 AM on Sunday morning, with my race number already attached firmly to my singlet there was no rush to be there too early. This was to be my last marathon pace effort for the Berlin marathon on September the 29th. The plan was to do 24K with the first bring the half marathon and then finishing 3K on the track.

My target was to run in 3 phases with 7K at 3.35, 7K at 3.32 and the final 7K at 3.29, bringing the average out at 3.32. That would leave me with a finish time of around 74.40 and then do 3K at 3.30 pace to finish. I’ve completed similar runs over the past few weeks so was looking forward to it.

Despite not feeling amazing on Saturday I felt ok warming up. My usual routine is 2-3k and 4 long strides. It’s nice not to be racing as you don’t feel the pressure to get off the line like a lunatic.

Unforuanley looking at my watch after the race and from my perceived effort during the race, I was a bit more under the weather than I had first thought. The first phase up to 7K was ok. I was passing out lots of runners but my heart rate was going a little too high.

During the second phase, my heart rate went even higher as I tried to increase the pace ever so slightly too my planned marathon pace. It was around this stage of the race that I saw Sportsworld teammate Mark Hogan in front. I expected to catch and run with Mark around 10K but I wasn’t making any ground. At this point, I made the call to finish the race but in hindsight probably should have jogged home.

In the last phase, my heart rate was way too high and it was a big struggle just to keep going, given this is the tougher windier part of the course. I ran with Mark for 3-4K and was able to push ahead a tiny bit towards the end. Congratulations to Mark on a well earned PB.

Immediately I was thinking that was a very disappointing and worrying run with only a couple of weeks to go until the big day. But looking back at my heart rate values compared to the previous week. That time I ran 36K and my average HR was 156 bpm and my max was 176. For this run, my average HR was 167 and my max was 185. That’s an objective measure that my body was under a lot more stress, so best leave it behind me and forget about it, I can’t get the opportunity back.

This is a great race with a top-class field. The top women ran 74 and the top man ran 63. ou would find it hard to get many half marathons in the country with those finish times.

Sportsworld had a few other taking part listed below and congrats to former Sportsworld a lister Shona Keane who came 7th in 84 minutes.

Gareth Murran 77.21
Mark Hogan 77.25
David Kennedy 93.25
Jessica Kennedy 105.57
Anne Higgins 113.59

By Colin Kenny

This was my first time doing this race and it was a really enjoyable experience. It was also my first 5 Mile of the year with my goal to finally crack the 40 minute barrier. My work colleague Will Byrne who is a member of Lucan Harriers assured me it was pancake flat which of course it wasn’t but in fairness it wasn’t anywhere like the torturous course at the 10k Dun Laoghaire which I did recently . The race was celebrating the official opening of the new club track which I know involved years of hard work, false starts and lots of lobbying so   the last few hundred metres finished on the brand new spanking track.  

There was a real party atmosphere when I arrived with a DJ blasting out the 80s tunes (including The Jam – top marks …I don’t like Elton Johns music but in fairness he played I’m Still Standing which is a corker – forget the rest and apologies to any Elton John fans)! It was a beautiful day – warm with a light breeze so there was no excuse to crack the 40 minute barrier. Well in truth I did have 2 excuses lined up. I left my Garmin watch at work  and had no sunglasses! However there was a 40 minute pacer which was a God send as otherwise I could’ve done the race in 35 (wishful thinking) mins or 45 mins (more likely).
In the warm up and at the start line  I did not see any  fellow Sportsworlders until Ann appeared out of the crowd at the start also looking for the 40 minute pacer. Happy days as we could encourage each other along the way. Ann was with her husband and being a local of course knew everyone!
Anyway off we went and about 1k in we went up a pretty long drag over the train line which was unexpected which was real hello to the legs. We turned on to the canal which was a beautiful part of the course and from there on in the course was a series of drags up bridges, some downhill and long straights including one around the 6k mark which went on forever seemingly into the wind or  maybe I was just goosed. The good news for me was that I’d left the pacer after the 5k or so mark but. But not having a watch meant I was looking behind to see where he was. With  1k to go I’d noticed he was catching me up. I put the foot down (well I went a tiny bit faster) to make sure he didn’t catch me up. Anyway by the time I got into the track to run the last 300m I’d lost him again. I got a shout out from the DJ too which was nice though at that stage in pretty sure he’d found his 90s mojo and was blaring out the Spice Girls so I needed to get out it out of there as quick as possible. I blocked it out and sprinted for the line imagining it was a less torturous version of our Saturday track sessions..
Anyway I crossed over the line in 39.20 and was delighted. Ann was not too far behind and congratulated each other as she crossed the line..
There was loads of food and craic and a real buzz after the race with a lot of runners hanging around after to encourage the later finishers. A great race and definitely one I’d encourage more people from the club to do this next year. It’s a similar course to our own 5 mile but with a few more uphill drags so it’s a fast enough course.
I for one will be back next year even if it is to hear my guilty Elton John pleasure being blared out by the DJ. Well done to all at Lucan Harriers for such a great event and best of luck to the club with the new track.

Report by Carmel Breen , Photos by Carmel Breen, Conor Kenny

The Blessington Lakes 10k is usually such a scenic and enjoyable race, so once I convinced Val and Irene to stay away from the booze on Friday night, we all signed up!

‘Twas a lovely morning for a race – if you were fit – unlike me! I was treating this race as punishment for all the French food and wine I have consumed over the last few months.

I picked Irene up at the KCR and off we headed. Along the way, we bumped into Phil, Conor and Sandra also going to the race – although Conor had the man flu so he was just there as our mascot and official photographer!!

15 mins before the start they put on a Dance class for a warm up, so me and Val had a dance-off at the top of the class which was a great way to wake the aul’ body up!

When we all lined up at the start, I started to panic a little as the field was very small and all I kept thinking was ‘Holy Christ Im going to be last in this race’. I knew I wasn’t fit enough to get a good time, so it was all about getting it done without stopping.

It took me about the first 5k to warm up but I enjoyed the scenery and took in some powerful rural aromas along the way.

Then at 6k the route took an unwelcome turn as the organisers thought it was a great idea to get us to run 500m up a steep hill, which was just complete torture for me, but because I had run the Achill 10k I was able to get up the hill without stopping, which I have to say I was chuffed with!

‘What goes up must come down’ is all that I could think of, so I was really looking forward to my reward which was the downhill – the downhill part is where I picked up and felt strong coming into the finish.

We must tip our hats to the spread of goodies that was given out afterwards, we were able to fill up our goody bags with a week’s supply of muffins and fruit!

Then myself, Val and Irene sat in the boot of my car in the car park discussing joining the over 55s Aerobics classes that Irene teaches, and its only €5 (which includes tea – but no biscuits!!!)

Overall a most enjoyable race experience in a beautiful setting, so I reckon we will definitely be back next year.

Well Done to everyone.

Below are the Race Results.

Peter Knaggs 40:20

Ciara Brady 41:03

Anthony Gillen 41:32

Noel Tobin 43:13

Sandra Kelly 48:22

Adrian Langan 49:03

Val Power 54:02

Carmel Breen 57:40

Phil Daly 57:55