report by Maria Waterhouse

Throw back to New Year’s day 2019 & me, reflecting on my looming half century milestone birthday… feeling like I needed to mark it in some way & prove to myself & my stalwart “moving on up runners’” What’s App, Sportsworld buddies that I was not a member in name only.  I decided that the only solution was to complete a half marathon.  I originally signed up to the Achill Half Marathon, but a family commitment on Sunday 7^th meant I swapped to the Clontarf race instead.

Training went well, I avoided injury & enjoyed the long runs & chats with very supportive Sportsworld buddies.

My other half David & son Joshua accompanied me out to the start. Age & experience meant that the nerves that used to put me off racing in my younger days were nowhere to be seen.  I had a target sub 2 hour finish time in mind, but really just wanted to finish in once piece.

The weather was perfect for running, a typically ‘soft’ Irish summers day, cloudy, 15C with a light misty drizzle.  Not great spectator weather so support on the course was very scarce.

And we’re off … I stuck with the 1:50 pacemaker to start, knowing that I wouldn’t be up to that pace for the whole race .. I knew I would lose time on the beach so I thought I’d try to gain some minutes ahead of the sand.. The splits for the first few km were better than I’d hoped for .. & I felt good. 

I heard a voice saying ‘Sportsworld’ & looked to my right where  a friendly faced guy in Sportsworld livery trotted up beside me.  We intro’ed ourselves ( he Tim) & chatted briefly about the weather & our hopes for finish times.. both in around the 2 hour mark. My training buddies will know me as a bit of a chatterbox on training runs ( shut up Waterhouse!  )  but chatting was not on the agenda today !!  We had a job to do!!

Next was the wooden bridge onto Bull Island, a water station & some heavy sand to get onto the compacted sand of the beach.  The beach was difficult as there was so much slippery algae covering the sand except for a narrow strip, so the runners tracked along the sand for 2.5km or so in more or less single file, it was nigh on impossible to pass anyone.

I was glad to get off the sand & back onto the road to Sutton.  A couple of Sportsworld vests flashed by , in the other direction.. the leading pack heading home..

We were almost half way there & the psychological high of making that U turn & knowing we were on road back was energising.. but we had to face the beach again on the return journey.  The course is beautifully flat so again I tried to make up some ground before the beach loomed again.  Tim was still in sight & looked back making sure I picked up water at the stations & even surrendered a lone Jelly baby he picked up from a spectator.. Thanks Tim!!!   Who needs isotonic gel ( thanks  tho’ Mary !!) when you’ve got Jelly Babies !!

The beach felt easier on the way back, a wider track through the algae had been worn by the multitude of pounding feet.  My legs were beginning to tire & just as I passed the 18km mark I stumbled over a bump on the beach & landed face down in the sand!! The indignity !! I bounced up like a rubber ball, and was back running before the steward could get to me.  My pace slowed as I took a few deep breaths & composed myself for the final few kilometres.  I saw Tim’s familiar red vest in front of me & dug deep to catch up with him.

Just when I needed a boost I heard a familiar voice shouting my encouragement from the sidelines, Mary Colclough had come out in the rain to cheer me home. The camaraderie & support from the girls I have met through Sportsworld never fails to astonish me.   They are just amazing women .. the lot of them..  LOVE  YA  LADIES !!!

The finish line with my target time in sight was enough to put turbo boost into action & the photo will show Tim (Murphy) & I crossing the finishing line together in our matching red & white!!

Bucket list ticked… Fifty , Schmifty … you’re as young as you feel & capable of surprising yourself at any age.  Bring on the next decade !!!

report by Mark Hogan

June really is the time for some very fast road races as the summer weather finally kicks in. Following on from the huge turnout at the Docklands 5km, another big crowd of Sportsworlders made the short journey to Kilcock for the St Coca’s 5km. With an entry price of only €16, the promise of a fast competitive course and the sell-out of the Dunshauglin 10km, this meant a record turnout for this annual 5km race.

The organisation from the local club is very good with ample parking right next to the start line, a 1.2km dirt track to warm up on and real toilets (!) in the local school. After a quick warm up with a few of the lads we all lined up in the sub 18 / sub 20 category right at the front of the pack. The nice thing about the course vs. Docklands is that it is certainly less of a mental battle when you don’t have to look at the 5km distance ahead of you or think about the dreaded u-turn at a cone. The course follows winding country roads pretty much all the way round with only one slight hill at about the 3km point before a very fast finish back into the village.

My aim for the day had been to be more conservative at the start compared to Docklands and try pace myself more evenly so that I didn’t go out too hard and die a death. A 5km is never, and should never feel, comfortable but there are definitely easier ways to get the same time or better by being more evenly paced. I set out at 3.20 per km and pretty much stuck to this all the way round except for the slight blip with the hill, but was delighted with the improvement in a week. There were some great results from a lot of people in the club. But I do want to call out Wes who banked a brilliant sub 17 which is a serious achievement and one he’s been so close to over the last few races – obviously the lack of sleep and extra training is paying off!

The post-race feed was also worth staying around for, so overall a 5 star race that I would highly recommend.  

Good company and summer nights, it comes as no surprise that Dunshaughlin is one of the most popular 10K road races in the county. Now in its 40th year, the race has produced many a personal best over the years. I first ran this race in 2009 and have been back every year bar one.

Well placed at the end of June it’s a good time of year to run a PB. Normally there is a massive Sportsworld contingent but this year the 1000 race entries sold out before race day, much to the disappointment of many a club runner. The atmosphere just wasn’t the same as previous years without the large Sportsworld crew. I was glad to have the company of Sadanand and his friend Abhinabha for the drive down.

The course is flat with only 32 meters of elevation and the field is deep, so you always have a good group to run with. My training has been poor since the Copenhagen Marathon on May 20th and a further two weeks work trip to India, with little running, hasn’t helped matters. I arrived at the start line sluggish, with bags under my eyes and a bit under the weather after the Docklands shinanigans on Thursday night but still hoping to run 33.30 and maybe sneak a few seconds in the last few kilometres.

I have a habit of going too fast in this race over the years and struggling home, like last year when I stopped to walk in frustration at 8K. This year, I started off very conservatively and planned to get to halfway in around 16.40 but I quickly found that the legs just weren’t up to it. I never got near the group I would normally be running with and settled into more of a half marathon pace from the 3rd kilometre onwards. I was getting frustrated by the lack of pep in my step by 6K.

It was a race where I wasn’t going to PB and hence wasn’t willing to hurt. I posted my times between 2018 and 2019 below for comparison purposes. If I’d started with a 3.15 last year I would have broken 33 minutes but not this year. I was able to push on from the group I’d run within the last few kilometres but like any long distance race, you need to spread your effort evenly from the start. A finish time of 34.07 but not too stressed.†

It’s not what I expected, but I’ll adjust. The Berlin Marathon is 98 days away so training begins tomorrow. I believe in hard days, easy days and medium days. I believe that solid, consistent work over time pays off. I believe that strength=speed. I believe in high mileage, but not so high that it takes away from what needs to be accomplished on the hard days. I’m all in to go for that PB and knocking on 2.30, even if my more recent results don’t reflect it.

A massive congratulations to Sadanand who ran a big PB of 34.37, he’s really flying and loving his running after his recent marathon success. Also, a special mention to Maura, fresh from her training camp on the Wild Atlantic Way is once again hitting her times of 8 years ago. Maura was well under the 40-minute mark. There were also good runs from Martin, Peter and Tim. Apologies for the lack of photos but it was a low key affair.

Gareth Murran 0:34:07
Sadanand Magee 0:34:37
Martin Doyle 0:36:33
Maura Ginty 0:39:19
Peter Knaggs 0:40:39
Tim Murphy 0:44:52

If you turn on the TV this week you are likely to see Royal Ascot racing on various channels. It very much reminds me of the Docklands 5k race, where from the get- go, the incessant pace to the finish which you think is near (but is actually far away) and lots of noisy breathing is not dissimilar to a crowd of horses galloping to get over the line.  It’s like the minute you start it you just want it to finish! Before I left the house I had two puffs of my inhaler which I rarely take.  I had an inkling  it was going to be fast.

This was my first proper 5k race aside from park run , where there is not that level of galloping on display! I decided to do it just for something different and I hadn’t done such a short race before. Having got a lift into town, I jumped out of the car during that almighty downpour and had to take shelter under a shop door. I then walked down to The Ferryman where I got talking to fellow Sportsworlders  and I met Olive who gave me my number and  minded my bag while I raced (yes I bought her a drink after!).

A very quick change and warm up and I met more of the girls from the club. It was nice to see familiar faces; particularly the group I run with at training.  Ann and I made our way up to the start line and tried to position ourselves ahead of the 25 minute pacers.  Ann was delighted when she eventually found Breda as she  values  Breda’s pacing abilities!!  A few others around us were Siobhán, Rosie , Ray , Gemma, Carmel ,Maria and Bronwyn  and probably more I can’t remember!

The gun went and zoom – Ray was gone like the clappers!! It was the fastest start I had ever experienced ( besides a cross country) . There’s no time for “ slow down you’re going too fast!” . It was the galloping effect! Wild horses!!  The faster people were around you the faster you went even though you knew it way too fast for you.

Anyway, all ok for the first 3 ks . I knew I definitely was going  faster than I had gone before . I was starting to doubt myself whether I could keep going . (Imagining the post mortem- …where did it all go wrong?!) I kept looking for the bridge that we had to cross. It just seemed so far away. I despaired when we passed the Beckett Bridge.  Then eventually I could see little ants running over the next bridge. Psychologically when you cross that bridge, you feel you can make it home.  

Soon after that we came to the 4k mark. Then 800m – seemed very long until 600m to go.Then I visualised the pitch in Bushy   but it still seemed more. That last stretch was the worst. I just felt if the line didn’t come soon I couldn’t keep going!! It was a relief to finish and I was delighted with a PB .  Lots of Sportsworlders were finishing around me too.

I met Olive then and some of the lads and we made our way down to Capitol Dock where there was a BBQ and free beer –yes alcoholic! Some non-runners even managed to avail of the offerings with runners’ numbers-  won’t mention any names! They deserved it for cheering us on during the race.  Thanks to all the people from the club who supported.

Then on to The  Ferryman –cans of beers in hands (classy) and in good spirits. Lots of chats about the race. It was really enjoyable to talk to many people I hadn’t met before at Sportsworld (new and old members)  and there were lots of laughs. It was much later night than I had planned and I ended up getting the last bus home.  Sign of good night!! Well done to everyone who completed the race. We got to the end!

The Leinster Senior and Masters track championships took place in Tullamore on bank holiday Sunday. The Leinster races are never that well attended, in this case, due to the timing (bank holiday weekend), location (Midlands) and the host of other races on over the same few days. I was the sole Sportsworld representative this year but hope to see Martin Keenan and a few others back next year.

I was tempted to skip the races this year and run the Cork half but like a magpie attracted to silver, I wanted some bling. Having won gold in both the 800M and 1500M at Leinster indoors I was hoping to go back and win the same in the outdoors. It was always going to be a tall order given I’d just ran a Marathon two weeks earlier.

I was up at 7 AM and off on the now familiar drive down to Tullamore. I arrived at 9.15 AM to collect my number, even though my first race wasn’t until 10.45 AM. The sun was shining when I arrived but had gone into hibernation by the time we were warming up. It left us with cooler conditions but the very strong crosswinds persisted. A less than ideal gale for middle distance running. 

My first race was the 1500M. I knew from the start list that I was either going to come first or second here. I decided to do the early work in this one but not put in too much effort.  On fresh legs, the opening 400M of 68 seconds would have normally had me looking around but it felt tougher than normal and not just because of the wind. In the second lap, I still had a couple of people close behind but I was struggling to go faster. In the lead but not overly confident I went through 800M in 2.19 and tried to pick up the pace, only managing another 68-second lap. As we hit the bell I knew this wasn’t going to be my day. Although still leading to that point, I felt totally flat. Normally I have a good finish and could seal the deal on the last lap with a 62 or 63 second quarter but with 200M to go, I lost the lead and just couldn’t keep up. I took the silver in 4.20, a hell of a lot slower than the 4.13 I ran in the national indoors.  

The 800M two hours later was a tactical affair. The first 400M being run in 67 seconds. The second lap I ran in  64. I was always in 3rd in this race with Paddy Kellly of Drogheda beating me again Ronan Kearns of Rathfarnham in first. Paddy has recently ran 2.00 for 800M so I was always going to struggle in the 800M. Luckily Ronan is over 40 so I was second in my age category and got the silver. The slowest 800M I have even been involved with. I regret not going to the front and making it more of an honest race. 

A big lesson learned in Tullamore, you can recover quick enough from a Marathon to start doing some tempo type sessions (3.20-3.40) type stuff, but trying to run a 60 second 400M on the back of a slow opening 400M is a different kettle of fish. I won’t do the national outdoors this year as I want to go obsessive type all in for Berlin. The training plan is written and will start the day after Dunshaughlin. It might be too soon to hear that word mentioned for those that missed out and didn’t enter on time.

In the meantime, I’m off in India for a couple of weeks. My long term plan is to focus on my best Marathon this year and then have one last go at the 800M and 1500M club records in 2020. There are a few names to be taken down a peg or two on that leader board. 

The June Bank Holiday is synonymous with the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon! What a wonderfully inspiring event- the largest all female event in the world. Now in its 37th year, the annual event has raised millions for worthy charities over the years. The theme was Women with Impact – celebrating the impact women have made through their fundraising and fitness. 

On June 2nd over 30,000 women took to the streets of Dublin to walk, run and jog the 10km course.

Sportsworld ladies turned out in force for the big day. This has always been an important race in the Sportworld calendar. I met with Maura, Maria and Naoise just before 1pm for our warm up close by the course. Thanks so much to Maura for letting us use her place to drop off our stuff. There was a fantastic atmosphere and so much colour around. We were blessed with exam weather. This was going to be a great day. 

I have taken part in this race a good few times now but I have never managed to qualify for a number which would guarantee me a spot up at the top of the pack. Naoise got a late entry and ended up in my wave so I was lucky to have her lovely company.  We made our way into the wave early so we were as close to the start line as possible. We actually ended up very close to the top and it was great to see Kate and her mum up from Roscommon for the day. 

I don’t think it had massively hit me that we were just about to do a 10k race. The build up was so relaxed. However, just after 2pm we were off and the hard work begins. There was so much support and noise out on the course. It was just fantastic. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to cheer us on. The ladies on the course were all so supportive too and offered words of encouragement to those around them as they made their way around. That is what makes this event special. 

There were excellent results for all the Sportsworld crew who raced. I think there were a few pbs and everyone seemed happy afterwards. This was my first 10k since this race last year. I managed a pb taking nearly 3 mins off my time and guaranteeing myself an elite entry next year. This was beyond my expectations. I decided this year less is more and have tried to cut down on my racing and just pick some great races and give them my best shot. The mini marathon was always on my list. It is such a feel good run. It makes no difference how long it takes to cross the finish line- everyone is a winner.

We finished the day with a lovely evening of great chats, food and drinks. 

The winner of the race was Aoibhe Richardson in 34.35. The results are listed below. Apologies if we missed anyone.

Ciara Brady 39.58

Maria Jones 40.18

Maura Ginty 40.23

Naoise Waldron 41.20

Katie Nugent 43.06

Kate Kelly 44.11

Patricia Fitzmaurice 45.24

Jessica Kennedy 46.16

Anne Sweeney 46.40

Laura Murphy 48.18

Delourdes Seymour 50.24

Maria Finnegan (channelling Bronwyn Murphy White) 50.55

Mary McNamara 52.22

Lucy D’arcy 52.35

Valerie Power 51.34

Liz Lanigan 52.45

Siobhan Clarke 53.17

Anna Carrigan 54.14

Rachel McGuirk 52.29

Orla Greaves 59.36

Sinead Farrell 58.10

Alison Mackey 69.02

Two from the club, Martin Doyle and Sadanand Magee tackled the hilly Windmill 10km in Garristown on Sunday morning both securing a place in the top three.

It was showery and windy in the morning which thankfully passed to give fair conditions for the race. The course itself takes some lovely countryside roads but is not one for Pb’s with a steady uphill start and a steep uphill finish. On the last kilometre, the runners have to battle it out on the ‘bog hill challenge’ as it has been tagged.

It was a good result for Sportsworld with Sadanand winning the race and Martin coming in 3rd, only being pipped on the last steep hill. The sheer quantity of homemade sandwiches and cakes at the end made up for all the hill work. All in all a good warm-up for Dunshaughlin 10km in a couple of weeks.