I am not sure who will want to read about a 5k in Drogheda the same week the Berlin marathon reports are hot off the press. But it has been a long time since I wrote a race report so I may as well give you the back story.

In 2017 I developed a race phobia. Maybe it was a race report phobia actually? Anyway unless I felt I was gunning for a pb, there was zero wind or the course was as flat as a football field, I was not signing up. Oh and I also had to feel in top form, had trained hard, slept well and tapered perfectly. So no surprise it was July when I finally toe’d the line in the Docklands 5k. The resulting DNF was not the acronym I was hoping for. With confidence shattered, that was my one and only road race of the year.

So I came in to 2018 with changes in mind. The plan was to commit to the club sessions, run more easy miles and return to the weekly LSR. Basically do everything that Myles & Emily had been prescribing all along! And also I was going to race more. Whatever the conditions or fitness levels or moon cycle, I was going to show up.

So in keeping with the plan, I wanted to squeeze in a 5k before the big one at the end of the month. I scanned myrunresults calendar and the Boyne AC 5k popped up. Facebook said a “flat fast paced course” and Google maps clocked the journey at 40 minutes. The course was a lap and two thirds (different start/finish points). No one likes lapping but it looked straight forward and the new me has stopped searching for perfection so “Sign me up!”.

A 12 noon start meant there was no early morning rush. The journey up the M1 flew by and I was directed off the M1 and straight to the club house in lots of time for a warm up. I am not sure what qualifies as a fast flat course in Drogheda. “Undulating hills” might be more apt. I got a few easy miles in followed by some (downhill) strides and made my way to the start line.

The buzzer sounded just after 12 and we climbed immediately followed by a long and bumpy downhill. I stayed in the lead pack of 5 and we motored over the hills for the first 1.5km before turning a corner to face the wind and the start of the climbs. Now I will be honest, if I was to go back up and run this course without the race pressure, I may downgrade the terrain classification but senses are heighted at race pace and the smallest incline can intensify in the mind. 2km in, I was safely tucked away from the headwind, clipping the heels of the 4th place chap. But he started to feel the pace or else he wanted me off his tail – either way I had to man up and overtake. At this point we were passing the start finish line on lap 1 so there were cheers from the crowd, which does help pass a few hundred metres. After that I knew the hills were coming. I tried to keep the stride going for as long as possible before switching to the duck step. It mightn’t look pretty but it does give the legs some temporary relief. It wasn’t long until the 4km marker and I was running downhill again, albeit with less grace & more desparation than the first lap. I tried to stay calm, get control of the breathing and keep the pace without the effort. This served me well and I started closing on second place. With 400 metres to go, he was close but a glance over the shoulder & step on the gas kept me rooted in third.

It took me a while to realise that races are not about pb’s or flat courses or head winds but it is about giving everything you have got, on the day. I crossed the line knowing I had done just that. After catching my breath, I made it back down the course to cheer on Audrey who is still learning what running is all about. I was delighted to witness her shave a few seconds off her personal best on a tough course.

The race was well organised with a pre and post race goodie bag, a massive spread in the clubhouse afterwards and cash prizes for all age categories. While not a fast 5k, I would definitely recommend it and hope to be back next year.

So roll on Rathfarnham and for those who are still with me, I can offer you this advice…

– Keep up the easy miles
– Don’t neglect the Sunday long run
– Race regularly and often
– Listen to Myles & Emily
– Finally & most important, enjoy the process!

It’s now Thursday afternoon and I have a gnawing sense of guilt regarding a Gareth text at 8am Monday morning looking for a race report.

Figuring it would take me as long to write my excuse to him, and I would still probably need to avoid him for the first half of Saturday night, decided to just give in and plug down a few words.  Oh, what price strava kudos?!!!

Anyhow, I am back home in Mayo a fair bit and there is a fairly active running club scene there – lots of club races but to date, I hadn’t been able to attend any.  So I saw the “Castlebar Greenway 10 miler” hosted by Mayo AC  and said I would give it a bash.

It’s the inaugural year and it really suits people from the West training for marathon who don’t want hassle of travelling too far to Dublin for a race.

As you would generally expect from a club race, the organisation was exceptional – plenty stewards, water stops, great feed afterwards, instant results and 2 timing mats (the second was at half way point so you could track exactly your positive split – mine was 3.5 minutes which is some going for a 10 miler!).

I learnt that castlebar doesn’t actually have a community centre so the registration was in An Sportlann which is attached to McHale park, the GAA grounds.  I have only ever been there on crowed match days so I had a proper wander around at registration and for one item alone, this place and race is worth attending… one of the famed Mayo footballers from the 1950s Mick Flanagan has his medals on display and in the middle of them all a Mayo All Ireland winners medal from 1951!  To be honest, that is actually the only picture I took of my whole Castlebar 10 miler adventure.  I was actually quite shook by the modesty of it.

Anyhow – the race…

Met a few people who when they saw me said “you’ll win this” which I found completely disconcerting especially as Colette Tuohy was warming up and another good few club type runners.  Anyhow I took them at their word and decided to try and stay with the lead women, make the morning interesting.  I’m not in PB shape (though not for want of trying) so didn’t care too much about time – as long as I was sub 70.

So for the first half of the race there was a pack of us: me, Colette and eventual winner Emma with a few lads.  I felt comfortable enough but looking at my km pace suspected it was too fast and I wouldn’t be able to sustain it.  Anyhow sucker for drama, I decided to persevere.

The race was out and back along castlebar greenway out to Turlough village –which is where the National Museum of Country Life is (currently hosting the National Treasures exhibition).  I actually didn’t even know this greenway existed so useful for a run if you are ever stuck in Castlebar for a few hours (which I somehow tend to be). The museum has good coffee shop/Sunday lunch spot.  Lough Lannagh is another area in castlebar for a run.

This greenway is not flat and in particular around Turlough village there are some sharp hills.  I hadn’t done any hill sessions for a while and this defo impacted my confidence approaching hills but most obviously, it impacted my speed.  So sensing my reticence,  Emma and her companion took off, followed a few minutes later by Colette and the rest of the gang.  Left for dust, I had a lonely turnaround at Turlough and knew I would be on my own into a breeze (which explained the speedy first half) for the remainder of the race.  Anyhow, blah blah dig deep, suffer blah.. I got to the finish line in time of 69:19 which is nearly 3 minutes off my PB but 11 minutes off my PW – so I suppose I gotta be happy enough.  Met my family after and the only thing they were interested in was the picture of the 1951 medal.  There is only one dream in Mayo!!

Lured here by the promise of scenery and muffins we arrive to the Lakes around 10 am.  The rain has cleared and we’re left with a watery grey morning, a cool 16 degrees and no breeze.  These are perfect conditions for a run.

Neither Conor, Sandra or myself are hell bent on a warm up.  En route we’ve passed Gareth and Karol out the road doing their routines and it looks a bit intense.  Instead we put down the time by asking a man who’s trying to put on his runners to take a picture of us with the lake.

Then there’s a meander down to collect our numbers (seamless) and visit the portaloos (which are of a particularly high standard, just short of having elevator music).   The smiling faces of Val, Anne, Phil and Lorna all materialize from the assembled runners and Myles appears offering some welcome support.  Between chats and photos, before you know it, it’s “go” time and there’s been no warm up.

Warm-up faux pas aside, I’ve put a lot of thought into this race.  Having read several of Gareth Murran’s race reports I realise it’s important to have a strategy in place.  So I’ve studied the elevation map and consulted veterans (i.e. Aoife:  “There’s a big hill at kilometre 6/7 but after that you’ll be laughing.”)  The plan is to keep as close to my “still breathing” pace of 5 minutes per km for the first 6kms, to just keep going on the hill and then for the last 3km run headlong towards the muffins.

Registering for this back in July, on the back of getting around two races with virtually no training, I resolved that if I could just up my training a few hundred percent to like, 3 times a week, I could achieve my ambition to break 50 minutes in a 10k and be done with that hateful distance for good.  My gruelling training regime since then (no need to take notes, I’ll send ye on the power point slides) has included, inter alia, running one and a half times up Mount Anville hill and numerous circuits around a field of bewildered sheep down in Tipp.  Pay off came with a big PB at the Rock and Roll 10k in August but it turns out that training doesn’t really suit me and, in the week up to this race, I’m creaking like a broken gate with niggles (real or imaginary) from my right shoulder to my left ankle.

In spite of the meticulous planning I’m nearly 2km into the race before I realise I’ve forgotten to turn on the watch.  There’s momentary dismay that that 8 minutes of my running life will never be synced to Strava but this is no time for a meltdown.   The first 2km of the route is bordered by trees.  10k is a lonely distance; short enough to need hard effort but too long to hold concentration.   It took a supreme effort to break 50 minutes a few weeks back I’m reluctant to let it go and yet neither body nor mind are hungry for the exertion today.    I fall into step with a non-sportsworld pal who I know is also aiming for a sub 50.   Around the 2k mark Lorna Quinn, who rumour has it is just back from injury, glides by at a steady pace.  Happily, I’m aware that Lorna could probably outrun me on crutches so I just stay chugging away.

The road opens up a bit.  There’s no crowding, there are glimpses of the lake now and there’s not a lot of movement in the race.    My legs feel heavy but every time this thought creeps in I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to do this, focus on the scenery and breathe.  Though I’m running alongside my pal both of us are working hard and there’s no chat.  Then it’s the halfway mark, signalled by a water stop and a noticeable turn at the top of the lake.  We’re over half way now but I’m aching and tired and wishing the infamous hill would just come.  When it does ( wonderfully signposted, as is all the course),  I’m so relieved to be this far along that I don’t worry too much about the hill itself.  Just stay going and don’t use it all up.  There’s a sharp decline thereafter and I make the mistake of breaking into my pre-planned Muffin gallop and going down too quickly.  It’s something I’ve done in all my races this year, looking for cheap gains from the downhill but today the impact reverberates up my limbs and jostles my stomach and by the time I get to the bottom I feel nauseous.  After that, there’s not the gradual decline that I’d expected but rather a slight incline from about 8.5 kilometres compounded by a light breeze into our faces.  So the muffin run idea gets shelved and there’s really no plan B except to stay going.  Then it’s the last 500 and, the welcoming sound of Myles cheering us home.  I realise only then that Sandra Kelly is close behind and gaining on me.  She steams by with about 200 metres to go and I have no response in the tank.  But it has been enough to scape a tiny PB on the big PB of August so that’s a satisfying reward to an unwisely overreaching effort on the day.

While I’ve been close to death to get sub 50 Karol has rumbled in in 5^th place with a time of 33:31 followed by Phil and a “jogging” Gareth both in under 36 minutes.

What do you mean you were jogging?

After collecting our medals and goodie bags we reconvene for the essential 2 hour coffee and lunch session and the good company and chats put things right with the world again.

It was the first of September, a day I’ll always remember: that was the day that my Sportsworld singlet died…

The Venue: Tallaght Track.

The Event: Sportsworld Club Championships.

The Races: 1,500m individual men and women, 400m team relay.

The Goal: shine like a star.

The Old Mantra: ‘You can lose fitness but you can’t lose talent’ (Byrne, Joseph. 2001. – sorry, just finished my doctorate and have developed an addiction of formally citing people’s quotes).

The New Mantra: if you have less talent, compensate with fitness.

Disclosure: The events recounted in this report are based less rigidly on actual facts and more loosely on how I interpret them; any levels of realism can rise as well as fall, please read responsibly.

Event 1: Women’s 1,500m

This was a great race for the spectator. Like a group of lean, graceful leopards on the Serengeti Plains, they lined up – the crème de la crème of Sportsworld female athletes gathered on a misty morning track just outside of Tallaght village.

It was a tight contest for the first three laps with Maria Jones (more about her later) closely tracked by Ruth Kelly, Stephanie Bergin and Deirdre O’Connell (yes, the sister of the famous Paul O’Connell). Looking equally comfortable, not far behind the leaders was my great 400m team captain Naoise Waldron, and in the second group were Sinead Farrell, Jessica Kennedy and Val Power.

With the bell chiming in their ears, the lead pack opened up with Maria putting the boot down, but Ruth was not giving up for anybody. Watching them fly past me on the 100m bend, it was not clear which of the two to bet my lunch money on for first and, likewise, the battle for third and fourth spot was being fought out between Steph and Deirdre.

Taking the ribbon, however, was Maria in 5:26, a very respectable time considering she spent most of the summer months recovering from injury; Ruth took second with 5:33; Stephanie third with 5:40; and Deirdre a close runner-up with 5:48.

The honours don’t end there, though, as Val Power took gold in the over-45 category with a time of 6:22, Anna Carrigan took silver for the same age group with 7:15 and Irene O’Connor rocked home in 7:05 to take gold in the over-50s. Well done to all 13 ladies who took part in the race, your times are recorded and listed below!

Event 2: The Men’s 1,500m

There were literally LOADS of us. There was a broad range of categories: under 35s, over 35s, well-over 35s and those-who-can’t-even-remember-when-they-were-35s.

This was truly a loaded field; big names, some with county, national, international and Olympic medals under their belts, like Gareth Murran, Karol Cronin, Michael Cunningham, Martin Keenan, Timothy Morahan and myself ‘most improved athlete of the year (2005)’. There was no gun-start, not even a ‘3-2-1’, just a ‘on the line…go’; this rattled me for a second and I never quite caught up with the boys again.

I took it handy for the first lap: I stayed with (the great) Paul Cassidy. I thanked him for his company and pushed on.

Next targets: Karl Chatterton, Wesley Harrison and Martin Keenan. I would have caught them no problem if they hadn’t had paid the other 30 athletes to block me in a finely spread-out and well-orchestrated group. Smashing into the third lap I set my sights on others like David Sanders (sprint specialist), Liam Lenehan (1^st home in the 400m relay), Neil Purdy (marathon man), Paul Duffy (club record holder for the marathon 2hrs29mins), and the young and up-and-coming Thomas Lyster.

Meanwhile up at the front, Gareth was using all his track experience to fend off the relentless attacks from Karol as they came into the last 200 metres (I didn’t actually witness this personally as they were about to lap me!). Gareth managed to do just about enough to keep Karol from getting his name on the silverware this year romping home in 4:20 with the primary school teacher settling for second place, a silver star and a two-second difference.

Michael, also running some very good races this season, was entertaining a consistently solid performer Karl who, likewise, was under a touch of healthy pressure from Brian Byrne, Adam Moss and the Talented Mr. Stephen O’Donnell. The Chairman, almost in a photo-(shop) finish, shaved third place in 4:29 and, in a blink of an eye later, Karl crossed the line in 4:30, followed closely by Brian (4:32), Adam (4:33) and Stephen (4:37).

As you all know, runners tend to suffer from amnesia in races and, as such, I don’t remember much of mine. However, I do recall booting around the final bend with an ambitious target: to catch the new man Thomas Lyster in the home straight. This, despite my best efforts, remained just that, an ambitious target, as, upon hearing my grunting get closer, this young man found another gear and out-kicked me, crossing the line (a mere) one second (or even less) ahead of me in 5:55. I didn’t mind, however, as this rising star went on to win a medal in his category so well done Thomas, I’ll see you next year!

The honours for the male athletes of the Sportsworld Track Championships 2018 in the 1,500m event are as follows:

• Gareth Murran: overall winner and undisputed Club Champion for 2018.
• Karol Cronin: overall second place and man behind the boo’s at Gareth’s prize-giving.
• Michael Cunningham: overall third place and still the Chairman of the club.
• Wesley Harrison: 1^st over 40 (4:40)
• Justin McKeever: 2^nd over 40 (4:53)
• Ronan Masterson: 3^rd over 40 (5:17)
• Martin Keenan: 1^st over 45 (4:48) – they say that this man now has more gold around his neck than Mr. T.
• Don José Chapa: 2^nd over 45 (5:27)
• Alan Hynes: 3^rd over 45 (5:30)
• Ed McEntee: 1^st over 50 (5:15)
• Joe Byrne: 2^nd over 50 (5:26)
• Noel Lynam: 3^rd over 50 (6:02)
• Liam Lenehan: 1^st over 55 (5:39)
• Derek Long: 2^nd over 55 (5:52)
• Don’t know who: 3^rd over 55
• Timothy Morahan: 1^st Newcomer (4:43)
• Donal Brennan: 2^nd Newcomer (5:12)
• Thomas Lyster: 3^rd Newcomer (5:55)

Event 3: the 400m Team Relay

This was the big one. This was what all the sunny Saturday morning track sessions, scones and coffees of the summer were leading up to.

Even though Naoise was our team captain, I knew everyone was calling us ‘The Dave Clarke Four’. Diarmuid led our campaign out and what a man to do it; the architect sailed around the opening lap getting us off to a very decent start, tapping our ‘Captain Naoise’ off to an equally inspiring second lap. Then, well, it was me.

According to Conor Kenny and Aileen Melody, I disappeared down the track like Shergar with my eyes fixed on another great Irish racing legend – a man renowned for getting great wear out of a Sportsworld singlet – Joe Byrne. He had, I reckon, about 100 metres on me as Naoise slapped my hand. No bother, I was nearly on his shoulder by 200 metres but something strange hit me and I just couldn’t pass. I told myself it was a physiological issue like ‘lactic acid build-up in elite athlete fatigue disorder’ but I knew it was really a socio-psychological problem: a much too deep respect for my elders.

Anyway, little did I know that another (much more recently developing) legend of the club was chasing me down (what an honour!). No need for names here but suffice it to say she has fair hair, blue eyes, is very fast, appeared on the front cover of The Irish Runner, is from Tipperary, her star sign is… (leave that with me) and she had just won the ladies 1,500m.

Picture the scene (at least in my head): tens of spectator-fans gathered around the track roaring us on; ‘We are the Champions’ blasting from their iPhone speakers, and this famous female athlete preying on my shoulder as we enter the final bend. I held steady for a millisecond, looked her deep in the eye, gave her the Eamon Coughlan salute and – BOOM!!! – I was gone! I ran so fast up the home straight that most of the letters on my singlet fell off and I feared my bottom limbs would soon meet with a similar fate.

I crossed the line (some said ‘like a charging elephant’ – but jealousy does funny things to your competition) after passing one or two other bemused fellow club mates – I only managed to stop myself by deploying my parachute. Even a track legend of yesteryear Michael O’Grady (ex-scholarship runner in the States) was clearly impressed, eating his prawn sandwich and watching on from the VIP section.

Somehow I managed to return to this side of the sound barrier and tap Declan Brady as certain members of other teams contested hotly to officials about my ‘Hand of God’ – whatever! Unhinged by the critics, the man Bolted into a great last lap for us and continued on up the back straight morphing into a hair-raising, X-factor winning, Mo Farah impression, securing another couple of places for ‘Team DC’ and bringing us nicely home in ninth place overall.

Hats off, though, to Liam Lenehan, who peaked at precisely the right time in his career and ran as much a tactically sound as a heroically impressive 400m to arrive first across the line fisting the air in victory (mental note: get Dave Trimble to do up a couple of bouquets for next year).

The honours for the Sportsworld Track Championships 2018 in the 400m team relay event are:

1^st Place: Andrew Brett, Jessica Kennedy, Liam Lenehan, Andrew Brett (ran two legs)

2^nd Place: Gareth Murran, Noel Lyneham, Stephanie Bergin, Mark Heffernan.

3^rd Place: Will Martin Smith, Donal Brennan, Ian Harrison, Val Power.

Finally, A Lap of Honours

But all competitive-seriousness aside, it was a truly fantastic morning for the club: I could see everybody buzzing after the race, lots of congratulating and the odd bit of good-humoured banter and slagging and good craic. Let’s now do a lap of honours together and thank the various people who made it happen.

I know it’s often said that behind every great man, there is a great woman. Well, behind this great event and, by extension, behind our club, is both a great man and a great woman of equal measure: Myles and Emily.

They put so many hours of methodical planning into this event, not to mention each and every Tuesday and Thursday evening and Saturday morning session with one uniting goal in mind: our improvement.

No matter how cold, wet or windy it is, they will always be out there to support and guide you in Bushy Park, the Pheonix Park, the Track, Kiltipper…

Thanks also to our two beautiful and bubbly tea ladies Ellen and Sean who kept the refreshments flying out. Thanks also to those who helped out pre-, during- and post-races around the finish line and beyond: Anna Delaney, Ceoimhe Daniels, Ann Higgins, (‘The Queen of Connemara’) Lucy Darcy, Adrian Lannigan, Conor Kenny, Aileen Melody, and Michael O’Grady.

Roll on 2019 and another chance to lead my team mates to podium glory…

The morning of the eagerly anticipated Frank Duffy 10 mile dawned, and no more waiting. Well, when I say “eagerly anticipated”, I mean that I was awake before the 6:30am alarm. On a Sunday. After an early night. On a Saturday.

I actually was kinda looking forward to it, as I was hoping that a good race would rejuvenate my enthusiasm for all those marathon preparation long runs, where I had started to feel I was getting only slower and slower. If I could do around 5:15 /km average, then that wouldn’t be too bad, thought I. I wanted to try out steady pacing, as I know that’s going to be really important for me on Marathon Day. And life is all about Marathon Day, don’t you know.

So, back to the morning – weather looked ideal, and the forecast agreed. Off Padraic and I went to Swords, with the first challenge to find the Pavilion car park without any signs. Luckily, we had loads of time, so after lots of roundabout circling but no stress, we were sorted!

It was lovely to bump into lots of Sportsworld folk en route to the start line, and warming up. Starting in the middle of town is nice too. And we were off! While it was very busy, I never felt in anyone’s way, even at the start, so no stress there. My first km up to the motorway was at 5:03, which was only a little too fast, so no panic, but the 2nd km clocking in at 4:54 meant ah-here-would-you-get-over-yourself-it’s-10-miles-that’s-TEN-MILES! So, after that, I settled into a nice steady pace at around where I wanted to be.

The first few kms on the motorway are not as bad as you might expect, as they’re broken up with a couple of roundabouts, and before long, it’s a left turn into the countryside. It turned out to be quite warm, so tree-lined country roads became very welcome. Having experienced the Rock n Roll half marathon a few weeks ago, I actually didn’t notice any hills – and Strava confirms with only a 55 m elevation clocked up. There’s one part of the course where you can see a really long line of runners up ahead, which was a bit daunting at first, but turned out to be very pleasant as there was some gentle downhill along there. Having made the mistake of not taking enough water at the first water station (cups rather than bottles), I was very careful to drink at the next ones, as it did feel very warm. We were still in pleasant countryside past the half-way mark, so then it became about counting down the kms, which I find a lot easier than counting up! For the last couple of kms, my head went to Bushy Park and the 1km x 5 sessions, and trying to keep up with everyone!

It’s a good few years since I did my one and only other 10 mile race at around 1:36, so it probably doesn’t really count. Overall, I was delighted with a 5:11 /km average pace, and even think I had some energy left at the end, so looking forward to the half marathon. And then onwards to the marathon! (Did I mention that I’m signed up for the marathon??)

I really liked the course, and would recommend it. The organisation was great – plenty of parking close enough to the start line, with a very pleasant finish area also in town. Most of the course feels like it’s in the countryside, and it’s not particularly hilly. And of course, very nice breakfasts to be had close by with great company!

Massive congrats to Ciara for a fantastic 2nd place overall.

Phil Kilgannon 00:57:40 3rd in age cat, Gold Dublin O35 team medal

Andrew Brett 00:59:27 2nd in age cat, Gold Dublin O35 team medal

Kevin Curran 01:00:573 Gold Dublin O35 team medal

Paul O Connell 01:04:49

Mark Hollowed 01:04:49

Ciara Brady 01:05:25 Individual Dublin Gold

Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain (as Neil Purdy) 01:06:00

John Flaherty’s brother (as John Flaherty) 01:06:20

Sean Donegan 01:09:03

Richard Cyganiak 01:09:31

Anthony Gillen 01:10:55 Bronze Dublin O50 team medal

Liam Lenehan 01:12:19

Declan Brady 01:12:23 Bronze Dublin O50 team medal

Johnny Dwyer 01:12:29

Padraic Moran 01:13:39 Bronze Dublin O50 team medal

Karl Shevlin 01:14:15

Martina Nolan-Jones 01:17:39

Philip Kerr 01:19:32

David Culhane 01:19:56

Grainne Lynch 01:20:26

Stephanie Bergin 01:20:31

Siobhan Clarke 01:23:46

Sandra Kelly 01:24:07

Conor Kenny 01:24:29

Bronwyn Murphy White (as Carmel Dolan) 01:25:59

Valerie Lacy Power 01:29:45

Richard Ohle 01:29:59

Caoimhe Donegan 01:35:13

Cliona O Riordan 01:44:45

And so to Clonakilty, or as it is more popularly known, the Land of Pudding. I’ve been training for the Berlin Marathon and with a few weeks to go now I was looking for a shorter race to give the legs a blast without the longer post race recovery time required of a longer race. This 4 Mile race on the 26th of August organised by the Clonakilty Road Runners gave me the opportunity to do this and also visit home.

(Above: Yeah, that is a to scale statue of an elephant in a field)

The route of the race is scenic and takes in the two estuaries on either side of the Inchydoney peninsula. The first two miles are as flat as you’ll get in Ireland as you traipse around the seashore. Thereafter the work begins as you negotiate a challenging hill that brings you back into the town. The last kilometre is on a steady downhill so the finish is nice and fast.

(Above: Aerial plan of the race route)

Before the race we were all to assemble at the Model Railway Village. Definitely one of the unusual and memorable tourist attractions. Basically, people have made scale models of the old towns in Cork that the railways used to visit and these little trains drive around and stop at the different stations. Probably needs to be seen to be believed.

(Above: Photograph of the model of Clonakilty Town. There are less livestock in the streets these days.)

A mass warm up had been arranged for everyone in the car park. Mind you it was 20c that morning and 90% humidity to boot.

It was great watching so many people doing the warm up together early in the morning with the tunes blasting. From here we were sheparded to the start line just before the start time.

(Above: One very eager beaver)

The race began and not too long after it came to me that doing the Parkrun the day before hand wasn’t a wise move if I wanted to release the lion within. I quickly came to terms with having to leave the lion indoors for another day and pushed on as best I could.

(Above: Here I am at about mile 2 looking like I’m totally loving it. It was literally all uphill from here, but no photographic evidence exists of that, thankfully.)

It was lovely doing the race on roads I was very familiar with and atmosphere there was buoyant. Although I have ran the distance faster in the past I finished in 5th place which I was chuffed about.

The post race spread was totally class. All home baked or made. I dutifully ate my fill 🙂

(Above: Myself at one of the cake tables in the new sportsworld blue away singlet … ahem.)

Although I had a great experience here it would have been worth doing the race for the tshirt alone.

A group of us had signed up for the relay of the Ironman triathlon 70.3 in Dun Laoghaire (a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run).  We had 5 teams and one very active whatsapp group.

When I agreed to the run part, I had that ever-ready “do it as a tempo” in head but then I was alerted to the price – €415 entry for the 3 person team.  So upgraded my plan and set 90mins as the goal.

Our team was Shane out swimming first, then changeover to my boyfriend Pete for bike and on to me for the run.    Athletes are tracked and you can follow progress on an app, with estimated times given for bike and run as you progress – these are really necessary for relay as you need to be ready for your teammate coming in, especially as bike times can vary by 2 hours.  The only issue with the tracker is that estimated times were based off swim and bike average.   So probably the funniest bit of the day was when a biker on our other team had a really good race, arrived at changeover but his teammate was only out in blackrock dart station making his way in.  To be fair to him, they only lost 26 minutes waiting around.

I also fell victim to this.  Was sitting on a wall, drinking coffee, having the chats, away from the formal changeover area, when my phone pinged to tell me that Pete had finished the bike – a full hour faster than estimated time.  Turned out my most pressing matter of concern was getting garmin satellite reception.  Then squeezed in through spectators and officials to the transition area.

Then the most bizarre run ever, and I really didn’t like it.  It was 3 lap course around dun laoghaire (up/down the east pier and as far as monkstown and back) and I had started with the mid pack gang so there were 100s of triathletes on the course all having done swim and bike and all at various points of a half marathon.  And me, fresh as a daisy trying to weave through them all – knowing that these lads had just completed, by all accounts, a horror of a bike course with 1,300m climb up the rainy Wicklow mountains.  Generally one gets a boost from overtaking – but that’s true in a race, everyone doing the same event; this was completely different and I got zero boost, actually minus boost.  Here my whole run was just overtaking and I did not find one person who was running the same pace as me (they would have probably finished earlier).

I really tried to get into important race mode mindset and kept trying to keep pace consistent.  I was doing fine until maybe around 15k and legs just felt really tired.  This is normal but by that stage I really didn’t have the investment in the race to find my pain cave (© Gareth Murran) .  I plugged away, was hurting but the adrenaline wasn’t there to force the body to really suffer (ah gotta love this hobby).

I knew this as I was able to raise a smile for the superb supporters Naoise, Catherine on WAG duty and Margaret and indeed Louise who was volunteering.  I was also able for a sprint finish at end.  Now I feel really bad about this part – other members of relay team can rejoin and go down the finish shoot (Ironman is ALL about the finish area).  So as in any healthy relationship, when I met Pete at rejoin point, all I wanted to do was outsprint him.  So we had a race down the line with no heed for the others who were finishing as individuals (probably also ruining their finish line photos).  I feel really crap about this.  We just didn’t think.My time was 94mins.  I can’t complain but I really should have been doing a road race.

Big thanks to Clodagh who was our group leader and managed to co-ordinate at least 15 people for the event, the gang are very diverse and lots of different hobbies so this was great way to get everyone together.  Also fair play to Margaret Crowley who was one of our fine swimmers!

Actually re the swim – I was chatting to people after and apparently a buoy marker moved and lots of people had an extra 400meters to swim.   Seemingly just one of those things that happens in triathlons.Anyhow, the whole day was really enjoyable – Ironman put on some show and it’s inspirational seeing all the triathletes finish and proud families. And the really cool bikes.

Finally big well done to Nigel Mulleady Elliott for completing the entire thing.  Hopefully we have report from him too.

2017 was my first year as a Master’s runner. One of the great memories of the year was winning a silver medal in the 1500M at the National Masters in the M35 category. After that race last year I had an appetite for more. The hashtag #goingforgold was the plastered across the race photo.

My indoor track season in 2018 was mixed. Having shown some early form with a 2:04 in the 800M in December I completely missed the Leinster, then Nationals and instead set my sights firmly on the Dublin marathon. The long runs are easier to get in when your traveling and the extra miles help keep the pounds off whilst entertaining clients and exploring distant lands.

Marathons aside I wasn’t about to give up on my bucket list goal of being a national champion in 2018. My outdoor build up was good. I ran the 800M and 1500M in the Leinster and came close to winning double gold, narrowly losing out by 1/100^th of a second in the 1500M. In July I ran my best 1500M in 3 years at the Graded’s, running 4.11 in Santry. I signed up for the masters with plenty of time to spare.

Getting closer to race day, imagine my excitement when the start lists were published. The spreadsheet came out and I started to Google all the field. It’s important to suss out the competition. Not quite stalking but just enough obsession…. An hour later, the good news was that the guy that beat me in the Leinster’s was only running the 5K but the bad news was that the guy who came 4^th in the last M35 World Champions and who ran 1.55 for 800M this season was to be in my race.

I drove down to Tullamore last Saturday ready to go to battle. Masters racing is great. You are competitive within your age group and the atmosphere is low key but like at the Senior level you never know who will show on the day. Its quite a long day in Tullamore as you have M35 up to M70 for men’s and women’s in almost all the events.

This year we have 3 from the club running. Michael Cunningham (M40) and myself (M35) were doing the 1500M and Martin Keenan (M45) was doing the 800M. Alan came down with Martin for some welcome support. The lads were great as Martin ran first at 2.30 but they waited until after 7PM to support me and Michael.

Martin Keenan was first up in the 800M. Martin ran a season’s best 2.16 which was an excellent result. Martin kept progressing on from the Leinster’s in June after a lay off from injury. Credit to Martin he always delivers. He finished an impressive 4^th in his race.

I was up next. After 3+ hours of sitting around, I was itching to go. After 3K around the local pitches, I was lacing up my spikes and starting to stare down the competition. When doing a middle distance race you need to be well warmed up, as in felt like you have already done half of your session. Strides all done by 7.10 PM and before I knew it I was standing on the line and ready to roll. After running 1.59 in the 800M earlier in the day I don’t think the result of the race was really, ever in doubt for most people.  If I was to cause an upset there was only one way it was going to happen which was to kick from a long way out and try to hang on. I had also just watched a marathon team ingebrigtsen session on Friday to prepare.

The gun went and off we went. I slotted nicely into second place as the early pacesetter took the first 300M out in 51 seconds.  I was well rested so the pace was very comfortable.  As we came around with 1K to go it was starting to back up a bit, the pace felt slow.  I was thinking to myself that if I let this turn into a slow tactical race then any of these lads could have a kick, not just the 1.55 man. To the front, I went. It’s important to build up the pace slowly at this point. Any sudden moves this early in and you are asking for trouble. The lactic will slowly build up and come the last 400M your legs won’t have anything.

The slow build up began. Lap 2 was again slow at 72 seconds so I was feeling good. Lap 3 was about pushing on to break up the field.  As I came around with just over 400M to go still in 1^st position the field had broken up behind. You start to count the seconds between cheers and shouts, in your head, to know who’s in contact.

As the bell rang to signify the last lap there was a great atmosphere around the place. The sounds of cheers and encouragement rang out. Now we’re moving! Careful to conserve some energy I just kept moving forward, pushing the pace but holding back a small bit. With 200M to go, I was still in the lead and it was time to make that move. The turbo boosts came on and I sprinted around the corner and down the home straight. Arms pumping and high needs I was flat out! Then with barely 50 meters to go in the race the inevitable happened, the 1.55 man sailed past and took the win. Not slowing down I ran 63 seconds for the last 400M but not able to react, coming home 1 second behind in second. Disappointed to not be the national champion but content that I gave it everything and would try to run with the same tactics every time. It was gold medal or bust, a silver is a nice perk.

They always say you get slow doing marathon training but at the end of the day, it’s about how much you want it. It’s on to Dublin in 10 weeks and with a 72 minute half in Killarney and a 30K in the Sierra Nevada Mountains behind me, I’m setting my sights relatively high.

Michael was last up in the 1500M. He slotted in nicely in the middle of the pack and kept a good pace to also get a season’s best and maybe a personal best. I think he ran a 4.2X as a young fellla. We’ll have to check the archives.

As we headed into the Tullamore sunset for a cool down there was a feeling of contentment. More so than last year.