Grange Fermoy 10K 2024

10 Things I Think About The Grange Fermoy 10k 2024

1. Glanworth

I think that it was nice to get to run a race in the town where my father is from. We didn’t get to run past the house as it is in the town but I jogged past it while I was rushing to collect the number and excellent t-shirt. Glanworth is a great place for a race, only 30 minutes from Glanmire with a nice bridge and castle. It was great to see it busy with all the runners when I arrived early 30 minutes before the race.

2. Sure You’re Only a Jogger

I think that Michael Herlihy must own Sixt rental cars in Cork. The poor Scirocco broke down the day after Clonmel so I had to go and get a rental car. When I went to collect it they have me a Dacia Jogger, I pleaded with them for anything else but they had nothing (apparently) so I was left to drive as a jogger to the race in my jogger.

3. French Grinds

I think that it is much better going to Clo’s farm to do a race rather than to do French grinds for the Leaving Cert like I did nearly 20 years ago. It seems mad that 20 years later there is a race starting right outside the farm you could even park in the farmyard if you needed to right by the start.

4. Gone with the Wind

I think that the wind was a big big factor in today’s race.I love a bit of weather in a race as it puts the PB and watch checking runners off kilter. I couldn’t care less what time we run so I led off into the wind like a fool. At least it was downhill so it kind of balanced out. I was surprised to be still in the lead when we turned right at the first kilometre marker.

5. The Pack

I think that a group of runners at the front of the race is like a pack of wild dogs. There is an unspoken known order of assumed greatness that should be established at least after a mile. This race was very usual, because of the wind no one could escape the bunch so the natural order was never established. Perhaps this was the day where the order of the dogs was going to change, perhaps the big hairy dog with tanned long legs wearing pink Vaporflys and yellow shorts would become the leader.

6. Perfect Pacing

I think that it was great to be still leading after 5k. After the race Michael McMahon gave out to me for being an idiot and said that I could have won if I was sensible and clever. I think that he was very wrong though as I prefer to be at the front as it is sort of like a hybrid car in that the battery is getting topped up by the act of leading the race and annoying the other people who feel they should be leading the race.

7. Every Dog Has His Day

I think that when I got to 6k still in the lead I started to think that perhaps Rhona had secretly given me a blood transfusion as my Christmas present. I was ahead of Sergiu even. This never happens, Conor McCauley was under pressure. Very usual, I didn’t even feel terrible. Every dog has his day perhaps.

8. Citizen Kane

I think that Kane Collins ruined my day. When we turned the corner out of the wind at 7km he took off and shook the bunch of dogs apart. Suddenly we were lined out one by one with gaps developing rapidly, Sergiu was second, Kris was third, Conor fourth, Nick fifth and me and Tadhg joint sixth with an actual proper journalist Brian Canty of Sticky Bottle fame right on our tail.

9. Remember When I Beat Hop

I think that today was my chance to beat Conor McCauley like I beat John O’Connell around this time of year many many years ago which was a great breakthrough moment in my running career. All I had to do was follow Kris, instead I got stuck in a battle with Nick O’Donoghue who took a while to shake off. The downhill with the wind run to the finish over the last 2k should have suited me perfectly but it seemed to suit everyone just as perfectly.

10. Shudda, Wudda, Cudda

I think that Michael McMahon was right and that I would have won the race if I wasn’t such a fool running into the wind. The new route for the race is wonderful, a great success, a route for racing, a route for a clever underdog. There were even prizes down to sixth place which is very unusual which I unfortunately couldn’t collect as I couldn’t wait to get back into my Dacia Jogger for the drive back to Glanmire.

photo: GRAHAM Meikle

Grange Fermoy 4 Mile 2020

10 Things I Think About The Fantastic Grange Fermoy 4 Mile

1. An Rud is Annamh is Iontach

I think that less races is better. No races is definitely terrible but perhaps we had too many races before. This was a proper race, a real race, no nonsense, no money, no prizes and no shiny medals. It was less than 200 people trying to find out who’s the best at running 4 miles. Because there were no other races on, everyone was there, everyone.

2. Doublethink

I think it shows you how messed up this country is that the pubs were open before there was a road race in Cork. It doesn’t take a masters in public health to figure out that pubs are very dangerous dens of disease and small local road races are not.

3. Prohibition

I think that we should ban running every few years to increase participation levels. There was clearly a lot of training going on over the last few months judging by the standard of this race. That or a lot of online shopping on Nike .com

4. Billy and the Stress Fracture

I think that I had two excellent excuses for my performance today. I spent four weeks doing nothing because of a second metatarsal stress fracture in May. Then just as I’d gotten over the stressie, Billy arrived. I think I’d take Billy over a stress fracture any day. Billy permits ample running, stressies do not.

5. Magic Shoes

I think that the magic shoes make it so much easier to comeback after a stress fracture. Normally it would take 12 weeks to be able to tolerate sessions and races after a stressie but with the nice soft springy Vaporflys you could probably race even when you had the stress fracture. They really are magic.

6. Hairy Beasts

I think that it is a shame that only myself, Barry and Conor have maintained the lockdown look. Initially, I went down the top knot/mini man bun route but recently I have discovered hairbands which are far better. I think I’ll keep the hair, the beard might go.

7. Social Distancing

I think that Grange Fermoy did an excellent job on the race. It was far more socially distanced than any GAA match you’d watch through a fence. The hall which is the primary source of most pre and post race infections and diseases was exchanged for a beautiful white outdoor Gazebo. It was like a race in Spain, just with a bit of wind and a few threatening sprinkles of rain. Everyone lined up on excellently socially distanced blue Xs. We were called to the line a few seconds before the start and away we went like normal minus the pointless touching and jostling like penguins behind the line. Perfect. Almost better than before.

8. The Old Normal

I think that no matter what happens I will always end up racing John Meade and Viv. I was pretty sure I was done with them last year but the stress fracture has made me quite bad. John Meade still hasn’t given Nike a shiny penny, in-fact he hasn’t given any shoe companies any pennies. He’d probably be disadvantaged even if there weren’t Vaporflys. In fairness to Viv at least he beat me badly, John Meade just sat on me until the last 100m and then sprinted away like a man who was delighted with himself. To make it worse he brought Kieran McKeown with him.

9. Can We Do This Again?

I think we need more club only races. I love a big huge race as much as anyone but there is something special about these races where everyone is capable of running under 22 minutes for 4 miles. It was like the All Ireland Cross Country on the road. Standards are good.

10. Living is Better than Existing

I think that it is great to be back racing. I know runners are awful selfish sweaty creatures who look like the perfect vehicles to spread disease but really we are no worse than GAA players. Life is definitely better when there are races, races are definitely better when Grange Fermoy organize them. I hope there are more.