10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Limerick Half Marathon

1. Spain in 1600s

I think that it’s a little known fact that I’m actually from Limerick. I spent my childhood going to Limerick instead of Cork because the road to Cork hadn’t been built by the EU back then. Limerick back then was like Spain in the 1600s. It was a golden age with money from Dell and a pedestrianised shopping street called Cruises Street with excellent shops like Easons, O’Mahony’s and Game. Then the road to Cork was built and I haven’t been back since.

2. The Cresent

I think that it was exceptionally easy to access the race. My mother had miraculously managed to collect the numbers in UL the day before so I arranged to meet Michael McMahon at the Cresent Shopping centre which is where I used to go to the Cinema before the road to Cork was built. The Cresent should be advertised as parking for the race as it was exactly an arrow straight 2.5k from the startline which is a perfect warm up and warm down.

3. Blindboy

I think that everyone from Limerick sounds like Blindboy when they are given a microphone. I had to go and check that the guy with the mic wasn’t actually Blindboy because he sounded identical. When I found him I was none the wiser as he wasn’t wearing a shopping bag over his head and Blindboy is know to do a 10k so it could well have been Blindboy.

4. Great Limerick Run

I think that organisers need to learn the lesson of the fiasco that was the Great Ireland Run. If there is time to have a priest read a nice prayer and someone from the generous sponsors to give a talk then there should also be time to tell us some basic information about the route like does it go right or left at the start and what side of the traffic cones are we to run on. It all worked out fine in the end.

5. Maunsell and Somba

I think it didn’t take long for the podium to be decided. After about 400m the Kenyan and Clonmelian checked out leaving myself and four others to decide third place on the podium. The third place on the podium was decided after three miles when Chris Jeuken pulled over to put his AirPods in at a water station leaving a gap to a fella in a white singlet who’s name I don’t know. We spent the next 10 miles trying unsuccessfully to close the gap to the white singlet leaving four of us battling for fourth.

6. You Make My Dreams Come True

I think that it was a little suspicious that there was a busker on the street playing You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall & Oates. I had been listening to the same song on repeat in the car on the way down because my Spotify was malfunctioning. It was a bit too Truman Show. When I was listening to it in the car I was thinking how I could make the song into an ad about my Vaporfly 3s.

7. The Four of Us

I think that the group that formed after the departure of the unknown guy in the white singlet was an excellent group. It contained Michael McMahon, Mossy Bracken, Chris Jeuken and myself. I was definitely the most tired of the four so I sat at the back struggling to hang on for the first six miles. Then my legs sort of woke up and I was able to contribute to taking the ever so slight Limerick headwind and telling the other lads what to do. We stayed together right until the last mile as a group of four.

8. Gaelic Grounds Defeat

I think that it was fitting that as we past the Gaelic Grounds the Clareman Chris made the decisive move that ended up with him taking the all important 4th place for which there is no prize, a pointless victory. Michael McMahon was the only one who could attempt to follow, myself and Mossy were left to run home solo.

9. Humidity

I think that high humidity is my least favourite climactic condition. I hate humidity, it is a highly potent and selective inhibitor of great PBs by me. There was tremendous levels of humidity in Limerick, it was nearly as bad as the Charleville Half Marathon a few years back. Humidity has an odd influence on a race, it slows you gradually even though you think you are going the same pace. It’s terrible, I much prefer running great PBs by me in February.

10. 1st Limerick Man

I think that I might have been the first Limerick man home which would be nice having not been back in Limerick for years. I was very impressed with Limerick and the race. It had everything, a nice course, excellent marshals, buskers who knew what I was listening to in the car, good atmosphere and crowds. It’s every bit as good as Cork all it needs is a better road from Mitchelstown.