Meath Spring Half Marathon (AKA Bohermeen AC Half Marathon)

Race report by Paul Hamilton, Burgers by Bunsen

I signed up for this race some time ago when planning my training for the Paris Marathon. There weren’t a lot of options at this time of the year for half marathons close to Dublin, but on the recommendation of a work colleague I completed the registration. There was the promise of a potato in the goody bag but unfortunately this never materialized.

On the morning of the race I was a bit nervous, as apart from the Leinster Cross Country race in January (which didn’t go well) I hadn’t completed any races since the Dublin Marathon last year. My training for Paris was going pretty well though and on Myles instruction I was to give this race a good go to see where I was. My nerves weren’t helped by the fact that after frantic searches I couldn’t find my Sportsworld singlet when getting my gear together 5 minutes before I headed out the door. I reassured myself that I wouldn’t be the only idiot not wearing the singlet and therefore in danger of having to pen this report. I suppose you can guess that yes I was the only one and I am an idiot.

The weather, which I had been keeping an eye on for the week, had promised to be good and it didn’t disappoint with the only negative a slight headwind in parts. The 10k was scheduled to start at 10.30am with the half at 11am. I met up with some of the large contingent of Sportsworld members running the race and we went for a good warm up before heading down to the start line.

As this race was also the Meath Half Marathon Championships the field had a lot very good club runners in attendance and the atmosphere on the day was excellent. I started the race just behind the 1.30 pacers with my plan trying to keep them in sight for as long as possible.  Someone had said that the course was flat but there were some sneaky inclines, which coupled with the headwind, made for a few tough spots in the race, but overall the course was good. I kept up a good pace throughout but struggled a little over the last kilometer. When I checked my splits at the finish I was delighted to find out that I had PB’ed for every distance from 10k up to half marathon.

The post mortem from any Sportsworld runners I met seemed to be very positive and there were quite a few PBs. Mark Ryan of Rathfarnham won the men’s race in 68.22 and Maria McCambridge won the lady’s race in 77.46. First home for Sportsworld was Martin Doyle with an impressive PB of 80.53. This was even more impressive when he told us that he had already eaten 5 and a ½ full size Mars bars that morning. Then it was time for what I thought was going to be a quick cool down before tucking into the ham sandwiches and goodies in the GAA club. But be aware. Do not go on a cool down with Martin and Diarmuid unless you want to add another 5k to your weekly kilometers.

A few of us met up later on in town to get our protein requirements and hydration needs met and a good night was had by all. Martin continued to fill us in on his ideal race day nutrition of red bull and mars bars and who am I to argue when you see the results its getting him.

Overall the race was very well organized and apart from a few cars on the road there was no issues and I would have no problem recommending it in the future.

I do my best to try and do some new races each year and with the opening of the brand new Abbotstown indoor track last year it was a good excuse to try indoor track running for the first time. The races over winter on a Thursday night were a great introduction to indoor track, they were professional, good atmosphere and everyone who went had someone to run/race against. The next logical progression was the Leinster indoors a couple of weeks ago and now for the big time, the national indoor masters in Athlone.

Unfortunately Derek Saville and Martin Keenan who have a lot of indoor track experience are out injured and Gareth is thinking of filing his emigration papers in America. So it was left to Catherine Eliott Mulleady and myself to fly the flag for Sportsworld. Neither of us had ran in Athlone or done the National Masters before but there was nothing to loose.

Catherine was up first in a tactical 1500m race were the race was controlled from the start to finish by Kelly Neely of City of Lisburn who finished in 4.53 but could of taken 20 seconds off that time if she had to but Nationals is not always about time its more about controlling the race and getting the medals. Catherine just missed out on a bronze coming in 4th place but every race you learn a bit more.

Pretty shortly later I was up. 7 in the race with 2 age categories so everyone knew there was an excellent chance at a national medal. The first couple of laps was fast but tolerable (3.27/Km) and everyone stayed in a very tight pack but then the pace increased to 3.20/Km and now you were working hard to stay in the pack but still no one was breaking away. What I’m learning about indoor 1500m is that the first 1100m you need to be working hard but comfortable the race only beings 400m to go. With 400m left, 2 laps, the pace went to 2.54/km. Your really tired at this stage but this is were the experts make there more, take their position and really push for home. At this stage my muscles were not getting enough oxygen, 400m to go felt like 400miles. I pushed as hard as I could but the medals positions were just 1 or 2 meters out of reach.

Catherine Eliott Muleady 1500m 5.28

Michael Cunningham 1500m 4.35

Indoor track is similar to outdoor track but it has it differences. Its definitely different to marathon training or cross country so if you like running you should give it a go. There are loads of masters runners in the club who have a real shot at getting National medals. All the times from the races can be found in the below link so when your training on the Tallaght track you can see how your times compare to those in the national indoor.

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/

There has been a lot of talk, no action, about a Sportsworld Strictly Come Dancing night but one club member is taking the first step. Michael O Grady known for his physical therapy is now turning his hand to dancing to raise funds to build a playground for Zion Parish School. Please support him via this website https://www.ifundraise.ie/fundraiser/11368092_karen-nicholl-and-micheal-o-grady-dancing-cha-cha-for-zion-does-strictly.html

You can see him rehearsing by clicking at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=708_W2QVWOc

Only because I had paid for an entry did I decide that I’d hurtle from working in the West of Ireland to Dublin central on Tuesday evening for the catchy named “KBC Dublin Night Run 5K & 10K Sandymount”, organised by the even catchier “RunDublin & Clontarf Half Marathon & 5 Mile” people.

I had paid my money thinking it would be a sunny bright Sandymount evening in early March (yes that’s me!), and I was sick of missing races because of work. I’d come to know of these organisers as they also run the scenic “Park West Dublin Night Run 5k or 10k”, where I work, and ran, and WON in September. My first ever win! The small field in that race, coupled with the obscure location, AND just generally being around the back of Ballyfermot of a dark evening, it’s easy knowing you run fast.

Like any great athlete I had a Kitkat at 4pm ish and drove from Clare to Dublin, changing into my gear in the fine Merrion Tesco toilets. I figured Clanna Geal’s loos wouldn’t be a patch on these and turns out I was right.

Checking to remember whether I’d signed up for the 5k or 10K, I asked some guy about the route, stole some safety pins and was all set for my warm-up by 7.15pm, for the 7.20pm race.

I looked around for any Sportworlders. I was told Kate Nugent might be running and Michael was already volunteering her for the race report so I was off the hook. My biggest concern attending any race now is the glance from Michael about having to write that dam thing!

I took my spot amongst the elite, if just to see what attire most were wearing as it was fairly cold and I wondered about one layer or two. Barr a few signets and short shorts, most everyone had a few layers on, some were forty coats (!). With only about four other girls up near me, I wondered about the pack. Remembering my Parkwest win, my incumbent title, could I have a chance in this field? The Kitkat wasn’t so confident.

No sign of Kate and the race reporting anxiety arrived. And having run a 10K two days ago because I totally forgot about this one, the legs were a little tired.

Deirdre O Connell with a unique runner colour choice

But I got off well and settled in. The route was interesting, as in funny interesting, varying from grass and grassy verges, to footpaths with puddles to a bit of soggy grass, before joining the strand via very soft sand (horror flashback to La Santa’s beach run!). It was dark obviously, and badly light, so I felt a need to be cautious at times. But the sand firmed up, we joined the Sandymount Strand path, and then ran back up the beach. All very lovely, the cold evening was perfect, looking out over the glistening Dublin Bay at night.

I was fairly sure I was near the front of the lady’s pack passing the 5k mark / start of loop two, as most of the women ahead finished at that point. Round two was easier as the route was familiar and you’re over the hump, and barr feeling fairly dodgy a number of times, I enjoyed it! Around 8K, I heard the sound of a female coughing behind me and then she cruised by with such speed she was out of sight in no time at all (easy in a night run!). I had her pegged as first and me second and that was going to be just fine with me. I got in in 45mins, slower than my Parkwest win, but without the need to continue running to the car to get my ass out of there!

Like any great loser, I congratulated the lovely lady who passed by. She got second, so I was third. Turns out she’s not in a club yet. I told her to watch her back for Emily Dowling!

While I doubt I’d be as happy with my time with a stronger field, I took my place with confidence and figured, why don’t I just do the dam race report as it’s likely to be the best result I’m likely to get! So I would need a photo. Like any great loner with no phone, I approached a group and asked them to take a photo of me with my medal and could you please email me that?” HA!

To comment on race bag quantity, maybe the Parkwest bags had been robbed that time as there were none, and so I was pleasantly surprised with this loot. Well done KBC The Bank of You / Me.

No Kit Kat’s

I left quickly as it got cold. Like any top athlete, I picked up a curry from the Indian on the way home, wearing my medal. I asked did they sell beer? Excuse me? Beer! Oh we sell Ginger Beer. Oh. No, thanks.

Deirdre checks Strava for people to do race reports

Having written the race report that evening, I found out afterwards that Kate Nugent WAS at the race, and Kate ran a brilliant 5k to finish in third place. I’ve come to know Kate from the cross country running and we’ve very similar pace I think. Well done Kate!So while I was happy with my result, I was even more happy with my now complete race reporting career!

Deirdre O’Connell

RESULTS:

Sandymount Night Run 5 & 10km results are here:
http://www.redtagtiming.com/
SandymountNightRun2018March_5k
SandymountNightRun2018March_10km

I have done the Wicklow Way Relay race 3 times and each time I swore I would try and get people from the club to do some runs in Wicklow on a Sunday. Some of the photos below are amazing but it really does not do justice to the scenery that’s only 40minutes away from the clubhouse.

So a group of us set off Sunday morning from the clubhouse at 9am. The run was 13.7Km from Glendalough to Glenmalure and even though I put up a strong argument that running back from Glenmalure would be twice the fun it fell on deaf ears and we left half the cars in Glenmalure and half in Glendalough so we only had to run 13.7Km and not 27.4Km.

It is surprisingly easy to get lost or take a wrong turn when you are running somewhere new. When you are doing the race and there is someone chasing you down its even easier so its really important to recce your run to make sure you know your way. Thanks to Karl we were back on track after a slight detour early on.

The first 6Km were challenging but nothing impossible and we took regular breaks to regroup and take in the amazing views. There are no cars, no houses, no noise and in the entire run we only came across a handful of people.

We were really lucky with the weather. There was no rain, no wind and although it was cold once you were running the conditions were perfect. When you did go into the shade of the trees the temperature really dropped and there where huge icicles on the side of the path. Some people just couldn’t help themselves and had to have an organic Ice pop. I won’t mention any names.

Finally we came to end of the climb and we came through the forest and out ahead were some amazing views. I knew the scenery was going to be great but even I was impressed. After the boardwalks was rocky steps, some covered in ice, were we had to take our time but the run was all down hill , pretty much, from there back to Glenmalure.

As promised the outdoor sauna was all set up at the finish but lunch beside an open fire for some reason was more appealing. We will try and do another Wicklow Way Sunday run but its hard to avoid all the championship races coming up. But I’ll definitely be going to Wicklow again.

Leinster Indoor Championships

Saturday 24th February was D Day for 4 of the Sportsworld crew. It was the day of the Leinster Indoor Championships, incorporating Junior, Senior and Masters races. It was held in the National Indoor Arena in Abbottstown which is just a fantastic facility to have on our doorstep.

After waking on the morning of a race, I always open the curtains and check the weather but today I didn’t care. The weather wasn’t going to affect me today. What did affect me, were the many voices in my head questioning my decision to sign up for this race. I signed up because I had never run in these championships before and thought it’d be nice to give them a try (that wasn’t what I was thinking Sat morning).

I picked up Maria on my way and we questioned our bad decision all the way to the Indoor Arena. Thankfully it’s not too far of a journey or I think we would’ve convinced ourselves to keep driving. We even considered just heading into the AquaZone for the day instead.

Soon after arriving we bumped into a very nervous Michael and decided we should start our warmup. Each race was only given a rough start time so it was hard to judge our warmup. Races were running a little behind, so we felt like we were warming up for ages. Emily and Margaret made a mad dash after club training to come out and support us. It was great to have some support as the nerves were pretty fraught at that stage.

Maria was the first of the Sportsworld gang to race in the 1500m and put in a fantastic performance in a high class field.

I was up next in the Masters Women 1500m. The pace went off fast as expected but we settled in to a nice pace after about a lap. The leaders pulled away early and I just tried to keep a steady pace. The 7 and half laps ticked by quickly and I was so happy to see the finishing straight.

Next up was Michael in the 1500m. Michael put in a great performance but just missed out on a medal.

Derek went in the 400m later on in the day and stormed home to take the gold medal in a nifty 56 seconds.

Overall it was a very successful day for the Sportsworld singlet and hopefully we’ll see a few more people giving the track races a try in the future.

We really need to take more photos 🙂 – Catherine M

Results

Senior Women 1500m

9th Maria Jones 5:10

Masters Women O35 1500m

3rd Catherine Mulleady 5:24

Masters Men O40 1500m

4th Michael Cunningham 4:33

Masters Men O40 400m

1st Derek Saville 56:26

Last month we mentioned we were going to do a couple of runs in Wicklow as a sunday long run and give people a chance to run part of the Wicklow Way Relay route. The price for doing this unfortunately was me entering the Leinster indoor 1500m race. We have picked Sunday the 25th of February for the first run. We did Leg 4 at Christmas so we are going to do Leg 5 next which starts at Glendalough visitor centre and finishes at Glenmalure. The below Strava map may look intimidating but we wont leave anyone behind and will regroup along the way. Leg 5 is 13.7Km long with 560m total climb. For those that want a bit more fun we can continue on into Leg 6 and those that don’t can stop at Glenmalure. There is breakfast available at Glenmalure and this month there is also a mobile Sauna there. Naoise has tried it out and for a few euro you can use the Sauna and then cool down in the river which seems a perfect end to a mountain run.

On the Wicklow Way run at Christmas apparently some people did not realise we were running Leg 4 and then running all the way back. Some people just don’t listen. This time because the climb is harder, and to have food in Glenmalure, it makes more sense to drive to Glenmalure and use half the cars to drive back to Glendalough. Then when the run is over we drive back to the cars in Glendalough.

So what do you need to do?

-Please send a quick email back to the club if you want to do the run. Say if you have a car and can give people a lift or that you need a lift. Also say if you are interested in the Sauna so we can have an idea of numbers so we can book it.

– If you have trail runners it would be a good idea to use them. Bring a change of warm clothes and a towel. Make sure to bring a running jacket if it gets cold on the run and a pair of gloves and hat is also a good idea.

-The plan is to meet at the clubhouse at 9.00am and drive from there to Glenmalure

Michael

Race Report by Kate Kelly

February 11th was D-Day, the last cross country race of the year. The National Intermediate Cross Country Championships in Clarinbridge, County Galway, West of Ireland, familiar ground for me a diehard Rossie!

I left Roscommon in the snow, sleet and freezing temperatures with a heavy heart and dread in my veins in anticipation of what was to come.

The pressure was on today for a number of reasons, top of the list was securing a national team medal for the one and only Maria Jones on her birthday. We were down to a team of four so it was a matter of life and death for the intermediate women’s team. Next on the list was of course winning a medal for Emily and Myles the most dedicated trainers and most vocal supporters at all races. Lastly, my Mum had come along to see me for the first time in a cross country run, I couldn’t let her down especially when she had layered up for the day with three pairs of socks on and two jumpers.

My heart sank at first sight of the course, it was a scene not unlike one at the ploughing championships and it only got worse with each race.

The Masters Women were first to run for Sportsworld. The scenes of muck, sweat and strife were evident from the very start. This was going to be a tough race. The girls, as usual, did the club proud with Aoife leading the pack home, followed closely by Ruth and  Catherine the trooper, dosed up on antibiotics who still managed to run phenomenally. Also part of the team was Mary Finn who helped to secure the silver medals. They really had set the bar high for us intermediate girls.

The men’s masters were next to plough up the ground. Karol ran a very strong race, narrowly missing out on an individual medal, crossing the line in fourth position.

After a quick warm up and a few heavy strides we made our way sheepishly to the line.

It was the most gruelling course imaginable with hills and muck up to our shins, that same muck later managed to engulf Maria’s spike 2K in and the Tipp girl heroically crossed the finish line one foot in and one foot out. I managed to secure 7th position followed closely by Caoimhe (10th), Maria (12th) and newbie Ciara (24th). This was Ciara’s second ever cross country run and one I’m sure one she will never forget.

I have to commend my team mates who gave it everything and really got stuck in (literally) from the very start.

With encouragement from the sideline and pure determination we managed to secure National silver medals, Maria Jones is a magpie for medals and this was a great one to add to her collection!

A great day out was had by all and a big thank you to the diehard supporters who braved the inclement weather conditions in the West!

PS. Maria’s spike will live to see another day following rescuing by Val

With the demise of the legendary Ballycotton 10 after 40 successful years I found myself searching for a replacement race. I’d heard a lot of good things about the John Treacy race in Dungarvan Co. Waterford so I signed up as soon as it opened.

This turned out to be a good thing as the race sold out its 2000+ entries in one day. Anyway the big day rolled around and with 1.30pm start it meant plenty of time to get down from Dublin on the morning of the race.

There was some fairly biblical weather leaving Dublin but the weather got better the further south I went. By the time I reached Dungarvan it had warmed up to a balmy 8 degrees and was dry. Perfect running conditions.

Not knowing much about the route I didn’t really have any plan for this race except to try and set a good pace from the start and stick with it as long as I could.

The race starts with a small loop around the town before heading out along some nice country roads and back into Dungarvan. There are not much hills here but a few inclines here and there.

Once we came to halfway I was settling into a nice rhythm and started to push on. Around the 8 mile mark we head back out onto the main road where we are greeted with a strong head wind and the toughest part of the race.

Once through this section its back in towards the town and a final push towards the finish. I manage to muster a last bit of energy to give a little sprint to the finish.

My finish time of 67:04 is a good 4 mins faster than my 10 Mile race last August so I’m delighted with my result. After the race we get the famous T-shirt and goodie bag and head back to the hall for a pretty impressive post-race spread of goodies.

All in all this is a very good race, very nice course and we got very lucky with the weather. There is good support and everything is very well organised by West Waterford AC. The only downside is the 2 hour drive each way.

Sportsworld Results:

Will Greensmyth 1:05:12

Adrian Lanigan 1:07:03

Emma Barry 1:14:56

Madeline Byrne 1:20:25