10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Headington 5 Mile

1. Oxford

I think that Oxford is like what Cork would be like if UCC took over the city. It’s a very similar size to Cork with similar buildings just more of them and with more money.

2. Run Britain

I think that we need something like the Run Britain website. I thought that using the AAI number every time you run a race would result in a magic database like Power of 10 where you and everyone else could look up how great you ran in the Galbally 10 mile and compare it from year to year. Instead the data must be sitting unused and unloved on a server in County Meath.

3. Iffley Road

I think that warming up from the hotel up to the track at Iffley Road was a good idea. The race was on in Headington which is like the Ballincollig of Oxford, 15 minutes out the road. I didn’t get to run on the track but I had a look in over the wall. Like most things in Oxford it was nice.

4. Civilised Start Line

I think that people at home behave like wild animals on the start line in comparison to the civilised approach in Oxford. The start was in a field across from the registration. When we arrived there everyone was just standing around waiting in no particular order. Then before the start a man with a megaphone came out and called out 5 mile times, 25 to 27, 27 to 30 etc and we all lined up in order. Amazing.

5. The Contenders

I think that the UK must be the only place in the world with as good a local road race standard as Ireland. On the start line there was a guy in a Swansea Harriers singlet who looked handy and said he was going for 25 minutes. There was also a fella from Oxford University who looked like Oxford’s version of JEP. Once we got under way the Swansea fella and Oxford JEP were gone.

6. Thank You Marshal

I think that we could all do with a lesson in race manners. Oxford is a very polite place, Rhona said that during the race all the people she was running with would say “Thank You Marshal” as they passed each marshal. They’d be lucky to get a grunt in Cork.

7. Organisation

I think that they must have issues with road closures for races in Oxford. The race route was unusual and imaginative. For the first two miles we were on an old cycle path that ran alongside a main road, sort of like how the Glounthaune one will look like in 50 years time. Then for the last three miles we zig zagged our way around housing estates until we came back onto a cycle path for the last mile. It was perfectly measured and impeccably marshalled. Almost overly organised, I can imagine there was a man with a clipboard and a checklist somewhere who was very happy.

8. Two Plus Four

I think that I should have made more of an effort to stay with the group that I found myself in after two miles. The Swansea runner and Oxford JEP were well gone so I was left in a group with two young fellas and an English Viv who was wearing a Woodstock singlet. I was fine on the cycle path but as soon as we entered the zig zag housing estate section the two young fellas dropped us with their agility and likely local knowledge leaving me in a familiar position battling with an M50.

9. Slippery Sludge

I think that there needs to be a name for the slippery black sludge that collects at the corner of cycle paths. I nearly slipped and fell again during the fourth mile. I was chasing English Viv and slipped on some sludge on a sharp turn into an underpass. I managed to catch the sludge slid but was a little afraid for the rest of the race so I just followed the Woodstock singlet of English Viv.

10. Checkout

I think that a race between English and Irish Viv would be a great race, it will probably happen in the British and Irish XC. English Viv destroyed me in the last 400m just like Irish Viv would have. I ended up 6th which was perfect as there were no prizes for 6th so we could get back to the hotel to checkout on time. I had time for a quick chat with the lads that beat me during which I managed not to mention the B word much.