Despite having nothing to do it’s taken me almost a week to write this race report. On the 26th of December every year I go to Wicklow town for the annual 5K. It’s not the fastest but is a fast course if you can manage the hills. It’s a great way to blow way the Christmas excess and soak up the local race atmosphere. This year the weather conditions were fantastic. The scene was set for a fast race with very little breeze and a high winter sun.
I try to run this race every year but last year I was injured and unable to run. Standing on the start line in 2016 with a little over three months running in my legs I wasn’t brimming with confidence that I could repeat my only road race victory to date from, two years ago. Looking around I spotted a few familiar faces, i.e lads that I think will beat me. Doubts aside I decided I’d get a fast start because the first 2K of the race is a steep uphill, followed by a long downhill section.
Once things got going that all went out the window. Just after the 1k mark there was a man standing at the side of the road indicating that we should turn left. Surprised I said to the guy beside me they should really tell you when they change the course. He politely respond that they change the course last year. There goes my tactics! I started catching people as we wen through the first 2K including the guy wearing the GAA jersey and long shorts, a few kids, your women with the headphones 🙂 we’ve all seen them.
When we got to 3K I was starting to feel the lactic but for some reason those nagging doubts in my head were gone. I said to myself that I have ran faster than this before so there is no reason I cant do it today. Now having made my way up to 3rd position I was unsure who was behind me, or how close they were, I kept focusing on the Crusaders runner in front of me. There was a nice stretch along the waterfront to pass the time.
Once you hit 4K in a 5K race you hope to god that it’s partially downhill. The new course did not disappoint with the same finish as the old one. Anything that will distract you from the suffering you choose to embrace. With 800M to go the competitive instinct kicked in as I started to catch the guys in front and cheered on by the local crowd I felt like I was flying. With the finish in site 2nd was a step too far, a quick look behind and that was it. I came across the line in 16:09 met by a friendly face. Lucy Darcy handed me my finishing time and told me to ]write a race report. Fair play to Lucy and team and the host club Inbhear dee Wicklow Ac on the great event. A good race to compensate for the lack of a session Christmas week.
I went in to Wicklow with 16.29 as a target bit I’m now going into the new year with a 15.59 target and a new 5K PB the summer, things are going in a good direction after nothing but injuries and disappointment in 2016. The next day at the crack of dawn I headed from my parents house in Rathfarnham up to the back gate of the water works for a 25K loop with a spring in my step .
Photos and video by Gareth Murran. For for photo gallery: Click here
About 6 weeks ago Sportsworld was asked to host the last Meet & Train cross-county race of the year – we willingly agreed and set about to get the necessary permission from the Parks Department of the County Council.
Race reporter Sandra….before she decided to race
Having only received official confirmation from South Dublin CC that we could hold the race in Tymon with less than a week to race day a trusty team of Sportsworld Committee members got together to plan for the race; if our racing standards ever drop there’s a definite business possibility for lastminuteraces.com such was the standard of organisation of today’s race.
A big shout-out to all those who helped in organising – Aileen Melody and Breda Brown for getting all the paperwork in order; Dave Clarke for ensuring that we had loadsa tea and biscuits, etc for the post-race chat; Michael Cunningham, Eoin O’Brien, Catherine Muleady, Adrian Lanigan, Paul Duffy and others who set out the course; Emily Dowling for organising for the use of Faugh’s GAA Club and only setting off the alarm once to my two times this morning! Gareth Murran for the amazing photos and video. Thanks to everyone else who turned up early clad in the red and white of Sportsworld to help out.
It was a glorious morning, more like a day in early May than December and the underfoot conditions were equally as welcoming.
Yours truly rocked up to help with the hosting of the race without any intentions of racing – in fact I said several times that I wasn’t racing, it went something like this:
Sportsworld Member at the start of the M&T season: Sandra are you doing the M&T? Me: Probably not
Sportsworld Member about 6 weeks to today’s race: Sandra, are you racing? Me: I don’t think so
Sportsworld Member about 2 weeks to today’s race: Sandra, are you racing? Me: No, definitely not.
Sportsworld Member about 2 days to today’s race: Sandra, are you racing? Me: Absolutely not, I have a litany of excuses that I could give but really I just don’t want to!
Emily less than 60 secs before the starting whistle this morning: Sandra, are you racing? Me: Ah sure feck it, I will!
What is it they say about a woman’s prerogative to change her mind?!
Anyway just before my change of mind I had controversially set my Santa hat on the top of a course stake to mark the finish – that it was at the brow of a hill is where the controversy arises as it seems Eoin O’Brien had not long before told everyone that the finish was ‘lovely and flat’ – the course was a bit short so I lengthened the finish to bring us closer to the 2 mile mark – not my fault there just happened to be a hill there!
So, back to me changing my mind – I arrived at the start line just to witness the girls in the front row chomping at the bit like greyhounds ready for the off – I tucked in close to the rear happy not to be attempting to catch the hare today, and we were off.
It’s been so long since I ran a M&T race that I had forgotten just how ‘low pressure’ they can be – there were loads of women around me which allowed me to work my way through a little as we tackled ‘the hill’ (it was a slope really) for the first time. The race was well dotted with Sportsworld supporters and stewards who offered great encouragement – most even recognised me despite the fact that shame of all shames, I wasn’t wearing my Club singlet (hence my punishment in writing the race report!).
There was a lovely steep downhill in the second field and only one wet and mucky patch for about 50 metres, before we knew it we were back to the beginning of the second lap. There was a great number from Sportsworld Racing – many who had recently completed the 4 day La Santa Challenge series (there was also a good few absent due to the excesses of Christmas – we’ll say no more) and there were some great performances and markers set for the rest of the season.
Before I knew it I was entering the final field and the finish was in sight – one last effort up the slope/hill and I had completed my first M&T race in about 13 years (yes, 13!) and joined my club mates in the post-race glow analysis – it was at this point that I learned that Maria Jones was just pipped at the line for 1st place – the controversy being had I not lengthened the finish she may have held onto 1st place, however had I continued on up the hill/slope to get to 2 miles exactly (yes the race was still a little short!) the outcome- well we’ll never know – Maria will just have to have another go next time.
Well done to all my club mates on racing, cheering, organising, photography, videoing, pouring, sharing, etc. Wishing you all a lovely holiday season with loved ones and a wonderfully rewarding and enjoyable 2017 running and racing with Sportsworld Running Club.
P.s. there are two morals to this story – 1. Always pack your club singlet even if you have absolutely no intention of racing, ever (otherwise you’ll end up doing the race report) and 2. Be emphatic – just say ‘No’ and stick to it (….unless of course there’s the potential to get an endorphin hit and then it’s perfectly reasonable to say Yes…..!)
Special congratulations to Eoin Keith who capped off an amazing year by picking up Sportsworlds Special Achievement Club Award tonight! Eoin also won the 2016 Athletics Ireland Ultra Athlete of the Year Award 2 weeks ago but he said this one was better!
Earlier this year Eoin won and smashed the non-stop Northern Traverse Race record in the UK, where he had to run from the Irish Sea to the North Sea across the UK!
Sportsworld are proudly hosting this Winter League Meet & Train race in Tymon Park!
Race Time: 11am
Location: Tymon Park
Date: Sunday 18th December
Registration: Faughs GAA club from 10am (just off Spawell Roundabout)
Post Race Refreshments: Faughs GAA club
Race distance: 2 miles
Note: The race is being held in the same fields as the Dublin Intermediate CC on the extreme West side of the park. It is a very short jog from Faughs GAA registration hall to the start area over the M50 pedestrian footbridge – see map below.
Sportsworld Volunteers: Be at Faughs GAA by 9.30am to help set up. Those helping with the course be at the start/finish area at 9am.
The race is NOT in Bushy Park as listed in the Evening Herald Newspaper – please spread the word!
And so the day was upon us … National Novice Champion … The only thing standing in the way of us and the Sportsworld Christmas Party (and that small thing of a week’s work).
Race reporter Sinead
Waking up I knew it was race morning with the Whatsapp group going crazy. Living in a house with two teammates means you don’t just get one message at a time but every one message equals three… Buzz, ding, dong all in sync. The messages came flooding in from good luck messages to ensuring everyone had a drive and no one was left travelling alone. A couple of 100 messages later we were on our way to Dundalk IT.
We arrived to a very cold and chilly Dundalk and set up a base camp where we all gathered and tried to keep the nerves at bay. All dealing with the pre-race nerves in our own way. Some going quiet and some, aka me, yapping on too much and annoying everyone.
Emily, Myles, Paul and Cathrina were all on hand to help in any way from collecting numbers to warm up advice to susing out the competition. Pep talks were also in full swing which meant one thing run away around the course, warm up, take our minds off the race and try not to let the nerves get to us.
The course looked good. It was a 2km lap just like the previous week in the Dublin intermediate except this time it was luckily a 4km race. Of course priorities were in order with the pre-race chats during the warm up consisting of Christmas shopping, nights out, wedding chats and after race drinks. After we had jogged around the course Emily put us doing long and short strides to prepare us for the quick start of the race.
Before we knew it, it was race time 2:40. Up to the start line we went, squished like little sardines. Under starters instructions “stand back from the line ladies” … “ready” … “bang” … we were off.
As was to be expected the race took off like a sprint. With everyone pushing and shoving to get to the front of the 137 field of athletes. It didn’t take long to figure out that any manners were left at the start line with people standing on heels and accidentally pushing and not a “sorry” in sight. After about 1km the race got into its own pace with about 5 people in the leading bunch followed by all the Sportsworld girls closely bunched together. The two sisters Helen and Noreen kept each other company around the 4km course who were closely followed by Shona and Catherine B. Ruth made an amazing comeback to cross country. Maria was the next girl home followed by Catherine M, Margaret and Patricia. Amazing running by all the girls!
We crossed the line to “well dones”, hugs, smiles which made the initially exhaustion feeling after the race disappear fairly rapidly. Next was the totting up of the final scores and trying to calculate the finishing points and our finishing position. Finally we found out Sportsworld won team gold (53 points) with Leevale second (114) and Dunboyne third (146). Noreen, Helen and myself also making the Dublin team winning gold. All the medals making Emily one happy camper.
The support around the course, as with the two previous races I have ran with the club, was second to none. If you ever find yourself drifting away from the race and zoning out you just have to run a couple of meters and you will find another Sportworld supporter to pull your mind back into the race and get you back on track. I think I can speak for all of the girls when I say I don’t think we would have ran and done as well as we have this cross country season without the support around the course from the lads, all the club members that travelled and even a few parents to fly the Sportsworld flag. It’s hard to put into words how much the support actually helps and means to all of us. Absolutely AMAZING! Next weekend I won’t be running but I will be more than happy standing on the side line supporting the girls in the meet and train run on Sunday “Go Team Sportsworld”.
Mens Race Report by Stephen O’Donnell
Race reporter Stephen
After yet another outstanding, gold medal winning performance by the ladies, the pressure was on us guys to put in a good performance. A nice mild afternoon made conditions perfect for some good days running around the 6k course.
The first of the 3 laps got off to a weird start for me, due to the fact that, as I was coming down the first decline of the day one of my shoes planted in the thick mud and stayed there for the rest of the race while I carried on with the new but not so welcome experience of running one shoe on, one shoe off.
I half considered stopping to pick it up, but with over 170 men charging all around me, I decided my life was probably more important. The rest of this first lap went in a bit of a blur for me, which mostly comprised of looking down at my fellow runner’s feet in an attempt to avoid a visit to the doctor with a spike through my left foot.
It was Conor McCarthy who, like many other of our athletes was on the back of a very full running schedule in recent weeks, set the pace for the team in the opening stages of the race, while I tried to hang on his shoulder for as long as possible. The big turnout of Sportsworld support around the course cheering us on, made this task considerably easier. Having each other beside us seemed to help a lot as the two of us kept up a good steady pace for the final two laps, with myself only pulling ahead with about a lap to go.
The prospect of being the first Sportsworld home, as well as the oncoming Karl Chatterton and Kevin Curran just behind us, pushed the four us to finish strongly on the last lap and down the long finish straight. As a result of all this hard work put in by all our competitors we finished in a respectable 13th position which is a great improvement on the 22nd place finish this time last year. Hopefully now we can keep this momentum going and improve even more in the new year in the two intermediate races.
Sportsworld Results
Womens 4k Race
7th Sinead Tangney (Also Gold medal on Dublin Team!)
13 Noreen Brouder (Also Gold medal on Dublin Team!)
14 Helen Brouder (Also Gold medal on Dublin Team!)
19 Shona Keane
20 Catherine Bambrick
22 Ruth Kelly
59 Maria Jones
88 Catherine Mulleady
92 Margaret Crowley
102 Patricia Fitzmaurice
Club Positions
1st Sportsworld A.C. 7, 13, 14, 19
2nd Leevale A.C. 5, 23, 25, 61
3rd Dunboyne A.C. 9, 40, 41, 56
Mens 6k Race
96th Stephen O’Donnell
99 Conor McCarthy
109 Karl Chatterton
112 Kevin Curran
135 Wesley Harrison
142 Justin McKeever
145 Conor Keating
151 Anthony Gillen
162 David Saunders
164 Denis McCaul
Club Positions Points
1st Clonliffe Harriers A.C. 4, 6, 13, 14 37
2nd Derry Track Club 1, 3, 11, 32 47
3rd North Belfast Harriers 10, 22, 24, 42 98
13th Sportsworld A.C. 96, 99, 109, 112 416
On Sunday last a group of Sportsworld athletes made the short journey to Tymon Park for the Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championships. A new course was marked out for the occasion which made a nice change from the old, soul destroying course.
There were some tired bodies on the start line having only landed in Dublin the previous night from the Lanzarote Running Challenge but that had to be put to one side for 20 minutes or so.
It was a small field with only 40 ladies lining up for the race. The race started fast as always but settled down after a few hundred meters.
Sinead went out with the early leader and had a fantastic race to take 2nd place. Catherine B wasn’t far behind and held off the rest of the field to finish in bronze medal position. Noreen put in a great race on tired legs to come in fourth and Maria had a stormer to finish in 12th position.
Myself, Margaret and Patricia worked together to finish in close succession.
With 3 of our 4 scorers in the top 10, it was no surprise that our ladies team took the top spot and brought home the gold medal. Roll on the Nationals!!!!!!
Mens 8k Race by Conor McCarthy
Race reporter Conor
The Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championship took place on a very mild and calm last Sunday afternoon in Tymon Park. An early lap with Karl Chatterton to suss out the course put me at ease and assured me that the ground was going to be firmer than usual. It had not rained all week apparently and therefore the racing conditions were to be comparatively favourable to the all-too-frequent cross-country course terrain of mud, marsh and bog! “Thank God for that”, I thought to myself, having raced four times already that week in Lanzarote (as did Margaret, Catherine Mul, Patricia, Noreen, Will & Conor Keating – kudos to all) and was pleased to take any favourable running conditions which came my way. The warm-up felt good and I thanked myself for having fresh-ish legs as a result of omitting myself from the 4x400m relay in Lanzarote the previous Friday…..BOOM! 😀 Sorry, Myles.
If one needed inspiration for the men’s race whilst doing our pre-race laps and strides, one glance over at the ladies race saw Sinead Tangney and the rest of the team bossing their field and claiming yet another gold medal victory for the club, The girls have been going very well lately and certainly have good momentum going into the big one this Sunday. Fair play and good luck to them.
Once the ladies race finished, the 59 men were busy finalising their warm-up routine and lined up awaiting the familiar sound of gun-fire to signal the start of the race. I set into the race with the mindset of getting out of the traps quickly, sit in behind a familiar jersey or two and settle into a steady rhythm for the 8 kilometres which were to come.
Up, down, back, around, over and across the sports fields of Tymon…the familiar groove and the ebb and flow of a cross-country race began to unfold. Throughout the race your sensory awareness picks up on fellow runners dropping back, surging forward and pushing on in the race and this one was no different. The vociferous support from Sportsworld folk was fantastic throughout the race and in particular, it was personally very much appreciated when there was only approximately 300m to go.
Generally at this point in cross-country, the race can be very much in the melting pot and the intensity increased a notch as it became apparent that Rathfarnam were in the mix for a gold medal. My team-mate from a few days previous, Paul Fleming, implored his club-mate – my familiar foe – Aaron Browne – to push on and overtake me as our race reached its conclusion. We both took the last downhill downhill adjacent to the GAA field with some vigour, perhaps a little too much so, and I felt I might have the edge on him today. Alas, it was not to be.
I recall from the Dublin Senior that this guy has a serious final burst of speed over 200m or so and he turned it on again today, giving his all for his club. Fair play. Rathfarnam did take the team gold. I gave it everything I could to catch him but it was in vain as he claimed 16th and I settled for 17th in a time of 28.07. The support from the sidelines really helped spur me on to give it all over those last few yards. Frustrated to have been beaten, I was happy enough with my days work considering it was my fifth race in eight days.
Throughout the race, I was conscious that Kevin (who was making a welcome return to the fold) and Stephen O’Donnell were not a significant distance behind me and it;s good for the team that everyone is driving each other onwards. Kevin finished in a time of 28.29, Stephen in 28.40 and Karl took the fourth spot in 28.53. Sadanand was just a second behind Karl and it bodes well for the team going into the National Novice this Sunday – a race which promises to be fast and furious. Bring it on!
Conor McGuiness (Clonliffe), Rossa Hurley (Donore) and Shane O’Neill (Rathfarnam) took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in this race.
Sportsworld Results
Womens 5k Race
2nd Sinead Tangney
3rd Catherine Bambrick
4th Noreen Brouder
12th Maria Jones
23rd Catherine Mulleady
27th Margaret Crowley
29th Patricia Fitzmaurice
Team Results
1st Sportsworld A.C. 21
2nd Clonliffe Harriers 53
3rd Donore Harriers A.C. 54
Mens 8k Race
17th Conor McCarthy
24th Kevin Curran
25th Stephen O’Donnell
28th Karl Chatterton
29th Sadanand Magee
41st Will GreenSmith
47th Conor Keating
49th Diarmuid O’Sulleabhain
57th Brian Conway
59th Mark Heffernan
Photos by Joe Byrne, Naoise Waldron and Wes Harrison. For the full gallery: Click here
Full club results below
Lanzarote, the easternmost island of the Canary Islands of a volcanic origin, is a popular spot for Irish people with over 200,000 flying there last year. For 48 members of Sportsworld Running Club the International Running Challenge in its 28 year was another reason to be there for the last week in November 2016.
But of course you don’t go to these places for just for the running… more on that later in the report!
Race reporter and birthday boy Anthony Gillen
The running challenge is comprised of four races taking place on four consecutive days, over various terrains and distances:
Race 1 – 10K Vince Regan Memorial Classic Road Run – 2 loops out from Club La Santa, starting with 1 3/4 loops of the track and then out on asphalt roads toward the villages of La Santa. The way back is on a dirt track where one needs to be attentive to the underfoot conditions, and then back for a lap of the track before completing a second loop.
Race 2 – 13K Ridge Run – an out and back circuit starting and finishing on the track. The run is on both dirt trails and asphalt roads around one of the big volcanoes near the village of La Santa.
Race 3 – 5K Beach Race – another two loop circuit this time in Puerto del Carmen (South of the island), where you run on some compact sand near the water’s edge (about 1k on each loop) but mostly on soft sand as you turn at either end and on the way back.
Race 4 – Tinajo 21K – starting near the beautiful Los Dolores church in Mancha Blanca. As loops seem to be flavour of the month, you start this race by doing a 5-mile loop around another two volcanos and then back down to Club La Santa on what is mostly downhill asphalt and dirt tracks, finishing with 300m of the track in the stadium.
So Saturday 26 November arrives and I depart my house at 3:45am to pick up Peter Knaggs in Dundrum and then onto pick up Noel Tobin who was then to guide us through Dublin city to the airport. After picking up Noel and merrily on our way we had the last minute check… wallet, spectacles, watch, passport… one u-turn later Noel was meekly knocking on the door in the hope that he could retrieve above items from his kitchen.
No more distractions and we are on the Ryan Air 6:25am flight where I fall instantly asleep until it is time to land. So that was a pleasant flight. However, our taxi from the airport was an interesting experience. How a driver can talk so much, never look where he is going, while using both hands to point out all the island features is beyond me.
So we arrived well informed at Club La Santa where unlimited WiFi would keep us all in touch while staying in pleasant white coloured modern apartments oozing neat contemporary living. It is all about first impressions and I was instantly impressed with the facilities and the comprehensive list of free activities listed in the resort’s Weekly Programme. They even provided free bikes! Location couldn’t have been better – you just needed to fall out of bed to be at the start line for two of the races and better again, you could fall into your bed at the finish line. Luckily too, the food to fuel us in our exploits was very good.
Race 1: 10k Road Race
And so race day arrives and it is bright, sunny and very warm. I bailed out on the warm-up after one lap of the track to save my energy. Shortly thereafter we line up at the start and after some pleasantries the race is underway. In all races you need a target or pace setter to help you along. On this occasion it was Shona for me. We had a good 5k race in Marley a couple of weeks back so I felt why not stick to the same strategy. However, after 1km Shona was doing battle with Noreen and I am beginning to wonder about the cons of going out too fast. Both go on to have a great race to set the themselves up for the overall event team medal.
In the meantime, I encounter a steep ramp back onto the track at the end of the first loop knocks me flat causing me to spend the next 400 metres grabbing water to drink and pour over me in a vain attempt to get going again. I managed to get around the second loop and finish so the dream of getting the Challenge medal was still intact. We all head down to the cool waters of the lagoon to cool off and chill out a bit, one of many moments of joy to be shared over the next few days.
Back to the apartment for the midday siesta. Later into La Santa for a fine dinner then back for a glass of beer in the sports centre.
Race 2: 13k Ridge Run
Race day two and I am in fear of this ridge run which someone had pointed location out way off in the distance. To wear a cap or not, to carry water or not, but a must is to wear sun cream as it was clear blue skies and in the mid-twenties. For this race I had decided an easier starting pace was the way to go. Off we go around the track and out towards the mountains. I kept thinking about that “ridge” and its steep slope. As we ascend the sun beats down on us. Some take their shirts of in true Irish style but not me. Many just walk up that ridge as I did. About 1km after going over the top you take a left turn downwards and homewards. The sun was now on my back but a lovely cooling breeze onto my face.
I regain a sense of competiveness and chase Will, passing him as a cloud passes overhead further adding to the cooling sensation. The thing that struck me most about this race was the number of Sportsworld helpers on the course feeding us with extra water and encouragement. My hat off to those folks, most of all Joe Byrne as I saw him in the shop the day before buying small bottles of water to be given to us when most needed on the day. As so we descend with some beautiful scenery around us but with precious little time or will to look and enjoy it. But the feeling is good as I roll in shortly after Wesley.
Back to the apartment for another midday siesta. Later I had some lunch with the lads which was very nice and keenly priced which was a surprise in itself. Later again and it is a Release and Unwind session where the MC had us all chill out and asleep after 30 mins. On the way back to resort central I get to try the 50m pool. The water is lovely and warm so with some encouragement from the triathletes in the club, a few lengths were done. Bliss. Dinner tonight was in El Lago and it was a great setting, lovely meal, a surprise birthday treat and a good chat with the folks around me. Afterwards it was back to the sports bar for a night cap, this time a soft drink! Actually one large beer.
Race 3: 5k Beach Race
Race day three and we are up early to catch a good seat on the bus to Puerto Del Carmen. Another crazy driver leaves me dizzy by the time we get to the south side of the island. However, one thing that is becoming a pattern here is that the staff just can’t do enough for you. If there is no room on the bus, they put you on a taxi. Staff had to wait until visitors were sorted. Nice touch but I prefer equal treatment. Today I am feeling a bit more determined. I figure the first lap is where it happens and thereafter on the outward stretch by the water. Two loops. Trust me it is hard to run on soft sand. You need at least one loop of those loops to practice. The course is churned up for the second loop so it is a tough one. But that’s what we love.
Smart thinking and some of us take the early bus back to base, have lunch at El Lago (a gem overlooking the lagoon and the distant surf) and then what is becoming the norm – I go for my mid-afternoon siesta. 4pm comes around and a few of us are off on an introductory mountain bike ride for 1 ½ hours on the free high quality mountain bikes. We took in a few hills and swung by the sea in what was a refreshing and motivational outing. I started to realised when all things are considered this holiday is good value and now I have discovered a means of enjoying the gems that Lanzarote has to offer: sea, hills, rocks and wind in your hair. Maybe this is what the other 200,000 folks discovered last year?
On return another Release and Unwind session, swimming and some foot massages. Heaven arrives in an ice cream cone to cap it off. No sports bar tonight for me as I think I might give the last race a lash.
Race 4: 21k Half Marathon
Final race day. I can’t remember how I got to the start line some 21k away but I presume it was via a bus as I didn’t walk it. I recall some folks looking meekly into the lovely church. I peeked as well but didn’t want to be disrespectful walking inside in running shorts and singlet. It looked ornate so I contemplated doing a tour of the churches here sometime.
The race organisers has a van on site for a bag drop which was useful as last minute adjustments to amount of sun cream and what accessories to discard were made at the starting point. My strategy was not to go out fast until first loop has been completed and that “hill” had been passed. At the start line I was in 4th place in my age group category for the events to date. There I spotted my third place target.
Shortly after the race started he was about 100m ahead of me dashing my hopes of leapfrogging him. I stick to the race plan regardless. This was an interesting race for me because at many points someone came along bounding with energy and a faster pace to help me keep a decent pace. Shona and Noreen helped initially but after having a nice photo taken I seemed to move ahead. Packie helped me for quite a bit, but disappeared after the 10km mark.
Once again the Sportsworld supporters are spread around the course with numerous bottles of water. Thanks again guys. I hope I can do likewise for you all at some point in the near future. All your support helped me to enjoy this race and that kept me pushing on. Unfortunately, the race was about 500m longer than your traditional 21km so I lost hope of breaking 1:30 as I ascended the last ramp into the complex. Otherwise a good run and I enjoyed the post-race festival. I felt great having completed my third ½ marathon.
Back to the apartment for the midday siesta. A big night ahead. Our seats were booked for the restaurant overlooking the theatre where the award ceremony would be help. There I learned Emily has been coming here for best part of those 28 years that the challenge was held. And so the night continues with the awards ceremony. Like Cinderella, I headed back to the apartment at midnight.
The day after. Well the old fellas went on a morning intermediate mountain bike riding guided tour which provided lots of fun: speed, being on the edge, the twists and turns – today’s ride out had it all.
We arrived back in time for an early lunch. It was a strange lunch or should I say strange lunch time. For some reason folks just didn’t want to talk to us. We noticed many heads were held in hands pondering at the table, a little stagger on getting up, rolling of the eyes all telling a story of a wild night before. Some, were just arriving back from their night out. I won’t say who. What I gathered was that the area called the Volcano, which hosted such innocent ramblings such as relax and unwind, Pilates body balance; took on a more active hip hop or pulsing barre from midnight onwards. Many from Sportsworld were allegedly there. But from the stories that I heard you can assume a good time was had by those in attendance. And so the La Santa 2016 Whatsapp group will remain a closed group.
A barbeque Thursday evening at Mama Africa finished the holiday festivities for me. Friday was going home day.
Well done to all winners and competitors. Most notable results were Sportsworld 1 ladies team (Shona, Noreen, Ruth) who were the overall winning female team.
Sportsworld 1 men’s team (Paul, Conor, Gareth) who came 3rd in the overall rankings.
On an individual level Siobhan O’Doherty won both the ladies 5k and the 21k races.
Many others won or were placed in the top three positions of their respective age groups for the various races and the overall challenge. All in all, a good outing for the club.
A sign of a good holiday is your keenness to come back to the same spot. I feel this holiday delivered in spades. Although the Challenge was the main focus, it was such a pleasant experience to be able to wander around and mingle, meet and chat with so many nice people while having access to great facilities and food in what turned out to be great weather. Thanks Sportsworld. Here’s to next year.
The Sportsworld Beer Mile Championship Results
Winners Conor Keating and Naoise Waldron!
Sportsworld Results
Results Female (Overall)
Place – Name – 10k Race – 13k race – 5k race – 21k Race – Total Time
As I newbie to the “Meet & Train” scene I faced Sunday morning with a mixture of excitement and dread. Some reports had cast the Dunboyne trip as the Battle of the Somme, others as a kind of afternoon-tea-for-the-active-woman. I figured anything ending in cake and coffee was worth a try. At 9.15, light slipping lazily into the day, a small group of us converge at the edge of bushy park. There’s a slight autumnal chill, it’s dampish but not raining and mercifully, no wind. We count four. We wait and recount. Still four. Gemma offers to drive.
Race reporter Olive in yellow!
We load up the gear, casually destroying her boot in the process, some of us too preoccupied with trying to get a handle on the concept of “spikes” and “cross country” to notice. Half an hour of cheerful chat about nerves, turnout and the silly way the GPS woman pronounces “chapelizod” later we pull into the carpark at Dunboyne. There are athletic looking types swarming the place, types who seem totally at ease with spikes and mucky fields. Still, fear is motivation. At the side of the clubhouse Ann is organizing our numbers and Bronwyn dishing out safety pins. Now we number eleven Sportsworld warriors. About half of us are totally new to this. This is oddly reassuring. If the apprehension is up the expectation is down. We trot a mile down the road in an uneasy warm up then find a thistly ditch in which to change. Then it’s time to try out the spikes. There’s no Emily around to shout “strides” but it’s done from memory.
Then we’re off. The spikes immediately feel light and liberating, though at some cost to calf & ankle support. In the early metres, with eyes on the uneven ground, it’s hard to get a rhythm. But then the field opens a bit, I try putting the head up and letting the feet mind themselves and breathing gets a little easier. This idea is going great until I run into a mound of yellow grass and nearly come a cropper. (Who knew so many varieties of treacherous grass could grow in one field?) We turn into the outer field. Grainne’s on my shoulder. Those around us are getting moral support in the form of “good running L____” and “keep it up J___”. Not to be outdone, we give ourselves a quick pep talk. Some runners seem to be reducing their workload by going for the path worn at the sides.
I follow and manage to get a reasonably comfortable rhythm going. Then it’s into the character building 2nd lap. There’s something about 2nd laps that erodes the soul. Now there’s no familiar face in sight, the wind has surely risen and the very tape on the marking poles is stretching out to trip me up. Stomach and lungs are fighting for space inside so there’s no hope of picking up the pace. (Note to self, if a two mile race can do this to your head dont ever consider a marathon.) Still, on we thud. And then the outer field is done and the inner field is possible. My spirits lift as does my pace and I finally get to stop worrying and empty the tank in the last 100 metres.
Having survived the notorious cows’ field I slip on a pavement leaf on the cool down run and would be nursing a cracked skull in hospital now but for Grainne’s quick reaction. (Thanks Grainne and sorry again about that resulting poke in the eye!) A spread of cupcakes, biscuits and chocolate treats awaits us in the clubhouse. We refuel and pile back into the team bus (Gemma’s car). Maria (“H’on Tipp[i]” ) Jones has done us proud by zooming home in 4th place overall but she’s still totes down to earth on the way home. We exchange training tips – the pros and cons of over training, undertraining, weight training, doing squats or just spending the afternoon shopping It may be the coffee or the endorphins or the good company but I never expected a run in a damp field would be such fun. Well done everyone!
Maria Jones 4th
Ann Higgins 30th
Gemma White 36th
Olive Fogarty 51st
Maria Finnegan 56th
Grainne Lynch 59th
Anne Belton 73rd
Anne Maria Scanlon 74th
Bronwyn Murphy White 76th
Laurence Delaire 85th
Orla Greaves 86th
I should have known when I shamelessly bragged about completing my second half marathon on Facebook that it would lead to a request from Eoin to write a race report. Mental note: celebrate quieter next time!! Just the idea that I can run 21KM still gets me super excited as when I joined Sportsworld 8 months ago, I was just about able to plod a slow 10KM.
Race reporter Grainne
So, after reading the reports of last July’s Clontarf half being a nice, flat, easy run I decided to give it a go. Nice – yes it was! Flat – as a pancake! Easy – not so sure! Despite the freezing cold, it was a beautiful morning for a run. I’ll ignore the fact that they were playing Christmas tunes on the 19th November!! There was a clear blue sky and sunshine as we ran up the promenade taking a sharp right onto the wooden bridge. The scenery was stunning and everyone was in good spirits.
As we ran across the bridge the pacer shouted “smile everybody, because you won’t feel like it the next time you are here”. How right she was! Then onto the dreaded sand. As it was the beginning of the race and we had the wind at our backs I was wondering what all the fuss was about. This sand running is easy! Back on the concrete on the long stretch from Dollymount towards Sutton I was actually looking forward to getting back on the beach.
It was on this stretch that Patricia ran by me on her return leg – the only other Sportsword runner I spotted on the day. Before long we were back on the beach again. This time a very different experience!! Fatigued, and running into a fairly strong wind I began to struggle. Spirits no longer high I turned into an emotional wreck!
And judging by the faces and breathing of those around me I wasn’t the only one but we dug deep and made it back onto the wooden bridge (unsmiling this time)!! Then, and angel from heaven appeared at about 18KM in the form of a woman with a bucket of orange segments and cola bottles! She was ascended upon like a shower of locusts.
I truly believe those 3 cola bottles got me through the last 3KM. So, thank you whoever you are! Also, a big shout out to the lady with the sign that read “worst parade ever”. Made me smile when I needed a pick-me-up.
In conclusion, it was a brilliantly organised race (I’ll let them away with the fact that the 5KM and 6KM markers were too early), great atmosphere, stunning scenery, pancake flat and I think once I erase the final 5KM from my memory will go down as my favourite, most enjoyable race to date.
Well done all Sportsworld finishers!
Mary Finn 1:29:25
Neil Purdy 1:38:42
Patricia Fitzmaurice 1:41:47
Grainne Dileen 1:48:07
Grainne Lynch 1:54:48
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Conor McGuiness (Clonliffe), Rossa Hurley (Donore) and Shane O’Neill (Rathfarnam) took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in this race.
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third]
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end]
[/ezcol_1third_end]
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third]
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end]
[/ezcol_1third_end]
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third]
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end]
[/ezcol_1third_end]
