Kinsale 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Kinsale 10 2025

1. 22:42

I think that it was nice of Ryan Creech to let me know at twenty to eleven the night before the race that he had gotten an entry for Kinsale. “Is it as bad as Cobh?” “It’s horrendous, the hills are vertical like mountains, and the locals throw rocks at you. I’d stay away.” I told him. It didn’t work.

2. Monday Race

I think that races on a bank holiday Mondays are great. If this race hadn’t been rescheduled from the original February date due to the apocalyptic rain and wind, I’d have missed it as my left fibula was on the brink of stress fracturing at the time. Mondays mean less competition as there is a large cohort of runners who must for religious reasons do a long run on a Sunday no matter what happens.

3. How to Win a Race as a Moderately Old Man

I think that the morning routine is very important when you are a moderately old man who is hoping to win or finish on the podium in a local 10 mile road race. The first thing you must do in the morning when you wake up is check Strava. You check to see what the known competition has done that morning, 10 mile run, great. Session, wonderful. In Boston for the marathon, excellent. On holidays very far away, brilliant. Then you can go to the race knowing that you are in with a great shout of a podium, no training or new shoes required.

4. Tadhg Adidas Athlete

I think that this was the first race in about six years that I haven’t worn either a Vaporfly or an AlphaFly. Cork’s number one running influencer Tadhg O’Sullivan has been eulogizing about the Adidas Pro 4 so I had to get a pair just in case he was not actually just influencing and was actually telling the truth. Ryan Creech was wearing the same shoe albeit in a different colour so at least I wasn’t disadvantaged for the show down.

5. He Gone

I think that Ryan Creech is doing a different sport to what I do. When the race started, I thought I might at least make an effort to get to the first corner with him just to make it into a photo. Unfortunately, I’m more on the Donkey end of the racehorse spectrum so he was well gone after only 100m. The race if there ever was a race was over, it was a battle for second place. Second place was fine with me.

6. Same Sentence

I think that it was great for the race to have one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland leading the race. Unfortunately for the commentator there was no natural follow on to the sentence “and up front we have Ryan Creech one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland”, and in second place we have Donal Coakley from Leevale doesn’t quite work. This was about the only time I was close enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ryan.

7. Rain Shower

I think that after the Kinsale 10 last year when we ran in what was basically a storm everyone was terrified of the rain. Last year was a special event with special wind, rain and cold. I can still remember how numb my legs were after seven miles and how I didn’t care whether Viv beat me or not because I was frozen. This year we had lovely sunny weather with only a light breeze at the start, there was a little shower on the worst hill just before five miles but we seemed to run out the other side of it and were left to run home in lovely sunny weather. It was very pleasant.

8. Good Joe

I think that it was difficult to spend another race on my own from start to finish like in Carrigaline. I hate running on my own in races because I get terrified. I spend the whole run hearing noises while being afraid to look behind. All I wanted was someone on the side of the road to tell me how big the gap was. No one did until I passed Joe Cunningham outside the Lilly plant. It was such a relief to learn that the noise I was hearing was my own shoes and not someone right behind me.

9. Run like Ryan

I think that the Adidas Pro 4s are a good shoe if you want to run like Ryan does where you bring your heel up high enough to kick the back of your head. I spent the last mile of the race trying my best Ryan Creech running impersonation but all it did was give me a slightly sore hamstring and tear the achilles off me. I think I’ll revert to the tried and trusted Nikes.

10. Miles Better

I think that I was very unlucky not to make John Walshe’s list of good 10-mile times for the second time this year. I was only thirty seconds off which wasn’t bad considering the course has hills and I’m useless at time trialling on my own. I already ticked the box in Dungarvan, so it is no big tragedy. The gap to Ryan was only six and a half minutes or a good bit more than a mile which wasn’t too bad. It does however mean that the statement Ryan is miles better than me is very true.

Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2025

1. The Troggs

I think that it is interesting that despite how bad the weather is in Ireland, it is rare to run a race in ridiculous rain. It probably only happens three or four times a year. Friday in Killarney was one of those wet wet wet races. It was very wet, clouds down, no mountains, no lakes just rain and clouds in Killarney.

2. Running Weekend

I think that this race is the perfect excuse for a little holiday in Killarney. 5 mile race Friday evening, Park Run Saturday morning and miles and miles of trails and paths for a long run or short run on Sunday morning. It boggles my mind why anyone from Killarney would drive to Cork to do a run when you have that National Park. It’s a runner’s paradise.

3. The Opposition

I think that when you are a moderately old man with moderate levels of running talent then your chances of winning a prize in a race are entirely dependent on who shows up. I was hoping that the torrential rain would put off the one or two required to squeeze me onto the podium but unfortunately a collection of hardy men turned up in Killarney, the sight of the trio of Paul Moloney, Gavin Sweeney and Kenny Rogers meant that I knew I was not going to win any money to pay for the hotel.

4. Shoe Talk with Chris Grayson

I think that runners spend more time talking about shoes than they do about training. This is because of 2019 when everyone got faster without doing anything so we are all hoping that it might happen again. It is far easier to buy a pair of shoes than to do perfect training. Chris Grayson was very interested in my opinion of the Vaporfly 4. I’m still undecided, they are no better or worse which is not what I hoped for. I wanted faster without training.

5. Too Fast

I think that the start of the race was too fast for a moderately old man who hasn’t raced much in the last few months. I don’t do any fast training, so I rely on races to get used to 5 minute mile pace. The race took off down the path from the big big House at a ridiculous unsustainable pace. I left it go as I am a very wise moderately old man. I was left in eight position hoping that my wisdom would pay off.

6. Confidence is a Preference for the Habitual Voyeur

I think that the route of the race is excellent. It has a lovely mix of everything Killarney has to offer. Normally you would be able to see the mountains and lakes from the start but on Friday there was nothing to see but rain and grey clouds. The first mile goes around the big big house before taking in a bit of the park followed by two laps of the town where people come out of the pubs to watch people suffering. It’s great, every race should be like this, there is nothing better than being watched racing by people drinking on a Friday evening.

7. Wisdom

I think that my wisdom as a moderately old man kind of paid off. It took about two miles for me to move up from 8th to 7th, this meant nothing as there is no prize for 7th but it meant that I was running very perfectly and sensibly which is worth something. The Paul Moloney led front of the race was gone and invisible by the time I started the first of two laps of the town.

8. Sixth Place

I think that it is much better to be running for position than some arbitrary time. On the first lap of the town I began my assault on the 6th place of Darragh O’Leary which was very important as 6th is better than 7th. It took until the end of the first lap to catch him, I waited until he looked at the watch before making my gradual move by at an ever so slightly faster pace. There was still no prize for 6th.

9. Third Non Paul Moloney Cork Person

I think that it would have been great to catch Danny Mullins and finish as the third non-Paul Moloney Cork person in the race in Kerry. Unfortunately, I ran out of ability and time to catch Danny. The lapped runners make it much easier to keep a pace going as you are always passing people but despite not slowing down much from the start I made no inroads into Danny’s 5th place position and finished in 6th which was fine and where I had estimated I would finish based on looking around at the start line which is a surprisingly accurate method of estimating where you will finish in a race.

10. More than a Race

I think that sixth is a great position to finish in. It is very good because you don’t have that awful feeling like when you finish fourth where you nearly won a prize but at the same time you were close enough for people to see your name in the results and think that you ran ok which is very important. The rain had almost stopped by the time we finished which was nice, I collected the lovely race t-shirt, jogged over to the car to extract myself from the ridiculously wet singlet, did my warm down around the big big house and then jogged over to the hotel. A very nice evening even with the ridiculous rain. A race to make a weekend of.

Great Railway Run 25K 2025

10 Things I Think About the Great Railway Run 25K 2025

1. In Brussels

I think that if it wasn’t for the terrible nearly running career ending calf tear and stress reaction in my left fibula back in February, I’d probably have been running the European Road Running championships in Brussels. It was very unfortunate as using the Michael Herlihy method of calculating where you would have finished in races you didn’t run I would have helped the Irish team to a bronze medal. It is comforting to at least know that for sure. The Railway Run was a good substitute.

2. Lateness

I think that races that send out the numbers in the post are great. It allows for chronic ridiculous lateness. Parking at 9:20 for a 9:30 start is fine, absolutely no problem, 5 minutes to put on magic shoes and 5 minute warm up to the start. I probably should have done 5 miles before hand to make it 20 miles for the day to get ready for Cork like most other people seemed to be doing.

3. Evan and Paul

I think that it was terrible to see both Evan Fitzgerald and Paul Moloney on the start line. I was pretty sure that the rampant marathon mania combined with Easter holidays and the Brussels event had taken care of all my known competition like John Meade and Barry Twohig from last year. I suppose a €500 first prize is always likely to draw out the big guns.

4. Kilometer of Hope

I think that it would have been great if I had been fit enough to run with Paul Moloney, even until the hill in Shanbally would have been grand. Evan made it clear from the start that he was going to win by being out of sight after only 500m, I ran the first kilometer full of hope with Paul until we ran back through the start where it became obvious that 5:30 pace was not possible to maintain so I let him go and resigned myself to a best possible finish of third.

5. I Go Solo

I think that it was much better last year when I had company for the whole 25k. This year I was left solo from kilometer one until kilometer twenty five, twenty four kilometers of solo running. I am not good at running on my own. I am not particularly motivated by time so I just get slower and slower as time goes on. My mind starts wandering and thinking about other stuff when I’m running on my own. I tried to focus on keeping the kilometer splits at 3:35, not for any particular reason other than that’s the first split I saw on the watch when I started looking at it once we got onto the line. This worked for about 5k then I lost interest and started looking across the water to Cobh.

6. Session Obsession

I think that the Railway Run is a great run to do as preparation for Cork Marathon. Even if I was solo there were plenty of water stops and the act of pining on a number provides a little bit more motivation than doing a session on the same route. It’s kind of odd really how because of Strava if I did this run as a session and ran the same pace as I did in the race I would expect to be hailed as the second coming of Christ but instead because it’s a race and I came third it’s only ok. Sessions are greater than races for some reason these days. I blame YouTube and Instagram.

7. Julius 300

I think that Julius in Monkstown provided key information that halted the exponential pace decline that was occurring. I asked him was there anyone behind expecting the answer to be “no you’re fine”, instead I got “300m”. 300m is very close so I started concentrating again, then I got a flashback of last year when the dynamic duo of Barry Twohig and John Meade flew by on the run to Raffeen which was very scary.

8. Shanbally Shakeup

I think that the U-turn around the traffic island in Shanbally provides the perfect opportunity for seeing who is behind you. The 300m that Julius had calculated had become about 100m by the time we reached Shanbally with Nathan and Ruairi closing the gap on the very steep raffeen hill where a barking dog provided more information on the proximity of my pursuers. As we began the climb out of Shanbally I remembered last year when I caught Danny Mullins with a kilometer to go to take third. Maybe it’s my turn to get caught with a kilometer to go I feared.

9. Fear

I think that there is no better motivator for running than fear. It is far better than clock watching, a bit of fear of being caught is wonderful, if you had both fear and hatred you’d be flying it all together. The fear of being caught made the last four miles fun. Luckily the fear provided enough motivation to get to the finish in Carrigaline in third again just like last year which meant prize money which is one of the reasons I like running races so much, no one gives you money for a good session, just kudos on Strava and emoji comments which are not money.

10. Race to the 220

I think I had the logistics of the race well worked out, once I crossed the line I met Paul, we had a photo then I ran over to the 220 bus stop where amazingly there was a bus waiting. I hopped on the bus, talked about golf to an 85-year-old lady and horrified everyone else on the bus with my short shorts, got off at St Finbarr’s hospital to have a short warm down back to the car. Drove to Glanmire to collect Billy from babysitting before back to Carrigaline to collect Rhona and my third place prize. I was almost as proud of the logistics as I was of the race.

Cork BHAA PWC 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The PWC BHAA 5K 2025

1. Climate Change

I think that the new climate is great, it rains in Spain and it is beautiful and dry if a little windy in Cork. It makes running so easy and nice. To make it even better the clocks have returned to normal and the evening BHAA races are back.

2. Beautiful Clean Shoes

I think it is terrible that the modern runner believes that they are only a new pair of shoes away from greatness. Greatness can be purchased, victory over that person who always beats you is only a pair of shoes away, you just have to be online at 8am and get the shoes before they are all gone at 8:02am. Last Thursday I was that awful modern runner getting a pair of the Vaporfly 4. I’d have been better off getting an extra run in. Miles are the secret not shoes.

3. On Time

I think that I will try and be on time for the races this year. It is a much more pleasant experience being on time. No stress, no messaging Graham asking him to pick up the number, a warm up, a chat, it’s a better way to operate.

4. Stress Reaction

I think that I did well to limit the impact of a stress reaction in my left fibula to only a 8 week absence from racing. I think I hurt my calf in a cross country race then ran Seville, Dungarvan and the Little Island 5k with a calf niggle which turned into a bone injury. I’m getting wise in my old age so stopped before I couldn’t walk so the recovery was relatively quick.

5. 90 Day Pause

I think that the start of the race was very well organized. There was a line on the road for the start with microphone speakers mounted on a plywood plinth which meant that there was no need for the usual will ye for god’s sake push back, instead we walked forward slowly to the line and then waited for the chip timing. It was a good long wait but it was fine because it was sunny and nice.

6. SuperValu

I think that it was apt that the race ran around SuperValu Pairc Ui Caoimh as BHAA offers truly super value. A 5k race for €5, no inflation, no tariffs. It’s cheaper than a coffee at the Marina Market. The route was one I haven’t seen before, up to the red shed with no walls in front of Pairc Ui Caoimh, around that, then a sharp hairpin before running along the back of the main stand. I got to the stadium in contact with the front group containing one of the Barrys, Tadhg, Mark Walsh, Danny Mullins and Nate but the pace became too much and I lost contact as we went around the Blackrock End terrace.

7. Golden Mile

I think that the new Marina Mile is tremendously beautiful. It is a wonderful surface to run on, like a golden track. This was the first race to use the new path, it was so nice not to have to study the ground for potholes and patches. Unfortunately I was left to run along the path on my own as the front five were way too strong and left me to enjoy the new path on my own.

8. Tadhg Not Like Us

I think that it was great to see Tadhg win the race. I am happy because Tadhg is a believer in the more miles is better and that you don’t need to do 400s to run a fast 5k. For some reason marathon training is better for 5ks than it is for the actual marathon.

9. Not so Solo

I think that I was lucky that I didn’t end up solo to the end of the race, otherwise I wouldn’t have broken the magical 15-minute barrier. I did my best on the long run to the finish along the Marina Market Road to keep Tadhg in sight so that he wouldn’t think that he was that great. As I approached the roundabout I began to hear footsteps, then I heard well done Ray, so I initiated John Meade mode and sprinted for the line and the sub 15 minute 5k.

10. BHAA Vaporfly 6%

I think that instead of being stuck to a phone at 8am to buy magic shoes people need to start running BHAA road races. It is much better value and more fun. According to the GPS watches which have papal levels of infallibility the race was around 4.6 to 4.7k. Sure what harm. I think there should be more races like this, keep us guessing, have course records become a thing, a lap of the Marina is a lap of the Marina who cares if it’s 5k or not, Tadhg still won.

Cork BHAA Janssen 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The Janssen Cork BHAA 5K

1. In GPS we Trust, Everyone Else Needs a Jones Counter

I think that the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route might be the most famous 5K route in Cork. It’s the one where everyone runs tremendous times, the one where the Stravalurkers who didn’t run the race think it’s short because they don’t like the times. The GPS watch must be trusted, never mind that it has been measured with a wheel, the GPS watch is always right. I was hoping the Stravalurkers were right I fancied a 5K PB, it’s been a while.

2. Late for the Late Start

I think that it was a great achievement to almost miss the start of a BHAA race that started fourteen minutes late. There was a very long queue for registration, very long, it went back into a part of the sports hall that I didn’t know existed. At 10am it looked like the race couldn’t start for at least another 30 minutes, so I decided to drive down to the finish with Rhona and Billy and jog back up to the start. As I was putting on my magic shoes Michael Herlihy offered to drive me up to the start as he said they were just about to start, fearing the speed of the Audi Etron more than missing the race I decided to jog up. Running past the eerily empty sports hall I feared that I was about to meet a wave of runners. Luckily, they were just after the “for god’s sake will ye push back” phase of the start so I was fine.

3. White Shorts

I think that it is too difficult to purchase coloured shorts. Irish people are very boring when it comes to colours. Shorts are grey or black, cars are grey or black, nothing else is allowed. Spanish races are very different, it is like a competition to see who can wear the most colourful costume. My contribution to the battle against the grey and black short brigade is white shorts, yes they look like GAA shorts but they’re not grey and not black. You can get them off Adidas, they’re retro apparently.

4. Tis Neither Good for Man nor Beast

I think that the real reason why the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route produces so many tremendous times is the prevailing wind direction. The route runs from west to east so normally it has a strong tailwind component for about 70% of the race. Unluckily for us on Sunday we encountered the beast from the east meaning, 70% of the race was run into a block cold headwind. Not good for the PB chances.

5. Two Beasts

I think that the other runners in the race were very lucky that John Meade and I turned up for the race. Two brave men not afraid to run into the wind. The race quickly settled into a formation that would not change from start to finish except for the bit at the finish that actually is the most important bit of the race. John Meade and I up front, Aidan Noone in the quarterback position, flanked by Darren McCann, John Longan and Sean Twohig.

6. Three K Trouble

I think that I knew I was in trouble after three kilometres. Three kilometres in a five kilometre race is a crucial point, if you are in a group at three K you’ll probably be in the group at five K. The group of six was still a group of six. I tried everything I could to shed a few from the group, everything involved trying to run fast down the hill but every time we turned right at the bottom of the hill we were met with a wall of wind and John Meade brought everyone back together.

7. One to Go

I think that I knew what was going to happen with a kilometre to go. The fourth kilomtre marker at the top of the hill signified the start of the actual race. For the second time I tried my only tactic of running fast down the hill. Again John Meade neutralized the attack, unlike the first attack Aidan also followed John Meade so I went from first to third. Aidan had yet to feel a breeze at this stage having cleverly and patiently waited for myself and John Meade to tire ourselves out.

8. John Meade Fan Club

I think that Aidan is lucky that John Meade didn’t take inspiration from Martin Drake who was marshalling the turn for home. Martin is very clearly a John Meade fan and was vociferous in his support for John once we turned right with between 400 and 430m to go depending on whether you are going by GPS or measured course. John initiated the all too familiar John Meade sprint which is usually an insurmountable challenge for all but the best local elite Cork BHAA runners, unluckily for John he had Aidan Noone on his tail, a man who is borderline unbeatable in a sprint as John was about to find out.

9. Swamped

I think that I would normally be able to hold onto some level of contact with a John Meade finishing kick. Sunday was different, once John and Aidan had separated themselves from the group of six I was left in third. I didn’t stay third for long as coming onto the finishing straight Darren McCann flew around the outside of me in a pair of what looked like Adidas Adios Pro 4s, I tried to sprint but my sprint isn’t very sprinty so it wasn’t long until I saw John Longan and Sean Twohig fly by leaving me to jog home 10 seconds and six places behind Aidan.

10. Suspicious Fast

I think that having run the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route there is something about the course that makes it fast. Despite the headwind and tactical race the times were tremendously fast. I don’t think it is short as I have carefully reviewed the GPS data and it is clear that the GPS is cutting the corners so reading shorter than the route that we actually run. I think it is fast because of magic shoes, a course that lends itself to the formation of groups and being ever so slightly downhill, add a westerly wind and it’s very tremendously fast. Anyway I don’t really understand the obsession with 5K road times, who cares what time you ran, it’s much more important who beats who and Aidan Noone beat us all very badly especially John Meade.

Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

1. Sometime that I used to Run

I think that I’m beginning to understand what it’s like to get properly old. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to beat my 10 mile time from 2023 so I need to find new things to focus on to make racing interesting. Luckily Dungarvan provided other things to focus on as nearly everyone was running it. I decided to focus on beating Tadhg and fending off a resurgent Michael McMahon.

2. Fear of Carparks

I think that Irish people in cars are magnetically attracted to parking on grass, or even better a grassy kerb or most preferably of all a grassy kerb outside someone’s house. It is great to know this because no matter what time you arrive into Dungarvan on race day you can sail through the town and park in a lovely tarmac car park less than 400m from the start. Aidan who came with me was very impressed with my knowledge.

3. Dashboard Warning Light

I think that no matter how many terrible stress fractures and injuries I get I will never be able to resist ignoring the signs of a potential terrible injury. I probably shouldn’t have run Seville Half never mind Dungarvan as I’ve been suffering with sticky outside of calf syndrome where one part of the calf attaches itself onto the other and won’t come free. It’s not in any physio books so it is a new injury. If it was a warning light on a car it would probably be yellow so I just press the reset button for the race and drive on which will probably only work for so long.

4. Ballycotton 10 Style Field

I think that the field for this years Dungarvan 10 was the strongest deepest 10 mile field I have seen since the days of the Ballycotton 10 in non-magic shoes. Everyone from Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and a few invaders from Dublin turned up. Looking around I was thinking top 20 would be a great achievement. Tadhg asked me to drag him around to 53 minutes which made me want to beat him and put him back in his box even more.

5. This is Mad

I think that the start of the race was very mad. It went off more like a 10k than a 10 miler. Fearghal and Sean Doyle were gone gone, like properly gone with a few stragglers thinking about following. I was left miles back in a huge group of heavily trained or highly talented runners. I made up a bit of ground on the downhill before the one mile mark but was quickly passed out again as we went around the GSK roundabout and ran downhill towards the slippery U turn. I looked at my brand-new watch with AMOLED display which clearly showed that we were all going way too fast, so I let the group go and waited for the inevitable lull in proceedings to occur.

6. This is Grand

I think that it is very helpful to have run a race a good few times as it inevitably plays out the same way each time. Once the huge group reached the U turn with the slippery surface the pace dropped nicely, I used the downhill to catch back up to Tadhg and Michael McMahon who were my main targets for beating. Once I found them, I sat in and waited for the wind to start between miles 3 and 5 which seems to always be the case at this time of year in Dungarvan.

7. Tadhg’s Back

I think that Tadhg is very similar to Viv. He would love to beat me, it is very important to him. He is also similar to Viv in that he doesn’t seem to know what to do when he gets to the front of a group. I nearly had to jump up on his back to avoid crashing into him after four miles as when he found himself at the front of the group, he just stopped running. I don’t like tactical running as we are all way too useless to be using tactics so after the near terrible collision, I just ran near the front of any group to stay out of trouble.

8. Tailwind Time

I think that the section between 5 miles and 8 miles in Dungarvan is one of my favourite sections of road to run. It is probably because it is slightly downhill, is nearly always run with a tailwind and has a nice windy smooth road surface. I thought I was doing great as I was flying along catching Shane Collins and Tony Forristal until suddenly at seven miles I was passed at what seemed like twice the speed by a group containing Kris Liepins and Niamh Allen. It was an unfollowable group but at least it didn’t contain Tadhg, Michael McMahon or Viv.

9. The Two Barrys

I think that the last two miles of Dungarvan are horrendous. Mile 9 is utterly awful, a hill with a gradient that only impacts tall, elegant runners like myself. To make it worse you can see miles ahead. Mile 9 was a bad mile. I was fooled into thinking I was catching Barry Twohig when in fact I was not and was about to be passed out by the other Barry, Barry Donovan who stormed by on a mission.

10. What Number Did You Do?

I think that I did well to finish 22nd. That last little hill up to the finish is very stressful for someone like me who can’t run up hills, so I focused on staying in reasonable proximity to Tony Forristal which worked well in fending off the vicious dual attack of Tadhg and Michael McMahon. Once across the line I was delighted that ignoring the dashboard warning light had not led to an inability to walk or jog which is very important. I collected my nicely coloured Nike T-shirt, told Sergiu and Sean Doyle where to get Vaporfly 1s and walked/jogged back to the nice car park with Aidan. It looks like Dungarvan is becoming the 10 mile race, you can see why, it’s like the Valencia Marathon of 10 mile races.

Seville Half Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Seville Half Marathon 2025

1. Escaping Éowyn

I think that Ryanair have a great can do attitude. Only Ryanair will get you to Seville no matter the weather. Going to bed Thursday night I was pretty sure that a flight to Seville scheduled to take off in the midst of a red weather warning was both unwise and unlikely. Luckily there was some winter fat in the Ryanair schedule so the only impact of the storm was a welcome lie in and a three hour delay in departure.

2. Unsevillean Weather

I think that I was probably overdue some rain in Spain. Seville to me means blue skies, no wind and air so light it makes running almost effortless. Unfortunately on this occasion Seville resembled Cork on a soft damp day in May. Wet, humid, almost warm and a little windy.

3. Sub Elite Cajón Rojo

I think I’d be better off if I had never experienced what it is like to be in the elite start. Somehow the last time I did the Seville Half they gave me an elite number so I didn’t have to queue up with everyone else. This time I had to make do with the first corral of sub 1:20 runners along with my great enemy, friend and rival John Meade who was terribly disappointed when I told him that he hadn’t a hope in the M45 category because of Reyes Estevez who has run 2:16 for the marathon at 48.

4. In the Trenches

I think that the only issue with having to line up with the masses is that you have to experience what it is like to stand huddled nervously for about 15 minutes with mainly other men. It is mildly unpleasant but would make you appreciate that you were born in 1986 rather than 1886. I will never understand why so many people have to sprint the first 400m of a 21 kilometer race. The pushing and shoving is totally unnecessary, at least the roads are good and wide so it only lasts for a minute or too before normality is resumed.

5. Woman + Man = Pacemaker

I think that the great thing about big city half marathons is that there are always pacemakers to run with. They aren’t actually advertised easily identifiable pacemakers but if you see a woman running side by side with a man in the same shoes and uniform you know that you have a professional steady pace to follow for the entire race. It took me about 3k to find my Asics pace group which was moving along at a relatively metronomic 3:25 per kilometer. I got myself comfortable and tried to turn off my brain which is very difficult if not impossible.

6. Inoperable Water

I think that it is amazing how much trouble water causes in races. The trouble in Seville was the bottles. The bottles were very unusual with a weird cap so hard to open that it would have been easier if the water was in Calpol bottles. Then to cap it all off the fella in front had a nasty habit of just dropping his bottle onto the ground without any consideration for the people behind. Luckily my agility and nimbleness of foot is at its peak it being cross country season.

7. Juan Meade

I think that I had a good fifty minutes of running without sight or sound of John Meade. I was expecting him to turn up at some stage as he had completed an impressively intense week of crash training the week before with nearly 30 miles at or below 6 minute mile pace which was two miles more than I had managed to do. As I passed the 13k marker I was convinced that I could hear him behind so without looking I said hello John Meade, to my surprise the man making the exact same foot and breathing sounds as John Meade was not John Meade but a Spanish runner of similar stature and stride. Phew I thought.

8. The Water Trick

I think that I should be better at resisting the spirit crushing tactics of John Meade. Three kilometers after my initial misdiagnosis of John Meade I was horrified to be greeted by actual John Meade just after the water station at the 10 mile mark. He could clearly see that I had managed to open the unopenable water bottle but being the astute racer that he is he offered me a drink from his bottle almost as if to say “you look terrible, here have my water which I don’t need as I am fine”. I declined the water and watched horrified as the St Finbarr’s singlet surged ahead making impossible inroads into the many groups scattered along the road by the unsevillean wind.

9. 100m, SOS

I think that there is no beating John Meade if he passes you late in a race. You are in big big trouble. It doesn’t matter who you are, if John Meade gets within a mile of the finish you are in trouble. I could see from his stride that he was delighted with himself having passed me out. I did my best to hold the gap but as we ran down Ryan Creech’s beloved cobblestone road past the giant mushroom the gap began to open to the length of at least six shops.

10. A Monk Swimming

I think that the last kilometre of the race was a little odd. It was like I was running in a race that I didn’t belong in. All of the men had been filtered out and I was left in a battle I didn’t want to fight with five women all but one of whom outsprinted me. Once across the line I said Well Done John Meade, collected my medal, before commencing a slow jog back to the apartment with the winner discussing the ridiculousness of going all the way to Seville to race only each other. Well Done John Meade.

County Masters XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The County Masters XC 2025

1. Lombardy to Lombardstown

I think that I must be the first man ever to run cross country in the regions of Lombardy and Lombardstown in the one week. I kind of couldn’t not run the County Masters XC after going all the way to Italy for a cross country race the week before plus it was a cross country race in a new field in Bweeng and I love running in new fields.

2. Snow Way

I think that I was very clever to do a session on Friday as a hedge against the race being cancelled because of the snow. On Friday evening it seemed almost certain that the race was not going ahead as a message in a Whatsapp group said it was “definitely not going ahead, don’t tell anyone.” I did 10 miles on Saturday morning waiting for the official announcement of the cancellation before seeing on Facebook, a source of great facts, that the snow was all gone and the XC was on again. Great.

3. Bweeng Mountain Dog

I think that the parking for the cross-country venue was amongst the best ever. It was directly across from the course in the driveway of someone’s house and a big friendly Burmese mountain dog came out to greet us. I parked up directly behind Tim O’Donoghue, possibly the actual best moderately old man cross country runner in Cork who I was thrilled to hear was not running.

4. The Beautiful Field

I think that the field in which the race was held is one of the best fields I have ever seen. If I was a farmer I would buy it immediately, it was free from rocks and showed no evidence of any snow or rain with high quality fencing. The high quality fencing reminded me how lucky I was that Barry Twohig was doing a long run rather than making my life miserable on the hills of Bweeng. The snow reminded me of how lucky I was that John Meade was snowboarding on the Galtees and not flying down the hills of Bweeng. The only thing that wasn’t great was the wind.

5. Intermediate + Masters

I think that it was great that the intermediate and masters races were combined together. This was key to my race tactics as I needed someone to take the race out hard as masters races always go off sensibly. I was delighted to see Naoise from Bandon tear off at the start as it gave me a target to chase down the first hill. I knew that Michael Herlihy and Nick O’Donoghue would hate this, so I went absolutely mad down the hill and then again the second time we went down it before heading out into the great field to begin the first of four long laps and big big hills.

6. Col de la Bweeng

I think I had major problems with the big big hill at the far side of the beautiful great field. Luckily everyone had similar problems with the big big hill. It was about 400m long, 15 to 20% gradient with a headwind, vicious. The first time up the hill I thought I was in big trouble as Naoise effortlessly reduced the gap I had opened down the hill I was fully expecting this pattern to repeat for the next four laps but luckily when I ran hard across the top of the hill and down the hill back into the main beautiful field Naoise didn’t follow.

7. Lovely Shorts

I think that it was great how many supporters were out on the course. It was a very picturesque setting for the race with the even hillier fields in the background still speckled with the last remaining few bits of snow. I must have added to the scenery as I received compliments on the course about how lovely my shorts were, more useful were the shouts about the distance back to my main rival Nick O’Donoghue who seemed to go from 20m to 80m behind depending on whether we had recently gone uphill or downhill.

8. Nick and Mike

I think that you couldn’t find too tougher moderately and properly old men than Nick O’Donoghue and Michael Herlihy to race on a course like the great beautiful field in Bweeng. I spent the full four laps terrified that they were going to catch me. I wasn’t particularly worried about Nick catching me as he is a perfectly pleasant man, on the other hand I was terrified that Michael Herlihy was only playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse and was going to initiate full terminator mode on the last lap, plough up the last hill and laugh at me as he waltzed past like he has done so many times over the 15 years of defeats I’ve had to put up with.

9. Bad Beating of Michael Herlihy

I think that I will never tire of beating Michael Herlihy in races. It is only great because I have spent nearly 15 years being absolutely destroyed by him in nearly every session and race so to finally get to beat him is excellent, tremendous and wonderful. It should serve as a lesson to younger athletes that you should never give up on beating people just because they seem impossible to beat, just get more bitter and angry, then use that anger and bitterness to fuel tremendous victories in the County Masters.

10. Ranking Points

I think that it is a great pity that there are no world ranking points for winning the County Masters. Coming into the race I was ranked 299th in the world cross country rankings, which is probably the highest ranking ever for a Cork moderately old man. It is a shame really because the show put on by Bweeng in the fantastic field with picturesque backdrop was up there with any World Athletics Gold Label event. Perhaps we could have Kenyans and Ethiopians running the hills of Bweeng, they’d probably love it even more than I did.

Campaccio XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The 68th Campaccio XC 2025

1. Italian Races

I think that Italy might be my favourite place not in Ireland for doing races. They really do races excellently. Everything is wonderful, the registration is cheap, €12 for an international cross-country race, the courses are imaginative, and the races are packed with elite athletes and lots of “sub elite” Italian fellas like me who like running. They even have squirrel dragons as race mascots.

2. Capital of Cross Country

I think that Legnano might have the two best cross country races in the world. It is a very small place to have both the Cinque Mulini and the Campaccio races. We stayed at the same hotel as we did for Cinque Mulini, Hotel Poli because it was excellent and near the squirrel park for Billy. All of the elite athletes also stay in the hotel so you get to see how they get treated and how early they leave for the race, 12:30 for a 2:30 start which is approximately an hour earlier than me.

3. Irish Weather in Italy

I think that it was great for the race to be held in conditions so wet and cold that it was almost like being in Ireland. The only thing that was missing from an Irish race was wind, there was absolutely no wind, but the thick continuous wet rain that we get at home was there along with 4 to 5 degree temperatures. Perfect for cross country and slowing down the track runners.

4. Rhona Recce

I think it was great that Rhona’s race was on earlier in the day so that I could get an idea of what sort of spikes would be needed. Rhona ran in Dragonflys with 6mm spikes which she said were fine but with the continuous rain I was pretty sure that 9mm would be perfect by 2:35pm by which time a lot of rain and a lot of races would have torn up the course.

5. If Only I Had 9mm Spikes

I think that I was lucky that the box of spikes that said 9mm actually had 12mm spikes in it. I am slightly obsessed about spikes as they are very important. I was slightly worried that the Italians wouldn’t allow me run with 12mm spikes as some of the course was on the track so I got to the call area very early so that I would have time to change the spikes if a man deemed them too long. Luckily no one looked at my spikes so I had to stand in the call area for about 10 minutes waiting for everyone else to finish their elaborate technical warmups. I asked one of the On sponsored Burundian runners what spikes he had, he said 9mm which was probably the safest option given the sections on the track.

6. Penguins

I think that I should have gone further up towards the front of the start line. I was very cold after standing around in the call area so it was nice to be bunched together on the startline like a bunch of penguins sheltering from the cold. I was a bit worried about falling so I took it handy off the start which was a big mistake as the course was quite narrow so I ended up miles back after a few 100m.

7. 93rd

I think that I did well to recover from my slow start. The race was televised live on RAI as Italians don’t have GAA so this is the equivalent of the National League GAA matches. According to the TV coverage I was 93rd after the first of the ten kilometres which was quite near the back. It took me a while to figure out the twisty turny up and down course but after a lap I had it figured out and I started to make progress.

8. Habemus Grip

I think that it was only after a lap that I realised that all of the Italian runners had the wrong length spikes on. It was like in a Formula 1 race where one driver has wet tires on and everyone else has slicks. Any bit of muck and I would fly by the Italian fellas slipping and sliding while I was nailed to the ground in my 12mm spikes. It was great fun, I was passing what felt like the whole field, although when you are 93rd after a kilometre there are a lot of people to pass.

9. Fanclub

I think that it was great to have my own fanclub on the course. A group of Italians who were standing with Billy and Rhona started cheering for me every time I went passed which was a lot of times as the course looped back on itself a lot. I think they thought I was called Dada not Donal because of Billy but sure what harm.

10. Pointless

I think that I did very well to get from 93rd to 53rd by the end of the race. I was actually in 52nd just before the line but an Italian destroyed me in a sprint so I lost one of my hard earned places. I didn’t get lapped which was great but I didn’t get on the TV as much as I would have liked as they were doing the podium when I finished 5 minutes behind the Ethiopian winner Bekele. In addition to the nice cup of warm sweet tea in a branded squirrel dragon cup I also collected some world ranking points which have now put me 299th in the world athletics cross country rankings which is utterly pointless but for some reason makes me very happy.

Grange Fermoy 10K 2024

10 Things I Think About The Grange Fermoy 10k 2024

1. Glanworth

I think that it was nice to get to run a race in the town where my father is from. We didn’t get to run past the house as it is in the town but I jogged past it while I was rushing to collect the number and excellent t-shirt. Glanworth is a great place for a race, only 30 minutes from Glanmire with a nice bridge and castle. It was great to see it busy with all the runners when I arrived early 30 minutes before the race.

2. Sure You’re Only a Jogger

I think that Michael Herlihy must own Sixt rental cars in Cork. The poor Scirocco broke down the day after Clonmel so I had to go and get a rental car. When I went to collect it they have me a Dacia Jogger, I pleaded with them for anything else but they had nothing (apparently) so I was left to drive as a jogger to the race in my jogger.

3. French Grinds

I think that it is much better going to Clo’s farm to do a race rather than to do French grinds for the Leaving Cert like I did nearly 20 years ago. It seems mad that 20 years later there is a race starting right outside the farm you could even park in the farmyard if you needed to right by the start.

4. Gone with the Wind

I think that the wind was a big big factor in today’s race.I love a bit of weather in a race as it puts the PB and watch checking runners off kilter. I couldn’t care less what time we run so I led off into the wind like a fool. At least it was downhill so it kind of balanced out. I was surprised to be still in the lead when we turned right at the first kilometre marker.

5. The Pack

I think that a group of runners at the front of the race is like a pack of wild dogs. There is an unspoken known order of assumed greatness that should be established at least after a mile. This race was very usual, because of the wind no one could escape the bunch so the natural order was never established. Perhaps this was the day where the order of the dogs was going to change, perhaps the big hairy dog with tanned long legs wearing pink Vaporflys and yellow shorts would become the leader.

6. Perfect Pacing

I think that it was great to be still leading after 5k. After the race Michael McMahon gave out to me for being an idiot and said that I could have won if I was sensible and clever. I think that he was very wrong though as I prefer to be at the front as it is sort of like a hybrid car in that the battery is getting topped up by the act of leading the race and annoying the other people who feel they should be leading the race.

7. Every Dog Has His Day

I think that when I got to 6k still in the lead I started to think that perhaps Rhona had secretly given me a blood transfusion as my Christmas present. I was ahead of Sergiu even. This never happens, Conor McCauley was under pressure. Very usual, I didn’t even feel terrible. Every dog has his day perhaps.

8. Citizen Kane

I think that Kane Collins ruined my day. When we turned the corner out of the wind at 7km he took off and shook the bunch of dogs apart. Suddenly we were lined out one by one with gaps developing rapidly, Sergiu was second, Kris was third, Conor fourth, Nick fifth and me and Tadhg joint sixth with an actual proper journalist Brian Canty of Sticky Bottle fame right on our tail.

9. Remember When I Beat Hop

I think that today was my chance to beat Conor McCauley like I beat John O’Connell around this time of year many many years ago which was a great breakthrough moment in my running career. All I had to do was follow Kris, instead I got stuck in a battle with Nick O’Donoghue who took a while to shake off. The downhill with the wind run to the finish over the last 2k should have suited me perfectly but it seemed to suit everyone just as perfectly.

10. Shudda, Wudda, Cudda

I think that Michael McMahon was right and that I would have won the race if I wasn’t such a fool running into the wind. The new route for the race is wonderful, a great success, a route for racing, a route for a clever underdog. There were even prizes down to sixth place which is very unusual which I unfortunately couldn’t collect as I couldn’t wait to get back into my Dacia Jogger for the drive back to Glanmire.

photo: GRAHAM Meikle

Clonmel 4 Mile 2024

10 Things I Think About The Clonmel 4 Mile 2024

1. Christmas Racing

I think that Christmas racing is great, normally I like to do all of the Christmas races possible as it limits the potential for having to visit other people’s houses which is one of my least favourite activities in the world. This year because of last year’s stress fracture still being in my head I have limited myself to just Clonmel and Glanworth, two excellent towns well located for Billy minding.

2. Hello Lizzie

I think that Lizzie Lee was more excited than a child on Christmas morning in Clonmel. I parked just in front of Lizzie despite arriving probably an hour later than Lizzie. I waved at her and said “Hello Lizzie”, before I even had the chance to say “Happy Christmas” I was told, “I warmed up with Emily Sisson”.

3. Tipperary Efficiency

I think that I could be employed to test the efficiency of races. Clonmel was well able to cope with my genetic lateness. I parked up 100m from the registration 20 minutes before the 12 o’clock start time. Ran over to the registration with Rhona, collected numbers, ran back to the car for Vaporfly installation before jogging over to the start with enough time to take photos with Lizzie and her new best friend Emily.

4. Arm Band Heart Rate Monitor

I think that I was a little disappointed that no one asked me about my new arm band heart rate monitor. It is very excellent, I bought it after seeing Jakob Ingebrigtsen wearing one in the European XC. I didn’t buy the Coros one the influencers are hawking and instead went for the Polar version because websites said it was better and it came in black which matches my Leevale singlet. It is so much better than a chest strap as it doesn’t leave you looking as if you are suffering from stigmata and seems to be just as accurate.

5. Surprisingly Fourth

I think that I was very surprised to be in fourth position after only a few hundred meters of the race. Kane Collins, a Kilkenny fella and a fella wearing an American Nike T-shirt took off in the front group leaving me to drag the unusual combo of Viv and Emily Sisson into the wind for the first two miles. It is very interesting that both Viv and Emily Sisson are almost silent in their respective Nike and New Balance magic shoes, both pawing the ground gracefully. I made up for them by thumping my Vaporflys off the road. I wonder could you come up with some sort of machine that would identify running talent based on the sound of a persons stride.

6. Unusual Sport

I think that running is an unusual sport. It is probably the only sport in the world where punters like me get to compete against the best of the best, in this case the American marathon record holder and probably the holder of the fastest marathon time of all the people competing in the Clonmel 4 mile by about 5 minutes. It was very odd to be running over the bridge at two miles side by side with a 2:18 marathon runner and Viv.

7. Olympian vs Non-Olympians

I think that I was a little disappointed at the ease at which myself and Viv were dropped by Emily Sisson. Once the wind was no longer a factor 5:10 pace became 5:00 pace which was enough to filter the group into Olympian and not Olympians. So I switched focus from beating Emily Sisson to beating Viv which was probably more important anyway.

8. Minardi

I think that the last mile of this race was like a Formula 1 race from the 90s where nothing happened for the first 70 laps and then there is complete chaos, safety cars, red flags and a Minardi driver like me ends up on the podium. As we approached the final roundabout at around the three-mile mark I saw a steward over at the side of the road tending to someone, as myself and Viv got closer I saw the Kilkenny fella who had been a good bit ahead of us lying on the ground. Viv being the nicest man in the world peeled off and went to check on him. The Kilkenny fella was fine, and Viv was quickly back underway after the pit stop.

9. Guilt

I think that I felt very guilty for the last 400m of the race, the combination of the Kilkenny fella pulling out and the niceness of Viv meant that suddenly I had gone from 6th to 4th and from 5th man to 3rd man without doing anything to deserve it. I tried to slow up a bit to let Viv catch up and beat me in the sprint like he was probably going to do anyway but it was too late so I ended up crossing the line as the 3rd man and 4th overall. It is like there is some sort of greater force that means that I must finish fourth in all races in Clonmel. It is obviously a very powerful force as I was fourth in Kilsheelan 10 mile, Clonmel Half and Clonmel 4 mile this year alone. Consistency.

10. Luck vs Talent

I think that it was very bad form of me to miss the prizegiving. It was not intentional, it was Clonmel’s fault for having a lovely path along the river for warming down which meant that I ended up running for longer than I should have with Viv, Rhona and Clodagh. Luckily my agent Graham was on hand to collect the generous prize for 3rd. Viv got the age category prize, so I didn’t feel too bad about the moral dilemma, these things even out over time anyway, it’s always better to be lucky than talented.

PHoto: John D Kelly

Valencia Marathon 2024

10 Things I Think About The Valencia Marathon 2024

1. Not Important

I think that I was a bit conflicted about doing a marathon in Valencia so soon after the floods. The race starts less than 5k from Paiporta which was badly impacted. Arriving in Valencia the week before the only sign that there was anything going on was the men staying in the hotel with work boots caked in mud. I’m still not sure if it should have gone ahead but I suppose it was a good fundraising opportunity and brought back some tourism. Marathons are difficult to get your head around at the best of times.

2. Donal X Trevor Collab Shakeout Run

I think that Valencia has not been impacted by influencer culture as much as the major marathons. The park on Saturday morning before the race was so crowded with runners and almost free of influencers. Myself and Trevor were probably two of the biggest influencers in town so we agreed to collaborate and hold a shakeout run. We had Rhona, Ian and Eoin in attendance which was a great turnout. We were joined mid run by random Norwegians who we knew were Norwegian by being fluent in Norwegian after all the Ingebrigtsen documentaries.

3. Rice

I think that eating the days before a marathon is very difficult. I know I need to eat a lot but I also know that I need to be careful that I don’t end up with a bad belly. I’ve it pretty much dialled in now, white foods are king, white foods and sugary things. I did feel a bit odd turning up to dinner with Viv and Derek and only ordering white rice but it was nearly 8pm and the food window was rapidly closing.

4. Quiet Start

I think that the start of the race was rightly subdued. Valencia is never one for the razzmatazz but the organisers had rightly toned down the start area. It was limited to repeated short bursts of an instrumental version of “Blinding Lights”. There was a moments silence for the victims of the floods with the race getting away immediately after. I was in group 2 which starts on the left hand side of the bridge, I took it handy as there has never been a marathon where someone has gone off too slow for the first mile.

5. Sweaty

I think that it was surprising to have sweat pouring off my head and face after 5k of the race. It was cool, about 13 degrees, but it seemed to be incredibly humid. I thought that it might just have been the after effects of removing my quite significant beard the night before the race with only a mach 3 razor but from looking around it wasn’t just me that was sweating. This didn’t bode well but I felt ok and soon enough the average pace of the watch had dropped from 5:50 to 5:45, I just needed to nudge it down a bit more.

6. Nostradamus Tadhg

I think that messages the night before a marathon rarely contain anything of consequence other than valuable good luck. Tadhg’s message about latching onto the back of some French fella and hanging on proved prescient when after 10k I found myself being perfectly paced by a fella in a Bordeaux singlet who even looked like Tadhg. Perhaps Tadhg is some sort of modern day Nostradamus I thought.

7. Deccie

I think that Tadhg was very wrong about who I should have followed instead he should have replaced the French fella with a West Limerick fella. Declan Guinea jogged up beside me just after 10 miles, we had a brief chat in my best Limerick accent before we got mixed up in the group. Declan ran 2:29, I didn’t. It is reassuring that you can be from Limerick and be where I was at about 10 miles and still run 2:29.

8. Mohawk Trevor

I think that if it wasn’t for Trevor turning up at about 29k I would have been in big trouble. I had a bit of an existential crisis after 16 miles. I began to question the point of running another mid 2:30s marathon, time does not motivate me the same way as competition for some reason. Then a fella with a mohawk wearing Trevor’s green Nike singlet passed me, he reminded me of Trevor and then almost instantly actual Trevor with no mohawk went past. Suddenly I wasn’t in a marathon anymore, it was a 13k XC race. To make it even more like a XC race Trevor had his number in his hand Nick O’Donoghue style.

9. Cross Country Mode

I think that if I could find a way to be motivated for the whole lot of a marathon I could run an amazing time. I just can’t focus on the time for that long, my brain just can’t do it, it must be phones. The minute it turns into a race with someone it becomes so much easier. For the last 13k I just chased Trevor. He was hopping off the ground, his Nike Vaporfly 3s flicking off the ground like it was a 10k .We passed Pat Fitzgerald and Terry Shanley from Clane which was a new experience for me as I never pass people at the end of marathons. Then Trevor got a 10 second gap and my cross country mode began to dim but as long as I could still see him there was still a chance.

10. A Bad Man

I think that I am not a very nice man in races. If it was a nice movie with 800m to go when I caught up to Trevor we would have high fived and jogged across the line holding hands with the pictures and videos all over Instagram. Instead it was all out war once we hit the downhill blue mat. I sprinted with everything I had which probably wasn’t necessary and resulted in extremely bad quads the day after. I just about held off Trevor who was running a 2 minute P.B which meant he wasn’t too worried about my antics anyway. I really enjoyed the marathon being a race and not a time trial, I just need to persuade John Meade or Michael Herlihy to do a marathon.

Munster Masters Cross Country 2024

10 Things I Think About The Munster Masters XC 2024

1. Post Storm Cross Country

I think that there is nothing better than a good storm the day before a cross country race to make things a bit more interesting. We haven’t had a good muckfest in a while so I was hopeful that 50 mm of rain would turn the normally well drained field in Two Mile Borris into a field of victory over Michael Herlihy and the other brave masters runners of Munster.

2. Rough Schedule

I think that the great thing about the Munster Cross Country races is the guessing the game of when the race is going to start. This normally involves the fella who hasn’t experienced a Munster Cross Country race before messaging you the night before going “any idea roughly what time the race might start”. Unlike with most races there is no answer to this question. The answer is I will look at Strava and see what time it was on at before which gave an answer of somewhere between 1:30 and 3pm so be there for 12:30 and you’ll be grand.

3. Fast Track Security

I think that I was very fortunate that like at airports there was a fast track parking system in operation for the cross country. I knew I was in trouble when I was leaving Anglesboro at 12:15 and saw a message from Rhona saying the women were going to be going off at 12:30. It was 45 minutes to Two Mile Borris so the maths didn’t look promising. I arrived into the Fast Track Parking area which was coated in a slippery layer of mud to facilitate a faster slide into the parking, grabbed my singlet and spikes from the boot and ran over to Andy who had kindly collected the numbers.

4. Chasing Numbers

I think that it is mad how even in the Diamond League they use safety pins, surely there is something better than safety pins for attaching numbers to a singlet. Normally putting on a number is a relaxing activity but add a bit of a shake from the adrenaline of being late and it becomes a complicated activity. My number installation was further complicated by a gust of wind blowing it away. Luckily Tony O’Brien was on hand to track it down. Then I found that there were no safety pins in the envelope so I had to ask Clo if I could steal some which she kindly did.

5. No Time for Studs

I think that the only problem that arose from the lateness other than my number blowing away in the wind was that I didn’t have time to change the spikes on my Dragonflys. I had picked the Dragonfly XC spikes because I thought I had the studs in them which are far better for the inevitable post storm muck but for some reason there were 6 mm spikes in them with the studs in a small bag. I briefly started to change them before realising that it was going to take all day and I was better off jogging over to the start.

6. Nicky no Number

I think that it was great that I wasn’t the latest person for the race. Nick O’Donoghue was way worse. Very close to missing the race completely in fact. We were just about to get underway when a similar creature to myself wearing a maroon singlet came running towards us with no number on. He was handed a number but no safety pins so he scrunched the number up in his hand and away we went.

7. Fethard

I think it is always worrying when a fella you haven’t seen before gets a good gap on the field after 400m. In this case it was a fella from Fethard. Behind the first corner was a bit of a mess with lots of excellent pushing and shoving. Someone tried to trip me but as there were no Cork Has One Track Club runners in the race it was probably just accidental. I was a little bit angry after the trip so I used the anger to track down the fella from Fethard who after some effort I caught by the end of the straight with the significant tailwind.

8. Duckworth Lewis Method

I think that it would have been great to beat Brian Murphy. I was hoping that I would have had Michael Herlihy to race but sickness put paid to that so I was left with only Brian. A victory over Brian would have meant that I could have used the Michael Herlihy method of calculating where you would have finished in races you didn’t run to claim a victory over Michael Herlihy. Unfortunately, the minute we encountered the inevitable quagmire on the far side of the field the Kerryman opened a decisive gap that was impossible to close and all hopes of both real and calculated victories were over.

9. Outside Line

I think that the great thing about cross country is that cleverness and course knowledge is very important. After the first pass of the quagmire on the far side of the course I had realised that my spikes were not suitable for the inside line as not only had Brian Murphy opened a decisive gap Nicky and Michael Harrington had flow by me too. Luckily I have run this course about 20 times so I knew that the ground was better closer to the ditch so I went over there the second and third time which meant that while I couldn’t catch Brian I was safe in second.

10. Best Moderately Old Man

I think that it is great to run races where there are medals. Because Brian Murphy is surprisingly over 40 second place was good enough to win the moderately old man category just ahead of Nicky who demonstrated the robustness of the MyRunResults chip timing system by registering a time even with the number scrunched up in his hand. After getting a nice shiny medal I made sure to get a good long warm down in as I had no warm up so I had to make up the miles so that coach me would be happy with the number of miles run for the day which was about 8 which is enough for a moderately old man running a marathon next week.

Cinque Mulini Cross Country 2024

10 Things I Think About The Cinque Mulini XC 2024

1. Northern Lakes

I think that I probably should have been a good Irishman and gone to the All-Ireland XC in Fermanagh instead of going to Milan for a cross country race. The truth is that I couldn’t face driving for 5 hours to Fermanagh, probably paying €250 a night for a hotel to finish around 100th when there were €25 flights to Milan the same weekend. Plus Rhona had always wanted to run Cinque Mulini and had never mentioned wanting to go to Fermanagh.

2. Hipster Running

I think that it is amazing to me that cross country races like Cinque Mulini are so easy to enter. I cannot understand how marathons sell out years in advance yet classic races that have been around for nearly 100 years can be entered a few days before. It’s pretty much the only type of racing that hasn’t been contaminated by influencers like me. I imagine that if you turned up at Cinque Mulini with a GoPro you would be met by a very cross Italian man saying “No”.

3. Hotel Poli

I think that if I was looking to establish a company doing trips to small races San Vittore Olona would be the perfect venue. It’s in Italy which is great, it’s 30 minutes from Milan and 30 minutes from Lake Como, it has the best cross-country race in the world, a great pizza restaurant (The Birra) and a wonderful reasonably priced hotel in Hotel Poli which is also where all the Kenyans, Ethiopians and Burundians stay so you can see that they eat the same breakfasts as the rest of us.

4. Masters Race

I think that the All Ireland XC misses a trick by not having separate master’s races on the same day. The master’s races at Cinque Mulini were very popular, so popular that we almost missed the start of Rhona’s race because we couldn’t get across the course with the constant stream of runners. I could have run in the master’s race too but it was much better for Billy minding if I did the senior race which was what I wanted to do anyway as I can only do it one more time as once you hit 40 it’s illegal.

5. Kenyans, Ethiopians and Burundians

I think that it is great to go to a cross country race and not know a single person in the race. There is great freedom in not having a clue how well or terrible you are running. The start line was very intimidating as it included at least 12 Kenyans, Ethiopians and Burundians with a lot of Diamond League calibre Italians. There didn’t seem to be too many of my type, I may have been the oldest person in the race which was an unwelcomed first.

6. Too Fast

I think that I will have to go back to lamping sessions around the farm chasing after Michael Herlihy if I’m going to make cross country my speciality again. I’m gone very slow from the marathon training. The start of Cinque Mulini was terrifying like, something from a nightmare where the whole field just runs away from you despite trying to run as fast as you can. I was very nearly last by the time we got to the first corner.

7. Don’t Get Lapped

I think that the minimum goal in a race like this is not to get lapped. The race was over the proper distance of 10k, none of the 7.5k nonsense which meant that I had to get to 8k in under the time the winner would run 10k so about 28 or 29 minutes which is harder than it sounds. I figured the best way of doing this was to stay ahead of as many Italians as I could. This was proving difficult as they all appeared to be excellent.

8. Through the Houses

I think that you must experience running the section through the houses to realise how wonderful it is. It is completely mad, whoever came up with the idea of the race is a genius. It looks great on TV but it’s even better in a race even if it is entirely unsuitable for someone as tall as me, the sound on the steps is my favourite thing. The only problem is that you only get to do it five times.

9. Not Going to be Lapped

I think that it was a great relief to get onto the fifth lap without being lapped. I think a lot of the Italians of my level had similar ideas as when we started the fifth and final lap I found myself passing quite a few of them. I had no idea what place I was in but I wasn’t last, and I wasn’t going to get lapped so I was happy. Unfortunately, the section where you run through the houses comes at the end of the lap like I had told Rhona and because I was abysmal at running through the houses, I got swamped by about 6 Italians just before the finish ending up 70th out of the 77 people who finished.

10. 263rd best Cross Country Runner in the World

I think that it is great that we have the Castlegar XC as part of the World Athletics XC tour as it is the perfect opportunity to collect world ranking points. Because of Castlegar and Cinque Mulini I am now ranked as the 263rd best cross-country runner in the world which is excellent and probably almost accurate. Anyway my main point is Cinque Mulini is better than any marathon, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo, give me running through the houses in a pair of spikes trying to avoid being lapped by Kenyans any day.

Eyeries 5 Mile 2024

10 Things I Think About The Eyeries 5 Mile

1. No Races for a Month

I think that I did very well after Chicago not to run a race for nearly a full month. Many people have requested that I do this for a long time. I was very tempted to beat John Meade in Blarney but I resisted and made do with the Michael Herlihy method of calculating “where you would have finished in races you didn’t run” which means that in my world I was already after earning €350 before turning up in Eyeries for a shot at a potential €250.

2. The New Road

I think that there is no longer an excuse for people not to go to the races in West Cork because it is too far. With the new road to Killarney Eyeries is barely 2 hours from Glanmire and barely 90 minutes from Ballincollig. This is less time than most people spend sitting at Dunkettle every morning while I run by so there is no excuse. It is even a very nice road with a potential stop in Kenmare which is very nice.

3. Mark’s Magic Weather Machine

I think that Mark Gallagher has a magic weather machine. In my many races in West Cork it has only failed to work once. Saturday was a very dark day, a day on which Cillian Murphy would love to film a movie, very dark, no need for special cameras. Miraculously as we reached Eyeries the clouds cleared and it became almost bright, perfect for a 5 mile road race.

4. Donegal and Derry

I think that when you go to a race in Eyeries in deepest West Cork you wouldn’t expect your chief rivals for the €250 to be from Donegal and Derry. It was terrible to arrive in Eyeries and see Aidan Noone, fresh from a 2:35 in Dublin, that was bad enough but then Mark told me there was a fella from Derry called John Lenehan and that he was very good.

5. Rusty

I think that not racing for a month is very bad. I don’t understand why people don’t race more often. On the start line I felt almost nervous and unfamiliar with the whole thing especially as marathons aren’t races so it was nearly 5 weeks since I’d actually raced anyone. When we got underway it was like I had forgotten how to run, the Derry fella was gone before we reached the village and I had to work hard to get back up anywhere near Aidan. Maybe they’ve gone off too fast I hoped.

6. Derry Good

I think that it was terrible how good the fella from Derry was. He was wearing 5 year old AlphaFly1s which is a terrible sign as it means that he knows a lot about running and is extremely knowledgeable. It took until we passed the GAA club after about a mile for the hope I had of catching him to fade. The €250 was gone leaving myself and Aidan to battle it out for the still amazing €150 for second and €100 for third.

7. Non Shed

I think that it is very difficult to drop Aidan. There are some people that I have great difficulty in beating. John Meade, Barry Twohig and Aidan Noone would have similar statistics if local elite club Cork BHAA running was a computer game like FIFA. I tried everything I could to get rid of Aidan on the many uphills and downhills but it was completely impossible. He has every ability I have just a little bit better.

8. Mile 4

I think that mile 4 of Eyeries is the best mile of any road race in Ireland. It is so much fun to race someone on. The hills are vicious and unrelenting. I hadn’t run the race since my great victory over Anthony Mannix in 2023 so I had forgotten how many hills there are. I kept trying to drop Aidan by trying to run over the top of the hills but nothing worked and he stayed behind like he had probably been told to do by Kieran McKeown.

9. Sitting Duck

I think that once I hadn’t dropped Aidan by the time we reached the top of the final hill back where the race started I knew that the game was up and that I was going to finish third. I got to the sign for the village still in second but it was only a matter of time before Aidan unleashed a John Meade or Barry Twohig style finishing sprint. I tried to go after him but the gap just got bigger and bigger and bigger until I reached the popupraces gantry 8 seconds after Aidan.

10. Banners and Prizes.

I think that it was a great idea to get banners made up to celebrate past winners of the race like me. The banners were hung in the hall in Eyeries like how the NBA teams have their titles displayed on the wall of the stadium. Unfortunately, I still only have one triangular banner. I was lucky enough to collect the very generous third prize which when added to the €350 that I would have won in Blarney by beating John Meade brings my winnings to €450 in the dark months of October and November. The banners are probably better than the prize money though, no one remembers money.

Chicago Marathon 2024

10 Things I Think About The Chicago Marathon 2024

1. The Why

I think marathons are awful, they are far too long and it is impossible to be motivated by pure hatred for two and a half hours. The only reason that I am doing marathons is that it represents my best hope of having a PB faster than Michael Herlihy. I entered Chicago last year in a fit of envy, rage and jealousy after seeing Viv run very fast in idyllic conditions on a perfectly flat course. I’ll have some of that I thought. 

2. American Development 

I think that Chicago is the easiest of the Major marathons that I have been to. I was lucky enough to qualify for the American Development area which was sort of like how the elite runners for the Cork Marathon gather outside Elverys and are marched up to the start line except it was in Chicago with huge skyscrapers and in the dark. They were no queues, a million toilets and a nice loop to warmup in, stress free. 

3. Influencers

I think that I must have been the only influencer in Chicago who didn’t organise a shakeout run the day before the marathon. The path along the lakefront was thronged with huge groups of people following messiahs holding GoPros. It’s an unusual sport in that the most well know runners are far from the best runners, there were no Kenyans doing shakeout runs. 

4. GoPros and Nosestrips

I think that John Kinsella is the best running influencer in the world never mind Ireland. It was great to see the Limerick man in action in the warm up area. He needed a cameraman and I was delighted to volunteer after I had applied the nosestrip that Sean Doyle gave me to help with the headcold that I had failed to shake off. I may be offered a contract yet as chief videographer. 

5. B Goal 

I think that it was only right that I was on the front line of a major marathon. I didn’t even have to use my physical advantages to push my way to the front. When we were let into the start area after the playing of the Star Spangled Banner all the elites went to the right hand side of the dual carriageway leaving the left hand side free for people like me. It was great to be on the TV right from the start which is probably my B goal when running a major marathon. As the B goal had already been accomplished I decided to give it a good lash, nothing to lose. 

6. Running by Looking Around 

I think that for GPS watching running runners like myself Chicago is a terrible race. The first mile of the race is in a tunnel with a road surface similar to the first mile of the Ballintotis 4 mile. I had no idea how fast I was going as the GPS data was nonsense. I had to run by feel which is never good especially when you are sweating heavily after only a mile. I used the old method of judging how fast you are going which is look at the people around you and guess what time they look like they should run, it’s a surprisingly accurate method. 

7. The Dream is Over

I think that you can’t run a race with fitness you don’t have. After about 8 miles my GPS was telling me that I was well ahead of tormenting Michael Herlihy pace. I was extremely delighted with this. Unfortunately the clock at halfway told a different story than I was expecting, 1:15:06, an impossible task given that I was already horribly sweaty and being passed by an alarming number of runners. 

8. Four Five O Way to Go

I think that American supporters are the best. Boston and Chicago are definitely the two most atmospheric marathons I’ve runs. It makes it worth the ridiculous entry fee and hotel price. The support is constant from start to finish. I even got a personalised chant based on my number, 4 5 0 way to go. 

9. Random Poster

I think that I was a little disappointed about how early I gave up on tormenting Michael Herlihy pace. After about 16 miles I had resigned myself to getting home uninjured, I even started to notice the fantastic handmade posters, Random Poster was my favourite. Then a horrible little man barged through a gap clipping both me and another runner without saying sorry. I asked him to say sorry but he refused which made me very mad. For a brief two miles I was in full cross country mode, a man with a vendetta, but then he was gone and I was back to looking at posters and Chinatown. 

10. Perfect is the Enemy of Tormenting Michael Herlihy 

I think that the last few miles were a real struggle. As bad as I’ve ever felt in the last few miles of a marathon. The only consolation was that there were a lot worse than me. Fellas that had bombed past me earlier in the race were reduced to a slow walk, which didn’t make sense as there were no hills. I was miles off tormenting Michael Herlihy pace by the end. I should probably train properly for the next marathon but I really want to do sub 2:30 without perfect training because that will maximise the tormenting. That makes sense doesn’t it? Anyway, do Chicago, it’s great, possibly the best of the Majors. 

Cork County Senior XC 2024

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior Cross Country 2024

1. The Last Supper

I think that it is terrible that Lennox’s is closing. Rhona was a much bigger fan that I was so she insisted on standing in a monsoon on Saturday night for two hours for a bag of chips. The chips were better than I remembered as good as Kiely’s, great fuel for a XC race. 

2. In Anticipation of Precipitation 

I think that the rain that fell on Saturday was wonderful for XC. I was expecting wonderful muck and lots of it at the field in the absolute middle of nowhere somewhere between Rathcormac, Conna and Dungourney. I was so sure of muck that I swapped the 9mm spikes in my Dragonflys used for Galway for 12mm. 

3. Hiding in the Long Grass

I think that the farmer of the field at eircode P51 YX33 must be an excellent farmer. The monsoon on Saturday had almost no effect on the field aside from making the grass extra-long and thick with dew. I considered swapping back the spikes to 9mm but that takes ages, and it doesn’t really make a difference anyway when all you are trying to do is beat John Meade who doesn’t care that spikes come in different lengths. 

4. Inside Line

I think that I was very clever at the start. The starting area was very wide and not flattened out as the decision to equalise the distances men and women run for XC had had the same effect on participation as if the women’s 100m hurdles became the women’s 110m high hurdles. The only bit that was anyway smooth was the inside of the course, so I lined up there and had a nice smooth getaway. 

5. The Cabbage Patch

I think that the start of the race was very calm. There was no mad rush off the line mainly because everyone was terrified of the ground beneath them. It was all routine enough until after about 500m we turned sharp right into what to the unqualified eye looked like a cabbage patch. The cabbage patch had one line, step off it and you were taking your shoes into your own hands so it was single file.

6. Down the Hill

I think that in a XC race I rarely get worried if I end up a little bit back after a lap. There will always be some bit of a downhill where I can fly by people like John Meade who have gotten an advantage over the first few 100m. Sure enough on this course the last 300m of every lap were a lovely sweeping downhill left-hand bend that I ran as hard as I could every time flying by John Meade and making him incredibly angry. 

7. It’s Only a Tempo

I think that one of the great things about cross country races are the supporters on the course. Be it the “Well Done John Meades” or the “Up the Barrs” or the newest iteration today, “it’s only a tempo” from the Ben Smiths fans, they provide constant motivation to beat who ever they are directed at. As for me, I get no shouts or encouragement, possibly because I’m intimidating or unlikeable or both. 

8. There were Two Barrys

I think that it was great to have the two Barrys in the race to provide additional motivation. I spent most of the race chasing one of them. It took me two laps to pass the Cork has only one Track Club Barry. Once I had dispatched that Barry I set to work on catching Barry Twohig who would have been a major beating on a par with beating John Meade by at least thirty seconds. Surprisingly with a lap to go I found myself ahead of Barry Twohig but on the last hill out of the cabbage patch he powered by along with Tim O’Donoghue.

9. Vendettas and Old Scores

I think that XC races are very unusual events. Once you get outside the top 5 it is basically a collection of moderately old men settling old scores and rivalries from years of racing each other. It is completely pointless, there isn’t even a time or a PB like you get in the great ego fest that is the marathon. It’s just about pure hatred and beating whoever is in front of you. It’s wonderful stuff. 

10. Victory over John Meade 

I think that it was great to finally get my annual victory over John Meade. It has taken me until October to do so because he has had excellent form all year. It took a lot to beat him as he would have followed me regardless of whether we were 10th or 1st. Once I crossed the line after a vicious sprint where I ended up closer to Barry Twohig than John Meade was to me I threw myself on the ground after a small modest celebration before being handed a silver medal, not for beating John Meade but for coming second in the team to East Cork who are unbeatable and possibly the best cross country club ever. 

Castlegar International Cross Country 2024

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar International Cross Country

1. Cunning Plan

I think that when you lack any real talent for running like I do the only hope you have of getting to a World Athletics Championships is to switch allegiances to Gibraltar or to read the fine print on the qualification standards. A little-known way of qualifying for the 10,000m on the track in Tokyo is to finish in the top three athletes in the World Cross Country Tour not qualified through entry standards or other ways. Improbable yes, Impossible probably, but sure stranger things have happened. Luckily enough the first stop on the tour was in Galway.

2. Orange Weather Warning for XC

I think that my chances of making the 10,000m in Tokyo would have been helped if instead of brining the silver medal winning team from 1979 to Galway, Castlegar A.C had brought the weather from Limerick Racecourse in 1979. Unfortunately, it was a lovely day in Galway, almost unsuitable for cross country with a complete absence of rain, muck and wind. If there was a weather warning system for cross country it would have been an orange level alert, consider postponing for a wetter day.

3. World Childminding Championships

I think that if World Athletics are looking for an idea for a new relay event sort of like the mixed relay, they could have the World Cross-Country Childminding Relay. I think it would be a great event. I did the pilot version of the event in Galway, meeting Rhona at the finish line of the women’s race with Billy before running over to the start of the men’s race. Adrenaline is better than any warmup.

4. Race within the Race

I think it was great to have an international field for the race. There was almost two races, the race between Keelan Kilrehill and the foreign invaders from Denmark, Scotland and Ennis Track and then the race between me, Mark Walsh and Barry Donovan. I was a bit surprised that after one small lap and one big lap the two races came back together again before the international athletes detected our terribleness and quickly left us behind to fight amongst ourselves for the glory of first Corkman home in a World Cross Country Tour event.

5. A Thing of Beauty

I think that the course that we got to run on was wonderful. I almost forgot about the lack or rain and muck. It was the perfect course for someone like me with no talent as there was lots of bends and corners to slow up the fellas who beat me badly in road races and like doing 400m reps on things called athletics tracks that we don’t have in Cork. My favourite section of the course is the series of S bends before the long back straight which was great for testing if you’d being doing the stability exercises that the physio told you to do.

6. They are Jumping Like Horses

I think that the biggest fan of the course design was Billy, his favourite aspect of the course was the jumps made of hay bales which runners had to jump like horses. I was also a big fan of the jumps, they are wonderful. I would definitely make them bigger, at least up to my knee height. By the end of the race I was jumping them very elegantly, I was evening switching legs like a proper hurdler.

7. In The Modern World

I think that it is unfortunate that in this modern world people have no ethics. Shortcuts, that’s all people want, quick wins, no 10,000 hours of work, 4 weeks to a faster marathon etc. A perfect example of this was Mark Walsh going around the outside of each of the many hay bale jumps. I jumped everyone gleefully and honestly. I suppose at least he had to run a bit longer by not jumping them. I was only aware of his non jumping because of Rhona’s videos as I was in the unusual position of being ahead of Mark for most of the race and couldn’t see him skipping around the outside of the bales.

8. The Northside of Cork Doesn’t Have a Track Club

I think that it was great to have the Cork Track Club send an athlete up to try and beat me. This time they sent Barry Donovan who gave me an awful beating in the Charleville Half Marathon. Because of this beating I was very motivated to destroy him in the cross country. I was so focused on beating Barry that I almost forgot about beating Mark Walsh. It took me a full lap to pass Barry, once passed I made sure to open the gap as much as possible as Barry is a hard man to beat in the cross country being a former County Senior Champion whereas I only ever won the County Novice, did I ever mention that I once won the County Novice?

9. Racecraft

I think that I really should have beaten Mark Walsh. On the last lap I got to the end of the long back straight ahead of Mark which was very surprising as if it was a road race he would have been finished and having a cup of excellent free coffee from the van. I knew that Mark would wait for instruction from Donie to launch his attack and sure enough just as we passed Donie with about 200m to go he went for home. There wasn’t much I could do except hang on and hope that hanging onto Mark would get me home ahead of Barry which it did which means that I should actually have run 1:10 in Charleville and not 1:12 and means I will run sub 2:30 for the marathon which is the most important thing in running ever because it will mean that I am great.

10. Tokyo Here I Come

I think that it is great to be currently ranked as the 15th best cross-country runner in the world. I am only 13 places from qualifying for the 10,000m in the Tokyo World Championships which would be only right and would horrify Athletics Ireland. Unfortunately, most of the other events in the tour are in Spain and not in Galway which is terrible as Galway is much greater for cross country than Spain. Hopefully there will be more World Cross Country events in Galway, they’re very good at organizing cross country races. World Cross, European Cross would be no problem, hopefully they will keep a place for me if they do.

Charleville Half Marathon 2024

10 Things I Think About The Charleville Half Marathon 2024

1. National Championship

I think that it was about time that the Charleville Half Marathon became the national championship. The entry list was like the entry list for the time when it was the unofficial national championship back during the lockdown years when they were one of the only organisations willing to organise a race. I didn’t get to run it that time due to a madness induced stress fracture, so I was looking forward to the humbling experience that is running in a national championship.

2. Dunnes

I think that it was a pity that I was too late to get a car park space in Dunnes. Charleville has some of the best located race parking in the world. You can’t really be too far from the start because of how the English planned the town years ago. Because Dunnes was full I drove around to the main street and luckily enough found a spot even closer to the start near the lane that runs down by the Aldi.

3. Happy Mike

I think that it was great that Michael Herlihy was so happy on the start line. The quality and depth of the field was similar to the time it was the unofficial championship. I knew that a happy Mike might result in over exuberance from the start, so I made sure and stay calm for the first and only downhill mile where most people ruin their race. Sure enough as we turned right to exit the town Mike took off up the road.

4. The Usual Suspects

I think that when you run as many races as I do you get fed up of racing the same people over and over again. Most of our training is entirely ineffective and serves only to avoid getting worse due to getting old so we all end up around the same level all of the time. After about a mile it was clear that my company for the day would be John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan plus the Dublin versions of John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan because it was the national championships.

5. GOATs

I think that the shoe distribution in the race was unusual. The new Alphafly 3 and Vaporfly 3 appear to be very unpopular amongst the top 50. I think they are terrible shoes, especially the Alphafly 3 but it could just be nostalgia and familiarity with the Vaporfly 1 shoes that made us all so fast when they arrived in 2019. I have found a source of the old Vaporflys and to prove my point about the new shoes, everyone of John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan were wearing Vaporfly 1s and 2s sourced by me.

6. Four Hours Study

I think that the section of the course from Charleville to Kilmallock is the most terrifying piece of road in road racing. I know there is a price to pay for having a fast course but my god is it bad. I can’t hack the road at all. It is beyond boring. When we passed the three-mile mark I felt like I used to sitting down to study for the leaving cert thinking how the hell am I going to get to 9pm. It is mind numbing, I know some boring runners will love it but I need distraction, it felt like it took about three hours to get to Kilmallock. The only distractions were catching Michael Herlihy and Aidan Noone along the way.

7. Fearful Viv

I think that Viv is absolutely terrified of running at the front of a group. It is like some sports scientist told him that he should never run without someone in front of him. By the time we got to Kilmallock I was pretty fed up with having Viv attached to my back. John Meade and Michael Morgan were very willing to go to the front but Viv just sat and sat and sat. I tried to wave him through in Kilmallock but instead John Meade thought I was saying it to him and put in that awful increase in pace that only John Meade can do which made everyone miserable.

8. Frightful Meade

I think that John Meade is an awful man to have to race. He is very hard to beat because he has so many little tricks from so many years of winning BHAA races. His favourite tricks are the accelerating out of the water stop and the accelerating out of the corner. Both tricks were executed to perfection during Charleville. Luckily, I was able to neutralize both tricks when they occurred because I was wise to them so our big group stayed together all the way to Mount Charleville.

9. Mount Charleville

I think that the race in Charleville always comes down to that mountain of a bridge just before 11 miles. It is a huge bridge that can be seen as soon as you turn back out onto that road. The reason the bridge is so important is because it is basically a short version of the last mile. Anyone who goes up the bridge well will go up the last mile well. On the bridge John Meade unveiled his newest trick the attack on the bridge and sure enough a gap opened, and he was gone. I was left with Aidan Noone, Viv and Mike Morgan to battle it out to the line up the hill.

10. Sprinting for Nothing

I think that it is interesting how motivated we all were for the sprint for the finish. In reality we were all running for nothing as we were miles off the front barely in the top 50. Despite this when we turned left after the speed bump I sprinted as fast as I ever have in a race possibly because it was a national championship. Unfortunately, it was only good enough to distance Mike Morgan in his fake Vaporfly 2s as Viv and Aidan Noone were way too fast. I ended up 42nd overall and 8th moderately old man which wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, there are no medals or prizes for those positions or for beating Michael Herlihy so I warmed down with Brian Murphy who was 6th in the nearly an old man category and went home. Hopefully the national championship will stay in Charleville, it’s a good home for it.

Allihies 5 Mile 2024

10 Things I Think About The Allihies 5 Mile 2024

1. Dingle vs Allihies

I think it is a great pity that the Allihies 5 Mile and Dingle Half Marathon are on the same day. It would have been great to have had John Meade to race around the hills of Allihies and equally it would have been great to turn up unexpected on the start line in Dingle to torment him, instead we both went our separate ways with no one tormented.

2. Long Road West

I think that the drive to Allihies is wonderful. It is the sort of drive that you could market to tourists who like to drive nice cars on bad roads with great views. We had the luck to encounter the inevitable red Toyota Corolla with faded paint on the only climbing lane on the route so we got there slightly ahead of schedule but still late by most runners standards.

3. Sunshine

I think that it is great that in Cork you can drive for two and a half hours and emerge from the car in a different climate. Glamire was grey, coolish and cloudy whereas in Allihies the sun was shining with temperatures in the low twenties, a great contrast to last year’s yellow weather warning when we had to shelter in the hall before and after the race.

4. Agent Graham

I think that Graham should get commission from the BHAA for distributing race prizes. He now not only does my race entries but collects my prize. It was nice to collect the envelope from the Amazon 5K in the lovely Tramore Valley Park in a nicer place like Allihies.

5. Green Paracetamol

I think that the only problem with a two and a half hour drive with a four year old with a limited repertoire of songs on Spotify is that it can result in a bad headache especially when combined with 20 degrees and high humidity. When we arrived I checked the glove compartment and found some paracetamol that expired in 2018 which was interesting. Knowing something about pharmaceuticals and degradants I decided not to chance it and ran down to the local shop for some green paracetamol which worked as well as it said it would on the box.

6. Leevale Singlet

I think that the Leevale singlet is a great singlet. It is a very intimidating singlet as it makes you look like a wasp and no one likes wasps. On the startline there were two Leevale singlets and a few other fellas in new magic shoes that I haven’t tried yet like the Asics Metaspeed Edge Paris and the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 which was slightly worrying. I went off as hard as I could and found myself solo by the time we reached the left hand turn with the jaw dropping view of the ocean.

7. New Tarmac

I think that the new tarmac in the town has made the course slightly faster. I can’t remember if it was there last year or not as it was so wet, cold and windy last year that I don’t remember anything except that it was very wet. It was very nice to run up through the mountain that runs through the town. There were huge crowds sitting outside the pub who had their lunch interrupted by the sight of a large runner in a Leevale singlet running moderately fast for a moderately old man up a big hill.

8. Course Record

I think that my course record from the time when I put Michael McMahon on a poster is very good. Even with the new tarmac and lovely weather I couldn’t get within a minute of it on my own. I tried quite hard but it is very difficult to run fast without hatred, well for me it is anyway. I know not everyone is the same.

9. Some Finish

I think that no matter whether you are racing Michael McMahon or running on your own the finish of the race in Allihies is special. No other race will leave you as out of breath. It is definitely the steepest finish to a running race anywhere in the country. Utterly miserable and wonderful at the same time. Luckily Graham was there to capture my third victory this year on camera. I only need five more victories to make it the new fourth. It was also important to win after Rhona’s victory on Thursday night, otherwise I might be forgotten about.

10. Holding up the Whole Show

I think that Allihies is possibly the best place on earth for a warm down. It is much easier to appreciate the stunning beauty of the place at warm down pace. I was even going to do a fourth lap for the day, luckily, I had sense and turned back as Carol and Mark said I was holding up the prize giving which was very efficient and excellent. I got a nice bag with a bottle of wine and an envelope with money which was more than John Meade probably got for Dingle which was great.

Photo: mY aGENT gRAHAM