Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2026

10 Things I Think About The Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2026

1. What Are You Tapering For?

I think that the first inkling I had that I was going to be in trouble in Killarney was on Wednesday when Micheal Herlihy said he was tapering for the race on Friday. Races for Michael Herlihy are chosen only when the time is right, he probably sensed my weakness after Mallow, so the time was probably right to initiate taper mode. It was a worrying sign.

2. Check In

I think that you can accomplish a lot in the forty minutes before a race. I managed to collect a number, check into a hotel, do a 2km warm up and change into fast Pumas in the forty minutes that I had to spare before the race. The hotel right beside the start and finish is the dream combination. Michael Herlihy had arrived before even John Meade would have arrived for the race if he had been racing. An extensive warm up had been completed. I was in trouble.

3. New Shoes All The Time, Train Occasionally

I think that the variety of shoes on display at the start of races these days is very interesting. I do not understand people buying shoes that are shown not to be as economical as others. There is very clear evidence that the three most beneficial shoes from a running economy point of view are the Puma Fast R3, Asics Metaspeed Edge and the Asics Metaspeed Ray. Yet people still buy other shoes, I don’t understand it. Michael Herlihy was wearing the Adidas Pro 4s.

4. The Game is Up

I think that as I approach the date when I turn 40 and become an actual moderately old man I have come to realize that the days of having any chance of winning road races is over. This running boom is terrible. There are too many young fellas running and training properly. I used to be the only lunatic doing 100 miles a week, now all the young fellas do it. It’s terrible, there is no defense, a 40 year old man doing a 80 miles a week cannot compete with a 25 to 30 year old man running 100 miles a week. The old fellas when I started running were a lot cleverer, they used to tell the young fellas to run less and run faster, ingenious really.

5. Ready Steady Go

I think that the Killarney race gets better every year. I seem to run exactly the same time every year yet my finishing position is getting worse and worse. Oisin Murray, Jake O’Regan, Conor Kissane and Juan Pena were in a different race to the rest of us and were out of sight before we even left the gardens. A moderately old man group formed behind with a few random young fellas like Tommy Arthur and Darragh O’Leary thrown in. It was a very big group, too big and very worrying as I felt like I was running as fast as I could even if I was leading the group.

6. Elbows Up and Out

I think that the first two miles were a bit stressful. The moderately old man peloton was a bit too big for the narrow paths that winded around the gardens and park. It was complicated by the presence of the agile youngfellas who were much better at cornering than the stiff old men like me who don’t take corners well. I did my best to ensure I didn’t fall by making plenty of space for myself before every corner. It worked very well as after the first corner most people were afraid of me. Michael Herlihy stayed well back, waiting.

7. Why is Mikey Hiding at the Back

I think that anyone watching the race would have thought that I would have no trouble beating Michael Herlihy after one lap of the town. The peloton had reduced to myself, two other moderately old men (Maurice Feehan and Michael Dullea) and Darragh O’Leary who I always seem to end up running with around the streets of Killarney. Michael Herlihy had been detached, the elastic had broken or so it seemed.

8. Keep Left

I think that the most important two words in this race were “Keep Left”. Before the start of the race the race director had told everyone to stay left on the laps of the town as because of the two laps there would be some traffic to navigate. As anyone who has had the pleasure of sharing a track with Michael Herlihy will know he loves shouting “Track” at people to clear them out of the way when he is powering around the track. So, as we started the second lap of the town, when I heard him behind bellowing “Keep Left” I knew I was in big, big trouble. Sure enough, it wasn’t long until he came powering by, every utterance of “Keep Left” seemed to result in even more power and anger, there was nothing I could do, he was unstoppable.

9. Had He His Hurts Before?

I think there is only one thing that one can do when faced with a powerful Michael Herlihy on top form and that is try and overtake him in the hope that he gets disillusioned by the terribleness of the athlete (i.e. me) that has overtaken him and gives up. There was only a kilometer to go when I overtook him for the last time. Unfortunately, my brave strategy did not work and instead of becoming disillusioned he seemed to become even more motivated and possibly angry too, which was a dangerous combination.

10. Bad, Bad Beating

I think that the last few 100m of the race were great fun. It was pure running, total hatred, hatred built up over years of running and training, wonderful stuff, added to by the chaos of trying to negotiate the lapped runners. On the second last corner the two Michael’s took the outside line even running up onto the footpath to find a clear line. I went with Maurice, nimbly weaving through the traffic like two Italians on mopeds in Milan on a Friday evening. I tried everything I could to close the gap to Michael Herlihy before the finish, but I could do nothing and he danced away probably laughing to himself as he crossed the line victorious in the only race that mattered. A bad beating, but probably a good lesson in running, the lesson being, in running anyone can beat anyone so always respect your fellow runner.

Photo Credits: RHONA

Mallow 10 2026

10 Things I Think About The Mallow 10 2026

1. Excitement

I think that I will have to do something about my lack of enthusiasm for racing. It’s getting very bad, the only thing that makes me nervous or excited is a cross country race. I wish I could be like the youngfellas at the races who are all excited and motivated about P.Bs. Perhaps I will have to start giving the races code names like Operation Epic Fury or something like that, that might work.

2. Hi B

I think that I have the logistics in Mallow down to a fine art. Please don’t move the start from the Castle it is very excellent. I wouldn’t have known the Castle was there only for the race, apparently there used to be a nice Castle in Mitchelstown too before they built Dairygold on top of it. Anyway the best place to park is outside the Hi B leisure centre in the middle of the town because if you ask kindly, they will let you use the bathroom which is great.

3. Kneerly Better

I think that it is very terrible to be getting even more moderately old. There is no solution to it. I have aches and pains everywhere. They move around the place randomly, you fix one thing and another thing pops up. My hamstring was bad for a few weeks now it’s perfect, now it’s my knee, the same leg, probably linked, maybe not. It doesn’t get any worse running on it so it’s probably fine. I wish I was younger; injuries are simpler when you are younger the bit that’s going to get injured just fails suddenly not gradually like now.

4. The Six Foot Club

I think that it is a myth that you must be over 6ft to be in Glanmire A.C. As we walked to the line in a pack someone said, “Do you have to be over 6ft to join that club?”. The height is purely a coincidence, and we probably look taller anyway in the purple and white singlet, it has that effect. It’s not exactly an advantage to be tall for running, we’d all be better off being about 5’6, that’s probably the ideal height for running.

5. Out the Gap

I think that the start of the race was very hard. There were a lot of very good runners which was terrible for my prospects of getting my €42 entry fee back. Paul Moloney, Sean Davin, Tadhg, Evan Fitz and Nate O’Leary were gone within 800m of the start, taking with them all the prize money. There is no moderately old man M35 prize so I essentially had nothing to run for except maybe trying to beat Aidan, Kris and Brian Murphy who are all very likeable fellas and hard to generate any desire to beat. Break 55 minutes, that’ll do I thought.

6. Bad Bad Legs

I think that there are days when you wake up with a bad body, there isn’t much you can do about it, it’s just random, somedays you feel good somedays not so good. The not so good days seem to be occurring more frequently these days. I knew after 400m that it was a bad bad leg day. It took emotional exertion to catch up to the second group on the road containing Aidan, Kris and Brian Murphy an unusual feeling, blocked, I think that’s what they call it in cycling.

7. Industrial Estate

I think that my race ended in the industrial estate. I don’t like running around industrial estates, don’t know why, just don’t like them, remind me of work. When we turned right into the estate to complete the lap, I knew I was about to be dropped. I didn’t fight it, off they went, gradually and annoyingly. Then we left the industrial estate and I felt ok again, I couldn’t hear anyone catching me so I kept going keeping an eye on the watch to make sure it didn’t drop below 5:29 pace allowing 1 second a mile for the GPS being off.

8. It’s 9 O’Clock on a Friday Evening

I think that the support out on the course was great. There were thousands of marshals on the course, they even had a fella out playing music of a questionable quality somewhere near the halfway market. I may have been the only person who had to listen to the dance tune “It’s 9 O’Clock on a Friday evening” on repeat. I suppose it was better than some AI written KPop Demon Hunters nonsense.

9. The Strait of Horseshoes

I think that my favourite part of the course was the most controversial. It nearly made more news and caused more Whatsapp messages than the Strait of Hormuz. The 750m in the grounds of Mallow racecourse was brilliant, a nice change from the road, the gravelly surface helped me to start running properly again as I realized that I was starting to heel strike which isn’t a good idea in the Pumas. I could see Aidan, Kris and Brian Murphy up ahead, so I didn’t feel too bad and the grass was nice to look at, there were no horses galloping alongside which is the only change I would make.

10. Wily Willy

I think that the finish is much better on this new version of the Mallow 10. It is such a relief to turn off the N72, there is nothing worse than a big wide open road to make you feel like you are running slowly. Turning onto a nice narrow cycle path is great as it feels like you are running fast again. The winding finish up to the castle was like something from a cycling race in Italy, it was wonderful, unfortunately Willy Hughes found it more wonderful than me and swept around me with meters to go taking 10th place with him but at the same time dragging both of us under the magical 55 minute barrier which is the whole point of running 10 mile races in the first place.

Crosshaven 10k 2026

10 Things I Think About The Crosshaven 10k

1. Tell No One, Absolutely No One

I think that the key to being an elite local Cork BHAA club runner is to tell no one the races you are going to do. It’s hard to define what a elite local Cork BHAA club runner is, it could be sub 50:30 for 10 miles but it’s probably more a case of when you know you know. I thought I had snuck into the race in Crosshaven completely unnoticed, but I made the huge mistake of telling Cork’s number 1 running influencer and fellow elite local Cork BHAA club runner Tadhg O’Sullivan that it was on, who unfortunately decided that he would like a nice flat 10k along the sea to round out his week of running more kilometers than me.

2. Crosshaven

I think that Crosshaven is a lovely place, it is like a mini-Monte Carlo with all the boats. I’d never gone all the way into Crosshaven as the Greenway finishes before the town. I has mistakenly assumed that the race would be on the greenway which filled me with dread, so I was delighted to see the Gardai closing the road and directing us onto the back road as we approached Crosshaven 30 minutes before the 1130 start time.

3. Drone Number Delivery

I think that having number collection the day before the race is great for extremely late people like me. I didn’t even have to collect the number myself as Gruff collected it and pushed it in the letter box on Saturday evening while I was eating a salad in Sprout in town. Having the number already allowed for a relaxed drive to the race as all I had to do was put on my yellow Pumas and jog down the hill to the start.

4. Courtmacsherry/Crosshaven

I think that it was so great that the race wasn’t on the greenway. The race is basically a carbon copy or clone of the 10k in Courtmacsherry, a full road closure on a nice flat winding road that runs along by the sea, great for big lumbering lumps like me. The only problem is the wind, the wind can be an issue, and it was. Tailwind out, headwind back, the worst version of wind.

5. 3000m

I think that the first 3k were lovely. When we got underway I did my best to keep up with Tadhg who seemed determined to run as fast as he could which is what you do when you aren’t a moderately old man like me who would be happy enough to win at the slowest possible speed. Tadhg’s determination and the strong tailwind meant that the first 3k was covered in 9:24 or so which is faster than my actual 3k P.B on the track.

6. Dropped

I think that it was terrible to get dropped by Tadhg. I was probably too worried about how fast we were going and doing a little too much watch checking. As soon as we passed the 3k mark Tadhg put in another surge, it was a malicious surge, the sort of surge that John Meade specialises in, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been taught to him, it was malicious enough for me to quickly give up and resign myself to holding onto second place which I am quite good at.

7. If Only

I think that I probably should have thought the race through a bit more before the race. It was in effect a 5k race to the turnaround point. If I had gotten to the turnaround with Tadhg I could probably have sheltered behind him all the way back to Crosshaven where I would likely have outsprinted him like I normally do. Instead, I was left to run home with the terrible sight of Tadhg becoming slightly smaller in the distance and kilometer splits appearing on my Garmin that were about 15 seconds a kilometer slower than on the way out. At least they were consistent splits.

8. The Confluence

I think that the 10k/5k combo was very well done in the race. On the way out the 5k turnabout point was not put out until after we had passed. This was very good attention to detail. There wasn’t too much traffic for the last 2.5k when the two races merged and if anything, passing people in the 5k distracted from the misery of suffering into a headwind after running the first 3k too fast and probably also provided some slight aerodynamic benefit.

9. Donal Coffey

I think that the only problem with having the 5k and 10k finishing at the same time was that it was hard to tell who was running which race. The other problem was that Gruff had run the 5k finishing third and was at the finish line whispering into the ear of the man with the mic that “The Mudslayer” from Glanmire A.C was finishing in second. Thankfully the man with the mic recognized this as AI slop and instead called me Donal Coffey which was fine.

10. Bolack Biscuits

I think that Crosshaven is a great place for a race to finish. It was very pleasant with a nice playground and an excellent chipper. I warmed down with Gruff, Tadhg and Evita before returning for the prize giving where I got a nice envelope containing money. The only complaint came from Billy who was outraged at the lack of bourbon creams, so we had to go to Centra to buy a packet and get Rhona a cup of tea. I think if I was doing a rating system for races it would be in bourbon creams. Crosshaven 10k gets 4.9 bourbon creams out of 5, the 0.1 being deducted for the lack of said biscuits.

PHOTO: rhona

Ballycotton Lighthouse 5 Mile 2026

10 Things I Think About The Ballycotton Lighthouse 5 Mile 2026

1. Memory Lane

I think that it was great to go back and run in Ballycotton 17 years after the first time I ran the 5 mile in Ballycotton. It was interesting to look back at the results from that day. I ran 27:59 finishing 14th in a pair of Nike Air Marathoners, the shoe that Paula Radcliffe broke the world record in. In 4th place was Ryan Creech in 26:46 who has improved a small bit since.

2. The Same but Different

I think that is great how little Ballycotton has changed over 17 years. I seems almost identical with a few more modern buildings and the obligatory coffee horse box. I think the registration and prizegiving was in the same hall as back then as well. The only thing missing from 17 years ago was the Ballycotton Running Promotions, John Walshe and the Sean McGraths and James McCarthys.

3. Parking

I think that the logistical challenges of a race in Ballycotton are significant. One road in and one road out. If it rains like it has every day for the last 60 days, then it is impossible to park in the fields like we used to in August. This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t incapable of being on time like me. Arriving at 10am for a 1030 start and having to park at the start of the cliff walk meant a very hurried warm up to collect numbers and get back to the car to install magic shoes.

4. Cashman and Gruff

I think that it is very odd to be on a startline where the other runners assume that you are going to win. Paul Cashman won it last year and was back again this year to attempt the double. The only other top 20 finisher from 2009 to be back was Gruff who had finished only 10 seconds behind Creech in 2009. The race started a few 100m further back than the Ballycotton 5 course outside what used to be a chipper I think. When we got under way I ran as hard as I could for the first kilometer, by which time I realized that no one was coming with me.

5. 2009 vs 2026

I think that running in 2026 is very different to running in 2009. Age has little and a lot to do with it. In 2009 I was 23 and could run very hard for the first two miles, then it would get hard and I would slow dramatically for the last three miles. This wasn’t unusual, no one kept running at the same pace all race because you actually had to do the running with your muscles. In 2026 it’s very different, you bounce along at the same pace for the whole race, no one slows down, blow ups are rare. I would have loved to have run in magic shoes when I was 23 it would have prevented a lot of injuries.

6. Eidetic Memory

I think that it is interesting what the brain remembers about race routes. I only remembered the first two miles of the Ballycotton 5 route. I had a video like memory of those miles then nothing of the rest of the course. This is probably because I was completely starved of oxygen for the last three miles every time I ran it in the past. They are a lovely two miles out to the cross roads near Shanagarry where you turn left. The new version of the race seemed to be as well organised with as many stewards as the old great race.

7. Selective Amnesia

I think that I completely forgot about how hard the last three miles are. It is a very tough course. The hill at three miles is mad. When I was going up it I had a flashback of getting dropped by someone, I think it might have been Donal Coffey, it was like a nightmare. I had no one to race but I was still scared, I feared that John Meade might appear on my shoulder having started at the back like he did before in Age. I’m sure he would have told me the story of the time he won the Ballycotton 5 beating James McCarthy in a sprint, he loves that story as he should.

8. Proper Course

I think that there is no way the Ballycotton 5 mile would be popular with the modern runner. There is no way they would tolerate the hill. “You mean it’s not completely flat and I probably won’t run a P.B? What will I put on Instagram? The lighthouse? The time will be slower, what will I do? It will look like I am getting worse, what about continuous improvement. They won’t know what to comment on Strava.” It wouldn’t work; it’s just as well it isn’t on anymore. It was perfect in its own time.

9. Media Training

I think that it was great to win the new version of the race. The finish line was a little different, finishing outside the school on a little hill. I finished in 27:29, 30 seconds faster than in 2009 which isn’t too bad considering that I’m now a moderately old man. Once I crossed the line I got a nice medal with the lighthouse on it and a bottle of water. Then I was interviewed by the man with the mic, I can’t remember what I said but it must have been good because the people listening to it said that I must have received media training.

10. Nostalgia Overload

I think that it was nice to collect the prize for the race in the hall where the prize giving for the Ballycotton 5 mile series used to take place. My best finish in that series was in 2010 when I came 6th, just behind John Meade and just ahead of Donal Coffey. I can’t remember what the prizes were but I think I got a nice Nike hat and an Army Surplus voucher. This time I got a nice envelope from Midleton Credit Union with some money in it. A great day out, the best compliment I can pay the race was that it reminded me too much of the old Ballycotton 5.

Wokingham Half Marathon 2026

10 Things I Think About The Wokingham Half Marathon 2026

1. Ankylosaurus

I think that the best races are the random races that are found after booking flights somewhere. An excellent Dinosaur Zoo with extra dinosaurs meant a trip to London for the midterm break. Wokingham Half Marathon happened to be on but it was sold out, luckily I just about had the elite entry time so not only could I enter it was free entry.

2. Satisfy Tracksmith Soar

I think that the London running fashion scene is interesting. Batterseat ParkRun was like a running fashion parade. None of the fashion mismatch catastrophes that you’d see down the Marina of a Sunday morning. Having been heavily influenced by a million runners in the ParkRun the shops had to be visited, incredible boutiques, selling coffee (every shop in London sells coffee), with minimal stock. Hold onto your old race t-shirts, ones from the 80s were being sold for £100. I’m going to be a millionaire.

3. WHAM

I think that it would be great if WHAM were actually from Wokingham, I know nothing about Wokingham except that it is west of London and they shorten it to WHAM on the road markings coming off the M4. I was very lucky with the accommodation as when I looked there was one room left in the hotel where the race started and finished so I booked that.

4. Irish People = Party

I think that the Cantley Park Hotel where the race started was very nice, an old country house in a nice park near the town centre. We arrived at around 9pm the night before the race having spent too long looking at running fashion shops. At reception the man seemed abit worried about our booking. He said that they thought we were with the party that was going on in the hotel so they had put us in a room right beside the disco. He moved us to a room slightly further from the disco. You could still hear the disco but it was no problem as it was in England where people follow rules and by 12 there was zero noise. I don’t think they played any WHAM songs.

5. Breakfast Pickup

I think that all races should start and finish at a hotel. I don’t understand why it isn’t more of a thing. Runners are great customers for hotels, very easy. In the morning after a good sleep, it was very nice to collect the race number from the tent which was right outside the breakfast house. Very efficient. You could see the start line gantry from the breakfast room, a great job.

6. John Meadeing

I think that I’m getting better at doing what John Meade does so well, talking to absolute strangers about nothing at all. Normally what happens at races is that whoever I talk to before the race I end up running the whole race with afterwards. Sunday was no different. This time it was a fella wearing all soar kit but with a ciele hat, who was wearing the same pumas as me. He had even gone so far as having lab tested them and found that they were the most efficient of the lot, even better than the Asics Metaspeed. I’m not as good at talking as John Meade so there was about three minutes of silence before the race started.

7. Pat The Mayo Bull

I think that the first mile of the race was very tough. It was slightly uphill. An uphill race start is very hard for the modern day runner used to perfect splits. 3:27 said my watch for the first kilometre. What will people think I thought? Then it went downhill and I passed a fella wearing a Pat The Mayo Bull singlet. He said he’s been in London for 16 years. I said I was just on holiday. Then I tried to get the watch looking more Strava pleasing, which I did because the course went downhill. 3:10, that’s more like it. I wished it was Seville or Barcelona.

8. Charleville

I think that the course was very like the Charleville Half marathon just with more humpback bridges. In between the bridges it was relatively flat with slight drags. Just like Charleville there were complete road closures, which is unusual and great. Marshals everywhere, even the fellas at my pace took time to thank the marshals.

9. Science vs Art

I think that the reason people like Seville and Barcelona half marathons is that you don’t need any course experience to run them well. They are effectively science experiments. The Wokingham half marathon course is more like a piece of art, running it before would be a great advantage as you’d know where the lumps, bumps and wind would be. I hadn’t a clue what came next, so I settled for the only thing I could do which was follow the soar fella I had been talking to at the start which worked fairly well.

10. 45th

I think that it’s great to be from Cork and not from the Greater London area. It must be very hard to get praise in London. I thought I did ok but I only finished 45th. There were loads of people ahead of me, loads of them. I’d never win a prize ever, not even as an old man. Not to worry, the excellence of having the race finish at a hotel soon took over. It so good to be able to walk 200m from the finish to the hotel room. All races should start and finish at hotels.

Dungarvan 10 2026

10 Things I Think About The Dungarvan 10 2026

1. Important

I think that there should be a list of important races. I don’t know who would decided who the important races are, maybe me or an influencer like Tadhg, but Dungarvan is definitely an important race, just like Newmarket 5K was an important race. Why is it an important race? It’s an important race because it is very important to beat people in the race, and even if the people aren’t in the race you can run a faster time than they’ve run before which makes you better than them. It’s very important stuff.

2. Cup of Goose

I think that I will continue to be amazed by how runners will park anywhere except in an actual car park. My trusty secret public car park 2 minutes jog from the start was free again 50 minutes before the start. I car pooled with John Meade which meant that I had loads of time to jog over to the fancy Meades cafe (no relation) to use the facilities. Unlike everyone else I bought an espresso to pay for the experience. 2.60 for the single shot espresso . The coffee was acceptable. Pre race espresso could become a thing.

3. Puma vs Li Ning

I think that it is only a matter of time before everyone is wearing Chinese shoes. Puma is basically a Chinese company now after Anta bought a good bit of them so I’m pretty much wearing Chinese shoes. Chris Murnane was the only one brave enough to wear the Li Ning Feidan Elite 6 which is the Chinese Vaporfly which can be bought for as little as 160 euro on tacky looking websites that you’d probably be wise to use a disposable revolut card on. There were a lot of my Pumas on the line, most people even had the new yellowee colour. I was a bit worried that my new pair were a fake pair as they felt a bit firm but it was probably more to do with having forgotten how they feel like after a few weeks in cross country spikes.

4. Loads of Them

I think that the importance of the race was evident from the start line. Everyone was there, if you weren’t training for an imminent marathon or weren’t injured you were there. Importance takes a while to catch on, Dungarvan has become important over the years because you can run fast times there, mainly because of the temperature and prevailing tailwind for the last five miles. Importance is all about the times, it’s nothing to do with winning or anything like that, just times, most people don’t even know what position they finished in, that’s how you define an important race, it’s a race where the only consideration is time.

5. Have a Little Patience

I think that I am a very experienced man at running the Dungarvan 10. It is a route that requires experience as it is very easy to get carried away in the first two miles. A quick opening two miles can ruin your race, the key is to be calm and run to feel and not get too angry at the annoying people who have gone ahead of you. I was a very calm and patient man on Sunday, I waited until as is normally the case after about three miles a group naturally formed, then we turned into ever present usual headwind and there was no leaving the group.

6. Mighty Beasts of Glanmire

I think that it was great to have a team to run with again. After the January transfer window where Glanmire A.C signed runners like Chelsea under Mourinho we suddenly have a very good team. We didn’t even have to roll out Aidan Noone, myself, Kris and Tadhg were enough with the three to score. We all ended up together in a group as we turned into the wind after three miles for the only hard two miles of the race. At one stage it was three Glanmire singlets across the road in a mighty ducks flying V formation with everyone sheltering behind, it’s a pity that no one was there to take a photo of it as it could probably be made into a film. Paul Mescal could play Tadhg, I’d be Benicio del Toro, don’t know who’d play Kris.

7. The Surface

I think that I did great in the race until we turned back towards Dungarvan just after 5 miles. The wind was at our backs for the last five miles but I was unable to respond to the injection of pace by Tadhg and Kris and was shed out the back of the rather large pack along with Emily Sisson and Pat Fitzgerald. The only consolation was that the road surface was so good that I almost forgot about how awful it felt to have a large group of people I really wanted to beat run away from me. What a road surface, smooth as silk.

8. Emily and Pat

I think that it was some consolation that after being mercilessly shed out the back of the Tadhg and Kris group I was left to run with Emily Sisson and Pat for the last four miles. I ended up going by Emily on the downhill section just after 10k leaving me with only Pat for the last three miles. Nothing much other than suffering happened for the last three miles, a lot of suffering. I used my trick of concentrating on keeping my cadence the same to keep going at the same speed as running is a very simple sport, stride length x cadence = speed.

9. The Uphill Stretch

I think that everyone forgets about the ninth mile in Dungarvan, it is a very hard mile for such a fast course. When I was driving into Dungarvan I saw the mile 9 sign and was suddenly overcome with a desire not to do the race. It is the point where the suffering is at it’s worst, you have to run up a hill and then run another mile. I was still just about stuck to the back of Pat at this point doing my best to minimize the amount that Tadhg was going to beat me by.

10. Europa League Champions

I think that no one forgets about the last little hill in Dungarvan, the hill when you turn left off the roundabout with about 800m to go is cruel. Pat took off up the hill leaving me to crawl up the hill as best I could, all I could hear were the shouts of “Well Done Emily”. Once I got to the top of the hill, I suddenly found energy and gravity again before launching a viciously slow sprint which was good enough for 20th position holding off an Ennis Track fella who seemed to appear from nowhere. It was also just enough to come second in the overall team competition and first in the Europa League version of the team competition where the individual prize winners are excluded. An important result in an important race.

Campaccio XC 2026

10 Things I Think About The Campaccio XC 2026

1. €1 Espresso

I think Italy is great, what a great country, a country where coffee isn’t out of control. €1 for an espresso at a café just outside probably the best running park in a city anywhere, Parco Sempione. There was no Trevor to run with this time like I had done before Cinque Mulini, although he was still in Milan, managing a team of Great Islanders and introducing them to the joys of Hotel Poli and The Birra. I should be getting commission at this stage.

2. Straight Down Rain

I think that the rain in Italy is much better than the rain in Ireland. Italian rain comes straight down because there no wind, also because there is no wind it’s not even cold. The weather for the Campaccio weekend was nothing like the almost summery weather we got for Cinque Mulini in November. I was hoping for enough rain to turn the course into a mucky swamp like last year but unfortunately all we got was enough rain to make the course a little mucky and a little soft in places.

3. How Dare You

I think that I was horrified to see M40 on the envelope when I went to collect my number for the race. The Italians do things differently, along with banning juvenile athletes from wearing spikes, age categories are based on the year of birth not the actual date so being born in 1986 makes me M40 already which is terrible as I’m still only 39 and a half. The only good thing is if they let me run this year I still have 5 more years left which is great.

4. Burundian Warm Up

I think that it is worth going to these Gold Label XC races just to see how the real athletes prepare for the race. An hour before the race just as Rhona was getting ready for her race, the Burundian ON athletes were warming up with a most impressive, synchronized skipping routine. I can do the skips but not this type of skipping, this was next level skipping, no wonder they are so much better than us.

5. Zero Craic

I think that the best level of running is my level, the level where things like results and times don’t really matter and it is just from fun. There was very little craic in the warm up pen before we were brought to the start line. I tried talking to the Burundians in the ON kit but I got no response. So I moved on to David Nillson a Swedish runner with Puma who was probably the second oldest man in the race after me albeit with a slightly faster 2:10 marathon time. He was a little bit more responsive than the Burundians, then we were called up to the line for the real craic.

6. Lesson Learned

I think that the most important thing with running these cross country races in Italy is that you have to get out fast at the start otherwise the race is over. I think I learned the lesson a little too well though as after a few 100m in Campaccio I was not far off the top 20 and ahead of my Swedish 2:10 marathon runner friend. This didn’t last long and as soon as we hit the twists, hills and turns of the middle bit of the 2k lap I began to be passed and passed and passed some more until it felt like I was last.

7. Turn Right then Turn Right

I think that I need to remember that the Campaccio course has some unique challenges that other cross country courses don’t have, the middle of the 2k lap is a mixture of almost all right hand turns which is a terrible thing when you have a very bad right ankle like I do. It didn’t seem so bad last year when the course was 95% muck but in this less mucky edition it was proving very difficult, a difficulty that was amplified by my poor choice of footwear in the Dragonfly 2 instead of the Dragonfly XC although it’s almost a course where a trail running shoe would be the best choice.

8. Backwards

I think that it is an awful feeling to be passed by loads of runners. Everyone in Campaccio is really good at running, most of whom are probably doing double threshold and stuff like that, so any mistakes like going out too fast will be punished badly. A lot of people passed me over the first three of the five laps. The only advantage of going out fast was that it seemed very unlikely that I would end up lapped which is my main concern at these races anyway.

9. Francesco Meade

I think that I have done enough of these races now to have some enemies. It took until the second last lap for my enemy from Cinque Mulini, Francesco, to pass me. I had just beaten him back in November so I decided that he was going to be last person that was going to pass me. As I got to the end of my fourth lap I saw the Burundians on the other side of the course heading out on the last lap so I was sure of not being lapped which made me happy.

10. Hot Lemon Tea

I think that the best part of the Campaccio is the hot lemon tea in a special Campaccio mug with the masot on it that you get after finishing the race. I didn’t manage to catch Francesco but I did hold off everyone else by sprinting as hard as I could on the track which makes up the last 300m of the lap. I collected my hot tea said well done to Francesco and walked back over to my shoes where I explained to an women in Italian that her son would be fine with 9mm spikes. Then I went back for a second cup of tea.

Cork County Masters XC 2026

1. PGA Tour vs LIV Golf

I think that we have reached a crossroads in running. Racing is being replaced by time trials, time trials that can only be run on idyllic days in Valencia and no where else. No one cares where they finish, you have fellas crossing the line in 497th place celebrating like they won the Olympics, it’s mad. This didn’t happen in Golf, no one cares if you shoot 59 on an easy course. It’s about Augusta and the challenge, maybe it’s a bit of stretch to compare a field a few miles outside Bweeng to Augusta but it’s my Augusta.

2. Boys in the Better Land

I think that I probably shouldn’t have watched the Valencia 10k before heading off to Bweeng. It was sort of like being in fifth year in school and seeing the easy Leaving Cert Maths paper the sixth years got, thinking that’ll never happen again, they’re going to make it harder next year. Do we all have to go to Valencia? I’ve been there before and I prefer Bweeng and Italy. I suppose there’s always Grange Fermoy on New Years’ Eve, that was fast this year.

3. The Trifecta

I think that it was great to finally get a day with perfect cross-country conditions. We basically had the opposite of Valencia 10k. We had wind, very strong big wind, wind that whistled through the electricity wires, wind that broke tents. We had big rain, the sideways rain that you can video even on an old iPhone, rain that hurts you like its hailstones but is actually only fast-moving big droplets of rain. We had muck, all kinds of muck, sticky muck, slippy muck, dirty muck, treacherous muck, cold muck, deep muck, something for everyone. Fantastic stuff, perfection, idyllic, bliss.

4. First Annual Athletics Ireland Award for Excellence and Sportsmanship

I think that I should get an award from Athletics Ireland for offering shelter to a rival club runner in the stormy horrific weather. As I was searching for the horsebox with the numbers, I came across Trevor Cummins from our great rivals Great Island Athletics. He was trying and failing to get changed outdoors in the cold rain and wind. It was a far from glamorous sight as he did the flamingo pose in a failed attempt to remove his soaking pants. He asked if he could use my car to get changed into the green and white, “of course, no bother, come with me to the purple Scirocco”.

5. Sheltering Behind a Bush with Barry

I think that there is only one problem with the conditions that we encountered and that is staying warm and dry before the start. The organisers did a fantastic job, when you consider that it was basically a storm that the race was run in. Luckily there was a perfectly positioned bush where I stood with Barry Twohig to shelter before the race. I tried to persuade Barry to go home as it was too wet and windy and he’d been there all day; he was almost on the point of leaving but then Dan Kennedy turned up so he had to run.

6. Point of Order

I think that I should have ruled Michael Herlihy out of order when he suggested not doing the two 500m laps that had been planned to make up the 7000m distance. “Just do 3 big laps”. I don’t know why I didn’t object; it could have been that Michael Herlihy is a big scary man that looks like he should be responsible for deciding how long that we should be racing for. Anyway no one objected so we were left to race over the shortened distance of three two-kilometre laps.

7. Bad Decisions Lead To

I think that I made a terrible decision when I decided where to line up on the start line. I picked the inside line because I thought we were doing the 500m small lap which would have meant a left hand turn first. Because of Michael Herlihy’s point of order the first turn was now right which meant that the outside was the place to be especially as the ground was better out there. You know who was on the outside, Barry Twohig. The race started and Barry Twohig was gone, I was left floundering in the muck, happy but floundering.

8. Gonna be Golden

I think that despite my atrocious start I still thought I might win. I was very tempted to barrel through the people who were in front of me on the downhill to the first corner but instead I stayed calm and waited for the course to open up before making a move up to second. I’ll catch him no bother on the downhill I thought, just get through the zig zags and it’ll be no bother. I was correct, up to the top of the hill and then down the hill onto the back of Barry Twohig. Phew, now just get up the big big hill.

9. Mountain Dew

I think that last year I said that there were two men I was terrified of on a course like this. Barry Twohig and John Meade. I was very right, very right. It is a pity that there wasn’t a drone following Barry Twohig up the big big hill so everyone else could witness what I witnessed. He clearly had some sort of insider knowledge about the ground near the tidy high quality fencing as he seemed to be almost magnetically attracted to the fence as he flew up the hill effortlessly, it was incredibly annoying, the only way it could have been any more annoying is if it was Barry Twohig and John Meade together and they were whistling or telling each other stories while flying up the hill.

10. Hyrox Bweeng

I think that Michael Herlihy was right to shorten the race to 6000m. I don’t know if we would have been able for 7000m of that. By the time the last lap came it was more of a survival contest than a race, I had given up on catching Barry and Michael Dullea was probably thinking the same thing about me in third. The last time up the hill was like what I imagine a Hyrox event would be like, my legs were burning and screaming no more, I felt like I was carrying weights. I barely got up to the top of the hill before jogging across the line as best I could as my legs no longer worked. Second to Barry Twohig at what was basically a day’s work for him isn’t too bad I suppose. I’m happy I chose Bweeng over Valencia. Always choose Bweeng.

Capodanno di Corsa San Giovanni Valdarno 2026

1. 49th Capodanno di Corsa

I think that it is great to do new races, it is also great to do new distances. I’ve always liked the races where it is just whatever the loop around the town is so I was delighted to find a 13.5km race on New Years Day about the same distance from Florence as Mitchelstown is from Cork in a town called San Giovanni Valdarno. The ideal race, no expos, no queues, no sold out 12 months in advance, sign up on the day if you like, perfection.

2. Sub Zero

I think that it has been over 15 years since the last time that I ran a race in sub zero temperatures. That time was the All Ireland XC in Derry when there was a thick layer of snow on the ground for the race. There was no snow in Italy but it was ridiculously cold. Dry cold, cold which is good for running fast but not for standing still.

3. Music Hall

I think that the registration and number collection was very efficient. I had been in contact with the race organisers on Facebook to send them our medical certificates. All we had to do was queue up in the music hall, collect out numbers and the generous goodie bag which contained all my favourites, wine, coffee and pasta. We even got a running singlet all for the very low entry price of €10, yes €10 for a race.

4. Partenza

I think that the start line was very atmospheric. The advantage of having a loop or two loops of the town is that the start line can be in the best spot possible which in this case was the centre of the town in front of the main square framed by a large old building with impressive arches that you only see in Italy. I warmed up by jogging up and down the main street in my Pumas as it was too cold to be changing shoes. A local club seemed to have exactly the same purple and white singlet as my Glanmire A.C top so I exchanged confused salutes with my new clubmates. Before the start we were all huddled together like penguins before being walked up to the start line where the mayor fired the starting pistol to get us underway.

5. The Man in The Van

I think that races with a man in a van are my favourite. This race had a very excellent man in a van, the van drove off in front of us with the man in the van with the boot open videoing and doing commentary on the race. We would occasionally get too close to the van at which point he would shout at the driver to go faster. We followed the van for about 2km until he pulled over to video the rest of the field, before overtaking us and resuming the coverage. I made sure to make my move to the front every time the van appeared as it is the age of social media and it’s important to be seen.

6. YouTube

I think that this must be one of the most well televised races in the world. After entering the race I found the videos of the previous editions on YouTube. Before Covid the race seemed to have a contingent of Kenyan runners who would dominate. This years race was the 49th edition making it the longest running race in the locality. Luckily for me I appeared to be the only foreign athlete on this occasion.

7. Podium

I think that my favourite thing to do on holidays is to get on the podium in a local road race. After the first 5km lap around the town I knew I was in with a great chance as the group at the front had been whittled down to three of us, me and two athletes from a local club with green singlets. I led the race going through the line for the first time as it isn’t too often than you get to lead a race in Italy while running over a red carpet. The second lap was a larger lap of the town to make up a total of 13 km or so. With 3km to go the man in the van was back to see the group further distil down to just me and one of the two green singlets.

8. Sprint

I think that I knew I was in trouble if the race came down to a sprint finish. I have never out sprinted anyone so I decided to try and go from a kilometre out. I picked a point just before a sharp right hand turn into the long finishing straight. Initially I had some success but I knew from the lack of heavy breathing from the pursuing green singlet that it was only a matter of time before I was defeated. Sure enough with 100m to go the afterburners were initiated and I was left to sprint home on the red carpet happy enough in second place four seconds behind the winner.

9. Hot Tea

I think that one of the best things about racing in Italy in winter is that once you cross the finish line they always have hot lemon tea as a post race drink. There is no better post race drink. I think it is just the Lipton stuff warmed up but it is so good in sub zero temperatures. I had a nice cup of hot lemon tea while I discussed the race with the winner who is aiming for a 68 minute half marathon in Florence at the end of the month. I warmed down by running out to Rhona and finishing the race with her. I told her they had the hot tea at the finish to motivate her.

10. Spider Baby

I think that the local organisers were delighted to have an Irish person on the podium. They were very interested in interviewing me. I had learned some Italian sentences quickly from google translate so that I could make some attempt at an interview but they also had an excellent translator who had spent two months working in a hardware shop in Cork. It was great fun and a great way to spend New Years Day. After the interview we had a nice coffee and vegan croissant in the local bar. The Italians know how to organize races to perfection, I suppose after 49 previous editions they have had plenty of practice.

Clonmel A.C 4 Mile 2025

1. It’s Good To Be In Clonmel

I think that the closer I get to 40 the more I appreciate just being able to do a race. I wish I was this sensible and less mad 15 years ago. It’s good to be able to do any race. Clonmel on St Stephen’s Day is pretty good too.

2. People Like You

I think that it was very unfair of Viv to blame the slight delay to the start on me and people of my ilk, yes I didn’t arrive until 11:40 but that’s just because I don’t like queuing. I prefer nice relaxed races like Clonmel where the race starts when people like me are ready for the race. It’s the way it should be.

3. Calm Down, Calm Down

I think that one of the keys to running well is calmness, lots of things go wrong when you are running races. It’s how you react to them that dictates the result. I could see the stress in Viv’s eyes that the delay was causing, his perfectly planned and measured warm up disrupted. Me in contrast, I jogged the few 100m from the school to the start to the left of the bridge with not a worry in world, well apart from the worry that I was going to miss the already delayed start.

4. Loads of Them

I think that all of the young fellas must have seen last year’s results of this result and though if that useless article can finish 3rd man, I’ll have a bit of that, as there was absolutely loads of them on the start line. It’s great to see so many young people running road races again. Hopefully they will go back to the track in the summer or do a good long training block.

5. New Shoes

I think that there were a lot of Christmas present shoes on display at the start. It appears to be a draw between the Puma Fast R3 and the Asics Metaspeed at the moment with a few Vaporfly 4s thrown probably because they are basically giving them away. I’m still in the Pumas which are probably the best shoe I’ve ever worn by miles.

6. Very Fast

I think that owing to the amount of young fellas the start of the race was very fast. I have discovered a cure for my slow starts in Creatine which has definitely helped to make me more like a young fella. I take 5g a day with a similar sized scoop of beta alanine in a smoothie. I haven’t gotten any more muscly but I feel a bit more powerful.

7. Count the Beeps

I think that it is very hard not to look at the watch during a race like a 4 mile or 5k. I kind of want to know what pace I’m going but I also don’t. Instead I listen for the beeps every kilometre and count them, three more beeps, you can take three more beeps of this misery. That’s how I get through it.

8. Idyllic Marathon Weather

I think that if a marathon was to be organised in Clonmel on days like this it would be faster than Valencia. The conditions were ideal, about 6 degrees, little to no wind and dry. Perfect for running, you couldn’t rely on it so it would have to be like a cancellable marathon where you could keep moving it until the weather came right. Might work the week after Christmas.

9. Revenge of the Dermot

I think that it would have been better if Clonmel had of been a cross country race than a 4 mile road race. I spent the whole race in Clonmel with Dermot Gorman glued to my back waiting to exact revenge for my great victory in the moderately old man Munster cross country in Tramore. Sure enough the minute we got near the line I was overtaken by Dermot and his red Asics Metaspeeds in the sprint for the all important 11th place and absolutely no prize at all.

10. Worlds Best

I think that someone should be keeping track of Vivian Foley, he is definitely worthy of at least a Cathal Dennehy article and maybe even Paul Kimmage. 20:50 in the M55 category must not be far off a world record for 4 miles. I’m having to run probable PBs over 4 miles to give him a bad beating these days.

Newmarket 5K 2025

1. Valencia of 5Ks in Cork

I think that the Newmarket 5K is to 5ks what the Valencia marathon is to marathons, except maybe just confined to Cork and surrounding counties. Because of the generous course and usually ideal running conditions it offers the perfect chance to run a great P.B by me which can be broadcast across social media for all to hear, witness and acknowledge which is very important and the reason that most of us run.

2. Perfect Timing

I think that 1pm on a Sunday is the perfect time for a race. It allows plenty of time for sleep even allowing for the hour-long drive to Newmarket. It initially looked as if the race would be held in pouring wind and rain but as I left Glanmire at 11:30 the rain started to stop and the traditional perfect Newmarket 5k running conditions of cold and dry with a little hopefully helpful wind prevailed.

3. Photo Photo

I think that the Newmarket 5k offered many great opportunities for excellent photos to be taken. We had a big turnout of Glanmire A.C athletes, five in total which is our highest to date, we failed to get a group photo because of the large crowd and my lateness but I did get a photo with chairman Gruff.

4. False Start

I think that it would have been great if the rules and regulations of local 5k road races had of been enforced and all the youngfellas that false started had been disqualified. This would have returned the race to the moderately old men like me who are more used to the local road race scene. Instead, everyone just lined up again and off we took at a ridiculous speed down the hill that is primarily responsible for the quick course.

5. Need for Speed

I think that people get a little bit carried away at the start of this race. There is no need to panic at the start of a 5k, it is a very long race, yet still everyone goes off like it is a 400m race. I was a long way back after 400m despite seeing 4:40 mile pace on the watch, perhaps the times would be faster if the start wasn’t so fast, there aren’t many people that can tolerate running 4:40 mile pace for 400m and continue to run 5k.

6. Top Cat

I think that it is interesting how popular the Pumas are. They really are fantastic, my favourite shoe ever. The really great thing about them is that some people can’t wear them, so I get an advantage. Viv wouldn’t believe me for ages about them because he doesn’t trust me but when he ran in them in Waterford, he got two minutes back in the half marathon which is amazing. They seem to be sold out now which is terrible as they don’t last long so I’ll have to use my pair sparingly.

7. Ken’s Army

I think that it was great to see the abundance of youngfellas in the race today. There were hundreds of them and they are really good, most of them appear to be coached by Ken Nason or influenced by Ken Nason. It is very terrible to have to race youngfellas over 5k as a moderately old man as you simply cannot compete with the power and speed that they have. The only hope you have is that they go out too fast and blow up, but this doesn’t happen any more now because they all believe in LT1 and LT2 etc and don’t just train flat out the whole time.

8. Magnitude and Direction

I think that we were very unlucky with the wind today. It appeared to be some sort of cross headwind that was no help going out the road nor back the road. It seemed to be pushing us back no matter which way we ran. Luckily there was an abundance of youngfellas to shelter behind, so it didn’t really matter too much.

9. There Goes Sean Davin

I think that other that the speed and power of the 100s of Ken Nason’s youngfellas in the race the most impressive thing I saw was Sean Davin’s overtake of me at 4km. He came past like he was going to go past everyone ahead and win the race. It really helped me as I am programmed to chase after that St Finbarr’s singlet due to John Meade so I was able to use him to get through the last km which is ever so slightly uphill.

10. What’s 5k Effort?

I think that some people struggle with defining 5k effort. To me 5k effort is really not much different to all out sprinting effort. At the end of a 5k you should be experiencing a lot of misery and not really be able to breath. Luckily there is a photo from the end of the race that shows exactly what I mean by 5k effort. My 5k effort resulted in a 19th place finish which I was quite happy with, the time was very good too. I’m unsure if it was a great P.B by me but sure it was close enough and you can never have enough P.Bs.

pHOTO: dERMOT hever

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

93rd Cinque Mulini XC Race 2025

1. The New Marathon

I think that cross country events like Cinque Mulini will eventually become the new marathons. Cross country races abroad are a far superior experience to marathons. Cheap flights (Ryanair), cheap four-star hotels with jacuzzi baths (Poli Hotel), no problem entering and a unique experience where you run through a few old houses. It’s only a matter of time. Trevor Cummins and Mark Gallagher have already been converted.

2. Milano Nord

I think that much like the marathon weekend it is important to have a shakeout run the day before. For our shakeout run we took in two venues, the incredibly cold but somehow ice free Milano Nord ParkRun for Mark and Rhona followed by a influencer style collab run by myself and Trevor around Parco Sempione which must be the best city centre park for running in the world.

3. Campione Trevor

I think that it was great to get to watch Trevor and Mark run in the masters race early in the morning on Sunday, they ran the same course as the international race, the only difference being three laps instead of four. Trevor who much like myself is experiencing new club fever ran like John Meade and ended up winning his age category. Not since Michael Herlihy beat me badly in a session a few months ago have I seen a man as happy as Trevor going up on the podium to receive his gold medal for first in the M40 moderately old man category.

4. Bravissima Rhona

I think that the great thing about international cross country races versus marathons is that a couple can both run and not need childminding to do so. It’s something that is rarely thought of in Ireland. Rhona’s race started after Trevor’s podium with two laps of the course which means two runs through the houses. The only reason I discovered the Cinque Mulini XC is Rhona, she had heard about the race where you run through the houses and had always wanted to do it, so was great to see her have bravissima and dai! shouted at her as she navigated the frosty course in the glorious November Italian sunshine.

5. Rules and Regulations

I think that I am very lucky to still be able to run the international race. Technically it is limited to non-moderately old men as you can’t enter online with a date of birth after 1990, luckily I am very good at reading all the clauses in the regulations and it said that if you could run under 33:00 for 10k you could enter as a moderately old man so I emailed them and was let in. I think it may also have helped that I ended up 96th in the World Cross Country Tour last year mainly because of the race in Castlegar, just ahead of Aregawi and Crippa.

6. Drills and Troy Parrott

I think that the warm up for these big international races is nearly the best part of the whole experience. Getting to see the elite Kenyans and Ethiopians doing their A,B,C skips while trying to do my own hobby jogger version of an A-skip is great fun. To make it even better I spotted a fella warming up in full Hungarian kit so I ran up behind him and whispered Troy Parrott in his ear. I was surprised to have him reply in a Dublin accent but it turns out that he is coached by Feidhlim Kelly so he caught the accent too. Istvan was his name, he beat me badly.

7. Great Sport

I think that running is the only sport where a total amateur like me gets to compete side by side with the best in the world. On the start line I was standing beside Iliass Aouani who had finished third in the World Championship marathon. I had been talking to him the day before at the elite athlete presentation as he was in college in America with Ryan Creech who he said was a legend which is correct. Anyway there is no other sport where this happens. It is unique, then the race started and I realized that there is a reason why this doesn’t happen in other sports as I wasn’t able to keep up.

8. Don’t Come Last

I think that when you are one of six moderately old men in a field of 100 youngfellas a lot of whom are Kenyans, Ethiopians and World Championship medallists the best you can hope for is not to come last. This was proving quite difficult initially as the race went off at a pace that I simply cannot run. Luckily for me there was a small bit of muck at the far side of the course which slowed them down a little bit allowing me to gain a good bit of a buffer from the tail end of the field.

9. Trevor in the Houses

I think that running through the houses is every bit as good as it looks. It never gets old, I would happily run this race forever it is so perfect and great. The first time through the house there was even a bit of a traffic jam which meant that I had to stop and wait for the backlog of runners to clear. Then on the last few laps I spotted Trevor who had somehow snuck into the area around the houses which is not for spectators, this was very good for me as he managed to take some rare video footage of a tall moderately old man like me navigating the houses expertly.

10. 81st

I think that I did very well to finish 81st out of the 100 starters despite being the second oldest man in the race. The fact that there was an older man than me running in the race is great because it probably means I can run it again next year. The fella that won it Amanuel from Eritrea was born in 2007, 21 years later than me which is very scary but also great. Once finished I collected my nice cup of hot lemon tea and returned to the nice hotel before a nice pizza and some wine at the other reason that this is a far better weekend than any marathon TheBirra. Everyone should run Cinque Mulini, it is the Boston Marathon of cross country races.

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