10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Achill Half Marathon 2024

1. Choices

I think that there are too many races on. I am having to miss races I want to do because there are too many. After last year I have imposed a strict limit of two per week so that meant picking Achill over the Galbally 10 miler. I picked Achill because it is like a holiday half marathon being so far away and I like holidays as much as running.

2. Good Things Come to Those Who Wait for Free Cancellation

I think that I have mastered the art of booking accommodation for races. I waited until three days before the race as that’s when the free cancellation period runs out and sure enough a B&B on the beach 0.25 of a mile from the start appeared. Not only was the B&B right by the start and finish but you could walk out the back door onto the beach, it even had a nespresso machine.

3. Sheep on the Road

I think that it would be nice just to go to Achill Island stay in the B&B on the beach and go for a normal run, that’s what I was thinking when I headed out for my warmup 40 minutes before the start. There were sheep wandering along the road to slow the cars and it was a lovely morning so it would have been nice just to run easy. Instead I turned back and retrieved my magic shoes.

4. Anthony Mannix

I think I will have to send an invoice to the Cork Finally Has a Track Club for a new pair of Vaporflys. When I was putting on my pink Vaporflys in the nice B&B a chunk of the ZoomX foam broke off the heel section that Anthony Mannix keeps clipping me on in the races. It could only be the clipping that caused it as that section of the shoe doesn’t contact anything else. I considered wearing them anyway but as I had an identical spare pair in the boot I swapped to those just to be safe.

5. Unexpected Mannix

I think that Tudor could have had a nice easy day out if he had accepted my kind offer of running with me and then winning like Gary O’Hanlon did a few years ago. Tudor looked like he meant business and sure enough when Brendan Courtney of Off the Rails fame got us under way Tudor tore off after the lead car. I tried to follow but gave up after about half a kilometer once the main photos had been taken. I was just settling into my rhythm when who do I see with his head out the window of a car only Anthony Mannix. Thankfully he was doing the 10k so no clipping occurred.

6. Cadence Catcher

I think that I need to get better at running on my own. I’m terrible at it, if you put me on a straight road on my own and tell me to run I will just get slower and slower until I stop. I need someone with me to make me run any sort of pace. As we approached the top of the mountain that makes up the first 5k of the route I could hear someone behind who was clearly wearing AlphaFly3s. I had a good listen and made sure it was only one pair of shoes before I backed off a little at the top of the hill to have some water and wait for some company.

7. Probing

I think that although I was very happy to have company I also desperately wanted to win second and the €250 that would help to pay for the best B&B ever. After about three miles of running together I decided to see if I could drop my new companion. I first tried on a hill, this didn’t work at all, in fact he nearly dropped me. Then I tried on a downhill, this sort of worked but not really as there was a hill again soon. Then much to my surprise on a flat section of road I started to get a gap, must be a trail runner I thought. So I decided to wait until the end as dropping him on the hills was impossible and the hills don’t end until mile 12.

8. Undropable Man

I think that if I hadn’t of known the course I would have finished 3rd. My running buddy for the half who I later found out was called Oran was impossibly good on the hills. Normally I have to get rid of someone before the finish as I can’t sprint but I figured this time that with the downhill last mile and flat last half a kilometer I was at a major advantage so I matched Oran as best I could on the many many hills and waited for that 12th mile marker to arrive.

9. Best Sprint Ever

I think that it is a pity that I wasn’t sprinting for victory as my sprint in Achill on the beach in Keel was probably one of the great finishes. It started at the 12th mile marker where I launched my finish, I thought I’d get a gap on the downhill but Oran followed and as we entered the town of Keel and the road started to flatten I could still hear him behind. I waited until the sharp left turn into the camp site with the nice smooth tarmac before launching my newest weapon my sprint. For once I was not passed in the home straight and crossed the line victorious in second place and definitely not fourth.

10. Reigning Champion

I think that I must look like a champion. After the race I had a good chat and took photos with Oran and Mick before finishing the half with Rhona. We had time for lunch in The Beehive with Conor and Ciara before the all important prize giving in the white tent in the field. During the prize giving it was announced that I was last years champion which was great as I actually came third but sure what harm, I corrected the record before Brendan Courtney handed me my prize, I probably should have said nothing. Maybe they were just predicting the future as it is surely inevitable that I will return some year, maybe next year and become champion of Achill Island.