11  VALERIE Power Sportsworld 6:30.55
12 IRENE O’Connor Sportsworld 6:39.07
13 CARMEL Dolan Sportsworld 6:51.59
14 BRONWYN Murphy White Sportsworld 6:53.64
15 OLIVE Fogarty Sportsworld 6:55.10

I was ranked 14, which was the average age of everyone bar the five of us representing Sportsworld in the Women’s C grade 1500m race up in Tallaght track last night.

Race reporter Bronywn 

Since starting on the track on Saturday mornings last summer and loving it, not to mention seeing serious improvements in my running, I have been dying to get back to it after such a gloomy winter. So I was delighted when I heard that Dublin Athletics were hosting a fortnightly race in Santry and Tallaght from May until August and thought I would rope a few others in to do it with me, so I wouldn’t make a complete show of myself on my own.

However, when we got there and saw the ‘competition’ in their short-shorts and serious looking multi-coloured spikes we got a little nervous. One girl was so serious she had two different coloured spikes on, which must mean she actually owns two pairs of spikes and not a pair of spikes between the five of us! We all felt a little out of place and a lot old. As Irene put it, she had ‘socks older than some of the girls in our race’ but it was too late to back out, so we did a few warm-up laps then stood around for half an hour and got cold again, as you do.

Our clumpy road runners plonked firmly on the wrong side of the starting line, we were ready to go, but there was a little delay and we were told to wait a few minutes and stay warm. Our competitors kept warm by doing strides and dynamic stretches and we rubbed our cold hands together, which we regretted as soon as the race took off.  ‘Why didn’t I warm up?’ and ‘why am I doing this?’ were the only things going through my mind when I had no oxygen for the 6:53.64 mins it took me to get around the track, but once it was over and I stopped coughing, I thought it was brilliant. That’s one thing nobody warned us about; the post track race smokers-cough you get that lasts for hours afterwards! Carmel even had to go get a cough bottle.

As for the race, I started way too ‘fast’ trying to hang on to the back of the group, but Carmel and Irene paced themselves very well and both surged on the last lap. Val hung on extremely well to the short-shorts girls the whole way round and myself and Olive managed to not be lapped by the winner! That was my main goal – just don’t get lapped!

Seriously though, and all joking aside I would totally recommend others in the club to try this one out. We had great support, Emily and Miles were there and we all heard loads of cheers for us by name and cheers for Sportsworld as we were running, which was quite unexpected, really encouraging and greatly appreciated.

We represented the ‘normal’ non-short shorts runners, who might be afraid to go to something like this, but we were made feel very welcome there and we would all definitely do it again and would encourage others to try it as well. Val spoke to a man who has been running the graded meets for 20 years and comes second last every time but said he doesn’t care as it’s great for improving your road racing time.

We went there for the laugh and the novelty of a track race on a Wednesday night, but honestly we really enjoyed it. It’s a totally different kind of running – lung busting and exhilarating and if it helps improve 5k and 10k time, its well worth the 6-7 minutes of body shock. The only down side was that we couldn’t find coffee afterwards, first world problems, but a coffee cart would make a killing up there.

When we finally got our breath back, we watched the Sportsworld men running their races. Gareth Murran ran a blinder for 2^nd place in the B grade men’s 1500m and so nearly got the win, as did Will Greensmyth in his C grade 1500m, narrowly missing out on 3^rd place, with Conor Keating and Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin placing 8^th and 9^th respectively in the same race.

Representing Sportsworld in the men’s D grade 1500m were Declan Brady (who came 3^rd), Aidan Curran and Alan Power (7^th and 8^th) and Timothy Morahan ran the 5000m in a very impressive 17:43.76.

Apologies if I missed anyone!

Next meet is next Wednesday 23rd in Tallaght:

Full results

Women’s C grade 1500m:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/505/1500m%20Womens%20C%20-%20RESULT.pdf

Men’s B grade 1500m:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/505/1500m%20Mens%20B%20-%20RESULT.pdf

Men’s C grade 1500m:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/505/1500m%20Mens%20C%20-%20RESULT.pdf

Men’s D grade 1500m:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/505/1500m%20Mens%20D%20-%20RESULT.pdf

Men’s 5000m A/B/C/D:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/505/5000m%20Mens%20A%20+%20B%20+%20C%20+%20D%20-%20RESULT.pdf

Full results:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/

Fixtures and joining up:

https://www.dublinathletics.com/fixtures/register-online.html

Only one word can adequately describe the Great Limerick Run of 2018. Hot. Maybe two words… very hot! Temperatures hit 20 degrees on the streets of Limerick on Sunday 6^th May 2018. Granted not quite Marathon des Sables…but it felt pretty close! ‘Strategy’ quickly evaporated in the heat… we would be happy to finish in a reasonable time.

The Great Limerick Run happens on the Sunday of the May bank holiday, and is part of Riverfest. So I was sold a promise of “a bit of a run, and then food, drink, fun and fireworks”.

The Great Limerick Run has a full and half marathon, a relay marathon (which nobody told me about when we were signing up) and a 10k. Staggered starts made for an almost seamless start. I say seamless because when meeting friends in Pery Square don’t tell them “I’m beside the church”… there’s a church at both ends of the square!

Nevertheless we set off together on the half-marathon, bemoaning the lack of training, lack of clouds and lack of sunscreen…

The first few miles took us south/southwest-ish through the suburbs, into open country, past the Old Crescent RFC, back into more suburbia, and then back in the same road towards the city.

The halfway point was back by the city centre, and cheering crowds for whom there was an obligatory spurt for about 50 metres to make me look like a proper athlete (followed by the shuffle as I passed out of sight!)

We then crossed over the Shannon and into the leafy (and deceptively uphill) suburbs of the North Circular Road.  Somewhere around mile 10-11 a spectator had turned their garden hose outwards onto the road.

I have never appreciated somebody turning their garden hose on me so much in my entire life! It felt like a little bit of heaven.

Then it was onwards (and upwards) towards the Ennis Road, from which it seemed I was running towards the roof of Thomond Park!

By now it was clear that heat had gotten to some runners, and their race was unfortunately over for the day. Thanking my lucky stars, the extra water stations and slow pace I progressed, finally reaching the summit of Thomond Park!

And then the relief of moving downhill towards Sarsfield’s Bridge, with the inflatable arches in the near distance, neither of which turned out to be the finish line! Too late, I’d already put on a finishing flourish for my adoring public and had to sustain it for another  50 metres up the street, around the corner onto O’Connell Street and about another 50 metres to cross under the actual finishing arch completely banjaxed!

I have to say I’d underestimated what Limerick city has on offer – it lived up to its promise of running, good food and drink, fun and fireworks.

It’s a nice route for a slightly cooler day (or fitter version of me)!

Half Marathon                   Pos            Time

Kieran Foley                     207         01:38:14

AnnMarie Scanlon             186         01:57:23

Ann Belton                       246         02:02:23

Grainne Wall                     317         02:08:00

Marathon                   Pos            Time

Shona Keane               1         03:00:29

Ed McEntee                 78       03:12:39

My last race report, a mere 4 weeks ago on Easter Monday at Raheny described excessively cold, wet and windy conditions for the race. Fast forward to May Bank Holiday and conditions were positively hot, dry and calm. God, is there any ideal weather conditions for a race I ask myself?

What a great days racing for the club though. Best summed up I think in the words of one of the organisers to Emily, during the presentation ceremony, “Ye lot cleaned up here today”.

May Bank Holiday Monday means one thing. The trip to Gowran, for the annual, round and
round the village we run. 5 of our Ladies and 19 of our men together with Emily and Myles took the trip South to compete for the club in the Leinster Masters and Novice Competitions.
Liam Lenehan and Peter Knaggs had educated us thru ‘whats app’ that apparently 90 000 souls were buried in the adjacent restored abbey grounds. Despite the hot conditions endured by the 23, thankfully we won’t be adding to that number anytime soon.

First to race for Sportsworld over 4 laps or 6k were the Mens Masters. Despite great efforts
from our M35 team led home by Gavin Finlay back from the U.S, they were narrowly beaten
into 4 th place in what was a very competitive and keenly contested race.
Our O50s team were to fair 1 place better collecting bronze, led home once again by Noel Tobin.
Congratulations to Liam Lenehan for picking up bronze in the o55 category. Especially sweet for Liam, doing the business on his home turf. Well done.

Like the weather, the afternoon was to get better as the club pulled off a great double, winning both Ladies and Mens Novice team gold. Special mention to Maria Jones and Ciara Brady claiming silver and bronze respectively in the individual category, to go with both Club and County gold medals. 3 medals is certainly a fine days work.

Not to be outdone by the Ladies, the Mens team led home by Stephen O Donnell who ran an
incredible 4 th lap in making up 3 places also brought home the gold to bring the days racing to an end.

In addition to medals mentioned above our athletes collected 4 County Gold and 9 County Silver to add to the haul.

Well done to all who competed in Gowran. Be sure to mark it in the diary for 2019.

Special thanks to Emily & Myles for their support on the day.

Results:

Grainne Lynch

When I woke up on Sunday I immediately regretted not running away from Emily when she cornered me on the Tuesday after training asking where I was racing over the weekend. It seems my answer of “I’m not racing” wasn’t one of the options.

It was hot out there and I was in hayfever hell! After some initial confusion registering teams for the Dublin Novice Championship I met up with Martina for a warm up. I desperately wanted to break 23 minutes so I decided I would run as fast as I could for as long as I could – foolproof really! At the start line, already sweating there were a good few Sportsworld singlets to be seen. I lined up (with itchy eyes and sneezing) alongside Martina, Linda, Val and Carmel. Midday struck and we were off – did I mention it was hot!! The course is flat and fast except for the hill at the end. Jose had warned me to save some energy for the slight drag at the end – it’s a hill Jose!! At least it felt like that to me.

My strategy worked for the first 3 KM. I felt great and was sure I was going to smash my sub 23 target. Oh how things can quickly change. By the 4th Km I had blown up and decided that I in fact hated running. Linda and Martina started to pull away from me. It was only when I glanced at my watch I realised how much I had slowed. I pick up my pace again and even attempted a sprint finish on the track but alas I crossed the line in exactly 23:00. My sub 23 was not to be.

There was great support from the club all along the course. Thanks to Emily, Myles, Paul, Naoise, Catherine, Aileen, Karl and Jose for the shout outs! There was a decent spread after in the clubhouse and presentations took place on the track in the glorious sunshine. Due to technical issues the team results for the Dublin Novice were not announced so we only found out a day later that the ladies team came 3rd. I foolishly shared this good news with Olive Fogarty whose response was “great, well done, will you write a race report”? it seems “no” was not an option. Well done to everyone who raced in that heat.

Oliver Hedborg

Journey up to the race:

When it came to preparations for this race, I had none. Honestly! I’d just come back to Tuesday’s training session after running the Madrid Marathon and had no what-so-ever idea that I was going to be running a 5k race on Sunday.

Like any other training session I walked through the clubhouse doors and was immediately met by Emily who was smiling at me. “How was Madrid? Happy enough?”. I nodded, indicating I was. Emily continued by saying something like “How about running Sunday or Monday?”

Sunday would be alright, I responded. Unlike most people, I did not have the luxury of having Monday off as my bank holidays are planned after the Nordic market.

Nevertheless, without too much thought, Sunday sounded pretty good. Half a minute later and I was signed up for a 5 km race.

Fast forward to Sunday – race day:

9.30 a.m. sharp. That’s when I was convinced everyone was going to meet outside of the clubhouse to car pool to Tallaght. Embracing my inner Swede I showed up early – like 30 minutes early and decided to enjoy the beautiful weather by waiting out the remaining time on a bench just outside of the clubhouse. Ten minutes go by and at the corner of my eye I’m noticing someone running towards me. It was Enda, out for his morning run on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Happy to see a familiar face I turn to greet him. With a confused face Enda asks me what I’m doing here (for those who do not know I happened to live over at the north side in Clontarf, so for me to be found that far south is not very common unless there is a session). I explain to Enda that I’m waiting for the car pool.  The expression on his face clearly indicated I’ve made a mistake. No one is coming and there is no car pool for today. I texted the Sportsworld men’s group, fingers cross, hoping for someone to respond that they are driving.

Enter Michael to the rescue who was driving over there around 10:45 am.

With some time to kill I head over with Enda to grab a coffee (also what Swedish people like to call “fika”) to wait out the remaining time. An hour and lots of coffee later I’m sitting in the car together with Michael and Conor on our way to Tallaght.

In the car I get my first introduction of the course where both Michael and Conor (who ran it previously) explain that it’s a fast one. Fun fact – they announced that if you beat the course record of 14:XX you have the chance of winning €500. The trick is not to blow up in the beginning and make sure to save some energy for the 3-4 km where you are faced with some uphill.

The course itself started just a couple of minutes outside the Tallaght AC’s clubhouse on Greenhills Road and took you around, in one single loop, the neighbourhood of Tallaght finishing fast on the club’s track.

Whilst discussing the layout of the course and how we were going to try to pick people off during the last km of the race, we arrived at Tallaght where we met up with the rest of the Sportsworld team. Eager to race I started my normal routine of stretching followed by some laps together with the team on the tracks. After about 15 minutes it was time to line up and together as a team we headed down to the start line (see first picture). I pushed my way up to the front of the starting line ready to run.

The clock turned to 12 pm and off we went. Like Michael and Connor said, it was fast. I was aiming to average on a 3.45-ish pace and immediately caught myself running more on a 3.20. I had to slow down, let people pass and steady myself. I saw Michael, Connor and Wesley shoot by me – all going strong. First 2 km felt alright. Pace was as intended and I continued to move forward. The course really felt like a typical run in the neighbourhood, taking you through the suburban areas.

I passed the 3 km and noticed I’d slowed down a bit, conscious of the hilly part ahead of me. To my relief it wasn’t as bad as expected. With only a couple of second’s slow-down, I increased the pace again for the last km. At this point the heat was becoming more noticeable as well. The weather was fantastic, but more suitable for tanning than running. It was warm and around +20 C with blazing sun.

Nevertheless, the end was close and I couldn’t stop. With my last shred of energy I forced myself to pick up the speed, hitting the final stretch of the track and finishing on a chip time of 19:24.

Conor McCarthy 17.09

Michael Cunningham 17.46

Wesley Harrison 18.18

Oliver Hedborg 19.24

Padraig Looby 19.55

Karl Shevlin 20.08

Gary Hobbert 20.34

Martina Nolan Jones 22.46

Grainne Lynch 23.00

Val Power 23.42

Report by Mark Hogan (above left with no flake in his ice cream)

“Ireland’s recording breaking course”: 68% of Half Marathon participants achieved a P.B. in 2017.

In January I was mapping out a few races for the first half of the year and was looking for a long race (10 miles / half marathon) in April as a warm up for the Cork Half at the beginning of June. With a tag line like the above on their website why wouldn’t you sign up I thought? I mentioned it at training to a few of the lads that I had entered and Andrew decided he’d also give it a go.

At training the week before the race we briefly discussed tactics for the weekend and we were both hoping to get a PB in around 82mins. This was when we started to finally address the actual course which despite the ‘recording breaking’ tagline actually had quite a hilly start. Basically up until the 8km was straight up hill, so we figured if we could maintain a decent pace until then we could roll downhill which was promised just afterwards.

I picked Andrew up on the morning of the race and the weather was perfect as we drove the scenic route down to Wexford town (which is a lot further away than we realised when signing up!)

The race itself starts in the town along the waterfront. We arrived with plenty of time to spare for a quick costume change and warm up. Just before the race set off we also met Ciara Brady near the start line who after beating Sonia O’Sullivan the day before in the Cabinteely Parkrun was deciding if she was running or racing the half.

The Wexford Half is a race with three very distinctive sections. For the first 2km’s of the race the route takes you south out of town with the usual felling of trying to get comfortable in your race pace. As always I set out a little too fast but we quickly started the hilly climb which meant a more natural slower pace. Andrew and I were side by side with a few other stragglers using us to shield the wind and pace them up hill. In previous years the race used to go through Johnstown Castle which as we passed looked very scenic but unfortunately we weren’t allowed in this year due to some ongoing works.

So we continued our climb all the while knowing that our main aim was to get to the 8km marker. By the 7km marker we had picked off a few runners already and our group was down to Andrew, myself and our new best friend Martin (from New Ross). We finally made it up the last of the hills (section 1 complete) and turned down some nice country roads with good shade and a decent decline.

We were conscious to make up some time we might have lost on the hills but also not getting too carried away as there was still a good distance to go at this point. The weather on the day wasn’t quite as biblical as Boston or London but it was starting to heat up and we were glad that there were plenty of water stations on the route and had our pre-planned gels at 11km. This was by far the nicest section of the day and the km’s ticked by quickly but with a few short sharp hills to keep us honest (section 2 complete).

By now we were at the 15km mark and this is where the real race began. Against a strong headwind and out on the open road of the N25 it was a case of head down and keep moving. Andrew definitely feeling stronger than me at this point kept up the strong pace and powered on ahead. So I was left with my thoughts and our new buddy who was still enjoying the wind breaking that I was only delighted to provide him with.

With 4km’s to go it was great to get a shout out from Conor Mac who was out for a Sunday run/topping up his tan; he told us afterwards it’s always sunny in Wexford. Finally, we entered a small business park on the outskirts of town where we had been told to run down to the second cone, do a u-turn and then back to the main road to make up about 800m’s that was missing from the course. Once back on the main road we took a quick left and a nice downhill to the finish with the only drawback being the 100’s of walkers from the 10km who had joined up with us by this point.

A quick look at the watch and delighted to get a PB by just over 1 minute, while Andrew also had a significant PB. On the journey back he told me his pre-Sportsworld time for a Half had been 93mins in 2017 and over the last 8mths he has taken 12mins off. Not long until he breaks 80mins!! We didn’t see Ciara at the end but based on her time she also ran a brilliant race and was the 6^th lady home.

Name                                    Chip Time                           Place

Andrew Brett                    1:20:49                                  4^th

Mark Hogan                       1:21:49                                  5^th

Ciara Brady                         1:38:34                                  85^th

Madrid Marathon Race Report, 22 April 2018 by Enda Kerin

“Planning to run a marathon is like life, anything can happen.” – Eliud Kipchoge

Journey to Madrid

My preparations for the Madrid marathon were far from ideal. I registered back in November when, fresh from watching the others in the club running Dublin and no doubt high on endorphins from a hills and sprints session, I decided it would be a great idea to sign up for my second marathon (the first I had done some five years ago to busy myself while on Erasmus and save my liver from all the pinard I had been subjecting it to).

With the Dublin Intermediate cross country race behind me in early December, I turned my focus to ramping up the mileage. Training was going well, I had gotten a few 20-milers in without much bother and I ran a (relatively) easy 1:18 in a half marathon on Christmas Eve after a heavy week of mileage. However, I didn’t give my body the rest it needed and after a very muddy 32km in Phoenix Park on New Year’s Eve I knew I needed a break. I just didn’t expect it to be nearly four months long.

Enda (375) getting acclimatised for Madrid

After running the Leinster Intermediate Cross Country in mid January off the back of two weeks of no training, I knew I had done myself a fair bit of damage and hobbled around for the next couple of weeks. The cross trainer became my new best friend as I tried acupuncture and everything else the physio could think of to get me back on the roads. Nada.

Eventually I had an MRI and was told to avoid running. So, as any runner would do, I threw on the runners first thing the next morning and went for my first run in 10 weeks. I’m not sure I even managed 5km, but the following day I headed to Bushy and ran a (not so impressive) 11km. Two weeks to Madrid, not where I wanted to be but at least I was running.

Madrid

Fast forward to Friday 20 April and I’m taking the opportunity to work on my speed as I leg it out the door of the office and onto the AirLink. Flight delayed, I eventually arrive at the hotel around 2:30am local time. I set the alarm for 8 and head straight for the expo to pick up my bib number. After a quick nap, I decide to see how my legs are feeling and do a light 30 mins in Parque del Retiro; not great but not horrific either. I decide I’ll line up in the morning and probably turn off with those running the half at the 17km mark.

Parque del Retiro

Up the next morning at 5:45 and stretch for half an hour. Consume banana and continue stretching. I make my way to the baggage area around 7:45 and meet Oliver for a bit of pre-race banter. Soon after I bump into Will, Siobhan and Packie who are all getting a decent warm up in before the half, Sportsworld fielding strong numbers as ever (though I think the attempt of Myles and Emily to claim Siobhan is still a work in progress)! I do a light jog and a couple of strides as a warm up but opt to stick to the stretching and save my legs for the race.

9:05 and the gun goes. I decide to go off slowly to give myself a chance of running as much of the course as possible. I look at my watch after the first kilometer, 4:20 – not what I had intended. I checked again after the second and saw a similar result but decided to wait until the 5^th to look again when the crowds would begin to thin and I could set into a more comfortable pace. Seeing that I’ve gone through 5km in around 21:49 I tell myself to abandon the watch, run by feel and enjoy the course. This mindset seems to help greatly and when I approach 17km (the turn-off point for the half marathon), I choose to stick with the full route and reassure myself that I can drop out at any point.

The next time I see a clock is at the half way mark, 1:28. Pretty sure that’s not sustainable with the lack of training, rising temperatures and tougher gradient in the second half of the course but I’m running by feel so none of that matters to me (right!?)

I make it to 30km fairly unscathed and am actually feeling quite strong as we make our way around Casa de Campo in the Spanish sun. The legs are starting to fill with lactate but I’m just glad to be running so I ignore that. Still not looking at my watch at this stage though I have glimpsed the 3-hour pacers in the distance. Part of me tells myself I need to catch them, the other part of me tells myself I will end up like Callum Hawkins in the Commonwealths if I do.

Casa de Campo

As I make it to 37km I’m starting to feel a bit dehydrated and the legs are getting heavier with the lactate. But there’s just over 5km left, how many times have I run 5km before? It’s only 5km. Actually it’s 5,195m, that’s more than 5km; that’s more than I’ve ran in February and March combined. This internal debate then mutates into an existential crisis as I wonder what I’m doing with my life and why I couldn’t have just went to Madrid for the sangria and tapas like normal people do.

The 3-hour pacers are coming back towards me at this stage and as we make our way up the climb at kilometer 38 I feel like I’ve been mistakenly entered into la Vuelta as the crowds roar us on and the road narrows to a couple of metres in width. Finally I pass the pacers and am tempted to look at my watch again but tell myself to hold off until I pass the 40km mark. After convincing myself the pacers have just judged the race badly and that I couldn’t possibly be on line for sub-3 I make my way to the next water station and reach for the water, banana and Powerade on offer and inhale it as though I’m a first year college student returning home to raid the parents’ fridge at the weekend. The result is that the cup of Powerade ends up in my eye (it burns) and I’m left to run blind for a couple of hundred metres, I nearly choke on the banana and the water is thrown on my legs in an effort to keep them cool. The existential crisis deepens.

I pass the 40km mark and after a couple of hundred metres of will-I, won’t-I, I finally cave and look at my watch, 2:49. Okay, sub-3 is on but nothing to get excited about, there’s still work to be done. Head down and the climb uphill continues.

The next two kilometers are about the longest two kilometers of my life, second only to the final two kilometers of the Burren Marathon in 2013. Then out of nowhere, coming up the final 800m, I hear someone shout out, “Come on Sportsworld!” And that was it, head up and the final kick for home, 2:57:27. Medal and goodies collected I make my way to the baggage area still not sure what’s happened. My shoulders that have rarely the light of day are burnt asunder and my feet are blistered, but I’ve broken 3. Soon after I catch Oliver after running a fantastic 3:14 in his first marathon! Fourth banana of the day later, we decide it’s time to head for tapas and beer and behave as normal people should in Madrid.

Times from the other members of the Sportsworld crew below:

Half marathon
Siobhan – 1:19 (second place, elite women)
Phil – 1:19
Adrian – 1:32
Packie – 1:39

Marathon

Oliver – 3:14

Photos from www.imra.ie