10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Dingle Half Marathon

1. Sold Out

I think that all these sold out races are becoming a big problem. It was much better when you could easily enter the week before or just rock up on the day. Now everything is sold out months in advance. I only decided to do Dingle this week because Viv was doing it and I couldn’t face doing a session on my own. It was easier to get into the World Cross County than it was to get into the Dingle Half.

2. John “Dingle” Meade

I think that John Meade was genuinely scared that I was going to come to Dingle and steal his win with Viv. I sent him a message during the week asking if he knew anyone in the organization that I could contact about getting an entry. He said he knew nobody and sent me the generic email address from the website which I’d already gotten a PFO from. Instead I put a post on a Facebook group looking for an entry where I got offered about 50 entries. I bought one and sent another email asking if I could swap the number which they said I could.

3. Sold Out Again

I think that it was nice to book a hotel over the phone rather than on the internet. On the internet Dingle was sold out of hotels just like the race. After my entry experience I presumed that this wasn’t true so I rang a few hotels. After a few phone calls I found a place across the road from the start and even got to do a bit of haggling. I miss haggling.

4. 6E+13.1MP+1E

I think that Dingle is a long way to go to do marathon session. We were supposed to do 18 miles with 14 miles at MP in Cork which became a 6 mile warm up, the Dingle Half marathon at MP and a one mile warm up. During the 6 mile warm up Viv was whinging a lot, he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to do the MP. He told me not to wait for him if he died. I knew this was nonsense, especially when we got back to the car and he changed into his luminous Vaporflys.

5. He Always Wins, He Always Lies

I think that John Meade told lies to me during the week about not knowing anyone in Dingle. On the start line one of the organizers came straight over to him and thanked him for coming back. They were on first name terms, very friendly, possibly even Facebook friends. You’d almost think that he was worried about me and Viv getting entries. When the race started Meade sprinted off, I jogged alongside him for a while to torment him but he was intent on going away from us very fast. When we settled into MP one of the other guys in the group said “That’s John Meade up the road isn’t it?, He always wins, there’s no point in trying to follow him”.

6. Mountains

I think I know why John Meade loves Dingle, it’s like he designed the route, it’s not even slightly ever flat, constantly rolling, never crazy hilly, just never flat. It’s a stunning route, I can understand why it’s in the Lonely Planet guide especially on a day like we had.

7. Bold Viv

I think that this was the first time that I had to give out to Viv. He was very bold during the race. Because he had the Vaporflys on the whole MP thing was just too easy for him. He spent from mile 4 to mile 8 running 10 meters in front of me and two other guys constantly looking back like we were a group of small children slowing him down on his run. I had to tell him to “I don’t care if you want to race and run away from us but don’t sit 10 meters in front of us”. I think this confused the other guys in the group because we were quickly down to just one other guy.

8. The Gels Don’t Work

I think that the only problem with using a race as training is when you have the chance to finish 2nd and 3rd but there’s another guy that you just can’t drop. We had company up until mile 11, the other guy had been getting dropped and getting back on all day, when he reached for a gel at the bottom of the last climb I pushed on and Viv followed without any encouragement. I wasn’t sure we’d dropped him but as Viv was running looking behind him I was getting instant time checks from Viv.

9. 1.1 Mile Race

I think I knew I wouldn’t beat Viv in a 1.1 mile race. It really wasn’t a race as Viv was far more comfortable than me at MP, ridiculously comfortable, I just followed his luminous shoes down the hill into the finish happy to be third and on the podium. John Meade was waiting at the finish delighted with his win.

10. Podium

I think that it was nice to have an entirely Cork podium in Kerry. Viv was late which is unusual but I got them to wait for him so that we could take photos. We got a lovely bottle of champagne, a trophy, a little money plus most importantly free entry to next years race. Next year I’ll beat John Meade in a pair of Vaporflys. Nothing can stop me.