10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Rathcormac 4 Mile

1. Nice Evening

I think that the best thing about local summer evening races is that you can just decide to do them 30 minutes before the start. I was supposed to be on Billy minding duty, which on the drive up to the race changed to tormenting John Meade duty. It was a nice sunny calm evening and it would have been a shame to let the opportunity pass.

2. Gentrification

I think that Rathcormac has been changed beyond recognition. My only memories of Rathcormac are of as a child it still being another hour to the city and a place we never stopped in unless my grandfather wanted to go to the eating house. Now it looks like a place you might actually stop in now with a nice running loop and a very good road race.

3. Warm Up

I think that there is no need for a warm up when you have done 10 miles at lunchtime. Instead after parking in the impressive car park I jogged the 250m over to the efficient registration where thankfully they hadn’t closed the registration despite it being 20 minutes before the start. On the jog back I saw everyone who normally runs theses races.

4. Proper Racing

I think that it is great when random tourists turn up to these road races. The start was about half a mile from the car park, on the start line John Meade was talking to a fella wearing Vaporfly 3s who was wearing an unusually professional looking singlet. An Australian tourist apparently. He looked like he meant business. Once the siren went off the tourist took off like Michael Harty. Proper Racing it said on the back of his singlet.

5. Wine Country

I think that a mile outside Rathcormac is an unusual place to be offered wine during a road race. I know they do this sort of thing in Bordeaux but it would be unusual in Mid Cork. Wine obviously isn’t as plentiful as in Bordeaux as this guy was charging €50 for his wine. No one seemed to take him up on it.

6. Horses for Courses

I think that the Rathcormac tourist board must have good funding. Not only did we have wine on course but in that first mile we also had beautiful horses on the course. Perhaps they are targeting the Australian market hard. The Aussie must have been very impressed with the first mile.

7. The Catch

I think that the Aussie tourist showed us no respect. He must have looked around on the start line and thought, moderately old man, moderately old man, tanned man with silly sunglasses, moderately old man and decided that it would be beneath him to run with us. These moderately old men were having none of it and after a mile we had caught the disrespectful Aussie. John Meade looked like he was angry.

8. The Detachment

I think that it is a great pity that my legs were not able to observe the second half of the great battle between our moderately old men, Darragh and the Aussie tourist. After two miles I had nothing and had to drop off and let them go. In the end Darragh taught the disrespectful Aussie a lesson. The Aussie John Meaded John Meade which was great, James McCarthy was 4th and Barry 5th. I was 6th a good bit back.

9. No Lizzie

I think that I might have ran home faster if Lizzie hadn’t gone to Lombardstown instead. My only fear once dropped by the lead group was getting caught by Lizzie, I’m still haunted by that four miler in Fermoy when she beat me when I was extra hairy and had a broken foot. Anyway there was no Lizzie and I ran home admiring the beautiful Rathcormac countryside. Visit Rathcormac.

10. Last of the Summer Sun

I think that the warm down after the race was one of those warm downs that makes you wish the summer would go on forever. It is no harm that it is nearly over as I badly need to do training for marathons so I can finally be faster than Michael Herlihy. Because I ended up sixth in the race so I didn’t get any prize which was a pity as I would have liked a bottle of Rathcormac wine. I hope they gave the Aussie a bottle as a prize.