10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Ardmore 5 Mile 2024

1. Chips

I think that my main reason for going back to Ardmore again was the chips after the race last year. Ardmore is the perfect place for a Friday evening race on a sunny almost warm evening in May. A lot of other people from Cork seem to have a similar idea although I’m not sure if they knew about the chips.

2. Parking

I think that it is always advantageous when you have done a race before as you figure out the best place to park. I knew that the chipper was the perfect parking location as it was around the corner from the finish and a short jog up the hill to the registration at the GAA club with the start a mile further out the road.

3. Alphafly 3 Testing

I think that it was important to give the Alphafly 3s another chance in a race before the most important race in my illustrious running career, the Cork City Marathon 2024. I hadn’t worn them for the John Buckley 5K as I was afraid of breaking my ankle on the sharp turn at SuperValu Pairc Ui Caoimh. The Ardmore route was free from sharp corners so I thought it would provide a good testing ground, plus I could compare the time to last year’s time in Vaporflys.

4. Everyone’s Here

I think that it is amazing how unlucky I am when it comes to who turns up to races. What were the chances of Mark Walsh turning up in Ardmore for his second race in a week? He hardly does two races a month never mind two in one week. Sergiu seems to turn up to every race I do so it was no surprise to see him, the only thing that changes is the shoes Sergiu wears, this time we had Adidas Pro 3 Sergiu. I thought I might have a shot at third but then I saw Pat Fitzgerald. A battle for 4th again most likely.

5. The Perfect Shoe

I think that the Alphafly 3s might be the perfect shoe. In my UK size 12 they are gigantic. They feel like you are wearing a pair of shoeboxes on your feet, very fast bouncy ZoomX shoeboxes. When we got underway I took it handy until we got to the first corner as it takes a lot of effort to get the Alphaflys up to speed so it is better to do that gradually. Then when we got to the first right hand corner Mark and Sergiu took off so I got straight onto the back of Mark as it isn’t too often that you get to follow Mark Walsh in a race.

6. Camera Obscura

I think that I have either gotten fitter or the Alphafly 3 is a much better shoe than the Vaporfly as I got a lot further into the race in contact with Sergiu than I did last year. I got so far into the race that it cost me an appearance in the race photos as I was so close to Sergiu and Mark Walsh at the corner in the town where the photographer was standing that I am almost completely obscured in the photo. Last year I got a lovely photo on my own, bloody Alphaflys.

7. Familiar Pattern

I think that while the Alphaflys are great they are not miraculous. On the nasty sharp climb around the back of the town I was gapped quite dramatically by Mark and Sergiu. I was hoping that I had a big enough gap from my fast start that the lads behind would give up and leave me in third but unfortunately just like last year Pat Fitzgerald caught me just as we started the gradual mile long climb out of town.

8. Ardmore Plateau

I think that I did very well to stay with Pat after he caught me. I’m unsure if this was down to the excellence of the Alphaflys or my own excellence but I was able to stay with him until the top of the hill at three miles and even put him under a small bit of pressure during the fourth mile which is nice and flat.

9. 12x400m + 10x200m

I think that it might be a good idea if I was to stop racing of the roads for a few months and go away and train for the 1500m. All was looking good for a third place finish with half a mile to go. We were within sight of the chipper when Pat picked up the pace gradually, but unfortunately even with Alphaflys I couldn’t keep up with him. I wonder if I could run a bit faster would I be able to pick it up for the last 400m like everyone else seems to be able to do. I might start doing that new Jakob Ingebrigtsen session from YouTube, that would probably make the difference.

10. Usualth Position

I think that it was terrible to finish fourth again. As usual there were prizes for the top 3 so I didn’t have to hang around to collect a prize like Mark Walsh. Instead, I jogged back to the car outside the chipper and made sure it wasn’t going to close early. I had time for a warm down with Rhona up to the Cliff House Hotel where we saw 11 Porsche 911s parked outside the hotel. Then it was back to the chipper for chips at the seaside which was the whole point of the race in the first place.