10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Banteer 5 Mile

1. Memories

I think that the terrible thing about races that happened before the invention of Facebook is that you aren’t sure if they happened or not. I’m almost certain that I have run a race in Banteer before but I have no idea what or when. I remember it had something to do with Michael Herlihy but that’s about it. Banteer looks a lot different to my vague memories, much more modern with the most square footage of astroturf pitches per head of population in the country.

2. Racing Backbone

I think that when you do something like three races in five days which is universally considered an idiotic thing to do you need to come up with some sort of self-justification for it. I seem to have survived it unscathed like I did the last time at Christmas so I will call it the Racing Backbone, a key component of any moderately good local road racing athlete. Maximise your chances of winning a race when no one else shows up by implementing the Racing Backbone in your training program.

3. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse

I think that Anthony Mannix’s wearing of a Cork Track Club T-shirt instead of a singlet was very French 800m track runner behaviour. Personally I can’t understand why anyone would choose a t-shirt over a singlet but perhaps Ian O’Sullivan has a wind tunnel at MTU and has discovered something that the rest of us don’t know yet.

4. Safety Briefing

I think that the safety briefing before the race was excellent. More races should do this, it doesn’t matter if most of the people don’t listen as long as a few do. It drastically reduces the chances of a Great Ireland Run debacle. The critical points are where does the course go and what side of the road do we run on.

5. Operation Follow Anthony

I think that after the relative success of just following the other runners in Youghal I decided that I would try the Donie Walsh tactics once more and just follow Anthony Mannix irrespective of the pace. Once we passed the Skoda dealership where the road was greasy and slippy from all the oil leaking out of the new electric cars it was just myself and Anthony.

6. Skoda Enyaq IV 80

I think that it is a pity that Michael Herlihy wasn’t able to make it to Banteer as he would have enjoyed seeing the crucial role that an electric car played in the race. The route ran out from Banteer for about 2 miles before turning at a cone. When we turned at the cone which was cleverly taken away and put back afterwards for the electric car to turn, we ran back the same way which meant that it was crucial that the other runners stayed left. There is no better vehicle in the world at making runners stay left on a road than a beeping 2.5 tonne electric SUV.

7. Eddie Dunbar

I think that it is amazing that Eddie Dunbar came from this part of the country and is now a professional cyclist specialising in climbing mountains. This course would not have suited Eddie Dunbar. It was very flat, almost entirely so. Very fast, someone like Michael Harty would eat the road up and run under 24 minutes I have no doubt.

8. Back to Banteer

I think that I did well to get back to Banteer after three miles attached to the back of Anthony Mannix like a trailor. I felt fine although Anthony looked like he was under no pressure possibly due to the aerodynamic advantage bestowed by his t-shirt. There was a man at the side of the road at about 5k saying 16:12 which seemed very fast, but I suppose it was very flat.

9. Flawed Thinking

I think that there is a major flaw with the Donie Walsh strategy of racing. The strategy works really well when your surname is Walsh and not so well when your surname is Coakley. By the time we got to four miles of relentlessly flat road I was beginning to picture myself sprinting away from Anthony Mannix down the home straight. Unfortunately I had no idea how I was going to achieve this as holding onto the back of him after 4 miles was pretty much full effort. I carried on anyway in hope, sure you’d never know he might just blow up.

10. The Kick

I think that it is a pity that there wasn’t someone filming the race like the last battle we had down in West Cork when I won. Unlike the last time there was no dramatic descent for me to make a move on and win. Instead with about 800m to go outside the electric car dealership Anthony gradually increased the pace to below my limit of 5 minutes a mile and I was swiftly detached and left to run home solo much to the delight of the local Anthony Mannix fan club that were in attendance at the race.