November 8th 2014

Saturday 8th November found me at home in the Kingdom to celebrate my Uncle’s 60th Birthday. To make up for the disappointment of missing the Leinster Intermediate Cross Country I scanned the web for a consolation race and found a gem.

Feet First Foot Solutions, in association with Mizuno, have been hosting an annual 4 x 5K winter race series for a number of years now. The series is held in Killarney National Park, a large parkland buffer zone between the lakes and the centre of town, between October and November. Prizes are awarded at the end of the series. Your individual score is based on your best three performances. Sat 8th was the 2nd race in this year’s series.

175 runners assembled under the Precision TIming Start Line on the main road, at the edge of the park, just before 10am. A local approached me to say I was a long way from home.. considering myself a local I didn’t know what he was talking about…. until he pointed to my Sportsworld singlet. He asked after Mick and Emily and told me that he had some good banter with Mick when he lived in Dublin and ran for MSB. He then offered the advice to get out quick if I could as the paths in the park were narrow and I could get stuck behind the large field.

The race started promptly at 10am and I set off with the leaders and out of congestion trouble. After a couple of hundred metres on the main road we turned left into the park. The paths in the park are well surfaced in fresh tarmac – so underfoot conditions were excellent. The route took us a long river banks, across open parkland, through wooded areas, around golf courses – plenty of variety to keep the mind occupied. It had the feel of a trail run while being on excellent paths. Only the occasional cattle grid to keep us on our toes. The good mood was enhanced by the weather which was sunny, mild and fresh with a slight breeze.

After 2km I was in 6th position with the sound of heavy breathing down my neck. The leaders were strung out over the 50m in front of me. Slowly but surely the heavy breathing moved up beside me, then slightly ahead and then dropped me. I was more or less on my own with a good gap to the field. I did my best to stay with the leaders but my inability to climb hills at speed saw me loose ground. Whereas the course was not hilly there were several punishing drags which knocked the confidence.

The race organiser had promised us that the last kilometer was flat and fast – practically guaranteed PB’s!. The relief at reaching the 4k marker was tempered by the sight of another punishing drag – luckily it only lasted a couple of hundred metres and then we did have a flat finish. By the time the finish line appeared my PB had evaporated and I could see the clock roll disappointingly from 17 to 18mins.

In the end I finish 7th.

1st Tony Harty (1st MS) 17:18
2nd Robert Purcell (1st M45) 17:38
7th Paul Mitchell (2nd M45) 18:21
8th Maria McCarthy (1st FS) 18:58

Water and Bannanas served at the finish line. Tea, Coffee, mini doughnuts, mini chocolate muffins, homemade cakes, were served across the road in the community centre.

I’d recommend this race – as long as it doesn’t clash with a cross country 🙂

The Leinster Masters women’s race also took place in the majestic grounds of Avondale House in Co. Wicklow over 4 x 1km laps. Both novice and masters men were put through their paces over a 2km lap that includes one of the most severe and longest hills on the cross-country running circuit. Mercifully the women’s races were run over the less arduous but testing nonetheless 1km lap. Underfoot conditions were close to perfect on Sunday, but a stiff wind combined with rain reminded us that this was the cross-country season! Jackie Carty of Kilmore AC led the 65 masters women home to take gold, followed by Paula Grant of Portlaoise AC, with Donore’s Anne Curly claiming bronze. Despite a number of Sportsworld masters athletes being away for marathons we still managed to field 8 competitors. For most this was the first cross-country race in a long time for some their first ever. It augers well for the rest of the season that despite not having our best athletes available Sportsworld were 5th in the team rankings with Lucy Darcy, Orla Jordan and Alison Ward scoring for the team. The F35 team comprising of Alison Ward, Louise Brunton and Claire Rowley picked up a silver medal and there will most likely follow a couple more medals in the individual age categories. Well done to all.

Avondale at the base of the Wicklow Mountains was the location for a tough, hilly 4 km course for the Leinster Novice Cross Country Championships on Sunday.
A relatively new Sportsworld Ladies Novice team lined up on the day with all 4 team members Aggie Buckley, Catherine Mulleady, Margaret Crowley and Tara Rhatigan only joining the club this year.
The team finished 7th overall in the club competition and hope to improve on this in the All Ireland Novice Cross Country in Santry in December.
Well done to the Masters Ladies and Men’s teams and the Novice Men’s team from who also ran very well on Sunday!

Sunday 19th October

I travelled up to beautiful Carlingford last Sunday for the Glenmore AC 6K Road Race.
Just under 100 racers set off in blustery, but mainly dry conditions. The course meandered over local country roads which were either closed or extremely quiet. In any event we weren’t troubled by too many cars. There doesn’t appear to be too much flat ground in that part of the world and my impression was that the only significant stretch of flat ground we saw was the 400m race track on which we finished.

From the gun, heading downhill with a strong wind at my back I was thinking to myself that this can’t bode well for the finish. Gary O’Hanlon set the pace from start to finish and looked extremely comfortable as he drifted away from the rest of us. I found the constant up and down terrain very sapping and was never able to get into a comfortable stride. As I faced up hill again at the 4k mark a spectator shouted “last hill now”…experience told me not to believe a word and, as anticipated, two more hills followed thereafter. The final series of hills were on their own quite a challenge, but add the gale factor, which was now head-on, and you have a trial worthy of Hercules. Very glad was I to eventually enter the running track with a comfortable lead over the next runner. I finished in 9th position and was second in the M45 category.

The organisation was efficient and friendly. The tea and homemade cakes delicious and the prizes were generous. I would heartily recommed this race.

Placings:
1st Gary O’Hanlon 18:53
6th G. Shields North East Runners 21:50 (1st M45)
9th Paul Mitchell Sportsworld 22:26 (2nd M45)
10th Mary Laverty North East Runners 23:08 (1st FS)

North East Runners had sent a very strong team, occupied 7 of the top 10 positions and took two Male Team Prizes – without having declared an A and B team until the results were in!
(Full results on www.precisiontiming.net)

By Will Greensmyth

While on a recent “cultural” weekend in Malmö, I togged out in the Sportsworld colours with a couple of pals to participate in the annual Malmö Hostmil. This is a 10k race through the centre of Malmo. For the uninitiated, Malmo is the third largest city in Sweden with a population of about 300,000 and is located in the southwestern corner of this expansive (and expensive) country.

The Hostmil (which I learned translates roughly as Autumn Race) was the baby brother in terms of participants with a half marathon which also took place. There were around 2000 runners in total, with my guess being about 90% of them in the half. Both races started together beside the home ground of Malmo FF (currently streaking ahead in the Swedish Premier League and also in the group stages of the Champions League) before turning towards the old town for the first 6k, while the last 4k took us through two quite pleasant parks. The course was pretty and pancake flat, with the only real hindrance being the cobbled stone sections through the old town, where you lose a bit of rhythm. There was plenty of support however from the stewards and the locals and the last stretch of the race brought us back into the old Malmo athletics stadium and a 300m dash around the track.

Having been out the night before until 4 in the morning supping the finest Swedish craft beers and learning how to play Swedish shuffleboard (a pub version of curling…), I was not overly confident of a decent run. The fact that the race didn’t kick off until 3 in the afternoon offered us some solace that the late night shenanigans wouldn’t be too much of a detriment to our running and would allow plenty of time for more appropriate hydration.

In the end I got around in one piece, and based on the online results managed to finish one second off 3rd place in about 38 and a half minutes. I’m not sure if that’s right but how and ever, the social running was good fun and anyone who is in Malmo around the start of October and fancies a crack at a pb, should give it a lash, and then go on the lash. Rather than the other way around.

Only negative was hearing later of a fellow runner guy who had collapsed after about 8k with blood pumping from his head and receiving CPR. My best efforts at reading Swedish newspapers via google translate, say that the man was in a critical condition. Hopefully he recovered.

It’s a timely reminder of what can befall even the most experienced of runners, and le cúnamh Dé, everyone will get through the upcoming marathons with nothing to complain about but the ease with which they all smashed their personal bests J