10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Sterling 5K

1. New Name Same Race

I think that it is interesting how the races in the BHAA change over the years. Novartis is no more replaced by Sterling. I would love to try and organise a race at work to add a new name to the list but I think I am currently not able for the stress. I will some day hopefully.

2. This Might Be The Night

I think that it is a bad sign when you are relying on other people not showing up in order to win but in my case in the absence of training properly it is the only way. I thought that this might be the night as there was a great PB by me race on in Dundrum that people were willing to drive miles to and the Novartis I mean Sterling route is the opposite of a great PB by me route. Unfortunately when I was driving in to the plant I saw Barry Twohig and then on the warm up Mark Walsh hopped out of a bush.

3. Green and Blue

I think that green is one of the better colours for a singlet. There aren’t usually many green singlets but for some reason there were lots of them on the start line for this race. I nearly made a photo of four green singlets but realised that I wasn’t actually wanted in the photo. Worryingly two of the green singlets were An Riocht singlets from Kerry. Kerry people usually don’t come to Cork unless they mean business.

4. The Bus

I think that we almost spent as much time on the start line as we did running the race. There was a very good atmosphere at the start so no one cared. I particularly liked the false start that made me jump. Then a bus turned up and we all had to get off to let the bus pass. We were offered the opportunity to get on the bus if we changed our mind about doing the race but no one took up the offer.

5. Off The Mark

I think that I got off the line particularly well but that was about as good as the race got. Normally when you feel good for the first 50m it bodes well for the rest of the race but after 50m I was passed by Mark Walsh, A Kerryman and Barry Twohig. I don’t know why I let them get a little gap but I did and that was a big mistake.

6. Hanging on Like a Yo-Yo

I think that it is amazing how much easier it is to run in a group of three than a group of one. Mark, Barry and the Kerryman had a lovely group for the second and third kilometre which were uphill into the wind past Pfizer and Biomarin. I was stuck as an independent contractor labouring into the wind wishing that I could swap places with Barry Twohig who was cleverly sitting in the quarterback position behind Mark and the Kerryman.

7. Not The Kerry BHAA

I think that Kerry people shouldn’t be allowed to run in the Cork BHAA. It is very disruptive when they turn up. The Kerryman changed the race completely. If the Kerryman had stayed in Kerry them I’m sure that I would have had an easier race running with Mark and Barry good Cork runners. Mark was clearly determined not to take any chances with a sprint finish with an unknown Kerryman and by the time we began the descent after the chicane at the top of the hill he had opened a gap over Barry and the Kerryman.

8. Hope

I think there is a reason why in track races they never pan back to the people that have been dropped from the front group. If you get dropped from a group in a race, 99% of the time you are done and aren’t coming back. As I began the descent after the chicane at the top of the hill I thought that I might be that 1% of the time. I closed the gap to the Kerryman and as we passed the 4km marker I was right on his tail. Barry was just ahead of the Kerryman with Mark up the road probably thinking about using the John Buckley Sports voucher he was about to win on upgrading from his Sports Direct shorts.

9. Cruel Hill

I think that the last hill on this route makes it one of the most difficult 5k routes around. As we swung left and began our ascent up to the finish I thought I had some chance of a podium but Barry and the Kerryman took off undoing all the good work I had done on the downhill. Barry did well to hold off the fast finishing Kerryman with Mark Walsh well clear in first. I had to watch the clock tick over the magically 16 minute barrier and continue on for quite a few seconds afterwards.

10. First Influencer

I think that this race might have had the best prize giving ever for a BHAA race. It was magnificently efficient, so efficient that I nearly missed it. I’m glad I didn’t miss it as not only did they have an excellent prize for 4th of some cash and a John Buckley Sports voucher I got to do a proper entrance with excellent applause which Mark Walsh said was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever seen considering I’d finished fourth. Mark will have to work on his influencer game. It’s not about winning, it’s about influencing, that’s what sport is about.