Karl Chatterton

When did you join Sportsworld?
I joined Sportsworld in 2012 a few months after moving to Dublin from the UK.

Where do you work?
I work in Sandyford for a company called Logicalis as a Solutions Architect. We design and implement IT solutions for large enterprises, primarily focused on datacentre and cloud deployments.

What is your favourite club session?
My favourite club session is probably Saturday morning track sessions. The sessions are always really testing and there is always a great atmosphere for the track sessions. Last year’s 1500m and club relays at the track was probably one of my favourite sessions since I joined the club.

What is your favourite race distance?
I’ve ran a lot of different races over the last few years, from marathons to my first 800m race at this year’s first grade meet. I think my favourite distance is probably 5k. I like the good mix of speed and endurance that you need for a 5k race.

What is your favourite meal before a big race?
It always has to be porridge with blueberries, honey, and a strong cup of coffee on the morning of a race or a long run.

My Favourite place to train/compete is?
I love training in the Phoenix Park, it is only 2 miles from my house so I train there quite often in the summer. There are so many different options for runs in the park you never really get bored of training there.

What is your target for the next year?
Having done a marathon every year of the last few years I’ve decided to give the marathon a break for a few years so I’m going short this year! I’m going to try and do a many of the graded meet track events as I can over the summer and hopefully that will help me improve my 5k time.

What is your best Sportsworld memory?
The races and moments that stand out for me are probably the club races where we compete as a team. Running can be a very individual sport a lot of the time so when you’re competing on a team with your club mates it can be a great feeling. Standout days for me would be winning the team event at the Leinster Novice road race in Gowran last year. Also being asked to run last year for the Sportsworld team in our own 5 mile race in Terenure was a real privilege. We won the team gold that day and the support from all our club mates our marshalling the course was incredible.

What international events have you ran?
Being from the UK I don’t really class any races I ran there as being international! So outside of that I’ve ran the Rotterdam and Berlin marathons, probably two of the flattest marathons you could hope to run!

What do you like doing when you don’t run?
I enjoy cooking and in the last few years I’ve started to become more interested in gardening. I grow my own fruit and veg and this year I’ve planted hops as part of a group called the Social Hops Forum. Basically we’re all going to grow some hops, get someone to make it into beer and drink it! I like heading out for walks with my dog Arthur, who has a PB of 21 mins for a 5k! I also like watching my beloved Sheffield United and try to get home for a game as often as possible.

How/When did you start your adventure with running?
My adventure with running started in the pub while I was at University! One evening after a beer with some friends we decided it would be a great idea to run the Sheffield half marathon. After a few weeks of training three of us made it to the start line, I was the first of my friends home that day in 1hr 38 minutes. Back then the race used to start and finish in the Don Valley stadium, it was a great atmosphere finishing with a lap of the track in front of a packed stand full of supporters. The stadium was a purpose built athletics venue originally built for the University games in 1991.

Tell us about your PB’s / What is your biggest achievement?
I’ve ran most of the PB’s in the last few months, my current hot streak of PBs started back in September when I finally broke 3 hours for the marathon for the first time. So far this year I’ve run PBs for 1 mile (5:03), 5k (16:46 at the St Patricks festival 5k), and 10k (36:22 at the Great Ireland run).

How often do you run / What is your typical weekly mileage?
Since I finished the marathon in September my mileage and training frequency has dropped. For the last few months I’ve been running 3 or 4 times a week and usually average about 20 miles per week.

What would you say is the best thing about being in a Running Club?
I think the best thing about running with a club is the friends I’ve made. When I first moved to Ireland a few years ago I didn’t know too many people so joining a new running club was a great way to meet people. Training with a group is also great, you always push yourself much harder than you would on your own.

What made you join a Running Club?
I first joined a running club when I was living in Leeds. Back then I joined my local club Rothwell Harriers to help improve my training after deciding to sign up for my first marathon.

What was your first day at the Club like?
I remember the first time I came up to Sportsworld. It must have been during the winter months as the session was the Ballyboden lap. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and ended up setting off chatting to Gareth Murran, and Gavin Finlay. I soon realised they were taking it easy for the first couple of miles and I was probably a bit out of my depth when they picked up the pace and I saw them disappear into the distance! Luckily I’d been living in the area a few months by that stage and knew my way back to the club house!

Why is running important to you?
Running helps me clear my head, I love just getting out and doing a few miles or a hard session to forget about a day at work!

Do you do any cross training / other sports on a regular basis?
I play a little bit of squash every now and then but nothing too serious.

Meet the Runner Archive: Click Here

Terenure 5 Mile 2016

By Terenure 5 Race Director Michael Cunningham

The 32^nd Sportsworld 5 mile race did not get off to a great start. In February we found out we could not get the venue we had used for the last few years and we quickly had to find a new one. So we had no sponsor, no money, no entries, no venue, a new online payment system to set up and a huge amount of work to do.

Four months later we had a sold out event, 2 main sponsors, a top class athletic field, a drone and a samba band!!! Personally in February I wasn’t sure we were going to have a race this year but thanks to a huge amount of work from a lot people we put on one the best races in the racing calendar.

There are a large amount of people to thank who worked on the race and our main sponsors Spar and Lisney but I just want to highlight a few of them.

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Mick Dowling for quickly getting our new race venue and at the same time getting our main sponsor and the samba band.

Sandra Gorwan for seamlessly slipping into her role of Chairperson of the club and doing an amazing job of introducing the race and doing the prize giving.

Conor Kenny put in a massive amount of work generating interest in the race and working with sponsors to make sure we had a sold out event and money to pay the bills.

Eoin O’Brien not just for the lightning bolt idea of novelty pacer balloons but all the steward lists, rounding up of volunteers, new members desk with Naoise and nearly two slabs of caramel slices.

Crona Brady who did a great job working with the charity and getting the message across of what the money was being raised for and paced the race as well.

Anthony Gillen along with Stephen Willoughby took on one of the toughest jobs as course director which involves working heavily with the Gardai and stewards.

Ronan Murray for moving a few tonnes of equipment for the race and pacing it at the same time.

Sean O Byrne for doing all the Health Safety statements and event licence work.

Maria Finnegan again took on the role of organising the accounts and will be busy over the next weeks getting all the bills paid and getting the accounts ready for the main committee.

Laurence and Niamh Cunningham (future member) organised the food and tea and coffee for after the race and the work that goes into it before the race.

Olivier Privat for doing one of the many unseen jobs of putting out and collecting the 400 plus traffic cones and barriers which he has done for the last 3 years.

Orla Jordan for organising and getting the lead cyclists for the race which keeps the race safe.

James Brady for roping his girlfriend into massively increasing our race Facebook likes.

Michael O’Grady donated his time on Sunday to give massages to needy runners and also donated vouchers. Some stewards had some serious Hi- Vis jacket strain and had to get treated too.

We had a number of new committee members this year. Lucia Prihodova, Jose Chapa, Phil Kilgannon and Claire Rowley. It’s not easy putting yourself forward to go onto a committee but the only way the race can grow with new ideas, and people willing to work on them, is for people to volunteer.

There are many more people to thank who got race donations, spot prizes, put up poster signs, got water, got PA systems, did leaflet drops, got Portaloo’s, baked for the race, website video’s, stewarding the list goes on and on but without those jobs being done by people the race could not happen.

We did a lot of things right for the race this year but there are things we definitely can improve on for next year. Unfortunately there will be a tax on people doing the pacing job next year as people are enjoying it way too much but if anyone wants to get more involved with the race and wants to go on the committee to make improvements and take on jobs then please put your name forward when the 2017 Sportsworld 5 mile race planning starts in October.

I think for a race organised and run by volunteers we put on a high standard race but we can’t take the success of the race for granted. The race is a great way to get new members, raise money for the club and for charities and we need every single person in the club getting behind it.

Michael

Graded Meet #2 Tallaght 2016

Report by Gareth Murran

Photos by Eoin O’Brien. Full album: click here. Full results below

The night started off at 7pm with Sportsworld sprinting sensation Margaret Crowley getting a 200m PB of 31:33! She was followed by Damiano making a graded debut in the 200m running 31:42.

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The evening moved on to the 1500m distances where Catherine Mulleady and Tara Rhatigan went out hard and stuck with the pack to run a great 5.19 and 5.21 respectively.

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The 1500M is one of my favorite distances. Your not out on your feet as you would be in an 800M but your never comfortable even in the early stages. The best tactics are to go out as hard as you can and just keep pushing. The 1500 C race last night had myself, Will and Conor running. Very often you can be warming up and feeling like there is nothing there but usually when the gun goes you feel great.

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Despite not running too much over the past 5 months my brain still thinks I can run a few 65 second laps in a row so it’s a shock to hear the lap guy say 72 seconds for 400 M. Will took the race out in the first lap. I slotted in and after 400M decided to go to the front. The next few laps felt steady like a good effort but they were steady rather than fast. When we were coming up to 200M to go a much younger guy decided to take the lead. With no speed in my legs it was a step too far.

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The closing event was the 5000m races. Up first where Derek Saville, Anthony Gillen and Declan Brady in the B+C Grade race followed by Karol Cronin in the Grade A race. Some of the lads got isolated over the 12.5 laps of the track which can be difficult but they dug in to have strong runs and finishes. Thanks again to everyone who made the effort to come out and support the runners!

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Sportsworld results

200m Grade B
Crowley Margaret 31.33

200m Grade C
Celestini Damiano 31.42

1500m Grade B
Mulleady Catherine 5.19.58
Rhatigan Tara 5.21.49

1500m Grade C
Murran Gareth 4.30.92
Keating Conor 4.34.50
Greensmyth Will 4.37.74

5000m Grade A
Cronin Karol 15.45.68

5000m Grade B+C
Saville derek 18.17.6
Gillen Anthony 19.15.5
Brady Declan 20.01.5

Wings for Life World Run

Report by Trevor Loyd

Photos from the Wings for Life Facebook Page: Click Here

‘Are you doing The Hellfire on Saturday?’
No. We’re doing the Wings for Life World run’ on Sunday.
Oh, How long is the run?
‘Well, it’s a different distance for everyone.’
Eh? How so?
Well everyone starts at the same time. Then ½ hour after the start a ‘catcher’ car starts and travels along the course at a pre-determined rate. When the ‘catcher’ car reaches you it records your time and distance and your race is over.
Right. Why do they call it a ‘World’ run?
Because the same race in the identical format is held at the exact same time in 33 countries worldwide with over 133,000 runners taking part. Not only can you become a national champion but also a world champion!!

Judith and Trevor Lloyd, clearly taken after the race

The Irish race started in Scotsman’s Bay in Dun Laoghaire at mid-day and the approx 2000 participants headed out towards Sandycove, Dalkey, Killiney, Shankill, Bray, Greystones and for the elite runners on towards Brittas. While the first part of the course was extremely scenic (Bullock and Dalkey harbours) it was one of the hilliest courses I have ever run. The Hellfire or back of the waterworks have nothing on it.

By the time we reached The Vico Rd under the blazing mid day sun the legs were beginning to go. On to Shankill and Shangannagh cemetery. (Perhaps I could just go in there and die!). At last Bray came in sight and another hill! Past Katie Taylor’s gym and onto the front. As it was the hottest day of the year so far the crowds were out. Kids and grannies all eating ice-cream cones but none of them too interested in the poor souls struggling to run in the heat.

At this stage I was totally knackered. I nearly didn’t get over the speed bump in the road! Ah a Dart station! Back to Dun Laoghaire? A couple of weeks in France is definitely not the best training. At the end of the sea front the course swung right and what appeared? Another 1 mile long Hellfire type hill up to the Greystones road! At this stage some participants were beginning to walk. Then a cry went up. ‘It’s the catcher car’. We all put on a burst to get another few yards. Alas it was only one of the official race cars. Slow down and on past the 15km mark. Will the car never come? Eventually it did and my race was over – thankfully! It was another 2 Km before the car caught my beloved who not only came first in her category nationally but first in her category worldwide. Younger woman and all that!

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This is a race with a difference and on a very difficult course but all in a good cause. €6.6 million was raised worldwide towards spinal injury research. Just out of interest the winning Irish man ran approx 73 km before the car caught him. (The majority of the Irish elites ran about 40Km). For those of you who are tempted next year’s race is on May 7^th2017!

Leinster Master Road Races

Report by Jim Browne

Photos by Breda Browne, Joe Byrne and from Gowran AC Facebook Album: Click Here

Most runners have races that automatically go into their race diary and the Leinster Novice and Masters Road is one of those races for me. I am not quite too sure why as any race that is scheduled for a bank holiday Monday is never conducive to letting the ‘hair down’ on the Saturday and Sunday of the long weekend . Maybe it has got something to do with me being follicaly challenged???

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Race reporter Jim in action Monday

Gowran is a small quaint village situated in the home of hurling in County Kilkenny and is a quick 75 minute drive from Dublin. The Men Master’s Race is a 6k and is unusual in that it is a 4 lap course around the village starting and finishing between the community hall and the graveyard!!.The standard of the race is quite high and the entrants are almost exclusively club runners.

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An elite crew (in my world anyway) of Damien Kelly, Joe Byrne, Noel Tobin and myself made up the Sportsworld’s Master’s team and after a quick two lap team warm up followed by the obligatory strides we were ready to go.

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As always (due to a downhill start) the race goes off at a very fast pace and this year was no different. However as I had raced the Tallaght 5k the previous day ( I really need a social life) I made a concerted effort to go off conservatively and hold something in reserve for later in the race . Not the worst decision in the world as the normal difficult climb after taking a left in the village was accompanied this year with a very strong and cold headwind. Bloody hell it was hard work and only the silent cursing to myself and the sight of Joe Byrne in the distance kept me going.

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Once the first lap was completed it really was in the words of Grouche Marks ‘déjà vu all over again’ as we faced the same pain (I mean lap) another 3 times. That said that 1500m is a short lap and it was a case of knuckling down and I think I actually picked up the pace for the last 400m of the last lap to finish reasonably strongly.

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Damien Kelly had an outstanding race winning bronze in the Over 40 division and also a Silver as a scoring member of the Dublin team. His lovely daughter and biggest fan, Isobel was beaming with pride as her father collected his medals. Joe Byrne also had a super race just missing out an age group medal. Noel and I were happy with our efforts (Noel had also raced in Tallaght the previous day) and we finished 6th and 5th respectively in the Over 50 division.

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After a cup of tea and the prize giving in the community hall, it was back to Dublin to let my limited hair down in the limited time that was left of the Bank Holiday.

P.S Normally Sportsworld would have had teams competing in the novice men, novice women and masters’ women but due to a combination of events we didn’t field a team in any of those categories this year. The club has numerous team and individual medals from these races and hopefully next year we will be back to full teams in all four.

The Rocket Mile

Report by Gavin Finlay

The Rocket Mile (USTAF NC State Mile Championship)

1 May 2016, Rocky Mount, NC

The post-marathon slope can be exceedingly slippy. After several weeks rest, the efforts to return to the daily run and routine become increasingly difficult – the scourge of apathy and lethargy setting in. I feared this would befall me once the mileage plummeted over the last month. I have been here before of course. The running pendulum swinging wildly from focused motivation to aimless indifference. Not to mention the body’s aches and groans questioning why I lace up.

But I am back. The mind is back. The body is too…well…almost. A recent 1st place finish in a local 5k charity race injected a much-needed dose of mojo and not a little bit of joy back into my running.

Joy is not a word I’d ascribe to the mile race. A vicious and furious 1600m (and change), as different to the marathon as JFK is to Donald Trump. Measured aerobic contemplation versus high-octane, “hold on to your pants” showtime tempo. I know which one I’m wired and built for.

And so to the Rocket Mile in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, around 80 minutes east from where I live here in Durham. A comp entry from Bull City Track Club (BCTC hereon in), a $225 “purse” eased any indecision I had (I’m not working here so entry fees and mileage costs are real financial concerns right now!). A state medal up for grabs and the chance to compete against post-collegiate greyhounds young enough to be my sons (well, in certain counties of the Deep South anyway). I ain’t no miler but let’s go marathon man.

Keeping with tradition, I hit the road, dragging the young kids with me – ah, the life of the husband of a Duke University Medical Centre doctor! We arrived with only 30 mins to spare for a rushed bib pick-up, handover of kids to a parent comrade, and an attempted “vigorous” warmup. Like Durham, Rocky Mount is a former tobacco town: registration was in the “Imperial Centre” (after Imperial Tobacco) and the local river is even named ‘Tar River’. Granted it was Sunday, but the town was “tumbleweed” eery and uncontroversially characterless. Forlorn, you could say. There were the requisite Baptist churches, devoid of any redeeming architectural virtue; boxy regional banks and disused warehouses. I even saw a cement hulk of a Freemason’s Hall on my warmup.

Sufficiently loose, I toed the line feeling more nervous than I usually do at distance races. A mixture of comfort zone separation and the intense fear of lactic acid attack. It may well be shorter than a 10k or a marathon of course, but conscious time takes on a different dimension when you race all-out at your threshold for 4-5 minutes. And for me, on this day, I didn’t really know how the body would handle it.

The lead group accelerated out and to my surprise I edged into the lead. A quick glance back and I saw Blake “10k is too long” Williams who I’ve trained with a bit here in Durham. He’s just returned from “running track” on scholarship at the University of Texas. Quality, serious 1500m runner. He’s the easy winner, no doubt, with a mile PR of 4:06 I think. Nowhere near that today though. Ok, plan is to keep him within 100m or so. He shifted gears after the first quarter mile and the rest of us were left in his Nike-shaped wake. Predictable.

I managed to sustain a decent clip, clocking a 2:22 half-mile, and feeling surprisingly good. I have run a 4:34 mile before but I knew for certain that I’d be far off that today. We swung left then left again and headed for home with a final left turn to go. Almost a perfect rectangle. I was overtaken in the third quarter by the eventual second place finisher but stood fast and tried to sustain. Recent training hadn’t gifted me with any sort of kick to challenge him. As we neared the finish line the severe pain I had anticipated never came. Had I been too conservative? Could I have been more aggressive? Should I have embraced inevitable pain like a seasoned miler? Screw it. Another day, perhaps.

In the end, I finished third in 4:46 and 2nd USTAF runner. That’ll be nice in the archives.

This was a well organised event, full of support and good cheer. I quite liked racing the blue ribbon distance too. And the lovely part: relatively no post-race fatigue like you experience after a 10k, for example.

Rocket Mile? Not quite. More like a Paper Airplane Mile if we’re honest. But I enjoyed the flight.

Great Limerick Run 2016

Report by Stephen Willoughby

Full Sportsworld results at bottom of page

The Barringtons Hospital Great Limerick Run is an event I have taken part in over the last few years. You have an option of either the marathon, half marathon or 6 mile and over a coffee a few months ago myself and a few others from club decided to head down again this year.

Race reporter Stephen (on left)

Due to various commitments we were all travelling down at different times and days so busy time was had having to pick up race numbers for others and arrange to meet at various different hotels around the city centre to hand over goodie bags and teeshirts day before.

This event is a huge boost for Limerick City as between the three races over 14,000 take part. The day before 3,500 kids from Limerick Primary Schools took part in waved starts over different distances around UL finishing on the running track. Was nice to bump into Shona who was there supporting her nephews Kevin and Eoin (future of Irish Athletics I have no doubt).

The logistics of race day are marathon starts at 9.00am so we went to the 2 mile mark to see if we could spot any Sportsworld Runners. First to pass was Neil Purdy looking good on his way to a Sub 4 hour marathon. Not too far behind were Ronan Murray, fresh from his marathon week before and Shay Brady who had ran 36 miles day before and was doing marathon as warm up to Belfast marathon the next day !!. Although raining we soon noticed conditions would be warm as both lads proceeded to strip off infront of us as they were wearing layers and felt a singlet would be enough to wear.

Catherine Gilmore, Emma Barry and myself were doing the half marathon which started at 11.45am. I would need Will Greensmyth to give the guided tour of the course as starts in city centre heads out around the surrounding areas and back into city centre and then out again for a 10k loop passing Thomond Park back into city centre again.

As the marathon course was changed this year we came across Neil, Ronan and Shay at different points on the other side of the road running towards us which was nice opportunity to high five them and shout encouragement.

I had agreed to try and help Emma and Catherine to get under 1.50 and we were all together up to half way and as Emma was running very strongly myself and Emma pushed on and Catherine tried to hang onto the official 1.50 pacers.

I will admit that I struggled to keep up with Emma near the end as she took off heading over the bridge which brings you to O’Connell Street and probably one of the best finishing straights you will ever experience in any race as there is a huge crowd line both sides of the street so I made the most of it with high fiving the crowd as would have been rude to finish ahead of Emma.

Some improvement in her half marathon times as smashed the 1.50 target with 1.47.08. Rosie Mulhern had a very good run finishing in 1.55.32 and more to come from Rosie in next few months. Catherine not too far behind in 1.56.22 and Caroline Galligan not too far behind Catherine in 1.58.10.

Missed seeing Noreen Brouder beforehand as she ran a great race finishing 2nd in her age category in a time of 1.25.56 – a 5min PB!!!

Didn’t get to see any of the 6 mile race at 1.30pm but believe Helen Brouder ran really well to finish 2nd overall female in a time of 37.09 with Will Greensmyth not too far behind in 38.16 although rumour has it he was with Helen turning into O’Connell Street but did his customary finish showboating to his beloved fans hence the difference in time between the two.

Great event, great weekend and will be back next year.

Ps. If you staying in the Savoy and wondering how to turn off the lights beside your bed, the switch is located under the lampshade just under the bulb !!

Sportsworld Results:

Marathon
Neil Purdy 3.58.12
Ronan Murray 4.16.31
Shay Brady 4.16.31

Half Marathon
Noreen Brouder 1.25.56
Emma Barry 1.47.08
Stephen Willoughby 1.47.15
Rosie Mulhern 1.55.32
Catherine Gilmore 1.56.22
Caroline Galligan 1.58.10

6 Mile
Helen Brouder 37.09
Will Greensmyth 38.16

ENTER SPORTSWORLDS TERENURE 5 MILE RACE TODAY! CLICK HERE

Tallaght 5k – Dublin Novice Championship

Report by Padraig Moorehouse

Continue

Shamrock Rovers 5K Run

Report by Conor Kenny

Photos by Carmek Dolan

You don’t win a Blueberry Muffin Yankee Candle without feeling invincible and maybe that you were simply born to run 2 races in 2 days.

Race reporter Conor in action

Fresh from a fast run in the Tallaght 5K, Valerie Power was persuaded by the newly formed ‘Bank Holiday Sportsworld Team’ to run another 5K some 24 hours later after winning such an emotional spot prize. Her cohorts for this celebratory ‘lap of honour’ included new club signing and emerging track specialist Big Tall John, Speedy Sandra Kelly, Singalong Derrick Long, Claire ‘not ‘Clare’ from Mayo, Mz Blueberry Muffin and this writer.

We assembled in the bejewelled Spawell car park fresh with the whiff of burning doughnut rubber, and trundled up to registration at Templeogue Football Club. It was interesting to say the least. Clearly The Premiership was casting a long arm into the minds of The Hoops Glitterati. There were more pearl white SUV’s than you’ve seen before. The air was thick with hairspray, men’s hairspray and the whiff of aftershave was strong. Amidst the glamour, we handed over our entry fee.

As soon as we were outside, a photographer instantly started snapping wildly. We looked so uncool he clearly thought we were famous. He asked us who we were “Sportsworld” we said proudly. His jaw dropped and he went “uhhhhh”.

Derrick Singalong Long insisted we warm up on the race lap. Enroute, who did we run into but the very cool Carmel Dolan and her beautiful daughter, Lucy, who became our Number 1 fans. Out of the blue (and woods) came a perfectly timed Dave Clarke. Enough time to encourage us, but not enough to change and run. “It’s all about timing” he said.

At the start, a man in the baggiest shorts, the whitest socks and the big beany hat was getting much attention. The Daily Echo Hack was back. Guilt had obviously got to him after his earlier “uhhhhh”. Without much ado, he pushed us into the bosom of this unknown man. Like good kids, we put our arms around one another and our new found friend. “Who is he?” asked one of our number “Damian Duff” came an eavesdropping scowling reply from a chorus of 3 junior Hoops players disgusted at our ignorance.

Back to the run. “Now, just to say it again. It’s a run. It’s a Bank Holiday run, it’s not a race” said one of The Bank Holiday Team. Another chorus of “Agreed”

We were off and the westerly wind put paid (thankfully) to any hope of fast times. Oh yes, sure, we weren’t ‘racing’ but the voices in the head said “Oh yes you are”.

We huffed and puffed and maybe 4 seconds separated us all at halfway. This was the downhill bit and the author was running shoulder to shoulder with The Blueberry Queen. It was later that it occurred to him that he was being used as a windbreaker (but you don’t become a Blueberry Queen without serious race craft). We were shifting and ahead of us on the narrow path, were 4 aspiring Premier League Juniors. We were closing but they were all abreast.

Just then, Susan Walsh, best known for her fantastic race commentaries, appeared and said to Val “You are first Lady”

Well, if that didn’t up the ante with just over a mile to go?

The 4 juniors were now a problem. With Chariots of Fire in our ears, yours truly let a roar at the 4 buffered beauties “Leading Lady Coming Through”. They scattered and, as a thank you apology, I said “Nice aftershave” We didn’t quite get their response but we didn’t wait either. Val was now running in slow motion with gazelle like strides, slow soft looks and hair flowing in calming wave like movements. Even her occasional wink was in slow mo too.

Up the long drag to the finish and The Leading Lady was accelerating. The author made the ultimate sacrifice with a mere 400 to go and, selflessly denying himself said “You go, you go. It’s ok, leave me”. It was noble but Big John thought it was a signal. Derrick Singalong did too and ruthlessly passed us all.

As Val collected her 1^st prize, a signed Shamrock Rovers jersey, we quickly realised that Claire Rowley was 2^nd Lady who got a pair of football boots for her trouble with Sandra Kelly claiming 3^rd spot and a free coffee in the café. As for the 3 wise men? They were …. Happy.

Back to the Spawell for coffee and cake and a closer look at our new shiny medals. The Blueberry Queen had a lightbulb moment in the afterglow of an historic win.

Said Her Majesty “Let’s dash into town” We looked surprised and awaited her perfect punchline “Let’s dash into town and sell all our medals in Cash for Gold”. That said it all about the ethos of The Bank Holiday Sportsworld Team

It was a good to be a runner and an even better day to have 3 Ladies doing a 1-2-3.

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Dublin Remembers 1916 5k

Report by (Race winner!) Karol Cronin

Photos by Eoin O’Brien

Hats off to Athletics Ireland and Dublin City Council for organising at short notice this historic once off 5k race to commemorate to the very day when Dublin rose up in rebellion against the British Empire.

The race route would take runners past some sites and battles during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Race reporter Karol with Margaret after the race

Despite the race initially starting at 9am (then later to 8am!), it proved a really popular one with over 4,000 runners in a sea of blue lining out on a sunny, beautiful Dublin morning at Mountjoy Square.

Sportworld runners included Grainne, Stephan, Claire, Catherine, Madeline, Eoin, Margaret, Naoise, Damian Kelly and Ann Higgins with her husband and kids as well as a few other members.

Cycling in from Rathfarnham to the city just like Padraig Pearse and his brother Willie a 100 years to the day, I wondered what thoughts were going through their minds. Certainly not race nerves. Not a sinner was out as I cycled in bar a lad laden with bottles of beer looking for a lift off me on Meath St.

I parked up at the finish area of the picturesque Royal Hospital Kilmainham and got my warm up done by jogging up to the start line meeting my brother along the way. There was a great atmosphere up there, helped by the lovely early morning sunshine.

I met my friend Jonny there and we did a warm up together on street running down to Croke Park.

Looking to get back to some consistency in training, I had done a track session the day before. Lining up at the very front I said to myself if the pace wasn’t too bad I’d give it go and stay up with the front group.

After Amhràn na bhFiann was sung, we set off down to the Garden of Remembrance and swung a left down to O’Connell St (Sackville St in 1916). Here we past the GPO, the headquarters of the rebels and where Pearse read out the proclamation to the bewildered citizens of Dublin.

Just before O’Connell Bridge, we turned left up to Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Citizen Army and where their leader James Connolly had the proclamation printed.

At this stage in the race, a group of four of us had opened a considerable gap on the others and I felt comfortable in this pack as we turned back from Liberty Hall, passing the Rosie Hackett Bridge named in honour of the women who was involved in the Rising in the Royal College of Surgeons and a fighter for workers rights.

We then crossed over Butt Bridge taking a right where there started a long run up along the quays all the way to Kilmainham. As the city was beginning to wake up, we were offered a few words of encouragement by passersby and a few regulars to the city’s quays, “Fair play to yiz lads”.

From across the river we past the Four Courts around the 3k mark which would be taken over by the Limerick born Edward ‘Ned’ Daly who was the youngest commandant in the Rising.

After that we passed the lesser known Mencity Institute at Ushers Island. This building was originally meant to be held for three hours to protect the Four Courts and hinder British reinforcements. They ended up holding out for three days under the command of Sean Heuston who had the train station named after him where he had previously worked.

At this stage there was myself and two others left. For certain periods along the Liffey, I felt the previous days training in me but as neared closer to Heuston Station I held it together and tucked in behind the others knowing there was going to a steady uphill to the finish line.

After the train station, we turned up towards the hill. I thought to myself that it would be a great opportunity to win a race like this so I decided to give it a go and kicked off. I managed to make a gap as we approached the gates to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Fearing a back lash from the others, I ran like the whole British army were out to get me.

Thankfully I was able to hold off and be the first over the line and hold a 100 year record of this 1916 Easter Rising 5k. It was only later that I found out that I clocked a time of 16.16, a somewhat appropriate time. It was a great race to have won and great venue to have a finish in. I chatted with a few people after the race finally being able to have some breakfast.

The Royal Hospital was the headquarters of the Bristish during the Rising and actually had machine guns of the roof, spraying bullets at the rebels who occupied the South Dublin Unions (Now St James Hospital).

You can a lot done when you get up early I learnt. Perhaps still feeling a buzz of winning and having a bit of food, I decided to celebrate by cycling to the Phoenix Park to do my long run.

There I bumped into Eoin, Margaret and Naoise who I thought were starting their long run but had in fact used the 5k run as part of their long run and had continued running to the Phoenix Park to complete their loop.

This was when I told them of my 100 year club record and the ever ready social media guru Eoin was at hand to picture this historic occasion.

Soon afterwards all the other Sportsworld members arrived for their early morning long run and upon hearing of the news, gave me a round of applause which was very touching.

I then went off on my long run with a few others and then cycled home where I finally put my feet up for a while. I then went up to St Endas Park, the home of Pearse’s school for a concert commenarting the Rising. I wonder what he would have thought of me winning the race. Pearse led them in Dublin in 1916, Karol in 2016!

Patrick_Pearse

Well done to everyone involved in organising the race and to all the Sportsworld members who ran in it. A big thanks to everyone who congratulated me and sent me well wishes. Very much appreciated!

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