10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Great Glenville 4 Mile

1. Synonymous

I think that I am running out of new places to run races in Cork. Glenville was a new one for me. The word Glenville brings two words to mind John Meade. It is a race that I would assume he would be at, it would almost be wrong if he wasn’t.

2. Industrial Numbers

I think that the race numbers for the race might have been the biggest thickest race numbers I have ever seen. These were industrial style numbers that couldn’t possibly disintegrate no matter how much rain and wind arrived. The bit that I didn’t realize until the end was that they were reusable numbers, at the end the tag was peeled off and collected for reuse. Very good, very green, very Eamon Ryan.

3. Warm Up

I think that the mile warm up only works if you are late and are extremely stressed. If you are late and not bothered about being late a mile warm up is not enough. I had absolutely no adrenaline despite arriving in Glenville 20 minutes before the unusual 11:30am start. I was hoping my new Pink Vaporflys would help but even they felt a bit flat which made me question their authenticity given that they were bought from Goat.com.

4. Big Turnout

I think that it is very difficult to tell who will turn up to these races. The people you expect to turn up like John Meade don’t turn up and the people you don’t like Gavin, Mark Walsh and Alan O’Shea do. There were also an exceptional amount of Vaporflys and Alphaflys on the start line which when combined with an expensive Nike singlet with cooling holes are a worrying sign.

5. Not Feeling It

I think that I have never gotten a worse start than in this race. It is a very favorable start, a short steep downhill that you’d instantly recognize from all the photos of previous years. On the start line we were counted down from 10, I waited for the 1 to go but Alan O’Shea was gone on the 2 or possibly the 3 and everyone else followed. I was left behind in about 8th by the time we began the mile long hill into the wind.

6. Catch Mark

I think that it is great fun tracking someone down in a race. It took until the top of the first hill for the adrenaline to kick in. I felt terrible on the hill, my Vaporflys felt unusually unbouncy and there was a strong headwind. Mark, Alan and Gavin looked like they were gone and there were two orange Nike singlets and Barry from the Barr’s in the gap in between. Thankfully the hill wasn’t that long and was followed by a downhill with the perfect gradient for my legs.

7. Tormenting Mark

I think that I probably shouldn’t have let out the groan I did when I caught up to Mark Walsh. It took until about a mile and a half to catch him. He had sensibly dropped off Alan and Gavin. When I caught up to Mark I let out a Michael Herlihy style groan to torment him. It definitely worked as he pulled my singlet as I went by. It’s very important to beat someone both psychologically and physically.

8. The Descent

I think that the middle two miles of this race are the wonderful. My tormenting of Mark didn’t really work as he just sat in behind me. I could see that Gavin was just sitting on Alan up the road so I thought we had a chance of catching them even though they were about 15 seconds ahead. Even though my Vaporflys didn’t feel as bouncy as normal they seemed to work very well on the gradual downhill. As we reached the three mile mark the group of two became four. Because the Michael Herlihy groan had worked well when I caught Mark I let out a similar groan when we caught Gavin and Alan. On hearing the groan Alan O’Shea turned his head and gave me a look that I can still see.

9. Donie and Con

I think if Donie and Con had been a few more metres away from the finish I might have beaten Alan O’Shea. The last mile unfolded almost exactly as I thought it would except that I beat Mark and came 3rd. I knew that Gavin would destroy us all in the last mile which he did, what I didn’t expect was that I would be so close to Alan. In my head there is no way I should be any where near Alan, he is many boxes ahead of me, I didn’t believe I could pass him, it would almost have been disrespectful. It was only when Donie and Con said it to me with about 300m to go that I thought it was possible. It wasn’t.

10. Hallophobia

I think that I have a fear of halls after races, the last two years have done irreparable damage to my brain. I must have looked very odd standing outside the hall waiting for the photos and prizes. I was terrified of catching a cold or something before the marathon in Valencia next week. It is not normal behavior, but I can’t help it. At least I was brave enough to enter the hall to collect the prize for 3rd and have my photo taken (there was none for Mark in 4th a feeling which I’m familiar with). Liam Tracey fixed my hair for the second photo so if I do get sick, I’ll know who to blame.