10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Achill Half Marathon

1. Second Captains

I think that David O’Doherty’s Second Captains podcast is responsible for putting Achill on the map. I’d never heard of the place until 2020. The podcast made it sound wonderful and woeful all at the same time. The perfect place for a half marathon.

2. 2020 Optimism

I think that this is the last of my 2020 race entries used up. It’s funny to think that in the middle of the 2020 lockdown I thought that July 2020 in Achill would be fine, so I entered. Always be optimistic, most of the races I entered eventually happened, this one only took two years.

3. No Room at the Inn

I think that there must be a lot of podcast fans. There wasn’t a room to be had on the rugged island the night before the race. I had to book a room above a pub in Newport. A very nice room but 25 minutes from the only SuperValu on Achill and 40 minutes from the capital city of Keel where the race started. Once you got to Keel there was lovely parking in a sheep field by the beach. I’m not sure staying on the island was an advantage other than having the honour of staying on the island.

4. What time are you going for?

I think that Gary O’Hanlon probably thought I was some yahoo when I said 74-75 minutes was what I thought I’d run. I hadn’t a clue what the course was like, so I just said what I’d hope for on a moderate course. In reality I just wanted to get around with out having to go on one of the many rocks that make the island famous.

5. Conversations with Gary

I think that the first few miles of the race were great. I went off reasonably hard and after about 800m it was just myself and Gary. I remembered a story that John Meade told me about the Dingle Half Marathon where he spent the entire race talking to Gary so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same. We had a great chat. I’m sure John Meade told a lot more excellent stories than I did.

6. Ac-Hill

I think that the clue about the course is in the name. Achill is very, very, very hill. There is no flat, well maybe a few 100m at the start before you start the three mile climb out of Keel towards the chipper at the top of the hill. When we were halfway up the very long hill Gary asked me the pace, I said it was about 5:50, he was happy with this, he said 6:20 would have been unacceptable so we proceeded on together chatting with a sort of gentleman’s agreement that Gary would win and I would be second at best.

7. The Elusive Last Hill

I think that for a man that has run the course a good few times Gary’s idea of the last hill was way off. He started talking about the last hill when we were passing the magic disappearing beach in Doogort. This was at about 9 miles. I knew that the last hill was probably the last I was see of Gary so I took it that when we stopped talking that was the last hill. This happened somewhere between mile 10 and 11.

8. Where’s Third?

I think that because I was talking to Gary I kind of forgot about the race. I had asked Gary earlier to look behind to see if there was anyone near. He had a quick look behind and wasn’t too concerned. Just before he took off on the last hill he had another look around and unreassuringly said there was a white singlet about 200m back. 200m isn’t much so I kind of had to chase after Gary when he left me on the last hill. Kevin English came by on a bike then and said the gap was more like 45 seconds to the white singlet in third so I relaxed a bit. The last two miles were lovely and downhill so I wasn’t too worried about being caught.

9. Big Gap

I think that the finish of the race is worth all the hills. It finishes in front of Keel beach which is the second nicest beach on the island after the confusingly similarly named Keem beach. Gary managed to open a minute of a gap in two miles which reinforced the fact that I was very second and never actually in contention to win. He was so fast that they had to make him run through the line again afterwards to take photos. The whole thing was very John Meade, sort of like they knew he was going to win.

10. Cheque

I think that there is no better place to spend the afternoon waiting to collect a prize than Keel beach. The prizes were presented on the beach about two hours after the race was finished, it was so sunny that I got extra tanned while waiting. No one is in any rush on Achill because sure what else would you be doing on a rugged island for the day. The prize was well worth the wait and was presented in the excellent form of a cheque, no envelope just a cheque. Like the island itself it’s a unique half marathon, one of the best ones. I might start doing it every year.