Race report Gareth Murran

Dublin Bay Running Club hosted their 5 miles around the Head of Howth this past Sunday morning. I have become accustomed to this part of the city, working in Sutton for the past year. The hills of Howth were a frequent site during the first 3 months of the year for early morning cross country training.

It was a last minute decision to take part in the race, only deciding late on Saturday night. having looked at the results last years race was won in a handy 34 minutes. I wasnt going to run too hard after a tough Saturday track session.  But with the chance of a victory it was worth retracing the daily commute for the chance of a victory and a chance to run on the beautiful Howth Head cliff path.

More than 180 runners took part in the race. This was a fabulous trail run along the cliff tops of Howth Head. The course had many up and down hills giving excellent hill training for runners. This was a very well organized event by Dublin Bay Running Club. Runners had a great experience from start to finish. The Registration and Finish area was located at the Summit Inn pub.

Also on the start line were 2  Raheny lads I know well, home club chairman Ger Copeland and Ronan Rogan of Bohermeen AC.  The first mile of the race was all downhill but quickly we found ourselves facing the 400-meter stairway to heaven with a 75-meter elevation. Not even the ridge run in Lanzarote could prepare you for this one.

I ended up in 4th place overall not wanting to split my head open on the rocks or fall over the side eek! The race was actually 100 meters short of 5 miles and it was wet in parts, these are my real excuses for not placing 3rd 🙂 The winner of the race was Ronan Wogan of Bohermeen AC with Damien Martin celebrating his 53rd birthday (Raheny Shamrock AC) 2nd and Ger Copeland (DBRC) 3rd. Credit to the organization and the club for putting on such a fantastic race. Word is sure to get around. I recommend doing a long run out here. I might take up hill running yet.

I’m a bit late getting my race report together for these 2 recent races.race report by Gareth Murran.

An 11-hour flight from Amsterdam to Los Angelas gives you plenty of time to reflect on where to go with your training. On Wednesday night after the graded Emily recommended that I give the Irish Milers Club (IMC) a go at the weekend. Following directions, I went home and decided to enter into the 1500M. When your season’s best is 12 seconds off your personal best every race is an opportunity to improve, get race fit and inch towards that bucket list time before it’s too late. I left work at 8 PM on Friday after a busy week and had not bothered to look at the weather forecast. Not having enjoyed the Irish summer at all I woke on Saturday morning feeling somewhat sorry for my poor club mates running around in circles up in Tallaght. Stretching and quick jog done, by 11 I was on the road to Tullamore which was even wetter than Dublin. The IMC races are a step up from the graded it’s like having all A and then an A+ race. I was drawn in the slower 1500M B race which went off at 2.16 on the button. Although it was my first IMC race it was 3rd time running the Tullamore track. They have a fine setup down there with great facilities for warming up and a covered stand for spectators. The covered stand was especially useful on Saturday.

All of the IMC races are paced by a faster runner. You are then assigned a number based on your seasons best. My seasons best as mentioned was 12 seconds slowed than my 4:04 PB set two years ago so I was one of the first (slower) names called to line up. After all the runners were assembled on the line we were told the pace would be 65 seconds a lap, then off we went. I got a poor start but after 50 meters went around the outside and slotted nicely into 5th position. The first lap went through in 66 a bit slower than planned but feeling comfortable. I was feeling good so moved up into 3rd after 600 meters. When we came around to the 800-meter mark in 2:12 I was still feeling strong. It was at that point that I got the tactics a bit wrong and paid for it. Instead of sitting in I decided to push the pace and take the lead. That surge only lasted for 300 meters as with 450 meters to go I was starting to feel the sudden injection of pace and losing a few places. 1200 meters went by in 3:21. I had already lost 3 seconds over the last 200. Along the back straight I knew I was slowing and the last 200 meters felt like an 800-meter race. I came across the line in 6th having race 52 for my last 300 meters. Happy with the effort.

Super efficient the results were up within the hour on the IMC site. I finished in a time of 4.14 knowing a more sensible 3rd lap could have seen me run a 4.11 or even contend for the win which was 4:09. More lactic threshold work needed to be able to push on in that last 600 meters. I would not recommend the IMC races for everyone but for the faster people in the club it beats sessions any day of the week.

Two days after Tullamore I was in LA for work which happened to coincide with Memorial day weekend and decided to look for a race to run. Laguna Hills is a picturesque neighborhood in Southern California famous for being the location of a certain MTV TV program. They were having a half marathon to commemorate some young local Marines that had died in an IED attack in Kabul in 2011. A good cause coupled with me being in need of a run. I wasn’t taking it too seriously knowing I had been on an 11-hour flight from Amsterdam the day before but when I arrived in LA I was greeted with the news that my suitcase was still in Amsterdam. My singlet and shorts were in the suitcase but I had runners and a watch on me. A quick trip over to Dick’s Sporting goods store and I was ready to line up.

Memorial day began with a 4.30 AM drive down the coast to Laguna Hills for the 5.30 registration at the local mall. I arrived in good time to pick up my number, race t-shirt and get some strides done. At 6.45 the patriotism kicked in, flags were flown and national anthems were sung with hand on heart. The race itself was a 3 in 1 with a mass start. As a well as the half there was a 5K and 10K. The atmosphere was great at the start with a good mixture of families, serious runners and local run runners.

I set my mind on a conservative 3:45 per kilometer, not much faster than a Sunday long run. When the gun went a few of the guys in front flew off. The course was set up in such a way that you could not tell who was doing the 5K or the 10k. starting off slow is great, especially in a longer race. You start to pass people that went off too fast with a smile. When I got to the turn off for the 5k finish line a good few of the 1500 or so runners were no longer in the race. I continued to plug away and picked off a few more guys and when I reached the 10K finish line there looked to be only 3 guys in front of me. I stuck to the 3:45 pace like clock work well and despite the first few hills the majority of the course had been very manageable so far.

Around the 10K mark I noticed we had been going downhill for a good 8-10 minutes. They didn’t call the show the hills for no reason. What goes done must come up and after 7 miles we turned to an off-road section of the course that just kept spiraling down and down in the Laguna Hills Canyon. Going down into the Canyon I was now a comfortable 2nd place and the local support was behind me. It was like five mile day in Terenure Village. At the bottom, we looped back around and started the climb. Within a few miles, I was finding the grade pretty steep and despite keeping the pace under 4:00 minutes per kiloemeter I was losing a bit of ground on the guy in first. The next 3 miles was spent climbing, climbing, climbing.

The 10 mile marker went by in 59.52 but by that stage I was invested, getting competitive and also a little frustrated that I could not close the gap. I continued to push on the flat but struggled up the remaining hills. I knew the race was slow having seen the previous year’s winning times were listed in the 77-82 minute time frames. The last mile in a half seemed like hell on earth. At this point, I’m telling myself to man up but it felt more like I was at the start of the Hills music video than the TV show.

I had an escort for the last 2 miles of the race, a friendly local girl who had warned me that they were saving a killer of a hill for the last mile. It did not disappoint! I came over the line in a little over 80 minutes having lost a couple minutes in the last 2 miles. Despite consciously sticking to a pace it was hard not to get into race mentality. The wheels came off big time at 12 miles only dumbfounded by having not spotted Lauren. The post race expo was something we could borrow from with lots of vendors giving out free samples of new and existing products in stalls. There was a virtual goodie bag this being California.

The rest of the day was spent driving down the magnificant Pacific Coast Highway and meeting some colleagues for a family BBQ. A fun day, not a PB effort or course but a great Memorial day running in the California sunshine none the less. Next day it was on to San Antonio to run on its famous Riverwalk and numerous forest trails.

Report By Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin

Sunday was a great day, not just because I was in Cork, but because it was a lovely summer day and there was a terrific atmosphere in the city with all the bank holiday festivities taking place. Damien Geraghty and I had signed up to the ½ marathon and I was extra happy to meet Damien in the starting chorale, not because he is a sound bloke or anything, but because he had forgotten his singlet as well. They say great minds think alike. Fortunately, no one from the club was around, so I think we pretty much got away with it 🙂

(Above: The two of us only delighted with our choice of outfits)

I was worried that writing about Cork would result in a pro-Cork biased piece but luckily I’d Denis McCaul’s race reports to call upon as an example of balanced and objective writing about all things Corkonian. His recent race report for the Dunboyne 5 Mile reads particularly well in this regard. I shared my concerns with Thomas Kinsella who said he wouldn’t blame me for a small bit of bias anyway as, “Cork is incredible in fairness”.

The course profile is not as hilly as you hear. There are some minor enough hills in the middle ½ but the first and last ¼s are flat so it allows you to settle into a rhythm at the start and finish strongly. The bad reputation the event has for people underperforming stems from the hot summery weather you get in June. Summer Marathons are the hardest for this reason. Typical of Cork people to give themselves a challenge.

Damien and I were aiming for a sub-90 time, so we decided to stick with the 90 minute pacer for the first ¾ and push on from there once the hills were behind us. The race began bang on time and we were off and feeling very comfortable. As we ran along I took it upon myself to point out all the landmarks in the city to Damien. He politely listened but next time he’ll have the headphones in.

(Above: Cruising along at the start, and Damien striking down Pana)

The locals were out in good numbers with lots of vocal support and generous offers of sliced oranges, jellies and cups of water from their outstretched arms. One lad near the Model Farm Road was spraying runners with the garden hose to cool them down… at least I think that’s what he was doing. We spotted two familiar faces en route, Thomas Kinsilla was out on the 1½ mile mark with big shouts, and Anna Delany gave us a lot of encouragement near Victoria Cross. Thank you.

We stuck diligently to the plan, and after passing the ¾ point we pushed on comfortably. Running up the Carrigrohane Straight, we could see the pacing strategy had paid off as we passed people clearly struggling. Damien kicked on with a mile to go and was very happy with his 87 minutes, knocking over 2 minutes off his previous PB. That’s now 3 PBs in a row in Cork for the man from the Orchard County, coincidence?

The event has a very relaxed atmosphere about it. All sorts of runners tog out on the day, may of whom are doing their first race. I get the impression that it is a good starting point for the beginners. This year the marathon was moved forward to the Sunday from the traditional Monday. A great idea as it makes it easier for people from further afield to attend, and one of whom only went and won the Marathon. Chris Mocko, an interesting character from San Francisco (The twin city of Cork), who quit his office job to run full time had his decision validated as he literally limboed under the tape in 2:26.

Local girl, Jill Hodgins from Douglas, won the ladies in 2:48.

The ½ Marathon was won by Peter Samba with 67 minutes in the men’s. In a textbook Somba move he pipped crowd favourite and national marathon champion Sergiu Ciorbanu in a sprint finish on the final straight after Sergiu led for most of it. I’d love to know what the likes of Sergiu and Mick Clohissey think when they see him toe the line with them. Claire McCarty won the women’s in 76 minutes.

Lastly, I must complement the organisers for their water stations. They were very frequent and well managed. Made things much easier for people on a hot day. Unwinding after the day, I felt like I should make this an annual outing.

(Above: Mise crossing the line… in 88 minutes, not 3:12, that the marathon clock 😀 )