10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Midleton 5

1. Race Inflation

I think that it is very clear that there are too many races again. It is impossible to do even half of them unless you are mad and extremely resistant to injury. I have implemented a one race per week limit unless it is a 5k in which case I can do two. I did Midleton because I like Midleton and there aren’t enough 5 mile races any more because of Ballycotton being gone.

2. Grumpy Bakers

I think that I was very lucky to have this loop during the emergency. We used to do a loop from the Grumpy Bakers that helped maintain some degree of sanity. I have good memories of beating Michael Herlihy in a 10 mile time trial on this loop which didn’t count because it was a time trial. I think I ran 52 minutes.

3. Make No Mistake

I think that you could make no mistake that Viv is fully recovered after Boston. He is such a perfect man it is annoying; he looked the image of health on the starting line, glowing. Imagine having the discipline to take a week off after a marathon, recovery properly and then be flying two weeks later. It’s very annoying. I wish I was more disciplined.

4. He Gone

I think that the start of the race made me realise how much of a gap there is between proper runners like Michael Harty and elite hobby joggers like myself. He tore off at the start like someone who had misread the race flyer and thought there was €1000 for a course record. He was nearly out of sight by the time we went under the N25.

5. Queuejumper

I think that the wind made this race both hard and easy. Once we went under the N25 and out onto the nice path the wind hit us. I was delighted as it gave me a chance to catch up to Barry and Mark. Then Mark tried some reverse queue jumping by slowing down and trying to shelter behind me. I was having none of it, I put my arm around him and moved him back up beside Barry in front of me and Viv. The laziness was astonishing.

6. Hanging On

I think that I knew I was in trouble after a mile. Donie was standing at the traffic lights for the ghost estate that wasn’t built calling out the times. 5:10 was pretty much what I wanted to hear but it felt like 4:50. It was a perfect group but I knew it was going to be difficult to get any faster and it couldn’t have contained worse people than Mark, Barry and Viv.

7. The Turn

I think that I thought I had a chance when I was able to stay with Barry, Mark and Viv once we turned left and ran down and up the hill after the farmyard. I was pretty sure they would drop me there but they didn’t. I could tell that Mark and Viv had lots left as they were barely breathing, Barry seemed to be suffering just as much as me.

8. Very Impressive

I think that what Mark Walsh did over the last two miles of the race would have been very impressive if Michael Harty wasn’t already across the line with his feet up, having a cup of tea and a bun. Once we turned left to turn back towards Midleton at the highest part of the course Mark tore off. Not even Viv could go with him. I tried to stay with Barry which worked for a while.

9. Going Backwards

I think that normally in a road race if you don’t slow down you generally have a good chance of doing well. I thought I was after blowing up completely but when I looked on Strava after the race I just ran the same pace from mile 2 to 5. Mark, Viv and Barry just sped up and dropped me which is unusual. It was like a proper race you’d see on TV. I ended up 5th which is a terrible place to finish, neither good nor bad.

10. Goldilocks Race

I think that the finish of this race is brilliant. The right hand turn with the long winding finishing straight is wonderful. It is neither uphill, nor downhill nor flat. It would make an excellent TV finish. There were people out shouting at us which was nice. The course measured 5.05 miles on my trusty GPS watch which means it probably isn’t short or long, it’s just right.