Alghero Half Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Alghero Half Marathon 2025

1. It’s Always Sunny in Sardegna

I think that Sardinia is probably my favourite island. It is like a warm Achill Island, an amazing place with beautiful and stunning scenery. The only problem and it’s a small problem is that it can be a little warm for running. Luckily on Sunday some cloud rolled in from the mediterranean making it more like Achill Island than Sardinia.

2. Cannonau

I think that even if you weren’t going to Sardinia for a half marathon it would be worth going for the food and wine. Cannonau is the local wine which is very good and fregola is the local pasta which is so good it is amazing that it isn’t everywhere. They are clearly very proud of the fregola as there is a restaurant at the airport that cooks fregola from scratch.

3. Olive Oil

I think that it is worth going to Sardinia just for the olive oil. I replaced the usual football match and race combination with an olive oil farm tour and race combination. Unfortunately, we picked the worst time to go on the tour as they had just started the harvest, so all last year’s olive oil was sold out and this year’s olive oil hadn’t yet been produced.

4. Singlets

I think that there are a few important things to remember when running races in Italy, number one is that you need a medical certificate signed by a doctor to run the competitive race as Julius and Evita the other Cork runners in the race found out. Number two which I forgot is that they have separate women’s cut singlet. Forgetting this I ordered Rhona a medium as usual. My mistake meant that I had to run up to the registration on the morning of the race to swap for a large, luckily, they were also selling last years singlets for €5 so I returned with three singlets and a good 4km warm up.

5. Gazzetta Dello Sport

I think it is a pity that we don’t have a newspaper like Gazzetta in Ireland. I can’t read Italian but I know it is a great newspaper. My favourite feature is the detailed player ratings, I think this would work really well for rating people in races, John Meade 6/10, Michael Herlihy 5/10 etc along with a paragraph tearing their performance to pieces. Gazzetta seemed to be involved in promoting the half marathon as on the start line an influencer was doing a piece to camera for Instagram for which I tried to get my new makeshift Glanmire A.C Fiorentina inspired purple singlet in the background

6. Moto

I think that the start of the race was great fun. The competitive 10k which Rhona had opted for went off 5 minutes before the half marathon so after about a mile we ran into the back of the 10k. We had two fellas on motorbikes who seemed to enjoy greatly clearing a path through the 10k runners for the front of the half marathon. Eventually it became too crowed for the motorbike, so we were left to weave our way through the 10k on our own.

7. Cinque

I think that I was too happy with 5th place in the race. I had looked up the regulations before hand and saw that there were cash prizes down to 5th with €400 for first. The front three quickly opened a gap while I was left with a fella in a red singlet with some sort of dragon on the back of it in fourth and fifth. After about 10k as we turned back to run out the road to Fertillia for the second time the red singlet fella made a move and left me firmly in fifth.

8. Mistral

I think that the mistral is a very unusual wind. It comes off the land in France and comes at the north of Sardinia, as we found out for the 5k between Alghero and Fertilla it is quite a strong wind. My friend in the red dragon singlet somehow managed to bridge across to second and third into the wind while I watched my kilometer splits drift from 3:30 to 3:40 remaining firmly stuck in fifth as was confirmed by Julius who was passing on the other side of the road in the competitive noncompetitive 10k.

9. Scirocco

I think it is great that the opposite wind to the Mistral is the Scirocco which is my favourite car. Once we turned in Fertillia at 15k the Mistral became my friend. Suddenly I felt good and the Adidas Pro 4s that I had packed started to work. 3:40s returned to high 3:20s and the gap to the group of second, third and fourth slowly closed. I thought I would catch fourth but despite closing to within five seconds as I passed Rhona’s Camino friend Pino who provided the best Italian support on the course, I could only finish 5th.

10. Podiums, Champagne and Forms

I think that the most important thing when doing a race on holidays is to make the podium. Luckily for me the podium in Alghero had five places. The premiazione took place in the same place as the registration with free Peroni beer on tap and as much food as at the prize giving in Coolagown. On the podium I received two bottles of champagne, local olive oil and some shower gel. I thought that was it but then the fella with the red dragon singlet who ended up second came up to me and told me about the desk where you fill out a form with your bank details to get the cash prize which was very kind.

Rhona, PINO AND ME

Cork County Senior XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior XC 2025

1. Nerves and Terror

I think that the County Senior is the only race that terrifies me. No other race induces nerves like it. It’s great as it is the only race all year where almost everyone turns up to see who is the best in Cork at running around a farmers field with long grass and big hills. High stakes stuff.

2. Bethpage, Carrigadrohid

I think that I had another reason to fear going to the county senior this year. It was the first time I would have been at a cross-country race in 10 years where I wasn’t going to be wearing the Leevale singlet. I feared constant abuse from the sidelines, instead all I got was a handshake from Terry, good luck with the new club and a few encouraging shouts during the race. All very gentlemanly.

3. Number for The Unwashed

I think that the other thing I feared was going to collect the number from the horsebox. Due to the rules and regulations, I had to run as an unattached runner with no club for the race. Running club purgatory isn’t a great place to be, there is no team to run for, no tent, no one to collect the number for you, no one to tell you what not to do, no one to care whether you run well or not. I trotted up to the horsebox on my own to collect the number which was retrieved from the envelope labelled unattached and handed to me with instructions to make sure I wore a white singlet.

4. White Singlet of Shame

I think that it is bad enough that I had to run in club purgatory, to make it worse the rules and regulations stipulate that all runners in purgatory must wear a white singlet to indicate purity of club. As Cork’s second most popular running influencer after Tadhg O’Sullivan I decided that I would use the opportunity to create my new brand, Dónal, so I got Dónal printed on the back of my white adidas singlet. You too can do the same on the adidas website, it’s free with every white singlet, other colours are available too.

5. Dynamic Undulations

I think that the course in Carrigadrohid was designed by Barry Twohig and John Meade, there is no other explanation, Meade drew it out, Barry fenced it off. It was purposefully designed to favour the more dynamic powerful runner and not lumbering long limbed elegant creatures like me. There was no flat, no respite. The start was down at the lowest point of the course with an immediate steep 300m hill to make sure that everyone was at max heart rate from the off. When we got under way everyone tore off up the hill which filtered out the Barry Twohigs and John Meades from the Michael Herlihys and Nick O’Donoghues. I was left quite close to the back with the Michael Herlihys.

6. Jakob Ingebrigtsen

I think that I took inspiration from Jakob Ingebrigtsen in making my move to the front. It was very similar to a 5k track race where he is at the back of a big long pack, they cut away to a high jumper and then cut back to the 5k and he is magically at the front. It was a very good move. I could hear Michael Herlihy laughing at me as I went by which meant that it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

7. Content Creator

I think that it was great to get accused of trying to create content by Rob Heffernan. The cheek from a man who’s job it is to generate content. I don’t even use Instagram plus I have form of leading the county senior before. I used to do it long before there was social media, back when we did things because they are fun, a bit of craic and not because you might get 20000 followers and get sent a free pair of socks in the post. Anyway leading the county senior was great fun, I probably could have led for a bit more if it wasn’t for the John Meade and Barry Twohig designed hill.

8. Wet Socks

I think that I suffered far more than I thought I would from going to the front of the race. It actually wasn’t that fast, 5:25 minute miles but I was losing so much ground on the hill each lap that I was just getting slower and slower every lap as the lactic acid bath that I had poured for myself filled to the brim. It was particularly painful by the end, pain that was amplified by a poor choice of thin socks which slipped down off my heel and crumpled up under the arch of both feet. Socks are important, vital almost, at least I didn’t have wet socks.

9. The Barry Lane

I think there needs to be a separate finishing lane for Barry Donovans. It is not safe to have athletes like me crawling to the finish while Barrys tear in at twice the speed. Without separate finishing lanes for Barry Donovans collisions are inevitable. The only thing worse than having to run up the hill five times was the feeling of Barry Donovan running into the back of me 20m from the line. Feeling the unwanted contact, I immediately remembered that I didn’t have to beat Barry for Leevale so I waved him through to the finish so that he could score an extra point for my good friends in Cork has two tracks and one of them might be mondo Track Club.

10. The Most Important Thing

I think that the county senior is the greatest race of the year. It was a great event, well organised with a great atmosphere, it was great to see so many youngfellas in the senior race to dilute the abundance of moderately old men like me. Michael Harty showed that moderately old men can still perform at the highest level and beat any youngfella in the county which is great and inspirational. The most important thing though is; and it is very important, I gave Michael Herlihy a bad beating.

Castlegar XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar XC 2025

1. The Best Time of Year

I think that cross country season is the best time of the running calendar. It is the purest form of running, no times, no gels, no magic shoes, just magic spikes and grass. The Castlegar XC has become the Ballintotis 4 mile of the XC season, the opening event of four to five months of racing.

2. Popularity

I think it is great that XC running isn’t as popular as the marathon. I think I might be finished with marathons. They have become too popular. Imagine if you had to enter a XC race a year in advance although it isn’t that long ago that you could enter Valencia marathon a few weeks before hand, popularity spreads quickly, maybe someday there will be 50,000 people trying to enter a XC race in Galway.

3. Calf Rippers

I think that it is very important to do a few session in spikes before racing in them. I am very lucky to have the UCC Farm and the great Michael Herlihy to do sessions in spikes. The new spikes are great because they don’t immediately tear the calves off you like the old ones did. I am yet to decide which are better the track Dragonflys or the XC Dragonflys with the studs. For Galway I went with the studs.

4. Glanmire to Galway

I think that it is amazing how close Galway is with the new road. Many years ago when I was young it was impossible to go to Galway as it took 5 hours. Now it takes 2 hours and twenty minutes which is great and as quick as going to Dublin and as XC races are always on in the afternoon it is easy to do as a day trip especially when the weather is nice like it was on Saturday

5. Tot’s Race

I think that it was great that Billy got to run a race on the same course as me. The tots race took place just before my race. They ran the last 250m of the loop with even a few bales to jump over. Billy has the same agility as me so he climbed over the bales rather than jumping before passing someone out on the downhill run to the finish just like me. He seemed to enjoy racing as much as I do which is good.

6. The Dada’s Race

I think that I noticed how old I am on the start line. I was one of the oldest people racing, I could have been the father of a lot of the field which is both great and terrifying. Road racing has become the preserve of moderately old men so it was interesting to race youngfellas who just tear off with no respect for anyone. The course was slightly different to last year, nothing major just slightly less downhill from the start.

7. He’s Good

I think that the awful thing about XC racing is that it is very hard to tell if you are running well or not. Pace doesn’t matter it all comes down to position. Because most of the other runners were youngfellas I couldn’t tell whether I was doing well or not. The only runner I could use as a marker was Niall Shanahan. I was briefly ahead of him which I thought was great but then he got a small bit ahead which was also ok as I wouldn’t be anywhere near him on the road.

8. Mark Walsh Proofed

I think it was great that the course had been Mark Walsh proofed after last year. The hay bale jumps were back again but this time it was impossible to bypass them. You had to jump every single one as the course was hermetically sealed around each jump, unfortunately there was no Mark Walsh to actually test out the impossibility. It is interesting that incorporating plyometrics into my ever-expanding non running routine appears to have made no difference to my ability to jump over hay bales.

9. This is Hard

I think that 7.5k sounds like a very short race. It would be on the road, but 7.5k cross country is more like 10k on the road. After four laps I felt that familiar feeling of how the hell am I going to keep going for another lap. Luckily and unluckily, I was in no mans land, a bit behind Niall Shanahan with no one behind me so I thread the line between trying too hard and giving up and got home in the same 15th position that I started the last lap in. Another advantage of XC is that you don’t have to run for a time just a position.

10. On the Ground

I think that my favourite part of a XC race is lying down on the grass after the race. It is a different sport to road running, way way way harder, a far better sport. I was happy enough with 15th as I only recognized Niall Shanahan ahead of me and I don’t mind being beaten by youngfellas that I don’t know and shouldn’t be beating anyway. I did my warm down which was completed without any new pains before going to the best vegan restaurant in Galway Greens. A nice day out.

Photo: RHONA

Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

10 Things I Think About The Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

1. Second Mile

I think that this was probably only my second ever mile race. My first mile race also happened to be organized by Rob Heffernan back in 2005 at the Mardyke when he was coaching UCC and I was pretty much the only runner in UCC. Just like now I had no idea about running so took off as hard as I could led for most of the mile before being passed by Rob’s brother Elton on the home straight. I ran something like 5:20 which meant that I was in with a good chance of a PB 20 years later.

2. Trepidation

I think that there is unnecessary fear of a mile race. Mile races should be way more popular than 5ks, 5ks are horrible, the pain lasts for way longer. A mile is over before you know it and you are guaranteed to finish a lot closer to the winner in a mile than in a 5k .The main issue with mile races is that it is highly possible that you will get beat by someone that you don’t want to get beat by because raw talent is probably a bit more important than training for a mile race. Well trained donkeys can beat horses in 5ks, horses always win mile races.

3. Spanish Vibes

I think that if it wasn’t for the weather the race could well have been in Spain, there was a great atmosphere in Blackrock Village where the farmers market is on a Sunday morning with a big stage and food trucks. The place was overrun with local running celebrities, Sonia, Derval, Rob Heffernan, Pa Murphy and even John Meade. Just around the corner was the finishing line with the start at the City end of the Marina near Cortado. It was a proper event with Graham Meikle not only measuring the 1 mile course but also taking photos.

4. UnSpanish Weather

I think that it was very unlucky that the weather was not like in Spain. I always wondered what they would do in Spain at a race if it was raining. In Cork we just get on with it, I suppose in Spain it would at least be warm. It would probably have been ok if there had of been a howling westerly wind to blow us from one end of the Marina to the other but instead the rain came in these useless swirling squalls that did nothing but make you wish that you were in Spain.

5. Childminding Relay

I think it was great that there were separate men’s and women’s races as it meant that Rhona and I could both run without the need for Billy minding. It was a slight logistical challenge as there was 15 minutes between the start of each race so once Rhona crossed the line 4th in 6 minutes I had to run quite fast back down the Marina to make it to the start which I just about managed. It made for a good warm up.

6. I Really Shouldn’t Be Here

I think that it was very intimidating up on the start line of the race. I was surrounded by fellas that I knew would destroy me in a 10 x 400m repeat session. I was pretty sure I was going to be left behind at the start, my main concern was not falling or knocking over one of the fellas who were going for the sub 4-minute mile.

7. Pumaflys

I think that the biggest change in running since I did my first mile race back in 2005 has been the shoes. We now have magic shoes not the suction boots that we used to have to run in. The Puma Fast R3s are probably about 300g lighter than whatever shoe I wore back in 2005, combined with ridiculously bouncy foam and a carbon plate. They are so so good for this sort of race where you are up on your toes for the whole race. I’m so glad that these were invented just in time for my 40s.

8. Proper Track Athlete

I think that I was surprised at how the race unfolded. I had fully expected to be left behind at the start. My fears were correct but only two fellas and Italian and a Romanian left me behind. I found myself surprised in fourth or fifth once we went through about 400m. The Pumas are so good that I was able to overtake Denis Coughlan who is a proper actual track runner and move up into third. I got to 1 kilometer still in third which I kind of didn’t believe. I still felt ok mainly because of the Pumas so I decided to try and run harder which amazingly resulted in me even opening a little gap. Maybe I’ve been doing the wrong event all this time.

9. Away Victory

I think that the last 200m of the race was pretty inevitable. My hopes of a third place finish and the €200 prize evaporated within sight of the line as a fella in a grey t-shirt tore by on the left at a speed that I have never run at nor will ever run at. Some how I was still ahead of Denis but I could see him out of the corner of my eye. I just about got to the chip timing line ahead of him which was excellent and probably horrifying to Denis.

10. Giant Cheque

I think that the feeling after a mile race is wonderful. I haven’t had that mixture of breathlessness and pain in a long time. It is way more fun than a marathon, why does anyone run marathons? The post race event back in Blackrock village was great especially as both Rhona and I got to go up on the stage to collect prizes for 4th place. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get top 3 as they even had a giant cheque for the prize. I’ve always wanted a photo with a giant cheque. Maybe next year, it might be time to move down in distance and give up the marathons.

Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

1. Jean-Marc Bosman

I think that it is terrible to transfer clubs. I should probably have stayed with Leevale forever. It would be a lot easier. Leevale is a great club with great athletes and even greater coaches but unfortunately I live in Glanmire which is too far from the city to get to Leevale training especially when you have a desperate fear and hatred of traffic like I do. The other problem with changing clubs is that unlike in the soccer where you can play immediately for your new club in athletics you have to serve a one-month period of club purgatory so this was my first race in purgatory sans club.

2. 4.30pm

I think that 4.30pm on a Saturday is a great time for a race. I’m a very tired, sleepy and lazy moderately old man so the later I can get up the better. 4.30pm means you don’t have to set an alarm even when the race is 90 minutes away in Glengarriff. I got up at 11, had some toast and coffee, did some foam rolling, almost like a professional.

3. Wet Saturday in September

I think that it is always dangerous doing a race in West Cork. It is a place with very bad weather, normally Mark Gallagher uses his weather machine and the sun is shining but every so often we get the proper weather that fits the surroundings and scenery. Saturday was proper West Cork weather, proper wet, proper windy too, perfect cross country weather.

4. Uphill Start

I think that an uphill start poses an unusual challenge. Because of the career threatening injury that I suffered in the Midleton 5 mile I am very race rusty. The Glengarriff route starts outside the church at the bottom of the hill. I know from experience that the worst thing you can do with an uphill start is to sprint up the hill so when we got under way in the pouring wind and rain I found myself in about tenth by the time we got to the first corner at the pub. Luckily there was a nice downhill section on the lovely footpath to make up the ground on Tommy Arthur who I presumed would provide the main opposition.

5. Racing is Hard

I think that I understand why people prefer training to racing, training is nice, you get to chose how long you run for, take nice rests so that the bar graphs look tall on Strava and you never really have to suffer. Racing is different, you don’t get to pick the pace just follow whoever is in front and however fast they are going which in this case was Tommy Arthur and Michael Dullea. I would have chosen a slower pace, especially up the hill to the entrance to the forest.

6. Forest Running

I think that the forest in Glengarriff is as close to an indoor athletics arena that we will get to in Cork. On a wet and windy day there was no better place to have a race. Just like on an indoor track it was very difficult to pass on the narrow forest paths, well that was what I was telling myself as I was stuck in third place after three miles struggling to keep up with Tommy and Michael.

7. Blue Flag

I think that Tommy Arthur must have thought he was in a Formula 1 race as he kindly waved me through like there was a steward at the side of the path waving a blue flag. Perhaps he thought that I might try a mad lunge up the inside of Michael resulting in a collision with Tommy taking advantage and winning. I was happy enough to try and follow Michael knowing that the last mile of the race was downhill on the road about the only thing that I am anyway good at.

8. Are You John Meade in Disguise?

I think that it always surprises me that John Meade doesn’t do the races in Beara, instead he heads to Dingle where he habitually wins the half marathon routinely. After about a mile of following and studying the powerful running form of Michael Dullea I became concerned that it actually was John Meade after using one of those Mission Impossible face mask swapping machines. He was even wearing the same Edge Sports singlet that John Meade wears. Michael/John was very difficult to keep up with in the forest, with a powerful dynamic stride that makes you think I can’t possibly keep up with this level of intensity.

9. Open Road

I think that while it is the athlete’s responsibility to know the course in case you go wrong it is also very advantageous to know the course so that you can run to your strengths. I knew that the last mile of the course was downhill on the road with only the last little steep climb to the finish. Once we got out onto the road I thought about the drills that Michael Herlihy taught me on the track in Font Romeu and slowly but surely reeled in Michael/John before passing him as we went over a speedbump.

10. Skedaddle

I think that my running drills must be working as I was able to hold off Michael on the uphill finish. Once across the line I was half shocked that he didn’t reveal himself to be actually John Meade but it appears that he actually was Michael Dullea. We took photos in the rain and wind before very kindly and in consideration of the weather Mark handed out the prizes which facilitated a quick warm down to the car and return to Glanmire without getting colder or wetter. The good news is that it couldn’t possibly rain any more for the remaining three races in the series which is just as well as this is the only indoor/forest race in the series.

Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

1. Reigning Champion

I think that it is nice to go back to a race as the reigning champion. It is a rare enough thing to happen to a moderately old man like me so it is important to enjoy these occasions. I won last year by beating one of my heroes James McCarthy. Unfortunately, 2025 has been a year of injury and time spent on Zwift cycling so there wasn’t much hope of a repeat victory, not that there was much hope even if I hadn’t spent the summer banjaxed.

2. Law of Conservation of Injury

I think that one of the laws of running is that running injuries are neither created nor destroyed merely transferred from one runner to another. Thankfully my time as an injured runner has come to an end. It took 11 weeks for my right anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament to knit itself back together after the Midleton 5 mile. Unfortunately, this means that some poor other runner is now injured. Think about it if this law wasn’t true there would be no physios.

3. Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

I think that a lot can change over the course of three months. New shoes have arrived on the scene in the shape of the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 which are supposed to be better than everything else according to science and YouTube. Local runners are also using Bicarb which has filtered down from the elites and YouTube. Isn’t it great to be alive at such a time, you don’t even have to train to get better just buy stuff. I decided I would limit myself to the shoes only and keep the bicarb for a night where the toilet is closer to the finish line.

4. Perfect Training

I think that I will do only perfect training while I still remember the time I spent cycling on Zwift while I watched very annoying influencer running channels. The fear of ending up back on the bike watching drivel is enough to put manners on my madness for at least a few months or weeks or days.

5. Photo Photo

I think one of the things I missed about being injured is that no one was around to take my photo. No one took my photo while I was cycling on Zwift which is just as well. There lots of excellent photographers in Rathcormac, from Garry Lee to Graham. I don’t think I look different after the injury which is good.

6. No Respect

I think that it was terrible to be left so far behind at the start. Despite the fact that I was the reigning champion there was no respect given. Paul Hartnett was gone into the distance within 400m with victory assured, Pat Hennessy and Aidan Connell were gone too leaving me without even hope of a podium. After about 400m I figured out how to work the Pumas and started to move up from about 9th to 6th.

7. Missed Misery

I think that the thing I missed most about racing is the feeling of utter misery about halfway through a race. It is marvellous. You don’t get anywhere near the misery on Zwift, the misery on Zwift is a horrible misery whereas running a race misery is wonderful. As enjoyable as the misery was it was becoming clear that I would have to fight for my usual fourth place finish as both Niall O’Callaghan and Struan Simpson were proving difficult to get ahead of.

8. Potentially Fourth, Potentially First

I think that because I won the race last year, did I mention that, I assumed that I would be able to repeat my moderately fast finish of last year. The last mile, that’s where I’ll get Niall I thought. Unfortunately, Niall had other ideas and I became more and more confirmed in fifth position. The Pumas which earlier I had feared were going to result in a torn calf became more comfortable but didn’t result in any magical finish. Perhaps I just watched too much YouTube.

9. Disappointed Commentator

I think that the commentator at the race must have been unaware of my terrible injury and the superiority of Paul Hartnett even if I was in the full of my health. Clearly I was expected to win comfortably as he was disappointed to have to wait until 5th place to welcome me home. Using the Michael Herlihy Method ™ of calculating where you would have finished in races you ran but were not at full fitness, I reckon I would have done well to get fourth on a good day seeing as when I won last year I ran 20:50 or so.

10. Definitely Not Injured

I think that it is great not to be injured. Injuries are great because they make you appreciate running and racing. It is such a privilege to be able to run a race not be hurt and then do a warm down afterwards in no pain. I don’t really mind if I never get to win a race again or run a PB again as long as I can run and experience pure misery while being watched by a field of cows. It is so much better than sitting on a bike sweating watching running influencers on YouTube.

Cursa D'Age 2025

1. Return to Running

I think that when you are returning to running after a significant ankle injury it is very important to follow a carefully monitored return to run program. The one I use is run for 15 minutes, then take a day off, run for 20 minutes, take a day off run for 25 minutes, take a day off, run for 30 minutes, take a day off then drive on. Ain’t nobody got no time for that walk run stuff.

2. Running Streak

I think that once you can run every day for about a week you are good to go. There isn’t much to be worried about if it was an injury where something tore or broke. Once it is healed it is healed and it probably won’t go again. Fear is an awful thing, fear should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. If it doesn’t hurt it’s fine, drive on.

3. Sessions = Races

I think that if you can do a session, you can do a race. There is no point waiting for months to get back in shape, a race is better than any session. I probably would have waited ages to do a race due to my enlarged ego but a half trail half road race in Font Romeu where the only person I would have to suffer a bad beating from would be John Meade provided the perfect opportunity for a race without any significant ego damage.

4. Ageless

I think that I have done the Cursa D’Age more times than most of the locals, I’ve been doing it since 2016. It is a wonderful race, a small gem of a race with no fuss and no stress. Unfortunately, while the race has remained the same I have not and have gotten significantly older and more injured, the only consolation is that I am now eligible for the masters prize so there is a reasonable chance of a podium every time I run.

5. Speed Doesn’t Go Away

I think that it is fascinating that after nearly 11 weeks of almost no running I was able to run close enough to a five-minute mile for the first mile of the race. It kind of shows that the only thing training does is allow the pace to be maintained. The five-minute mile was no good in this case as Age had been invaded by elite athletes from the Asics house in Font Romeu which meant that I was miles off the front even after 500m. Even John Meade found himself trailing the leading lady who I recognized as Julien Melody who led the Women’s Marathon in Paris until halfway.

6. Fitness Does Go Away

I think that while speed doesn’t disappear, fitness does not hang around. After the first mile I soon ran out of oxygen, the five-minute mile reduced to closer to six and John Meade disappeared up the road at a rate that I have thankfully become unfamiliar with. I was left in a small group who I calculated I would have to beat if I wanted to stand on the podium in the masters category. I didn’t fancy my chances.

7. Masters Battle

I think that I should have fought harder when a local runner about the same age and height came past me after about three miles as the route entered the dirt road section before the deadly rock section. Try as I might I just got slower, the sessions on Zwift did nothing. He disappeared up the trail in his Vaporfly 3s taking my podium ambitions with him.

8. Deadly Rocks

I think that you could not pick a better race to test a dodgy ankle than this race, three miles in the route turns into a trail containing a section of deadly rocks for about a mile. As my podium ambitions were over I took it handy and gently and carefully picked my way through the rocks in my battered 6 year old Vaporfly 1s. Soon I became aware of footsteps behind me. I got to the top of the hill still in front but knew there would be a battle to the finish.

9. The Sprint That Cured Me

I think the thing that I missed most while injured was having a race with someone. It was great to have a battle with local hero Alvaro Rance over the last mile. With about 400m of the 8100m left to go he was right on my shoulder. I forgot that I was ever injured and launched the most vicious sprint which miraculously resulted in me going faster and maintaining my 11th position, 4th moderately old man and more importantly uninjured runner.

10. No Podium but Well Done John Meade

I think that while it was terribly disappointing not to make the podium it was good to be able to shout well done John Meade at John Meade when he was called up to stand on the top of the moderately old man podium. It was also good to find out that 11 weeks of almost no running results in a decrease in performance of two minutes which isn’t too bad. After the race I was happy to find that my ankle was no worse than it was before which is a key metric when returning from injury, once it doesn’t get worse it’s fine, hopefully it stays that way.

Midleton 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Midleton 5 Mile 2025

1. It Was a Bright and Sunny Evening

I think that it is great to have the Cork Marathon weather a few weeks earlier than normal so that we can all get used to it. Who doesn’t love 20 degrees and 99% humidity. It’s wonderful, great for maximising the suffering which is the main reason we all love running. Hopefully it’ll get close to 30 and I’ll win Cork Marathon.

2. Jarveys

I think that it was very impressive how you didn’t need to have cash when registering for the race at the last minute. They had those SumUp machines that you can just tap, still it was nothing on the Jarveys in Killarney who can take payment by taping your card on the back of their phone. I stuck to the cash method as I’m still not used to doing anything other than putting cash into a biscuit tin and fishing out the change.

3. Race T-Shirts from Races you Didn’t Run

I think it was great to finally collect the race T-shirts from the Valencia 10K that I didn’t run in January. Ian O’Brien is great and picked them up when he was there. They have been in Graham’s car since, they are very nice t-shirts worth the wait. I didn’t wear them for the five minute warmup around the East Cork A.C training facility instead opting for my Padova marathon T-shirt.

4. Resignation

I think that there was a strange sense of resignation amongst the lads that I met before the start of the race. The talk was not of who was going to win it was can anyone of us beat Niamh Allen. Mark Walsh and Conor McCauley seemed like the primary contenders. I was not worried being well used to being beaten by Lizzie Lee and more recently Emily Sisson in local road races.

5. Start Line Introductions

I think that it was great that there were proper start line call outs for the great runners who had turned up for the race like me. I got a proper Berlin Marathon start line introduction with a spiel about how I was just back from a race in Italy which was true. It’s a pity it wasn’t live on TV I could have done a little wave to the camera.

6. The Four of Us

I think that it was surprising how the race played out. The last few times I have done this race Michael Harty has been out of sight by the time we go under the N25. This year there was no Michael Harty so the start was a little bit less hectic with a group of four forming at the front after a mile containing, me, Mark Walsh, Nick O’Donoghue and Niamh Allen. It was quite fast, probably too fast for me but sure you have to try and win.

7. Hanging On

I think that I did well to hang onto the front of the race for as long as I did. I got to the left turn by the farmyard with Mark and Niamh having lost Nick somewhere along the road. I was fine until the road went slightly uphill where it appeared as if Niamh and Mark were not experiencing the same hill that I was. I got to the next left-hand corner just about in touch but then the elastic snapped, and it was left to Mark to see if anyone could take on Niamh.

8. Man Down

I think that the last two miles of the race were very impressive. I didn’t slow down that much because of magic shoes, Vaporfly 4s for those who are interested. Up ahead I could see that Niamh was putting a significant amount of time into Mark to neutralise any potential sprint. They got further and further away, far enough away for me to start worrying more about what was behind me.

9.Very Late Entry

I think that I have rarely experienced fear like the last mile of this race. With Niamh and Mark well gone my attention turned to beating Conor McCauley in a road race for the first time ever which is possibly the last of my running goals. I was sure that he was doing one of those progression races where he gets faster every mile which meant I was in big big trouble as I was doing a regression race. Luckily when I turned into the home straight where there used to be a cattle grid someone said I was clear behind which I didn’t really believe so I kept sprinting as hard as I could to finish 3rd overall but 2nd in the men’s category and 1st of the people whose name was down as Late Entry in the results which was very apt.

10. Roy Keane

I think that it is great that Leevale now have Niamh Allen instead of Lizzie Lee to beat and torment the men in local races. I still remember vividly the last time Lizzie beat me in a road race in Fermoy when she stood over me like Roy Keane did to Haaland’s father. There were no such scenes in Midleton. Luckily the organisers didn’t do what they probably should have done and give all of the men’s prize money to Niamh Allen, so I got to go on the podium and collect an envelope like I had finished 2nd and have photos which was excellent.

Padova Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Padova Marathon 2025

1. Football Italia

I think that if it wasn’t for watching Football Italia on Network 2 back when I was 10 years old I wouldn’t have been so keen on running the Padova marathon. 1996 was a great year, I was 10 which is probably one of the best numbers to be, Padova were in Serie A and there was the perfect amount of Football on TV not the incessant unfollowable amount there is now. Fast forward to 2025, Serie A is not on RTE, Padova are in Serie C and I prefer running to football.

2. B Here Now

I think that it was fitting that my arrival in Padova coincided with the promotion of Padova from Serie C to Serie B. We arrived on the Friday evening from Venice oblivious to the important football match that was taking place at 4pm. Rhona and I went for a jog around the Prato delle Valle only to have our planned route blocked by a flash mob letting off flares and smoke bombs, we diverted through the city streets where we saw lunatics on scooters and a gravel truck full of jubilant Padovans touring the town celebrating promotion.

3. Training Marathon

I think that aside from football the other reason I wanted to do the Padova marathon is that it is five weeks before the Cork Marathon and I don’t like doing long runs so it was the perfect way to get a good long run in. While Strava stalking I’ve noticed that the new trend with the young fellas who watch YouTubers is 23 mile long runs at about 6 minute mile pace, sure why not just do a marathon at 6 minute mile pace, same thing really plus it would be warm and sunny in Padova just like Cork.

4. Trams and Buses

I think that Padova is very similar to Cork, it has a very old university, a population of about 250,000 and a boom and bust football club. Unlike Cork it has a nice new tram system which we used to get to the Marathon Expo which was very like a big marathon Expo with lots of stalls. It was very straightforward to pick up the bibs and nice t-shirts although they did look for Rhona’s medical certificate again which was fine as I had it on the phone. There were doctor clowns for Billy so a very good expo.

5. Logistics

I think that it is very important when you are doing marathons abroad to look up the logistics of the event. Unfortunately I got a bit distracted before Padova and hadn’t a clue where the race started, all I looked up was the finish so that I could book accommodation by the finish. At the Expo I discovered that the marathon started at the Padova Football ground which is sort of like if they built the Bertie Bowl but maybe say in Curraheen, to complicate matters Rhona was doing the half which started in Abano Terme about 13 miles away. Luckily we had a car and the football stadium had a huge solar panel covered parking lot so we could park there and then there was a bus to take Rhona to the start of the half. It all made sense when we got there and was exceptionally well organized which is the great thing about Italian races.

6. Il Canto degli Italiani

I think that if there is one thing that we should do at races here that they do in Italy is that we should start playing the national anthem before race starts. The marathon started on the road outside the parking lot for the stadium. There were two or three elite men and women introduced. Then we had a minutes silence for Papa Francesco followed by the Italian National anthem. Then we were underway on a road not too dissimilar to if you started the Cork marathon in the car park of the Grehound stadium at Curraheen.

7. Tranquillo

I think that I will do more marathons like I did Padova. It was great not to have the pressure of holding some silly pace for a sub 2:30 marathon that no one cares about except yourself and your huge ego. I was aiming for somewhere between 2:38 and 2:44 depending on the weather so I started at about 6:05 minute mile pace and eventually after about 5 miles found myself in a nice group with the lead Italian lady, her male pacer and most likely her coach on a bike. The race route was mostly on country roads with nice green fields, there were no hills, there was no wind and it was a little warm and sunny.

8. Bravo! Brava! Bravi!

I think that the training marathon plan went excellently until about halfway. I went through halfway with my group in exactly 1:20. I wore the AlphaFly 3 because while they are not very fast they are by far the shoe that results in the least post-race badness which was my main concern. I continued to bounce along with my group listening to the bravas for the lady and the bravis for myself and the pacer. It was all good until we ran into the back of the half marathon at around 16 miles, there was a slight headwind and I found myself getting distanced from the bravas and having to make do with bravo.

9. Nuns, Run

I think that the support on the route was great, there were crowds out in every little town we ran through with water stops with bottles every 5km. Padova is a very religious place with the Church of St Anthony in the last kilometer of the race route so it was no surprise to see lots of nuns out of the course supporting the runners. The last two miles of the race were almost entirely on cobbled streets with spectacular architecture everywhere if you weren’t too tired to look around. I seemed to be very good at the cobbles so I caught back up to my initial group for the finish and an encore of the bravis that I had become used to.

10. Sister Event

I think that the finish of the race on the Prato that had been blocked by the Padova supporters on the Friday evening was very nice. There was a big gantry like in an big city marathon and a huge crowd out watching in the sunshine. I ended up finishing in 18th position and 3rd moderately old man. There was even a prize for the third moderately old man but I didn’t get it because I forgot to look up the details of the prizegiving assuming that I wouldn’t be anywhere near a prize. So if you like the Cork marathon, the Padova marathon is basically the sister event, very similar but with added nuns and Italian flair. I’d recommend it.

How to Get There:

Fly from Cork to Venice Marco Polo with Ryanair, 45 minutes from the airport to Padova.

Rented a car from Sicily by Car.

Parked at the Parcheggio Prato della Valle, parking was a bit hectic during the day but loads of places at night. It was €15 for 24 hours.

Where to Stay:

We stayed at the Padova Suites C20. The room had a fabulous view of St Anthony’s Church. Our room didn’t have a kitchen which would have been handy but the beds were wonderful and it had blackout blinds. There was a nice cafe downstairs.

Where to Eat:

Pizzeria Al Borgo had wonderful pizza just across the road from the accommodation.

Kinsale 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Kinsale 10 2025

1. 22:42

I think that it was nice of Ryan Creech to let me know at twenty to eleven the night before the race that he had gotten an entry for Kinsale. “Is it as bad as Cobh?” “It’s horrendous, the hills are vertical like mountains, and the locals throw rocks at you. I’d stay away.” I told him. It didn’t work.

2. Monday Race

I think that races on a bank holiday Mondays are great. If this race hadn’t been rescheduled from the original February date due to the apocalyptic rain and wind, I’d have missed it as my left fibula was on the brink of stress fracturing at the time. Mondays mean less competition as there is a large cohort of runners who must for religious reasons do a long run on a Sunday no matter what happens.

3. How to Win a Race as a Moderately Old Man

I think that the morning routine is very important when you are a moderately old man who is hoping to win or finish on the podium in a local 10 mile road race. The first thing you must do in the morning when you wake up is check Strava. You check to see what the known competition has done that morning, 10 mile run, great. Session, wonderful. In Boston for the marathon, excellent. On holidays very far away, brilliant. Then you can go to the race knowing that you are in with a great shout of a podium, no training or new shoes required.

4. Tadhg Adidas Athlete

I think that this was the first race in about six years that I haven’t worn either a Vaporfly or an AlphaFly. Cork’s number one running influencer Tadhg O’Sullivan has been eulogizing about the Adidas Pro 4 so I had to get a pair just in case he was not actually just influencing and was actually telling the truth. Ryan Creech was wearing the same shoe albeit in a different colour so at least I wasn’t disadvantaged for the show down.

5. He Gone

I think that Ryan Creech is doing a different sport to what I do. When the race started, I thought I might at least make an effort to get to the first corner with him just to make it into a photo. Unfortunately, I’m more on the Donkey end of the racehorse spectrum so he was well gone after only 100m. The race if there ever was a race was over, it was a battle for second place. Second place was fine with me.

6. Same Sentence

I think that it was great for the race to have one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland leading the race. Unfortunately for the commentator there was no natural follow on to the sentence “and up front we have Ryan Creech one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland”, and in second place we have Donal Coakley from Leevale doesn’t quite work. This was about the only time I was close enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ryan.

7. Rain Shower

I think that after the Kinsale 10 last year when we ran in what was basically a storm everyone was terrified of the rain. Last year was a special event with special wind, rain and cold. I can still remember how numb my legs were after seven miles and how I didn’t care whether Viv beat me or not because I was frozen. This year we had lovely sunny weather with only a light breeze at the start, there was a little shower on the worst hill just before five miles but we seemed to run out the other side of it and were left to run home in lovely sunny weather. It was very pleasant.

8. Good Joe

I think that it was difficult to spend another race on my own from start to finish like in Carrigaline. I hate running on my own in races because I get terrified. I spend the whole run hearing noises while being afraid to look behind. All I wanted was someone on the side of the road to tell me how big the gap was. No one did until I passed Joe Cunningham outside the Lilly plant. It was such a relief to learn that the noise I was hearing was my own shoes and not someone right behind me.

9. Run like Ryan

I think that the Adidas Pro 4s are a good shoe if you want to run like Ryan does where you bring your heel up high enough to kick the back of your head. I spent the last mile of the race trying my best Ryan Creech running impersonation but all it did was give me a slightly sore hamstring and tear the achilles off me. I think I’ll revert to the tried and trusted Nikes.

10. Miles Better

I think that I was very unlucky not to make John Walshe’s list of good 10-mile times for the second time this year. I was only thirty seconds off which wasn’t bad considering the course has hills and I’m useless at time trialling on my own. I already ticked the box in Dungarvan, so it is no big tragedy. The gap to Ryan was only six and a half minutes or a good bit more than a mile which wasn’t too bad. It does however mean that the statement Ryan is miles better than me is very true.

Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Streets of Killarney 5 Mile 2025

1. The Troggs

I think that it is interesting that despite how bad the weather is in Ireland, it is rare to run a race in ridiculous rain. It probably only happens three or four times a year. Friday in Killarney was one of those wet wet wet races. It was very wet, clouds down, no mountains, no lakes just rain and clouds in Killarney.

2. Running Weekend

I think that this race is the perfect excuse for a little holiday in Killarney. 5 mile race Friday evening, Park Run Saturday morning and miles and miles of trails and paths for a long run or short run on Sunday morning. It boggles my mind why anyone from Killarney would drive to Cork to do a run when you have that National Park. It’s a runner’s paradise.

3. The Opposition

I think that when you are a moderately old man with moderate levels of running talent then your chances of winning a prize in a race are entirely dependent on who shows up. I was hoping that the torrential rain would put off the one or two required to squeeze me onto the podium but unfortunately a collection of hardy men turned up in Killarney, the sight of the trio of Paul Moloney, Gavin Sweeney and Kenny Rogers meant that I knew I was not going to win any money to pay for the hotel.

4. Shoe Talk with Chris Grayson

I think that runners spend more time talking about shoes than they do about training. This is because of 2019 when everyone got faster without doing anything so we are all hoping that it might happen again. It is far easier to buy a pair of shoes than to do perfect training. Chris Grayson was very interested in my opinion of the Vaporfly 4. I’m still undecided, they are no better or worse which is not what I hoped for. I wanted faster without training.

5. Too Fast

I think that the start of the race was too fast for a moderately old man who hasn’t raced much in the last few months. I don’t do any fast training, so I rely on races to get used to 5 minute mile pace. The race took off down the path from the big big House at a ridiculous unsustainable pace. I left it go as I am a very wise moderately old man. I was left in eight position hoping that my wisdom would pay off.

6. Confidence is a Preference for the Habitual Voyeur

I think that the route of the race is excellent. It has a lovely mix of everything Killarney has to offer. Normally you would be able to see the mountains and lakes from the start but on Friday there was nothing to see but rain and grey clouds. The first mile goes around the big big house before taking in a bit of the park followed by two laps of the town where people come out of the pubs to watch people suffering. It’s great, every race should be like this, there is nothing better than being watched racing by people drinking on a Friday evening.

7. Wisdom

I think that my wisdom as a moderately old man kind of paid off. It took about two miles for me to move up from 8th to 7th, this meant nothing as there is no prize for 7th but it meant that I was running very perfectly and sensibly which is worth something. The Paul Moloney led front of the race was gone and invisible by the time I started the first of two laps of the town.

8. Sixth Place

I think that it is much better to be running for position than some arbitrary time. On the first lap of the town I began my assault on the 6th place of Darragh O’Leary which was very important as 6th is better than 7th. It took until the end of the first lap to catch him, I waited until he looked at the watch before making my gradual move by at an ever so slightly faster pace. There was still no prize for 6th.

9. Third Non Paul Moloney Cork Person

I think that it would have been great to catch Danny Mullins and finish as the third non-Paul Moloney Cork person in the race in Kerry. Unfortunately, I ran out of ability and time to catch Danny. The lapped runners make it much easier to keep a pace going as you are always passing people but despite not slowing down much from the start I made no inroads into Danny’s 5th place position and finished in 6th which was fine and where I had estimated I would finish based on looking around at the start line which is a surprisingly accurate method of estimating where you will finish in a race.

10. More than a Race

I think that sixth is a great position to finish in. It is very good because you don’t have that awful feeling like when you finish fourth where you nearly won a prize but at the same time you were close enough for people to see your name in the results and think that you ran ok which is very important. The rain had almost stopped by the time we finished which was nice, I collected the lovely race t-shirt, jogged over to the car to extract myself from the ridiculously wet singlet, did my warm down around the big big house and then jogged over to the hotel. A very nice evening even with the ridiculous rain. A race to make a weekend of.

Great Railway Run 25K 2025

10 Things I Think About the Great Railway Run 25K 2025

1. In Brussels

I think that if it wasn’t for the terrible nearly running career ending calf tear and stress reaction in my left fibula back in February, I’d probably have been running the European Road Running championships in Brussels. It was very unfortunate as using the Michael Herlihy method of calculating where you would have finished in races you didn’t run I would have helped the Irish team to a bronze medal. It is comforting to at least know that for sure. The Railway Run was a good substitute.

2. Lateness

I think that races that send out the numbers in the post are great. It allows for chronic ridiculous lateness. Parking at 9:20 for a 9:30 start is fine, absolutely no problem, 5 minutes to put on magic shoes and 5 minute warm up to the start. I probably should have done 5 miles before hand to make it 20 miles for the day to get ready for Cork like most other people seemed to be doing.

3. Evan and Paul

I think that it was terrible to see both Evan Fitzgerald and Paul Moloney on the start line. I was pretty sure that the rampant marathon mania combined with Easter holidays and the Brussels event had taken care of all my known competition like John Meade and Barry Twohig from last year. I suppose a €500 first prize is always likely to draw out the big guns.

4. Kilometer of Hope

I think that it would have been great if I had been fit enough to run with Paul Moloney, even until the hill in Shanbally would have been grand. Evan made it clear from the start that he was going to win by being out of sight after only 500m, I ran the first kilometer full of hope with Paul until we ran back through the start where it became obvious that 5:30 pace was not possible to maintain so I let him go and resigned myself to a best possible finish of third.

5. I Go Solo

I think that it was much better last year when I had company for the whole 25k. This year I was left solo from kilometer one until kilometer twenty five, twenty four kilometers of solo running. I am not good at running on my own. I am not particularly motivated by time so I just get slower and slower as time goes on. My mind starts wandering and thinking about other stuff when I’m running on my own. I tried to focus on keeping the kilometer splits at 3:35, not for any particular reason other than that’s the first split I saw on the watch when I started looking at it once we got onto the line. This worked for about 5k then I lost interest and started looking across the water to Cobh.

6. Session Obsession

I think that the Railway Run is a great run to do as preparation for Cork Marathon. Even if I was solo there were plenty of water stops and the act of pining on a number provides a little bit more motivation than doing a session on the same route. It’s kind of odd really how because of Strava if I did this run as a session and ran the same pace as I did in the race I would expect to be hailed as the second coming of Christ but instead because it’s a race and I came third it’s only ok. Sessions are greater than races for some reason these days. I blame YouTube and Instagram.

7. Julius 300

I think that Julius in Monkstown provided key information that halted the exponential pace decline that was occurring. I asked him was there anyone behind expecting the answer to be “no you’re fine”, instead I got “300m”. 300m is very close so I started concentrating again, then I got a flashback of last year when the dynamic duo of Barry Twohig and John Meade flew by on the run to Raffeen which was very scary.

8. Shanbally Shakeup

I think that the U-turn around the traffic island in Shanbally provides the perfect opportunity for seeing who is behind you. The 300m that Julius had calculated had become about 100m by the time we reached Shanbally with Nathan and Ruairi closing the gap on the very steep raffeen hill where a barking dog provided more information on the proximity of my pursuers. As we began the climb out of Shanbally I remembered last year when I caught Danny Mullins with a kilometer to go to take third. Maybe it’s my turn to get caught with a kilometer to go I feared.

9. Fear

I think that there is no better motivator for running than fear. It is far better than clock watching, a bit of fear of being caught is wonderful, if you had both fear and hatred you’d be flying it all together. The fear of being caught made the last four miles fun. Luckily the fear provided enough motivation to get to the finish in Carrigaline in third again just like last year which meant prize money which is one of the reasons I like running races so much, no one gives you money for a good session, just kudos on Strava and emoji comments which are not money.

10. Race to the 220

I think I had the logistics of the race well worked out, once I crossed the line I met Paul, we had a photo then I ran over to the 220 bus stop where amazingly there was a bus waiting. I hopped on the bus, talked about golf to an 85-year-old lady and horrified everyone else on the bus with my short shorts, got off at St Finbarr’s hospital to have a short warm down back to the car. Drove to Glanmire to collect Billy from babysitting before back to Carrigaline to collect Rhona and my third place prize. I was almost as proud of the logistics as I was of the race.

Cork BHAA PWC 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The PWC BHAA 5K 2025

1. Climate Change

I think that the new climate is great, it rains in Spain and it is beautiful and dry if a little windy in Cork. It makes running so easy and nice. To make it even better the clocks have returned to normal and the evening BHAA races are back.

2. Beautiful Clean Shoes

I think it is terrible that the modern runner believes that they are only a new pair of shoes away from greatness. Greatness can be purchased, victory over that person who always beats you is only a pair of shoes away, you just have to be online at 8am and get the shoes before they are all gone at 8:02am. Last Thursday I was that awful modern runner getting a pair of the Vaporfly 4. I’d have been better off getting an extra run in. Miles are the secret not shoes.

3. On Time

I think that I will try and be on time for the races this year. It is a much more pleasant experience being on time. No stress, no messaging Graham asking him to pick up the number, a warm up, a chat, it’s a better way to operate.

4. Stress Reaction

I think that I did well to limit the impact of a stress reaction in my left fibula to only a 8 week absence from racing. I think I hurt my calf in a cross country race then ran Seville, Dungarvan and the Little Island 5k with a calf niggle which turned into a bone injury. I’m getting wise in my old age so stopped before I couldn’t walk so the recovery was relatively quick.

5. 90 Day Pause

I think that the start of the race was very well organized. There was a line on the road for the start with microphone speakers mounted on a plywood plinth which meant that there was no need for the usual will ye for god’s sake push back, instead we walked forward slowly to the line and then waited for the chip timing. It was a good long wait but it was fine because it was sunny and nice.

6. SuperValu

I think that it was apt that the race ran around SuperValu Pairc Ui Caoimh as BHAA offers truly super value. A 5k race for €5, no inflation, no tariffs. It’s cheaper than a coffee at the Marina Market. The route was one I haven’t seen before, up to the red shed with no walls in front of Pairc Ui Caoimh, around that, then a sharp hairpin before running along the back of the main stand. I got to the stadium in contact with the front group containing one of the Barrys, Tadhg, Mark Walsh, Danny Mullins and Nate but the pace became too much and I lost contact as we went around the Blackrock End terrace.

7. Golden Mile

I think that the new Marina Mile is tremendously beautiful. It is a wonderful surface to run on, like a golden track. This was the first race to use the new path, it was so nice not to have to study the ground for potholes and patches. Unfortunately I was left to run along the path on my own as the front five were way too strong and left me to enjoy the new path on my own.

8. Tadhg Not Like Us

I think that it was great to see Tadhg win the race. I am happy because Tadhg is a believer in the more miles is better and that you don’t need to do 400s to run a fast 5k. For some reason marathon training is better for 5ks than it is for the actual marathon.

9. Not so Solo

I think that I was lucky that I didn’t end up solo to the end of the race, otherwise I wouldn’t have broken the magical 15-minute barrier. I did my best on the long run to the finish along the Marina Market Road to keep Tadhg in sight so that he wouldn’t think that he was that great. As I approached the roundabout I began to hear footsteps, then I heard well done Ray, so I initiated John Meade mode and sprinted for the line and the sub 15 minute 5k.

10. BHAA Vaporfly 6%

I think that instead of being stuck to a phone at 8am to buy magic shoes people need to start running BHAA road races. It is much better value and more fun. According to the GPS watches which have papal levels of infallibility the race was around 4.6 to 4.7k. Sure what harm. I think there should be more races like this, keep us guessing, have course records become a thing, a lap of the Marina is a lap of the Marina who cares if it’s 5k or not, Tadhg still won.

Cork BHAA Janssen 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The Janssen Cork BHAA 5K

1. In GPS we Trust, Everyone Else Needs a Jones Counter

I think that the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route might be the most famous 5K route in Cork. It’s the one where everyone runs tremendous times, the one where the Stravalurkers who didn’t run the race think it’s short because they don’t like the times. The GPS watch must be trusted, never mind that it has been measured with a wheel, the GPS watch is always right. I was hoping the Stravalurkers were right I fancied a 5K PB, it’s been a while.

2. Late for the Late Start

I think that it was a great achievement to almost miss the start of a BHAA race that started fourteen minutes late. There was a very long queue for registration, very long, it went back into a part of the sports hall that I didn’t know existed. At 10am it looked like the race couldn’t start for at least another 30 minutes, so I decided to drive down to the finish with Rhona and Billy and jog back up to the start. As I was putting on my magic shoes Michael Herlihy offered to drive me up to the start as he said they were just about to start, fearing the speed of the Audi Etron more than missing the race I decided to jog up. Running past the eerily empty sports hall I feared that I was about to meet a wave of runners. Luckily, they were just after the “for god’s sake will ye push back” phase of the start so I was fine.

3. White Shorts

I think that it is too difficult to purchase coloured shorts. Irish people are very boring when it comes to colours. Shorts are grey or black, cars are grey or black, nothing else is allowed. Spanish races are very different, it is like a competition to see who can wear the most colourful costume. My contribution to the battle against the grey and black short brigade is white shorts, yes they look like GAA shorts but they’re not grey and not black. You can get them off Adidas, they’re retro apparently.

4. Tis Neither Good for Man nor Beast

I think that the real reason why the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route produces so many tremendous times is the prevailing wind direction. The route runs from west to east so normally it has a strong tailwind component for about 70% of the race. Unluckily for us on Sunday we encountered the beast from the east meaning, 70% of the race was run into a block cold headwind. Not good for the PB chances.

5. Two Beasts

I think that the other runners in the race were very lucky that John Meade and I turned up for the race. Two brave men not afraid to run into the wind. The race quickly settled into a formation that would not change from start to finish except for the bit at the finish that actually is the most important bit of the race. John Meade and I up front, Aidan Noone in the quarterback position, flanked by Darren McCann, John Longan and Sean Twohig.

6. Three K Trouble

I think that I knew I was in trouble after three kilometres. Three kilometres in a five kilometre race is a crucial point, if you are in a group at three K you’ll probably be in the group at five K. The group of six was still a group of six. I tried everything I could to shed a few from the group, everything involved trying to run fast down the hill but every time we turned right at the bottom of the hill we were met with a wall of wind and John Meade brought everyone back together.

7. One to Go

I think that I knew what was going to happen with a kilometre to go. The fourth kilomtre marker at the top of the hill signified the start of the actual race. For the second time I tried my only tactic of running fast down the hill. Again John Meade neutralized the attack, unlike the first attack Aidan also followed John Meade so I went from first to third. Aidan had yet to feel a breeze at this stage having cleverly and patiently waited for myself and John Meade to tire ourselves out.

8. John Meade Fan Club

I think that Aidan is lucky that John Meade didn’t take inspiration from Martin Drake who was marshalling the turn for home. Martin is very clearly a John Meade fan and was vociferous in his support for John once we turned right with between 400 and 430m to go depending on whether you are going by GPS or measured course. John initiated the all too familiar John Meade sprint which is usually an insurmountable challenge for all but the best local elite Cork BHAA runners, unluckily for John he had Aidan Noone on his tail, a man who is borderline unbeatable in a sprint as John was about to find out.

9. Swamped

I think that I would normally be able to hold onto some level of contact with a John Meade finishing kick. Sunday was different, once John and Aidan had separated themselves from the group of six I was left in third. I didn’t stay third for long as coming onto the finishing straight Darren McCann flew around the outside of me in a pair of what looked like Adidas Adios Pro 4s, I tried to sprint but my sprint isn’t very sprinty so it wasn’t long until I saw John Longan and Sean Twohig fly by leaving me to jog home 10 seconds and six places behind Aidan.

10. Suspicious Fast

I think that having run the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route there is something about the course that makes it fast. Despite the headwind and tactical race the times were tremendously fast. I don’t think it is short as I have carefully reviewed the GPS data and it is clear that the GPS is cutting the corners so reading shorter than the route that we actually run. I think it is fast because of magic shoes, a course that lends itself to the formation of groups and being ever so slightly downhill, add a westerly wind and it’s very tremendously fast. Anyway I don’t really understand the obsession with 5K road times, who cares what time you ran, it’s much more important who beats who and Aidan Noone beat us all very badly especially John Meade.

Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

1. Sometime that I used to Run

I think that I’m beginning to understand what it’s like to get properly old. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to beat my 10 mile time from 2023 so I need to find new things to focus on to make racing interesting. Luckily Dungarvan provided other things to focus on as nearly everyone was running it. I decided to focus on beating Tadhg and fending off a resurgent Michael McMahon.

2. Fear of Carparks

I think that Irish people in cars are magnetically attracted to parking on grass, or even better a grassy kerb or most preferably of all a grassy kerb outside someone’s house. It is great to know this because no matter what time you arrive into Dungarvan on race day you can sail through the town and park in a lovely tarmac car park less than 400m from the start. Aidan who came with me was very impressed with my knowledge.

3. Dashboard Warning Light

I think that no matter how many terrible stress fractures and injuries I get I will never be able to resist ignoring the signs of a potential terrible injury. I probably shouldn’t have run Seville Half never mind Dungarvan as I’ve been suffering with sticky outside of calf syndrome where one part of the calf attaches itself onto the other and won’t come free. It’s not in any physio books so it is a new injury. If it was a warning light on a car it would probably be yellow so I just press the reset button for the race and drive on which will probably only work for so long.

4. Ballycotton 10 Style Field

I think that the field for this years Dungarvan 10 was the strongest deepest 10 mile field I have seen since the days of the Ballycotton 10 in non-magic shoes. Everyone from Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and a few invaders from Dublin turned up. Looking around I was thinking top 20 would be a great achievement. Tadhg asked me to drag him around to 53 minutes which made me want to beat him and put him back in his box even more.

5. This is Mad

I think that the start of the race was very mad. It went off more like a 10k than a 10 miler. Fearghal and Sean Doyle were gone gone, like properly gone with a few stragglers thinking about following. I was left miles back in a huge group of heavily trained or highly talented runners. I made up a bit of ground on the downhill before the one mile mark but was quickly passed out again as we went around the GSK roundabout and ran downhill towards the slippery U turn. I looked at my brand-new watch with AMOLED display which clearly showed that we were all going way too fast, so I let the group go and waited for the inevitable lull in proceedings to occur.

6. This is Grand

I think that it is very helpful to have run a race a good few times as it inevitably plays out the same way each time. Once the huge group reached the U turn with the slippery surface the pace dropped nicely, I used the downhill to catch back up to Tadhg and Michael McMahon who were my main targets for beating. Once I found them, I sat in and waited for the wind to start between miles 3 and 5 which seems to always be the case at this time of year in Dungarvan.

7. Tadhg’s Back

I think that Tadhg is very similar to Viv. He would love to beat me, it is very important to him. He is also similar to Viv in that he doesn’t seem to know what to do when he gets to the front of a group. I nearly had to jump up on his back to avoid crashing into him after four miles as when he found himself at the front of the group, he just stopped running. I don’t like tactical running as we are all way too useless to be using tactics so after the near terrible collision, I just ran near the front of any group to stay out of trouble.

8. Tailwind Time

I think that the section between 5 miles and 8 miles in Dungarvan is one of my favourite sections of road to run. It is probably because it is slightly downhill, is nearly always run with a tailwind and has a nice windy smooth road surface. I thought I was doing great as I was flying along catching Shane Collins and Tony Forristal until suddenly at seven miles I was passed at what seemed like twice the speed by a group containing Kris Liepins and Niamh Allen. It was an unfollowable group but at least it didn’t contain Tadhg, Michael McMahon or Viv.

9. The Two Barrys

I think that the last two miles of Dungarvan are horrendous. Mile 9 is utterly awful, a hill with a gradient that only impacts tall, elegant runners like myself. To make it worse you can see miles ahead. Mile 9 was a bad mile. I was fooled into thinking I was catching Barry Twohig when in fact I was not and was about to be passed out by the other Barry, Barry Donovan who stormed by on a mission.

10. What Number Did You Do?

I think that I did well to finish 22nd. That last little hill up to the finish is very stressful for someone like me who can’t run up hills, so I focused on staying in reasonable proximity to Tony Forristal which worked well in fending off the vicious dual attack of Tadhg and Michael McMahon. Once across the line I was delighted that ignoring the dashboard warning light had not led to an inability to walk or jog which is very important. I collected my nicely coloured Nike T-shirt, told Sergiu and Sean Doyle where to get Vaporfly 1s and walked/jogged back to the nice car park with Aidan. It looks like Dungarvan is becoming the 10 mile race, you can see why, it’s like the Valencia Marathon of 10 mile races.

Seville Half Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Seville Half Marathon 2025

1. Escaping Éowyn

I think that Ryanair have a great can do attitude. Only Ryanair will get you to Seville no matter the weather. Going to bed Thursday night I was pretty sure that a flight to Seville scheduled to take off in the midst of a red weather warning was both unwise and unlikely. Luckily there was some winter fat in the Ryanair schedule so the only impact of the storm was a welcome lie in and a three hour delay in departure.

2. Unsevillean Weather

I think that I was probably overdue some rain in Spain. Seville to me means blue skies, no wind and air so light it makes running almost effortless. Unfortunately on this occasion Seville resembled Cork on a soft damp day in May. Wet, humid, almost warm and a little windy.

3. Sub Elite Cajón Rojo

I think I’d be better off if I had never experienced what it is like to be in the elite start. Somehow the last time I did the Seville Half they gave me an elite number so I didn’t have to queue up with everyone else. This time I had to make do with the first corral of sub 1:20 runners along with my great enemy, friend and rival John Meade who was terribly disappointed when I told him that he hadn’t a hope in the M45 category because of Reyes Estevez who has run 2:16 for the marathon at 48.

4. In the Trenches

I think that the only issue with having to line up with the masses is that you have to experience what it is like to stand huddled nervously for about 15 minutes with mainly other men. It is mildly unpleasant but would make you appreciate that you were born in 1986 rather than 1886. I will never understand why so many people have to sprint the first 400m of a 21 kilometer race. The pushing and shoving is totally unnecessary, at least the roads are good and wide so it only lasts for a minute or too before normality is resumed.

5. Woman + Man = Pacemaker

I think that the great thing about big city half marathons is that there are always pacemakers to run with. They aren’t actually advertised easily identifiable pacemakers but if you see a woman running side by side with a man in the same shoes and uniform you know that you have a professional steady pace to follow for the entire race. It took me about 3k to find my Asics pace group which was moving along at a relatively metronomic 3:25 per kilometer. I got myself comfortable and tried to turn off my brain which is very difficult if not impossible.

6. Inoperable Water

I think that it is amazing how much trouble water causes in races. The trouble in Seville was the bottles. The bottles were very unusual with a weird cap so hard to open that it would have been easier if the water was in Calpol bottles. Then to cap it all off the fella in front had a nasty habit of just dropping his bottle onto the ground without any consideration for the people behind. Luckily my agility and nimbleness of foot is at its peak it being cross country season.

7. Juan Meade

I think that I had a good fifty minutes of running without sight or sound of John Meade. I was expecting him to turn up at some stage as he had completed an impressively intense week of crash training the week before with nearly 30 miles at or below 6 minute mile pace which was two miles more than I had managed to do. As I passed the 13k marker I was convinced that I could hear him behind so without looking I said hello John Meade, to my surprise the man making the exact same foot and breathing sounds as John Meade was not John Meade but a Spanish runner of similar stature and stride. Phew I thought.

8. The Water Trick

I think that I should be better at resisting the spirit crushing tactics of John Meade. Three kilometers after my initial misdiagnosis of John Meade I was horrified to be greeted by actual John Meade just after the water station at the 10 mile mark. He could clearly see that I had managed to open the unopenable water bottle but being the astute racer that he is he offered me a drink from his bottle almost as if to say “you look terrible, here have my water which I don’t need as I am fine”. I declined the water and watched horrified as the St Finbarr’s singlet surged ahead making impossible inroads into the many groups scattered along the road by the unsevillean wind.

9. 100m, SOS

I think that there is no beating John Meade if he passes you late in a race. You are in big big trouble. It doesn’t matter who you are, if John Meade gets within a mile of the finish you are in trouble. I could see from his stride that he was delighted with himself having passed me out. I did my best to hold the gap but as we ran down Ryan Creech’s beloved cobblestone road past the giant mushroom the gap began to open to the length of at least six shops.

10. A Monk Swimming

I think that the last kilometre of the race was a little odd. It was like I was running in a race that I didn’t belong in. All of the men had been filtered out and I was left in a battle I didn’t want to fight with five women all but one of whom outsprinted me. Once across the line I said Well Done John Meade, collected my medal, before commencing a slow jog back to the apartment with the winner discussing the ridiculousness of going all the way to Seville to race only each other. Well Done John Meade.

County Masters XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The County Masters XC 2025

1. Lombardy to Lombardstown

I think that I must be the first man ever to run cross country in the regions of Lombardy and Lombardstown in the one week. I kind of couldn’t not run the County Masters XC after going all the way to Italy for a cross country race the week before plus it was a cross country race in a new field in Bweeng and I love running in new fields.

2. Snow Way

I think that I was very clever to do a session on Friday as a hedge against the race being cancelled because of the snow. On Friday evening it seemed almost certain that the race was not going ahead as a message in a Whatsapp group said it was “definitely not going ahead, don’t tell anyone.” I did 10 miles on Saturday morning waiting for the official announcement of the cancellation before seeing on Facebook, a source of great facts, that the snow was all gone and the XC was on again. Great.

3. Bweeng Mountain Dog

I think that the parking for the cross-country venue was amongst the best ever. It was directly across from the course in the driveway of someone’s house and a big friendly Burmese mountain dog came out to greet us. I parked up directly behind Tim O’Donoghue, possibly the actual best moderately old man cross country runner in Cork who I was thrilled to hear was not running.

4. The Beautiful Field

I think that the field in which the race was held is one of the best fields I have ever seen. If I was a farmer I would buy it immediately, it was free from rocks and showed no evidence of any snow or rain with high quality fencing. The high quality fencing reminded me how lucky I was that Barry Twohig was doing a long run rather than making my life miserable on the hills of Bweeng. The snow reminded me of how lucky I was that John Meade was snowboarding on the Galtees and not flying down the hills of Bweeng. The only thing that wasn’t great was the wind.

5. Intermediate + Masters

I think that it was great that the intermediate and masters races were combined together. This was key to my race tactics as I needed someone to take the race out hard as masters races always go off sensibly. I was delighted to see Naoise from Bandon tear off at the start as it gave me a target to chase down the first hill. I knew that Michael Herlihy and Nick O’Donoghue would hate this, so I went absolutely mad down the hill and then again the second time we went down it before heading out into the great field to begin the first of four long laps and big big hills.

6. Col de la Bweeng

I think I had major problems with the big big hill at the far side of the beautiful great field. Luckily everyone had similar problems with the big big hill. It was about 400m long, 15 to 20% gradient with a headwind, vicious. The first time up the hill I thought I was in big trouble as Naoise effortlessly reduced the gap I had opened down the hill I was fully expecting this pattern to repeat for the next four laps but luckily when I ran hard across the top of the hill and down the hill back into the main beautiful field Naoise didn’t follow.

7. Lovely Shorts

I think that it was great how many supporters were out on the course. It was a very picturesque setting for the race with the even hillier fields in the background still speckled with the last remaining few bits of snow. I must have added to the scenery as I received compliments on the course about how lovely my shorts were, more useful were the shouts about the distance back to my main rival Nick O’Donoghue who seemed to go from 20m to 80m behind depending on whether we had recently gone uphill or downhill.

8. Nick and Mike

I think that you couldn’t find too tougher moderately and properly old men than Nick O’Donoghue and Michael Herlihy to race on a course like the great beautiful field in Bweeng. I spent the full four laps terrified that they were going to catch me. I wasn’t particularly worried about Nick catching me as he is a perfectly pleasant man, on the other hand I was terrified that Michael Herlihy was only playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse and was going to initiate full terminator mode on the last lap, plough up the last hill and laugh at me as he waltzed past like he has done so many times over the 15 years of defeats I’ve had to put up with.

9. Bad Beating of Michael Herlihy

I think that I will never tire of beating Michael Herlihy in races. It is only great because I have spent nearly 15 years being absolutely destroyed by him in nearly every session and race so to finally get to beat him is excellent, tremendous and wonderful. It should serve as a lesson to younger athletes that you should never give up on beating people just because they seem impossible to beat, just get more bitter and angry, then use that anger and bitterness to fuel tremendous victories in the County Masters.

10. Ranking Points

I think that it is a great pity that there are no world ranking points for winning the County Masters. Coming into the race I was ranked 299th in the world cross country rankings, which is probably the highest ranking ever for a Cork moderately old man. It is a shame really because the show put on by Bweeng in the fantastic field with picturesque backdrop was up there with any World Athletics Gold Label event. Perhaps we could have Kenyans and Ethiopians running the hills of Bweeng, they’d probably love it even more than I did.

Campaccio XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The 68th Campaccio XC 2025

1. Italian Races

I think that Italy might be my favourite place not in Ireland for doing races. They really do races excellently. Everything is wonderful, the registration is cheap, €12 for an international cross-country race, the courses are imaginative, and the races are packed with elite athletes and lots of “sub elite” Italian fellas like me who like running. They even have squirrel dragons as race mascots.

2. Capital of Cross Country

I think that Legnano might have the two best cross country races in the world. It is a very small place to have both the Cinque Mulini and the Campaccio races. We stayed at the same hotel as we did for Cinque Mulini, Hotel Poli because it was excellent and near the squirrel park for Billy. All of the elite athletes also stay in the hotel so you get to see how they get treated and how early they leave for the race, 12:30 for a 2:30 start which is approximately an hour earlier than me.

3. Irish Weather in Italy

I think that it was great for the race to be held in conditions so wet and cold that it was almost like being in Ireland. The only thing that was missing from an Irish race was wind, there was absolutely no wind, but the thick continuous wet rain that we get at home was there along with 4 to 5 degree temperatures. Perfect for cross country and slowing down the track runners.

4. Rhona Recce

I think it was great that Rhona’s race was on earlier in the day so that I could get an idea of what sort of spikes would be needed. Rhona ran in Dragonflys with 6mm spikes which she said were fine but with the continuous rain I was pretty sure that 9mm would be perfect by 2:35pm by which time a lot of rain and a lot of races would have torn up the course.

5. If Only I Had 9mm Spikes

I think that I was lucky that the box of spikes that said 9mm actually had 12mm spikes in it. I am slightly obsessed about spikes as they are very important. I was slightly worried that the Italians wouldn’t allow me run with 12mm spikes as some of the course was on the track so I got to the call area very early so that I would have time to change the spikes if a man deemed them too long. Luckily no one looked at my spikes so I had to stand in the call area for about 10 minutes waiting for everyone else to finish their elaborate technical warmups. I asked one of the On sponsored Burundian runners what spikes he had, he said 9mm which was probably the safest option given the sections on the track.

6. Penguins

I think that I should have gone further up towards the front of the start line. I was very cold after standing around in the call area so it was nice to be bunched together on the startline like a bunch of penguins sheltering from the cold. I was a bit worried about falling so I took it handy off the start which was a big mistake as the course was quite narrow so I ended up miles back after a few 100m.

7. 93rd

I think that I did well to recover from my slow start. The race was televised live on RAI as Italians don’t have GAA so this is the equivalent of the National League GAA matches. According to the TV coverage I was 93rd after the first of the ten kilometres which was quite near the back. It took me a while to figure out the twisty turny up and down course but after a lap I had it figured out and I started to make progress.

8. Habemus Grip

I think that it was only after a lap that I realised that all of the Italian runners had the wrong length spikes on. It was like in a Formula 1 race where one driver has wet tires on and everyone else has slicks. Any bit of muck and I would fly by the Italian fellas slipping and sliding while I was nailed to the ground in my 12mm spikes. It was great fun, I was passing what felt like the whole field, although when you are 93rd after a kilometre there are a lot of people to pass.

9. Fanclub

I think that it was great to have my own fanclub on the course. A group of Italians who were standing with Billy and Rhona started cheering for me every time I went passed which was a lot of times as the course looped back on itself a lot. I think they thought I was called Dada not Donal because of Billy but sure what harm.

10. Pointless

I think that I did very well to get from 93rd to 53rd by the end of the race. I was actually in 52nd just before the line but an Italian destroyed me in a sprint so I lost one of my hard earned places. I didn’t get lapped which was great but I didn’t get on the TV as much as I would have liked as they were doing the podium when I finished 5 minutes behind the Ethiopian winner Bekele. In addition to the nice cup of warm sweet tea in a branded squirrel dragon cup I also collected some world ranking points which have now put me 299th in the world athletics cross country rankings which is utterly pointless but for some reason makes me very happy.

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

Clonmel 4 Mile 2024

10 Things I Think About The Clonmel 4 Mile 2024

1. Christmas Racing

I think that Christmas racing is great, normally I like to do all of the Christmas races possible as it limits the potential for having to visit other people’s houses which is one of my least favourite activities in the world. This year because of last year’s stress fracture still being in my head I have limited myself to just Clonmel and Glanworth, two excellent towns well located for Billy minding.

2. Hello Lizzie

I think that Lizzie Lee was more excited than a child on Christmas morning in Clonmel. I parked just in front of Lizzie despite arriving probably an hour later than Lizzie. I waved at her and said “Hello Lizzie”, before I even had the chance to say “Happy Christmas” I was told, “I warmed up with Emily Sisson”.

3. Tipperary Efficiency

I think that I could be employed to test the efficiency of races. Clonmel was well able to cope with my genetic lateness. I parked up 100m from the registration 20 minutes before the 12 o’clock start time. Ran over to the registration with Rhona, collected numbers, ran back to the car for Vaporfly installation before jogging over to the start with enough time to take photos with Lizzie and her new best friend Emily.

4. Arm Band Heart Rate Monitor

I think that I was a little disappointed that no one asked me about my new arm band heart rate monitor. It is very excellent, I bought it after seeing Jakob Ingebrigtsen wearing one in the European XC. I didn’t buy the Coros one the influencers are hawking and instead went for the Polar version because websites said it was better and it came in black which matches my Leevale singlet. It is so much better than a chest strap as it doesn’t leave you looking as if you are suffering from stigmata and seems to be just as accurate.

5. Surprisingly Fourth

I think that I was very surprised to be in fourth position after only a few hundred meters of the race. Kane Collins, a Kilkenny fella and a fella wearing an American Nike T-shirt took off in the front group leaving me to drag the unusual combo of Viv and Emily Sisson into the wind for the first two miles. It is very interesting that both Viv and Emily Sisson are almost silent in their respective Nike and New Balance magic shoes, both pawing the ground gracefully. I made up for them by thumping my Vaporflys off the road. I wonder could you come up with some sort of machine that would identify running talent based on the sound of a persons stride.

6. Unusual Sport

I think that running is an unusual sport. It is probably the only sport in the world where punters like me get to compete against the best of the best, in this case the American marathon record holder and probably the holder of the fastest marathon time of all the people competing in the Clonmel 4 mile by about 5 minutes. It was very odd to be running over the bridge at two miles side by side with a 2:18 marathon runner and Viv.

7. Olympian vs Non-Olympians

I think that I was a little disappointed at the ease at which myself and Viv were dropped by Emily Sisson. Once the wind was no longer a factor 5:10 pace became 5:00 pace which was enough to filter the group into Olympian and not Olympians. So I switched focus from beating Emily Sisson to beating Viv which was probably more important anyway.

8. Minardi

I think that the last mile of this race was like a Formula 1 race from the 90s where nothing happened for the first 70 laps and then there is complete chaos, safety cars, red flags and a Minardi driver like me ends up on the podium. As we approached the final roundabout at around the three-mile mark I saw a steward over at the side of the road tending to someone, as myself and Viv got closer I saw the Kilkenny fella who had been a good bit ahead of us lying on the ground. Viv being the nicest man in the world peeled off and went to check on him. The Kilkenny fella was fine, and Viv was quickly back underway after the pit stop.

9. Guilt

I think that I felt very guilty for the last 400m of the race, the combination of the Kilkenny fella pulling out and the niceness of Viv meant that suddenly I had gone from 6th to 4th and from 5th man to 3rd man without doing anything to deserve it. I tried to slow up a bit to let Viv catch up and beat me in the sprint like he was probably going to do anyway but it was too late so I ended up crossing the line as the 3rd man and 4th overall. It is like there is some sort of greater force that means that I must finish fourth in all races in Clonmel. It is obviously a very powerful force as I was fourth in Kilsheelan 10 mile, Clonmel Half and Clonmel 4 mile this year alone. Consistency.

10. Luck vs Talent

I think that it was very bad form of me to miss the prizegiving. It was not intentional, it was Clonmel’s fault for having a lovely path along the river for warming down which meant that I ended up running for longer than I should have with Viv, Rhona and Clodagh. Luckily my agent Graham was on hand to collect the generous prize for 3rd. Viv got the age category prize, so I didn’t feel too bad about the moral dilemma, these things even out over time anyway, it’s always better to be lucky than talented.

PHoto: John D Kelly