Munster Masters XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Munster Masters XC 2025

1. On The Promenade

I think that Tramore was a great venue for a cross-country race. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to Tramore before, it is quite far away from Glanmire but worth the trip. A nice seaside town, like a Spanish town without the sunshine and heat. The course was right beside the promenade in a park with a playground, a bit different to the usual farmer’s field. It was almost like having a cross-country race in a town. A great idea.

2. Norwegian Michael Herlihy Method (NMHM)

I think that the closest thing that I have to a coach is Michael Herlihy, both of us are pretty much uncoachable but we do run together a lot so we must agree to do the same sessions. Before the start of the race, I told him that we should repackage the training program as the Norwegian Michael Herlihy Method and sell it on the internet for €20 a month more than normal training because of the word Norwegian, it could be a sensation, we could even get local Glanmire Norwegian physio Chris Smetana to endorse it.

3. Short, Long or Studs

I think that it is very important to come to a cross-country race prepared for all conditions. Because there is no timetable for these events you may not have a lot of time before the start of the race. What I do is I make sure I am prepared for all eventualities and bring three pre tooled pairs of spikes, one with studs, one with 6mm spikes and one with 12mm spikes. Then you can have a look at the course while collecting your number before taking the appropriate pair of spikes from the boot of the car and running over to the start. In this case the studded Dragonfly XC were chosen.

4. Sure I Wouldn’t Know I’m Just Getting Changed

I think that the self-service number collection system worked well at the event. It was sort of like the self-service checkout at SuperValu where there is a person watching you and they only intervene if you get stuck. I jogged over to the tent and found the numbers neatly stacked in brown envelopes on the table with the club names labelled on them. There was a man in the tent who I asked if I could take the number for Glanmire A.C but he was only getting changed in the tent and had nothing to do with the operation so I just took the envelope and jogged back to the car hoping that I might get a mile of a warmup done.

5. La Source

I think that who ever designed the course in Tramore should get an award for designing the best cross-country course ever. It was wonderful, a triumph of imagination, sort of like a combination of a Scalextric track and a Formula one track except with moderately old men instead of super-fast cars. The first corner was like the first corner at Spa-Francorchamps, I was wary of a first corner collision, so I took it handy off the line and waited for the second or third corner to make my move to the front.

6. Take a Mucky Picture of Me

I think that it was great that there was a bit of muck on the course. It wasn’t anywhere near as mucky as I had hoped for but there were still hairpins with ankle deep muck that made you grind to a halt before getting going again in the opposite direction. It appeared as if there were several people taking pictures which pleased me greatly as it is great to get a picture of yourself running through the muck.

7. Dermot and Me

I think that it was a very tough race with Dermot Gorman. You are always guaranteed a tough race in the Masters division. On the line there were numerous people with marathon times sub 2:30 with Dermot’s excellent 2:28 from New York this year being one of the more recent sub 2:30 marathons in the field. I was particularly worried when he was still following me around like my shadow on the third of the four big laps.

8. Downhill Difference

I think that I was very lucky with the course design. The great person who designed the course helpfully made the uphill section twisty with the downhill section straight, so I was able to push the downhill every lap and survive on the uphill twists. On the second last time down the hill, I managed to get enough of a gap on Dermot that I could see him parallel to me as we went up the twisty hill for the last time. I was still terrified of being caught so I continued to run as hard as I could all the way to the line which is generally a good idea when you are leading a race.

9. The Missing 500m

I think that it was terrible for Michael Herlihy that the course measured 500m short on the infallible GPS watch. It was very clear that he was catching me and only for the short course he would have beaten me. I do wonder about people who look at their watch in cross country race. What is the watch going to tell you? The pace? The distance? All are irrelevant just run faster than the fellas around you and run the number of laps that you are supposed to run, who cares about the distance. I felt like it was a good long race anyway as I was completely out of breath crossing the line, so out of breath that I didn’t see the black dog doing his best dancing priest impression.

10. Medals

I think that it was great to win the first cross country medal for the newly reformed Glanmire A.C. I don’t know the history of the old club as the internet only goes back to about 2006. I presume someone from the old Glanmire N.A.C.A club would have won some sort of medal at some stage as Glanmire is a great place for running. Hopefully it is the first of many more medals for Glanmire A.C.

Photo: James Veale

Churchtown 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Churchtown 10

1. Big Big Rain

I think it is a pity that the Churchtown 10 miler wasn’t a cross country race. With all the rain that has fallen a 10 mile cross country race would be wonderful. Instead all the rain did was turn the 10 mile route into two laps of 5 miles which is actually a great idea because it allows more opportunity for excellent photos.

2. VIP Parking

I think that I was very lucky with parking for the race. I was relatively on time by my standards arriving 30 minutes before the race but it looked like I would have to park well away from the hurling field where the race registration and start were. Then I saw a familiar face in a safety vest walking towards me, John Mannion, “pull in there at my house, it’s the house next to the hurling field”. I got stopped by several stewards on my drive up through the town but all I had to do was roll down the window and say the magic word “John Mannion” and I was ushered through.

3. Between the Living and the Dead

I think that sleep is very important especially the night before the race. I had very bad sleep on Friday night, it was very broken bad sleep that left me extremely head tired. I had the alarm set for twenty past seven in the morning, I initially ignored it and went back to sleep before waking at twenty to eight and deciding that I might as well go to the race. I’m nearly 40 now which means that bad sleep means that everything feels foggy, not even coffee will fix it.

4. Head Tired

I think that you can tell a lot about how a race is going to feel by the warmup. This is probably the first time that I have experienced what Michael Herlihy calls head tiredness. Nothing was working the way it should, I had no injuries or niggles or pains but everything felt slow and delayed. My heart rate was even high which is very unusual. It is very difficult to tell whether head tiredness is actually a thing or is it just being nearly 40.

5. Tro-Bro Léon

I think that it was great to have a visitor from Bretagne in France in the race. Nohé Le Guillou was his name. I started talking to him on the startline because he was wearing a Valencia half marathon t-shirt and I thought he was Spanish. He thought I was Spanish too which was great and excellent. Just before the race started we exchanged half marathon times, I ran 69 in Seville once, then just as the race was starting, he said he ran 66 in Valencia and with that I realized I was not going to win.

6. Jeuken it Out

I think the only man in the race who was not phased by the 66 minute half marathon Breton was Chris Jeuken. It took until about a kilometer into the race for Chris to actually appear, most likely because he was tired from having already run two laps of the course. I passed on the important information about the Breton having a 66 minute half which Chris acknowledged before taking off up the first of the many hills after Nohé. It was a great pity that John Meade wasn’t racing as if he had he would have spent the whole race tormenting Nohé by talking to him in French.

7. Mile Long Mountain

I think that the race route was wonderful, entirely unsuitable for someone of my height but great for maximizing suffering. There were many hills, the most important hill was the mile long hill from three to four miles which was then repeated a second time from eight to nine miles. It is a very excellent hill as you can see a kilometre of it straight out in front of you before you turn left and have to run up an even steeper part of the hill for another 600m to complete the mile long mountain.

8. Never Run Past The Car

I think that the only problem I have about the two lap course is that when you are a head tired sleep deprived nearly 40 year old man it is very tempting to stop after a lap when you are going past the car. I was very tempted especially as I had been left behind by Chris, Nohé and Sean Davin who were flying up the hills at an annoying rate. I distracted myself from the temptation to stop by thinking about breaking 55 minutes again.

9. John Walshe’s List

I think the only thing that kept me going on the second five mile lap was the possibility of getting another sub 55 time for John Walshe’s list. I have broken it twice this year, in Dungarvan when I beat Tadhg O’Sullivan for the last time ever even though I only had half a leg and hadn’t been training properly and a few weeks ago in England. Finishing the first lap the clock showed 27 minutes and 10 seconds or so which wasn’t a bad time for a hilly five mile route so I had a bit of a buffer.

10. If You Can See It You Can Run It

I think that it is a terrible feeling to watch the clock tick over the time you want to run. I could see the clock showing 54 minutes with about 200m to go, it was even a downhill 200m.Unfortunately due to the bad head tiredness and being nearly 40 I had to watch as the clock ticked well over the 55 minutes by the time I reached the finish line. My hopes of a third appearance in the John Walshe list were gone, fourth place, my unusual place, I did however win the M35 category which was great. I warmed down with Viv who was worryingly close to beating me having danced up the hills like they weren’t there. Luckily he doesn’t trust me about the Pumas so I was saved from a bad beating.

Eyeries 5 Mile 2025

1. Favourite

I think that the Eyeries 5 mile route might be my favourite 5 mile race. If it wasn’t for geography I’m sure that the race would be one of those races that sells out 10 months before the race is even on. It has everything, wild scenery, beautiful colourful buildings, hilly challenging course and great prizes.

2. Red Hyundai

I think that renting a car for weekends where you need to drive to Eyeries on a Saturday and Dublin on a Sunday is a great idea. Rental cars are very cheap in November, they are basically giving them away, €36 for a Hyundai Tuscon which is far more suitable for tall people than a VW Scirocco is a good deal. The heated seats were nearly worth the €36 alone.

3. Orange Puma Club

I think that it is terrible that Mark Walsh has the Pumas already, I was hoping that news of the benefits of the Pumas would spread a little more slowly. Unfortunately for me he rocked up in Eyeries with a new pair of Orange Puma Fast R3s that matched his Leevale singlet perfectly. On the other end of the shoe spectrum last years winner John Lenehan turned up in a pair of Alphafly 1s which are approaching 6 years of age.

4. The Race Will Be Televised

I think that it was great to have the camera crew back this year. It was the same setup as back in 2022 when my victory over Anthony Mannix got full extensive high-quality coverage on YouTube. The only problem was that I had to try and keep up with Mark and John to feature on this years video which would prove very difficult.

5. Let The Hills Begin

I think that if it wasn’t for the camera crew in the back of the lorry I probably wouldn't have been as motivated to keep up with John and Mark. Once we had the steep downhill start out of the way we began the climb to the top of the course. I stuck to the back of John with Mark taking his normal approach of sitting at the back and waiting. It felt fine until about 200m from the top of the climb where the pace started to bite and sensing my weakness Mark moved by and opened a small gap with John

6. Three Minute Ks

I think that it was scary how quick John and Mark dropped me on the downhill. I wasn’t worried when the small gap opened on the uphill as I was confident, I would catch them on the downhill. I was very wrong, instead I looked at the watch and saw 3:00 minute kilometre pace yet Mark and John were getting further and further away so far away that I began to worry that when the camera crew came past us that I would not feature on the video at all.

7. One Battle After Another

I think that Paul Thomas Anderson must have watched the video of me tracking Anthony Mannix down on the rolling hills of Eyeries. The car chase scene in One Battle After Another is almost identical to Eyeries, the rolling hills, with the runners disappearing before appearing again as they crest the brow of each little mountain. Unfortunately this year I was not in the staring role, instead I was looming in the background.

8. Puma vs Alphafly

I think that it was interesting to observe the battle for the win between John and Mark. It took until the second last hill just after 4 miles for John to finally crack and for the Pumas to win out over the Alphaflys. The thing about a course like Eyeries is that when you do crack you really crack as the hills are so steep. When Mark left John it looked like John had stopped running and that I would catch him, it was however an optical illusion due to the extremely steep hill and I had no hope of anything other than 3rd.

9. Spider Baby

I think that it was great to be interviewed after the race. I finished third so the film crew weren’t as interested in me as they were in Mark Walsh and Michelle Finn. In the interview I made sure and tell them that I had won the race before. I also told them that I had overhauled Bobby Tangney in the series which was my main goal for the day anyway.

10. Bate Bobby

I think that it was great to finally finish the Beara series, I had been thwarted by injury every other year, always missing one race. This year I was determined to finish it and get a trophy to match the trophy that Rhona got when she won the series in 2022. I couldn’t run Allihies and Bere Island full tilt due to cross country commitments, but I ran them hard enough to leave me in third place one minute behind Bobby Tangney heading into Eyeries. Thanks to Mark and John I got dragged around three minutes quicker than Bobby and leapfrogged from third into second place in the series which was very important. Michael Dullea was uncatchable in first.

Munster Senior Cross Country 2025

10 Things I Think About The Munster Senior XC 2025

1. It’s all about the Merch

I think that it is very important for any new running club to have high quality merchandise. While the DIY asics singlet was very excellent, the official adidas Glanmire A.C kit is next level excellent. The Munster senior XC provided the perfect venue to debut the official attire. €35 for the singlet, all sizes available.

2. Horsebox Humour

I think that news of the arrival of Glanmire A.C has not yet reached all quarters of the athletics community. When I went to collect my number from the horsebox in the field the man in the horsebox replied, Glanmire A.C who are they?. Then he found the envelope. There were no safety pins in the envelope so I went back to ask for them, they had none but there were two safety pins embedded in the ramp of the horsebox so he said I could have them, “you’ve no big chest on you, two will be grand”.

3. Studs or Spikes

I think that it was amazing that the field in Twomileborris was as good as it was. There was no evidence of any rain having fallen apart from the luscious green grass which was unusual for November. I had brought the Dragonfly XC with the studs for the mud but after a jog around the course I decided that the Dragonfly 2s with 6mm spikes would be perfect which they were. The Dragonfly 2s are excellent, much more stable than the Dragonfly 2s because apparently Jakob Ingebrigsten told Nike to make them wider in the midfoot which they did.

4. The Departure Line

I think that it was great that we got to spend a good amount of time on the startline waiting for the race to start. It gave me good time to appreciate the high quality of the Glanmire A.C adidas singlet. It really is a great singlet. I also got to have a good look around to see who was running, Paul Hartnett, Jeremiah Sheehan and a few young fellas from Nenagh so no chance of top 5, there was no John Meade. Then the gun went off and off we went.

5. Youngfellas

I think that the reduction in distance from 10km to 7.5km has had a big impact on these races. A 7.5km race goes off very fast, especially when there are youngfellas in the race. I was left a good bit behind, at least 25th or so. I pretended to myself that I was being sensible but in reality I just ran as hard as I could and ended up where I ended up.

6. Cork Only Has Two Tracks Club

I think that it was great to have the Cork Track Club Clippers in front of me to motivate me. It took until the first long lap to get past them. When I got up to them I knew I had to go straight past them as otherwise they would clip me and I would end up with cut legs. Those Cork Track Club lads are desperate for the clipping, they are so bad they even clip their own as was evident by the cut on Anthony Mannix’s leg after the race.

7. Coffee and Oaties

I think that the next person I wanted to beat after the Cork Track Club Clippers was Nick O’Donoghue. He had given me a very bad beating in the county senior when I blew up after leading the race in my white singlet. When I got up to Nick I used the same approach as with the Cork Track Club Clippers and went straight by him which somehow worked. It is a very good strategy, run faster than the fella you want to overtake.

8. Battle of the New Clubs

I think that after Nick the next battle was to become the first finisher of the new clubs. There are so many new clubs it is hard to keep up. Glanmire, Cork Track Club, Cork City A.C and The GIA (Great Island Athletics). Jack from Cork City A.C was next up after passing Nick. I worked out that he was leading the new category that I had created in my head. On the last lap I caught up to him and using the same strategy as had worked so well on the Clippers and Nick I went straight past him and stayed in front to win first in the New Club Category and 12th overall. Unfortunately there was no medal for the new category as it isn’t actually an official category yet.

9. “I was Catching Him”

I think that as you get older as a runner it is very important to have an internal narrative to tell yourself and other people who will listen to you about why you didn’t win or beat the fellas that you should have beaten. After the finish line I walked over to the North Cork A.C tent to collect my shoes When I got there I could hear Michael Herlihy telling another fella how he was catching me and that if the race was still 10km he’d have beaten me. I left him alone, happy that he was happy in his own head with his story.

10. No Medals but Oaties

I think that I was very unluckly not to win a medal. I ended up 7th of the Cork runners with the top 6 scoring on the gold medal winning Cork team. We will have to work on getting a full Glanmire A.C team out at some stage once Damian has finished with his treadmill marathon. I was feeling a bit down about having no medal until Nick O’Donoghue drove up to my car, rolled down the window and handed out a big tub of oaties. That cheered me up, those East Cork athletes are class acts.

Photo: RHONA

Fen 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Fen 10 Mile

1. Leicester Says No

I think that I was very lucky that the Leicester Half Marathon was sold out. Despite having past winner Ryan Creech trying to get me a number I couldn’t get a late entry. I was in Leicester for the weekend so a race in Leicester would have been the easiest solution to the never-ending search for a race so instead I had to consult runABC for a suitable replacement.

2. To Wisbech or to Wisbeech

I think that there is no better man to ask about a 10 mile race than John Walshe. A 10 mile race in a place called Wisbech (apparently pronounced Wisbeech) seemed like a good idea so I asked John if he had ever done it and sure enough he had back in 2011, very flat with a nice t-shirt were his main memories. That was enough for me, only problem was that it was sold out. Not to be deterred I contacted the organisers on Facebook who offered me a transfer which I gladly took.

3. 40 Year Anniversary

I think I was worried when I heard that the 2025 edition of the event was the 40 year anniversary. I wondered if like Ballycotton this would be the last event. Although on arrival in the small quiet town of Wisbech it seemed like a field of 300 runners was not an unmanageable task and that everything was very much under control and organisation via an object you will only see at races in England, a clipboard.

4. Our International Athlete

I think that it was very nice of the chief organiser to give me a shout out during the pre-race briefing. “Our international athlete, from Glanmire A.C” which was met with surprise by the two people who I was standing beside who also happened to be from Glanmire which was very strange, Rathcooney and Caherlag to be precise. Once the pre-race briefing was over we all lined up under the arch and off we went.

5. Pumas on Grass

I think that having the start and finish in the same spot in a field beside the local school is a great idea. It made the event very safe and manageable. There was a minimal walk to and from the registration with a playground right by the finish to entertain Billy. The only problem I had was that the first 200m and last 200m were on grass which is not the best for the new Pumas. I made sure to take it handy on the grass before we turned left onto the road which I accomplished without incident.

6. Stranger in Purple

I think that it is great to be completely unknown at a race. It was clear that all the other runners had an established pecking order like we would have in Cork having raced each other all the time so they all grouped together for the first 400m. Because of this I was free to do as I pleased so I did what I normally do and went straight to the front and went as fast as I felt the Pumas could maintain for 10 miles which was surprisingly fast.

7. Dave and Mitch

I think that I was very lucky that two other fellas seemed to be at a very similar level to me and my Pumas. After about a mile I was joined by Dave and Mitch, I know they were called Dave and Mitch because the people on the side of the road were cheering them on. I got cheers too just without a name. We had a good group going with a pace that I continued to be surprised by. There were absolutely no hills which made maintaining the pace a little easier than normal.

8. The Thin Blue Line

I think that we were lucky that the race didn’t have to be cancelled. After about 3 miles we were carefully overtaken by two police cars. I thought they were just out policing the roads for the race but it turns out that there were five more police cars behind us and that they were carrying out some sort of raid. I tucked in behind the front two police cars until they pulled in and we continued unaware of the drama that was unfolding behind us.

9. The Merest Hint of a Hill

I think that I thought I could have a chance of the win until about 7 miles. I was suffering majorly but somehow, most likely due to the superior energy return of the Pumas (94% apparently) I was still hanging onto the back of David. Then came my worst nightmare the smallest of small hills, David powered up it at an uninterrupted pace while I lumbered up it like a giant, a small gap opened, and I was left in second place with cheers for Mitch still within earshot.

10. Winner’s T-Shirt

I think that I did very well to hold on for second. I could tell by the cheers that I had about 15 seconds on Mitch. Mitch looked like a fella that could easily launch a 3:00 last kilometre so I knew I was in trouble. Luckily the Pumas are very excellent and responsive so when I pushed for the last kilometre, I managed to hold him off even on the grass run to the finish. Once across the line we got a medal, a nice purple t-shirt and a free beer. Then into the hall where I got two prizes one for second and one for first senior. I might have to come back and try and win it though because the winner David got a unique t-shirt with Fen 10 winner printed on it, a nice touch at a nice race.

Autumn Open XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Autumn Open XC 2025

1. Zero Year

I think that it is awful to be getting old, what makes it worse is that the degree of oldness in running is measured in chunks of 5 years. I have reached the end of the M35 moderately old man chunk which is probably the worst stage of moderately old man running as you are up against 35-year-olds when you are 39 which basically makes it impossible to get on the Irish Masters XC team.

2. Bere Island to Dublin

I think that it is a great pity that the Bere Island 5 mile is on the day before the Autumn Open XC, in the past I have experimented with doing both full tilt but one runs the risk of have to listen to annoying people praying for you to either get injured to confirm their correct suspicions that back to back races is a bad idea. In my old age I have become wise to this problem so instead I ran the 5 mile race in Bere Island at a controlled heart rate to reduce the risk of having to listen to annoying people.

3. Moisturizer

I think that it was about time that the October rain arrived. We were very lucky in Bere Island the day before as somehow it stopped raining for the race. Luckily the rain resumed in time to moisturize the Abbotstown course which remains my least favourite cross-country course in the world although it is slightly improved with moisture.

4. Two Bibs, Two Races

I think that I missed a trick by not registering for both the senior and master’s race. For some reason you had to enter each separately which doesn’t make much sense as they are the same race. I probably won’t get any world ranking points now to add to my huge collection of points as I only entered the moderately old man race. Despite not entering the second of the two races within the one race I still got to put on two bibs, one for the timing chip and one to mark me out as a moderately old man in the M35 category to aid other moderately old men in hunting me down.

5. Self-Made Singlet

I think that it was great to be the first person to represent the newly reformed Glanmire A.C in a national cross-country event. Our new Adidas singlets in the club colours of purple and white have not arrived yet so I had to make my own singlet from a purple Asics singlet, iron on lettering from amazon and an iron on club logo from stikets. I think I did a pretty good job of making it look like it was the actual club singlet. The only problem is that it is very difficult to find shorts to go with a purple singlet.

6. There Were Two Barrys

I think it was great to have the two Barry’s from Cork at the race. Barry Twohig was of no concern to me as he is in a different category of moderately old men, whereas Barry Donovan was in the same moderately old man category and needed to be avenged for the curious incident at the finish line in Carrigadrohid. I warmed up with Barry Twohig who kindly also allowed me to shelter in his tent before exchanging pleasantries with Barry Donovan in the starting area.

7. Slipping and Sliding

I think that the start of the race was great fun. The rain made the course sound different to previous years, the crunch and crack of spikes on the narrow gravel section 200m into the race was replaced with splashes and whatever noise those studded Dragonsflys make. You could almost tell who had the studs and who had spikes from the sharp slipperly left hand turn at the bottom of the hill. Those with spikes had no grip, with at least one person ending up on the ground each and every lap. I had the studded Dragonflys which are magical in the muck.

8. Nice Try, Now Get Out The Way

I think it is always interesting to catch the junior athletes after two laps. I wish I was young again and could run so hard that I literally grind to a halt after two laps. It must be great to be young and be able to produce so much lactic acid that you end up looking like Mark English 750m into an 800m race except two laps into a cross-country race. It was also at this point in the race that I managed to overhaul one of the two Barrys, Barry Donovan. I made sure to give him plenty of space as I passed and avoided any unnecessary contact.

9. Four Big + Two Small = No Good

I think that the four 1.5k laps followed by two 1k laps was a very bad idea. It was very odd, I was almost used to the 1.5k lap, then on the fifth lap we had to take this horrible left hand cambered bend to go onto a 1k lap that was completely different to the course we had been running on. It also meant that I was lapping people while also being in grave danger of being lapped myself. It was all a bit confusing and unnecessary. It would have been better to do the small laps first and then go onto the big laps.

10. Foubyfivek Virus

I think that there is a terrible virus doing the rounds at the moment. It is called Foubyfivek virus. A terrible virus for men over 40, it takes them weeks to recover from it. They catch it from younger men who watch YouTube, the younger men are unaffected, in fact the virus makes them faster. Foubyfivek virus meant that I didn’t have to worry about Michael Herlihy in the race as he contracted it last Saturday. Normally entering the finishing straight of any cross country race you could be assured that Michael Herlihy was catching you but not in Abbotstown, all I had to worry about was Barry Donovan who I just about managed to beat avoiding any collisions in the finishing straight crossing the line 8th in the M35 moderately old man category which unfortunately is not good enough to make the Irish team. Luckily next year is year zero of the M40.

Defense Forces Cork BHAA 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The Defense Forces Cork BHAA 5K 2025

1. God Bless The Influencers

I think that when you are an Elite Level Local Cork BHAA runner the best way of maximising your chances of winning a race is to pick the right races. The months of May and October are peak months for marathons. Tadhg O’Sullivan Cork’s number one running influencer, will have most of the local runners of Cork out doing 40k runs on a Sunday so the potential field for a Sunday race will be much reduced. All that leaves is John Meade who is easily distracted by some still weather and the opportunity to climb mountains in Kerry.

2. Tramore Treeless Park

I think that if I ever get into power the first thing I will do is plant a million trees in Tramore Valley park. It is not the worst running loop but the lack of trees just makes it feel wrong. The smooth Formula 1 track like tarmac surface should be the most fabulous place for running but the lack of trees just makes it inhospitable and confusingly not a particularly pleasant place to run.

3. October Weather

I think that October weather is great, it is either lovely still and calm with weird foggy clouds or pouring with ridiculous amounts of rain that makes cross country great. Normally what happens in October is the first two weeks are dry still and calm, the third week is a crazy flood, and the fourth week is cold and windy and wintery. This year seems no different, so we were blessed with a calm cloudy day perfect to send John Meade off to Kerry and me to Tramore Valley park to try and win a BHAA race for the second or third or fourth time ever.

4. Great Things From Herzogenaurach

I think that the main reason I wanted to do the race was to try out my new magic shoes the Puma Fast R3s. Since my terrible career threatening injury that kept me out for 11 weeks, I had not really been able to test them out. A 5k in Tramore Valley Park seemed like the perfect opportunity to see if they would do any damage to my calves like some people have been complaining of.

5. Denis Hegarty Style

I think that it is very important to respect the opposition on the start line. I was delighted to that Tadhg had influenced most of my usual rivals into battering themselves for 40k in preparation for a marathon abroad where it will probably and hopefully be too hot for running. Still nowadays as running has become more popular and me more older, I must be aware of unknown young fellas who could just appear from no where and run 15 minutes for 5k. To account for this, I took the race out as fast as I could and didn’t look back like how Denis Hegarty wins the BHAA races.

6. It’s 2019 Again

I think that the Pumas might be like being back in 2019 again when the Vaporflys came out. They are the closest thing to the magic that the Vapoflys brought. They pop off the ground and like the Vaporflys, make you run with what feels like good running form. I haven’t felt this good since the first time I ran in the pink Vaporfly Next%. Perhaps I should do what the early adopters of the Vaporflys did in 2019 and say nothing and claim that the improvement is actually down to my own greatness.

7. SPR

I think that when running around Tramore Valley Park it is very important to run the shortest possible route so that you spend as little time as possible running around the lunar tarmac landscape. It is always unnerving in a race when you can’t hear anyone behind you after a kilometer. My great fear in races like this is that I am being tricked, John Meade would be the chief suspect, that he is going to start way back and let me dream that I am going to win before effortlessly passing me with 50m to go making me look like the useless article that I am. These are in fact positive thoughts however as I use them to motivate myself. The only way of fighting such a scenario is to run as fast as I possibly can which is what I do.

8. Teddy Guantanamo Bay

I think that the course in Tramore Valley Park is deceptively hard. The most awful part of the course is the hill by the teddy bear Guantanamo Bay where the teddies are imprisoned and pinned to the fence. This sort of hill is a Barry Twohig or John Meade hill, a hill that requires power, power that I cannot generate well. It costs me a lot of time and then you have to do it twice to make it worse.

9. Great Solo PB By Me

I think that it was a pity that I didn’t get to break the 16-minute barrier. I was just over it which is still a solo 5k P.B for me. I am normally about 30 seconds slower over 5k when running on my own so it must mean that the Pumas are the game changers that they feel like they are.

10. Club Record

I think that it is great to be the current Glanmire A.C club record holder over the half marathon and 5k distance. This is one of the hidden benefits of starting with a new club. In addition to the club record I also got to go and collect my BHAA prize which was handed over in an envelope. I won my first BHAA road race on a beach in Youghal 15 years ago so it was nice to win another one as a moderately old man. Only a few more to catch the unofficial all-time record holder John Meade.

Alghero Half Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Alghero Half Marathon 2025

1. It’s Always Sunny in Sardegna

I think that Sardinia is probably my favourite island. It is like a warm Achill Island, an amazing place with beautiful and stunning scenery. The only problem and it’s a small problem is that it can be a little warm for running. Luckily on Sunday some cloud rolled in from the mediterranean making it more like Achill Island than Sardinia.

2. Cannonau

I think that even if you weren’t going to Sardinia for a half marathon it would be worth going for the food and wine. Cannonau is the local wine which is very good and fregola is the local pasta which is so good it is amazing that it isn’t everywhere. They are clearly very proud of the fregola as there is a restaurant at the airport that cooks fregola from scratch.

3. Olive Oil

I think that it is worth going to Sardinia just for the olive oil. I replaced the usual football match and race combination with an olive oil farm tour and race combination. Unfortunately, we picked the worst time to go on the tour as they had just started the harvest, so all last year’s olive oil was sold out and this year’s olive oil hadn’t yet been produced.

4. Singlets

I think that there are a few important things to remember when running races in Italy, number one is that you need a medical certificate signed by a doctor to run the competitive race as Julius and Evita the other Cork runners in the race found out. Number two which I forgot is that they have separate women’s cut singlet. Forgetting this I ordered Rhona a medium as usual. My mistake meant that I had to run up to the registration on the morning of the race to swap for a large, luckily, they were also selling last years singlets for €5 so I returned with three singlets and a good 4km warm up.

5. Gazzetta Dello Sport

I think it is a pity that we don’t have a newspaper like Gazzetta in Ireland. I can’t read Italian but I know it is a great newspaper. My favourite feature is the detailed player ratings, I think this would work really well for rating people in races, John Meade 6/10, Michael Herlihy 5/10 etc along with a paragraph tearing their performance to pieces. Gazzetta seemed to be involved in promoting the half marathon as on the start line an influencer was doing a piece to camera for Instagram for which I tried to get my new makeshift Glanmire A.C Fiorentina inspired purple singlet in the background

6. Moto

I think that the start of the race was great fun. The competitive 10k which Rhona had opted for went off 5 minutes before the half marathon so after about a mile we ran into the back of the 10k. We had two fellas on motorbikes who seemed to enjoy greatly clearing a path through the 10k runners for the front of the half marathon. Eventually it became too crowed for the motorbike, so we were left to weave our way through the 10k on our own.

7. Cinque

I think that I was too happy with 5th place in the race. I had looked up the regulations before hand and saw that there were cash prizes down to 5th with €400 for first. The front three quickly opened a gap while I was left with a fella in a red singlet with some sort of dragon on the back of it in fourth and fifth. After about 10k as we turned back to run out the road to Fertillia for the second time the red singlet fella made a move and left me firmly in fifth.

8. Mistral

I think that the mistral is a very unusual wind. It comes off the land in France and comes at the north of Sardinia, as we found out for the 5k between Alghero and Fertilla it is quite a strong wind. My friend in the red dragon singlet somehow managed to bridge across to second and third into the wind while I watched my kilometer splits drift from 3:30 to 3:40 remaining firmly stuck in fifth as was confirmed by Julius who was passing on the other side of the road in the competitive noncompetitive 10k.

9. Scirocco

I think it is great that the opposite wind to the Mistral is the Scirocco which is my favourite car. Once we turned in Fertillia at 15k the Mistral became my friend. Suddenly I felt good and the Adidas Pro 4s that I had packed started to work. 3:40s returned to high 3:20s and the gap to the group of second, third and fourth slowly closed. I thought I would catch fourth but despite closing to within five seconds as I passed Rhona’s Camino friend Pino who provided the best Italian support on the course, I could only finish 5th.

10. Podiums, Champagne and Forms

I think that the most important thing when doing a race on holidays is to make the podium. Luckily for me the podium in Alghero had five places. The premiazione took place in the same place as the registration with free Peroni beer on tap and as much food as at the prize giving in Coolagown. On the podium I received two bottles of champagne, local olive oil and some shower gel. I thought that was it but then the fella with the red dragon singlet who ended up second came up to me and told me about the desk where you fill out a form with your bank details to get the cash prize which was very kind.

Rhona, PINO AND ME

Cork County Senior XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior XC 2025

1. Nerves and Terror

I think that the County Senior is the only race that terrifies me. No other race induces nerves like it. It’s great as it is the only race all year where almost everyone turns up to see who is the best in Cork at running around a farmers field with long grass and big hills. High stakes stuff.

2. Bethpage, Carrigadrohid

I think that I had another reason to fear going to the county senior this year. It was the first time I would have been at a cross-country race in 10 years where I wasn’t going to be wearing the Leevale singlet. I feared constant abuse from the sidelines, instead all I got was a handshake from Terry, good luck with the new club and a few encouraging shouts during the race. All very gentlemanly.

3. Number for The Unwashed

I think that the other thing I feared was going to collect the number from the horsebox. Due to the rules and regulations, I had to run as an unattached runner with no club for the race. Running club purgatory isn’t a great place to be, there is no team to run for, no tent, no one to collect the number for you, no one to tell you what not to do, no one to care whether you run well or not. I trotted up to the horsebox on my own to collect the number which was retrieved from the envelope labelled unattached and handed to me with instructions to make sure I wore a white singlet.

4. White Singlet of Shame

I think that it is bad enough that I had to run in club purgatory, to make it worse the rules and regulations stipulate that all runners in purgatory must wear a white singlet to indicate purity of club. As Cork’s second most popular running influencer after Tadhg O’Sullivan I decided that I would use the opportunity to create my new brand, Dónal, so I got Dónal printed on the back of my white adidas singlet. You too can do the same on the adidas website, it’s free with every white singlet, other colours are available too.

5. Dynamic Undulations

I think that the course in Carrigadrohid was designed by Barry Twohig and John Meade, there is no other explanation, Meade drew it out, Barry fenced it off. It was purposefully designed to favour the more dynamic powerful runner and not lumbering long limbed elegant creatures like me. There was no flat, no respite. The start was down at the lowest point of the course with an immediate steep 300m hill to make sure that everyone was at max heart rate from the off. When we got under way everyone tore off up the hill which filtered out the Barry Twohigs and John Meades from the Michael Herlihys and Nick O’Donoghues. I was left quite close to the back with the Michael Herlihys.

6. Jakob Ingebrigtsen

I think that I took inspiration from Jakob Ingebrigtsen in making my move to the front. It was very similar to a 5k track race where he is at the back of a big long pack, they cut away to a high jumper and then cut back to the 5k and he is magically at the front. It was a very good move. I could hear Michael Herlihy laughing at me as I went by which meant that it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

7. Content Creator

I think that it was great to get accused of trying to create content by Rob Heffernan. The cheek from a man who’s job it is to generate content. I don’t even use Instagram plus I have form of leading the county senior before. I used to do it long before there was social media, back when we did things because they are fun, a bit of craic and not because you might get 20000 followers and get sent a free pair of socks in the post. Anyway leading the county senior was great fun, I probably could have led for a bit more if it wasn’t for the John Meade and Barry Twohig designed hill.

8. Wet Socks

I think that I suffered far more than I thought I would from going to the front of the race. It actually wasn’t that fast, 5:25 minute miles but I was losing so much ground on the hill each lap that I was just getting slower and slower every lap as the lactic acid bath that I had poured for myself filled to the brim. It was particularly painful by the end, pain that was amplified by a poor choice of thin socks which slipped down off my heel and crumpled up under the arch of both feet. Socks are important, vital almost, at least I didn’t have wet socks.

9. The Barry Lane

I think there needs to be a separate finishing lane for Barry Donovans. It is not safe to have athletes like me crawling to the finish while Barrys tear in at twice the speed. Without separate finishing lanes for Barry Donovans collisions are inevitable. The only thing worse than having to run up the hill five times was the feeling of Barry Donovan running into the back of me 20m from the line. Feeling the unwanted contact, I immediately remembered that I didn’t have to beat Barry for Leevale so I waved him through to the finish so that he could score an extra point for my good friends in Cork has two tracks and one of them might be mondo Track Club.

10. The Most Important Thing

I think that the county senior is the greatest race of the year. It was a great event, well organised with a great atmosphere, it was great to see so many youngfellas in the senior race to dilute the abundance of moderately old men like me. Michael Harty showed that moderately old men can still perform at the highest level and beat any youngfella in the county which is great and inspirational. The most important thing though is; and it is very important, I gave Michael Herlihy a bad beating.

Castlegar XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar XC 2025

1. The Best Time of Year

I think that cross country season is the best time of the running calendar. It is the purest form of running, no times, no gels, no magic shoes, just magic spikes and grass. The Castlegar XC has become the Ballintotis 4 mile of the XC season, the opening event of four to five months of racing.

2. Popularity

I think it is great that XC running isn’t as popular as the marathon. I think I might be finished with marathons. They have become too popular. Imagine if you had to enter a XC race a year in advance although it isn’t that long ago that you could enter Valencia marathon a few weeks before hand, popularity spreads quickly, maybe someday there will be 50,000 people trying to enter a XC race in Galway.

3. Calf Rippers

I think that it is very important to do a few session in spikes before racing in them. I am very lucky to have the UCC Farm and the great Michael Herlihy to do sessions in spikes. The new spikes are great because they don’t immediately tear the calves off you like the old ones did. I am yet to decide which are better the track Dragonflys or the XC Dragonflys with the studs. For Galway I went with the studs.

4. Glanmire to Galway

I think that it is amazing how close Galway is with the new road. Many years ago when I was young it was impossible to go to Galway as it took 5 hours. Now it takes 2 hours and twenty minutes which is great and as quick as going to Dublin and as XC races are always on in the afternoon it is easy to do as a day trip especially when the weather is nice like it was on Saturday

5. Tot’s Race

I think that it was great that Billy got to run a race on the same course as me. The tots race took place just before my race. They ran the last 250m of the loop with even a few bales to jump over. Billy has the same agility as me so he climbed over the bales rather than jumping before passing someone out on the downhill run to the finish just like me. He seemed to enjoy racing as much as I do which is good.

6. The Dada’s Race

I think that I noticed how old I am on the start line. I was one of the oldest people racing, I could have been the father of a lot of the field which is both great and terrifying. Road racing has become the preserve of moderately old men so it was interesting to race youngfellas who just tear off with no respect for anyone. The course was slightly different to last year, nothing major just slightly less downhill from the start.

7. He’s Good

I think that the awful thing about XC racing is that it is very hard to tell if you are running well or not. Pace doesn’t matter it all comes down to position. Because most of the other runners were youngfellas I couldn’t tell whether I was doing well or not. The only runner I could use as a marker was Niall Shanahan. I was briefly ahead of him which I thought was great but then he got a small bit ahead which was also ok as I wouldn’t be anywhere near him on the road.

8. Mark Walsh Proofed

I think it was great that the course had been Mark Walsh proofed after last year. The hay bale jumps were back again but this time it was impossible to bypass them. You had to jump every single one as the course was hermetically sealed around each jump, unfortunately there was no Mark Walsh to actually test out the impossibility. It is interesting that incorporating plyometrics into my ever-expanding non running routine appears to have made no difference to my ability to jump over hay bales.

9. This is Hard

I think that 7.5k sounds like a very short race. It would be on the road, but 7.5k cross country is more like 10k on the road. After four laps I felt that familiar feeling of how the hell am I going to keep going for another lap. Luckily and unluckily, I was in no mans land, a bit behind Niall Shanahan with no one behind me so I thread the line between trying too hard and giving up and got home in the same 15th position that I started the last lap in. Another advantage of XC is that you don’t have to run for a time just a position.

10. On the Ground

I think that my favourite part of a XC race is lying down on the grass after the race. It is a different sport to road running, way way way harder, a far better sport. I was happy enough with 15th as I only recognized Niall Shanahan ahead of me and I don’t mind being beaten by youngfellas that I don’t know and shouldn’t be beating anyway. I did my warm down which was completed without any new pains before going to the best vegan restaurant in Galway Greens. A nice day out.

Photo: RHONA

Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

10 Things I Think About The Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

1. Second Mile

I think that this was probably only my second ever mile race. My first mile race also happened to be organized by Rob Heffernan back in 2005 at the Mardyke when he was coaching UCC and I was pretty much the only runner in UCC. Just like now I had no idea about running so took off as hard as I could led for most of the mile before being passed by Rob’s brother Elton on the home straight. I ran something like 5:20 which meant that I was in with a good chance of a PB 20 years later.

2. Trepidation

I think that there is unnecessary fear of a mile race. Mile races should be way more popular than 5ks, 5ks are horrible, the pain lasts for way longer. A mile is over before you know it and you are guaranteed to finish a lot closer to the winner in a mile than in a 5k .The main issue with mile races is that it is highly possible that you will get beat by someone that you don’t want to get beat by because raw talent is probably a bit more important than training for a mile race. Well trained donkeys can beat horses in 5ks, horses always win mile races.

3. Spanish Vibes

I think that if it wasn’t for the weather the race could well have been in Spain, there was a great atmosphere in Blackrock Village where the farmers market is on a Sunday morning with a big stage and food trucks. The place was overrun with local running celebrities, Sonia, Derval, Rob Heffernan, Pa Murphy and even John Meade. Just around the corner was the finishing line with the start at the City end of the Marina near Cortado. It was a proper event with Graham Meikle not only measuring the 1 mile course but also taking photos.

4. UnSpanish Weather

I think that it was very unlucky that the weather was not like in Spain. I always wondered what they would do in Spain at a race if it was raining. In Cork we just get on with it, I suppose in Spain it would at least be warm. It would probably have been ok if there had of been a howling westerly wind to blow us from one end of the Marina to the other but instead the rain came in these useless swirling squalls that did nothing but make you wish that you were in Spain.

5. Childminding Relay

I think it was great that there were separate men’s and women’s races as it meant that Rhona and I could both run without the need for Billy minding. It was a slight logistical challenge as there was 15 minutes between the start of each race so once Rhona crossed the line 4th in 6 minutes I had to run quite fast back down the Marina to make it to the start which I just about managed. It made for a good warm up.

6. I Really Shouldn’t Be Here

I think that it was very intimidating up on the start line of the race. I was surrounded by fellas that I knew would destroy me in a 10 x 400m repeat session. I was pretty sure I was going to be left behind at the start, my main concern was not falling or knocking over one of the fellas who were going for the sub 4-minute mile.

7. Pumaflys

I think that the biggest change in running since I did my first mile race back in 2005 has been the shoes. We now have magic shoes not the suction boots that we used to have to run in. The Puma Fast R3s are probably about 300g lighter than whatever shoe I wore back in 2005, combined with ridiculously bouncy foam and a carbon plate. They are so so good for this sort of race where you are up on your toes for the whole race. I’m so glad that these were invented just in time for my 40s.

8. Proper Track Athlete

I think that I was surprised at how the race unfolded. I had fully expected to be left behind at the start. My fears were correct but only two fellas and Italian and a Romanian left me behind. I found myself surprised in fourth or fifth once we went through about 400m. The Pumas are so good that I was able to overtake Denis Coughlan who is a proper actual track runner and move up into third. I got to 1 kilometer still in third which I kind of didn’t believe. I still felt ok mainly because of the Pumas so I decided to try and run harder which amazingly resulted in me even opening a little gap. Maybe I’ve been doing the wrong event all this time.

9. Away Victory

I think that the last 200m of the race was pretty inevitable. My hopes of a third place finish and the €200 prize evaporated within sight of the line as a fella in a grey t-shirt tore by on the left at a speed that I have never run at nor will ever run at. Some how I was still ahead of Denis but I could see him out of the corner of my eye. I just about got to the chip timing line ahead of him which was excellent and probably horrifying to Denis.

10. Giant Cheque

I think that the feeling after a mile race is wonderful. I haven’t had that mixture of breathlessness and pain in a long time. It is way more fun than a marathon, why does anyone run marathons? The post race event back in Blackrock village was great especially as both Rhona and I got to go up on the stage to collect prizes for 4th place. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get top 3 as they even had a giant cheque for the prize. I’ve always wanted a photo with a giant cheque. Maybe next year, it might be time to move down in distance and give up the marathons.

Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

1. Jean-Marc Bosman

I think that it is terrible to transfer clubs. I should probably have stayed with Leevale forever. It would be a lot easier. Leevale is a great club with great athletes and even greater coaches but unfortunately I live in Glanmire which is too far from the city to get to Leevale training especially when you have a desperate fear and hatred of traffic like I do. The other problem with changing clubs is that unlike in the soccer where you can play immediately for your new club in athletics you have to serve a one-month period of club purgatory so this was my first race in purgatory sans club.

2. 4.30pm

I think that 4.30pm on a Saturday is a great time for a race. I’m a very tired, sleepy and lazy moderately old man so the later I can get up the better. 4.30pm means you don’t have to set an alarm even when the race is 90 minutes away in Glengarriff. I got up at 11, had some toast and coffee, did some foam rolling, almost like a professional.

3. Wet Saturday in September

I think that it is always dangerous doing a race in West Cork. It is a place with very bad weather, normally Mark Gallagher uses his weather machine and the sun is shining but every so often we get the proper weather that fits the surroundings and scenery. Saturday was proper West Cork weather, proper wet, proper windy too, perfect cross country weather.

4. Uphill Start

I think that an uphill start poses an unusual challenge. Because of the career threatening injury that I suffered in the Midleton 5 mile I am very race rusty. The Glengarriff route starts outside the church at the bottom of the hill. I know from experience that the worst thing you can do with an uphill start is to sprint up the hill so when we got under way in the pouring wind and rain I found myself in about tenth by the time we got to the first corner at the pub. Luckily there was a nice downhill section on the lovely footpath to make up the ground on Tommy Arthur who I presumed would provide the main opposition.

5. Racing is Hard

I think that I understand why people prefer training to racing, training is nice, you get to chose how long you run for, take nice rests so that the bar graphs look tall on Strava and you never really have to suffer. Racing is different, you don’t get to pick the pace just follow whoever is in front and however fast they are going which in this case was Tommy Arthur and Michael Dullea. I would have chosen a slower pace, especially up the hill to the entrance to the forest.

6. Forest Running

I think that the forest in Glengarriff is as close to an indoor athletics arena that we will get to in Cork. On a wet and windy day there was no better place to have a race. Just like on an indoor track it was very difficult to pass on the narrow forest paths, well that was what I was telling myself as I was stuck in third place after three miles struggling to keep up with Tommy and Michael.

7. Blue Flag

I think that Tommy Arthur must have thought he was in a Formula 1 race as he kindly waved me through like there was a steward at the side of the path waving a blue flag. Perhaps he thought that I might try a mad lunge up the inside of Michael resulting in a collision with Tommy taking advantage and winning. I was happy enough to try and follow Michael knowing that the last mile of the race was downhill on the road about the only thing that I am anyway good at.

8. Are You John Meade in Disguise?

I think that it always surprises me that John Meade doesn’t do the races in Beara, instead he heads to Dingle where he habitually wins the half marathon routinely. After about a mile of following and studying the powerful running form of Michael Dullea I became concerned that it actually was John Meade after using one of those Mission Impossible face mask swapping machines. He was even wearing the same Edge Sports singlet that John Meade wears. Michael/John was very difficult to keep up with in the forest, with a powerful dynamic stride that makes you think I can’t possibly keep up with this level of intensity.

9. Open Road

I think that while it is the athlete’s responsibility to know the course in case you go wrong it is also very advantageous to know the course so that you can run to your strengths. I knew that the last mile of the course was downhill on the road with only the last little steep climb to the finish. Once we got out onto the road I thought about the drills that Michael Herlihy taught me on the track in Font Romeu and slowly but surely reeled in Michael/John before passing him as we went over a speedbump.

10. Skedaddle

I think that my running drills must be working as I was able to hold off Michael on the uphill finish. Once across the line I was half shocked that he didn’t reveal himself to be actually John Meade but it appears that he actually was Michael Dullea. We took photos in the rain and wind before very kindly and in consideration of the weather Mark handed out the prizes which facilitated a quick warm down to the car and return to Glanmire without getting colder or wetter. The good news is that it couldn’t possibly rain any more for the remaining three races in the series which is just as well as this is the only indoor/forest race in the series.

Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

1. Reigning Champion

I think that it is nice to go back to a race as the reigning champion. It is a rare enough thing to happen to a moderately old man like me so it is important to enjoy these occasions. I won last year by beating one of my heroes James McCarthy. Unfortunately, 2025 has been a year of injury and time spent on Zwift cycling so there wasn’t much hope of a repeat victory, not that there was much hope even if I hadn’t spent the summer banjaxed.

2. Law of Conservation of Injury

I think that one of the laws of running is that running injuries are neither created nor destroyed merely transferred from one runner to another. Thankfully my time as an injured runner has come to an end. It took 11 weeks for my right anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament to knit itself back together after the Midleton 5 mile. Unfortunately, this means that some poor other runner is now injured. Think about it if this law wasn’t true there would be no physios.

3. Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

I think that a lot can change over the course of three months. New shoes have arrived on the scene in the shape of the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 which are supposed to be better than everything else according to science and YouTube. Local runners are also using Bicarb which has filtered down from the elites and YouTube. Isn’t it great to be alive at such a time, you don’t even have to train to get better just buy stuff. I decided I would limit myself to the shoes only and keep the bicarb for a night where the toilet is closer to the finish line.

4. Perfect Training

I think that I will do only perfect training while I still remember the time I spent cycling on Zwift while I watched very annoying influencer running channels. The fear of ending up back on the bike watching drivel is enough to put manners on my madness for at least a few months or weeks or days.

5. Photo Photo

I think one of the things I missed about being injured is that no one was around to take my photo. No one took my photo while I was cycling on Zwift which is just as well. There lots of excellent photographers in Rathcormac, from Garry Lee to Graham. I don’t think I look different after the injury which is good.

6. No Respect

I think that it was terrible to be left so far behind at the start. Despite the fact that I was the reigning champion there was no respect given. Paul Hartnett was gone into the distance within 400m with victory assured, Pat Hennessy and Aidan Connell were gone too leaving me without even hope of a podium. After about 400m I figured out how to work the Pumas and started to move up from about 9th to 6th.

7. Missed Misery

I think that the thing I missed most about racing is the feeling of utter misery about halfway through a race. It is marvellous. You don’t get anywhere near the misery on Zwift, the misery on Zwift is a horrible misery whereas running a race misery is wonderful. As enjoyable as the misery was it was becoming clear that I would have to fight for my usual fourth place finish as both Niall O’Callaghan and Struan Simpson were proving difficult to get ahead of.

8. Potentially Fourth, Potentially First

I think that because I won the race last year, did I mention that, I assumed that I would be able to repeat my moderately fast finish of last year. The last mile, that’s where I’ll get Niall I thought. Unfortunately, Niall had other ideas and I became more and more confirmed in fifth position. The Pumas which earlier I had feared were going to result in a torn calf became more comfortable but didn’t result in any magical finish. Perhaps I just watched too much YouTube.

9. Disappointed Commentator

I think that the commentator at the race must have been unaware of my terrible injury and the superiority of Paul Hartnett even if I was in the full of my health. Clearly I was expected to win comfortably as he was disappointed to have to wait until 5th place to welcome me home. Using the Michael Herlihy Method ™ of calculating where you would have finished in races you ran but were not at full fitness, I reckon I would have done well to get fourth on a good day seeing as when I won last year I ran 20:50 or so.

10. Definitely Not Injured

I think that it is great not to be injured. Injuries are great because they make you appreciate running and racing. It is such a privilege to be able to run a race not be hurt and then do a warm down afterwards in no pain. I don’t really mind if I never get to win a race again or run a PB again as long as I can run and experience pure misery while being watched by a field of cows. It is so much better than sitting on a bike sweating watching running influencers on YouTube.

Cursa D'Age 2025

1. Return to Running

I think that when you are returning to running after a significant ankle injury it is very important to follow a carefully monitored return to run program. The one I use is run for 15 minutes, then take a day off, run for 20 minutes, take a day off run for 25 minutes, take a day off, run for 30 minutes, take a day off then drive on. Ain’t nobody got no time for that walk run stuff.

2. Running Streak

I think that once you can run every day for about a week you are good to go. There isn’t much to be worried about if it was an injury where something tore or broke. Once it is healed it is healed and it probably won’t go again. Fear is an awful thing, fear should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. If it doesn’t hurt it’s fine, drive on.

3. Sessions = Races

I think that if you can do a session, you can do a race. There is no point waiting for months to get back in shape, a race is better than any session. I probably would have waited ages to do a race due to my enlarged ego but a half trail half road race in Font Romeu where the only person I would have to suffer a bad beating from would be John Meade provided the perfect opportunity for a race without any significant ego damage.

4. Ageless

I think that I have done the Cursa D’Age more times than most of the locals, I’ve been doing it since 2016. It is a wonderful race, a small gem of a race with no fuss and no stress. Unfortunately, while the race has remained the same I have not and have gotten significantly older and more injured, the only consolation is that I am now eligible for the masters prize so there is a reasonable chance of a podium every time I run.

5. Speed Doesn’t Go Away

I think that it is fascinating that after nearly 11 weeks of almost no running I was able to run close enough to a five-minute mile for the first mile of the race. It kind of shows that the only thing training does is allow the pace to be maintained. The five-minute mile was no good in this case as Age had been invaded by elite athletes from the Asics house in Font Romeu which meant that I was miles off the front even after 500m. Even John Meade found himself trailing the leading lady who I recognized as Julien Melody who led the Women’s Marathon in Paris until halfway.

6. Fitness Does Go Away

I think that while speed doesn’t disappear, fitness does not hang around. After the first mile I soon ran out of oxygen, the five-minute mile reduced to closer to six and John Meade disappeared up the road at a rate that I have thankfully become unfamiliar with. I was left in a small group who I calculated I would have to beat if I wanted to stand on the podium in the masters category. I didn’t fancy my chances.

7. Masters Battle

I think that I should have fought harder when a local runner about the same age and height came past me after about three miles as the route entered the dirt road section before the deadly rock section. Try as I might I just got slower, the sessions on Zwift did nothing. He disappeared up the trail in his Vaporfly 3s taking my podium ambitions with him.

8. Deadly Rocks

I think that you could not pick a better race to test a dodgy ankle than this race, three miles in the route turns into a trail containing a section of deadly rocks for about a mile. As my podium ambitions were over I took it handy and gently and carefully picked my way through the rocks in my battered 6 year old Vaporfly 1s. Soon I became aware of footsteps behind me. I got to the top of the hill still in front but knew there would be a battle to the finish.

9. The Sprint That Cured Me

I think the thing that I missed most while injured was having a race with someone. It was great to have a battle with local hero Alvaro Rance over the last mile. With about 400m of the 8100m left to go he was right on my shoulder. I forgot that I was ever injured and launched the most vicious sprint which miraculously resulted in me going faster and maintaining my 11th position, 4th moderately old man and more importantly uninjured runner.

10. No Podium but Well Done John Meade

I think that while it was terribly disappointing not to make the podium it was good to be able to shout well done John Meade at John Meade when he was called up to stand on the top of the moderately old man podium. It was also good to find out that 11 weeks of almost no running results in a decrease in performance of two minutes which isn’t too bad. After the race I was happy to find that my ankle was no worse than it was before which is a key metric when returning from injury, once it doesn’t get worse it’s fine, hopefully it stays that way.

Midleton 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Midleton 5 Mile 2025

1. It Was a Bright and Sunny Evening

I think that it is great to have the Cork Marathon weather a few weeks earlier than normal so that we can all get used to it. Who doesn’t love 20 degrees and 99% humidity. It’s wonderful, great for maximising the suffering which is the main reason we all love running. Hopefully it’ll get close to 30 and I’ll win Cork Marathon.

2. Jarveys

I think that it was very impressive how you didn’t need to have cash when registering for the race at the last minute. They had those SumUp machines that you can just tap, still it was nothing on the Jarveys in Killarney who can take payment by taping your card on the back of their phone. I stuck to the cash method as I’m still not used to doing anything other than putting cash into a biscuit tin and fishing out the change.

3. Race T-Shirts from Races you Didn’t Run

I think it was great to finally collect the race T-shirts from the Valencia 10K that I didn’t run in January. Ian O’Brien is great and picked them up when he was there. They have been in Graham’s car since, they are very nice t-shirts worth the wait. I didn’t wear them for the five minute warmup around the East Cork A.C training facility instead opting for my Padova marathon T-shirt.

4. Resignation

I think that there was a strange sense of resignation amongst the lads that I met before the start of the race. The talk was not of who was going to win it was can anyone of us beat Niamh Allen. Mark Walsh and Conor McCauley seemed like the primary contenders. I was not worried being well used to being beaten by Lizzie Lee and more recently Emily Sisson in local road races.

5. Start Line Introductions

I think that it was great that there were proper start line call outs for the great runners who had turned up for the race like me. I got a proper Berlin Marathon start line introduction with a spiel about how I was just back from a race in Italy which was true. It’s a pity it wasn’t live on TV I could have done a little wave to the camera.

6. The Four of Us

I think that it was surprising how the race played out. The last few times I have done this race Michael Harty has been out of sight by the time we go under the N25. This year there was no Michael Harty so the start was a little bit less hectic with a group of four forming at the front after a mile containing, me, Mark Walsh, Nick O’Donoghue and Niamh Allen. It was quite fast, probably too fast for me but sure you have to try and win.

7. Hanging On

I think that I did well to hang onto the front of the race for as long as I did. I got to the left turn by the farmyard with Mark and Niamh having lost Nick somewhere along the road. I was fine until the road went slightly uphill where it appeared as if Niamh and Mark were not experiencing the same hill that I was. I got to the next left-hand corner just about in touch but then the elastic snapped, and it was left to Mark to see if anyone could take on Niamh.

8. Man Down

I think that the last two miles of the race were very impressive. I didn’t slow down that much because of magic shoes, Vaporfly 4s for those who are interested. Up ahead I could see that Niamh was putting a significant amount of time into Mark to neutralise any potential sprint. They got further and further away, far enough away for me to start worrying more about what was behind me.

9. Very Late Entry

I think that I have rarely experienced fear like the last mile of this race. With Niamh and Mark well gone my attention turned to beating Conor McCauley in a road race for the first time ever which is possibly the last of my running goals. I was sure that he was doing one of those progression races where he gets faster every mile which meant I was in big big trouble as I was doing a regression race. Luckily when I turned into the home straight where there used to be a cattle grid someone said I was clear behind which I didn’t really believe so I kept sprinting as hard as I could to finish 3rd overall but 2nd in the men’s category and 1st of the people whose name was down as Late Entry in the results which was very apt.

10. Roy Keane

I think that it is great that Leevale now have Niamh Allen instead of Lizzie Lee to beat and torment the men in local races. I still remember vividly the last time Lizzie beat me in a road race in Fermoy when she stood over me like Roy Keane did to Haaland’s father. There were no such scenes in Midleton. Luckily the organisers didn’t do what they probably should have done and give all of the men’s prize money to Niamh Allen, so I got to go on the podium and collect an envelope like I had finished 2nd and have photos which was excellent.

Padova Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Padova Marathon 2025

1. Football Italia

I think that if it wasn’t for watching Football Italia on Network 2 back when I was 10 years old I wouldn’t have been so keen on running the Padova marathon. 1996 was a great year, I was 10 which is probably one of the best numbers to be, Padova were in Serie A and there was the perfect amount of Football on TV not the incessant unfollowable amount there is now. Fast forward to 2025, Serie A is not on RTE, Padova are in Serie C and I prefer running to football.

2. B Here Now

I think that it was fitting that my arrival in Padova coincided with the promotion of Padova from Serie C to Serie B. We arrived on the Friday evening from Venice oblivious to the important football match that was taking place at 4pm. Rhona and I went for a jog around the Prato delle Valle only to have our planned route blocked by a flash mob letting off flares and smoke bombs, we diverted through the city streets where we saw lunatics on scooters and a gravel truck full of jubilant Padovans touring the town celebrating promotion.

3. Training Marathon

I think that aside from football the other reason I wanted to do the Padova marathon is that it is five weeks before the Cork Marathon and I don’t like doing long runs so it was the perfect way to get a good long run in. While Strava stalking I’ve noticed that the new trend with the young fellas who watch YouTubers is 23 mile long runs at about 6 minute mile pace, sure why not just do a marathon at 6 minute mile pace, same thing really plus it would be warm and sunny in Padova just like Cork.

4. Trams and Buses

I think that Padova is very similar to Cork, it has a very old university, a population of about 250,000 and a boom and bust football club. Unlike Cork it has a nice new tram system which we used to get to the Marathon Expo which was very like a big marathon Expo with lots of stalls. It was very straightforward to pick up the bibs and nice t-shirts although they did look for Rhona’s medical certificate again which was fine as I had it on the phone. There were doctor clowns for Billy so a very good expo.

5. Logistics

I think that it is very important when you are doing marathons abroad to look up the logistics of the event. Unfortunately I got a bit distracted before Padova and hadn’t a clue where the race started, all I looked up was the finish so that I could book accommodation by the finish. At the Expo I discovered that the marathon started at the Padova Football ground which is sort of like if they built the Bertie Bowl but maybe say in Curraheen, to complicate matters Rhona was doing the half which started in Abano Terme about 13 miles away. Luckily we had a car and the football stadium had a huge solar panel covered parking lot so we could park there and then there was a bus to take Rhona to the start of the half. It all made sense when we got there and was exceptionally well organized which is the great thing about Italian races.

6. Il Canto degli Italiani

I think that if there is one thing that we should do at races here that they do in Italy is that we should start playing the national anthem before race starts. The marathon started on the road outside the parking lot for the stadium. There were two or three elite men and women introduced. Then we had a minutes silence for Papa Francesco followed by the Italian National anthem. Then we were underway on a road not too dissimilar to if you started the Cork marathon in the car park of the Grehound stadium at Curraheen.

7. Tranquillo

I think that I will do more marathons like I did Padova. It was great not to have the pressure of holding some silly pace for a sub 2:30 marathon that no one cares about except yourself and your huge ego. I was aiming for somewhere between 2:38 and 2:44 depending on the weather so I started at about 6:05 minute mile pace and eventually after about 5 miles found myself in a nice group with the lead Italian lady, her male pacer and most likely her coach on a bike. The race route was mostly on country roads with nice green fields, there were no hills, there was no wind and it was a little warm and sunny.

8. Bravo! Brava! Bravi!

I think that the training marathon plan went excellently until about halfway. I went through halfway with my group in exactly 1:20. I wore the AlphaFly 3 because while they are not very fast they are by far the shoe that results in the least post-race badness which was my main concern. I continued to bounce along with my group listening to the bravas for the lady and the bravis for myself and the pacer. It was all good until we ran into the back of the half marathon at around 16 miles, there was a slight headwind and I found myself getting distanced from the bravas and having to make do with bravo.

9. Nuns, Run

I think that the support on the route was great, there were crowds out in every little town we ran through with water stops with bottles every 5km. Padova is a very religious place with the Church of St Anthony in the last kilometer of the race route so it was no surprise to see lots of nuns out of the course supporting the runners. The last two miles of the race were almost entirely on cobbled streets with spectacular architecture everywhere if you weren’t too tired to look around. I seemed to be very good at the cobbles so I caught back up to my initial group for the finish and an encore of the bravis that I had become used to.

10. Sister Event

I think that the finish of the race on the Prato that had been blocked by the Padova supporters on the Friday evening was very nice. There was a big gantry like in an big city marathon and a huge crowd out watching in the sunshine. I ended up finishing in 18th position and 3rd moderately old man. There was even a prize for the third moderately old man but I didn’t get it because I forgot to look up the details of the prizegiving assuming that I wouldn’t be anywhere near a prize. So if you like the Cork marathon, the Padova marathon is basically the sister event, very similar but with added nuns and Italian flair. I’d recommend it.

How to Get There:

Fly from Cork to Venice Marco Polo with Ryanair, 45 minutes from the airport to Padova.

Rented a car from Sicily by Car.

Parked at the Parcheggio Prato della Valle, parking was a bit hectic during the day but loads of places at night. It was €15 for 24 hours.

Where to Stay:

We stayed at the Padova Suites C20. The room had a fabulous view of St Anthony’s Church. Our room didn’t have a kitchen which would have been handy but the beds were wonderful and it had blackout blinds. There was a nice cafe downstairs.

Where to Eat:

Pizzeria Al Borgo had wonderful pizza just across the road from the accommodation.

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.