10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Great Ireland Run

1. 10am on a Sunday Morning in Dublin

I think that 10am on a Sunday morning in Dublin is not a great time for a National Championship. Nevertheless I had tapered my run the day before to 8 miles and was looking forward to trying to run a PB over 10k and perhaps win a medal in the hotly contested all important moderately old man M35 category. I was so excited I booked a hotel right at the gates of the Phoenix Park so I could run up to the start.

2. 25-30 Minute 10k Runners

I think the first inkling I had that things were not going to go well was when I met Alfie on my run up to the start. Did you see they have a sign 25-30 minute runners at the start? he said, They must be expecting Jacob Kiplimo or someone. Sure I suppose they had Bekele in the past, must just be an old sign.

3. No Team

I think that it is impossible for a club from Cork to field a team in Dublin at 10am on a Sunday morning. Nevertheless we managed to scramble together a team of four. Now I was even more looking forward to not only a potential M35 medal but maybe a national title. That would be great wouldn’t it, on a Sunday morning at 10am in Dublin.

4. 3k Marker

I think that the second inkling that I had that things were not going to go well was when I saw the 3km marker a few 100m after starting. “Ah that makes sense we are going to turn right off the main road and go back through the start” is what I thought. Then I saw the 1km and 2km marker accurately placed and marked. All very good, and a nice group perfectly paced by Emmett Dunleavy. It was all set up for a Great Ireland Run for me.

5. Applied Maths

I think I started to get a bit worried as we turned and ran down the main road through the park. Not long after seeing the 1km marker I heard the woman on the mic telling the people to hurry up and get started. 2000 people is a lot of people to get through a start line, we were due back through the start after about 2.5k so it was going to be tight, especially for Jake, Jake O'Regan that is not Jacob Kiplimo. I presumed they’d done the applied maths. I was doing the maths in my head and thinking this is going to be tight.

6. Small Yellow Cones

I think that it is very hard not to follow the bunch in a race. As we ran down the main road just past the 2km marker up ahead I saw the Gardai bike turn in right to go back through the start as I had thought. Strangely Jake O’Regan didn’t follow. Then I saw the bike do a u-turn come back out and drive off after Jake back down the main road. When our group reached the right turn we were supposed to make it was all blocked off with small yellow cones. Small yellow cones to a group of runners running 5 minute miles is like a gate to bunch of sheep, it means do not pass so we didn’t pass and continued straight on. I knew we were gone wrong and said it to the lads but no one really took any notice, small yellow cones mean only one thing, baaaaahhh.

7. Parallel Universe

I think that it is an odd feeling to be 3km into a 10k race knowing that it has all gone terribly wrong and that it isn’t going to count. Nevertheless I was in a nice group and moving well so I kept following them like a sheepdog chasing a bunch of sheep. Heywood was with me so I thought at least I can try and beat Heywood. Then Heywood dropped out so I had nothing to run for. Not a lot was going right. I continued on anyway, sure what else would you be doing a 10am on a Sunday Morning in Dublin in the Phoenix Park.

8. Jake Kiplimo

I think that it was interesting to continue on in the race anyway. We never saw another kilometre marker which I knew meant that we were running backwards around what was supposed to the actual route. As we approached the finish again and made the right turn we should have made the first time it was great to hear the world record for 10k being broken on a Sunday morning in Dublin at 10am. Personally it was great to experience seeing 27:57 on the clock crossing the line in a 10k. Funnily enough it feels exactly the same as about 32 minutes.

9. Disappearing Act

I think that rule number one for a race organiser when something like this happens is to own it. I wasn’t too upset or cross but you’d like to vent anyway it being a Sunday morning in Dublin at 10am when you’re from Cork, so along with my much more Roy Keane like Cork compadre Eoghan we spoke to an official in an AAI jacket and politely told him that we weren’t impressed by the organization. We walked away after making our point. When we turned around they had disappeared into thin air or perhaps the big white tent not to be seen again. You wouldn’t blame them I suppose.

10. Fyre Festival

I think that if Netflix want to make a documentary about the Not Great Ireland Run I’d be happy to participate. Netflix have made documentaries about less, it could be very good, I could sit on a chair and rant with a glass of whiskey, Brian Murphy from Kerry said he’d participate too, they’d probably have the budget to send a camera crew to Kerry. I’m not sure what they’d call it though, perhaps 10am on a Sunday Morning in Dublin.