10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The CPC Loop Den Haag Half Marathon

1. Third Time Unlucky

I think that this must be my most entered and least run race. Fast course, low entry fee, handy location, what more could you want. It has the added benefit of having multiple races spread over the course of the day with a 5k at 10am, a 10k at noon and the half marathon starting at the excellent time of 2pm. Two hours between the races meant Rhona could do the 10k with no Billy minder required to be in attendance.

2. Horrible Hummus

I think that you would be surprised how bad gone off hummus can make you feel. I made the terrible mistake of eating quite a bit of it on the Tuesday night before we left for Amsterdam. I wasn’t too bothered by it initially, being sick on a Wednesday before a Sunday race normally isn’t anything to worry about.

3. Vondelpark

I think that the Vondelpark in Amsterdam might be the most perfect running park loop in the world, the city council should just copy it and land it into Glanmire, it would fit perfectly between the village and Supervalu. My prerace session was a non magic shoe tempo around the Vondelpark. The occasional session in normal shoes is good to remind oneself how great I was to run sub 16 minutes for 5k in a pair of Brooks Ghosts.

4. Trains, Bakfiets and Trams

I think that spending a few days in Holland would make you question why you live in Cork. Glanmire is like the opposite of Holland, impossible to do anything without a car. In Holland it is impossible to do anything with a car. If it wasn’t for the Marwood hill and the death trap roads filled with SUVs around Glanmire I would definitely get a bakfiets.

5. Frisbee Collection

I think that it is a horrible feeling turning up to collect a number for a race that you don’t think you’ll be able to run. By Saturday the horrible hummus poisoning was at it’s peak. I couldn’t venture far from a bathroom and I had struggled to run four miles in the morning. Believing in miracles I went to pick up the number and play frisbee with John Meade and Viv who I could tell thought I was just trying to psyche them out.

6. The Fight is Off

I think that it is very important to know when you are beaten. The horrible hummus beat me badly on Saturday, by Sunday morning I was in no state to try and beat John Meade and Viv so I rang them and told them that I wasn’t going to race. I still couldn’t venture far from the bathroom so I thought there was no hope of being able to run.

7. Den Haag or Go Home

I think that the best thing about this race is that the half marathon starts at 2pm. I could tell that John Meade and Viv were terribly put out by the late start, almost thinking that running doesn’t count as much if it isn’t performed before at least 11am. Rhona ran the 10k at 12 while I minded Billy, at that stage I didn’t think I could run but at about 1pm I won victory over the horrible hummus and suddenly felt like I could venture far from a bathroom so I decided I’d try and do some sort of an effort.

8. Backpacks and Chicanes

I think that I severely underestimated how bad the start would be. Because I didn’t want to run full tilt I tried to go a bit back from the start. Getting to the start was a bit complicated because of all the 10k people leaving and all the half marathon people going in. I eventually got in to the start area and snuck my way through the crowds until I was about 100m back from the start. When the gun went nothing moved, it took about five minutes for the crowd to move. As we got towards the start I saw the problem, there was a chicane just before the start which slowed everyone down. I wasn’t too bothered as I didn’t think I’d be up to much anyway after the horrible hummus.

9. City Pier City

I think that the race route is one of the better half marathons around the place. John Meade told me that CPC stands for City Pier City, I didn’t believe him initially, so I confirmed the fact. The route goes out to the beach, up along the pier and then back to the city. It’s quite pleasant running along through the Dutch streetscape which is very samey until about 10 miles when you reach the pier and you run along the people like seafront. There was no wind on Sunday but I can imagine it could be very bad on a bad day. The you turn right and run back to the city. All very flat.

10. Beet It John Meade

I think that running a race when you have been defeated by horrible hummus would make you question the point of running. I set off at 6 minute miles and held that as best I could until the end. I spend the whole race weaving in and out trying to make up the 5 minutes I lost due to the chicane. I finished in 1:20 about 7 and a half minutes behind Viv which doesn’t seem like a lot when you consider how horrible the hummus was. Viv beat John Meade by a few seconds primarily because Viv took the beetroot shot that Rhona gave them both and John Meade didn’t. Beetroot and hummus, two very important factors in running.