Grange Fermoy 10k

10 Things I Think About The Grange Fermoy 10k

1. 2022

I think that it was good to finish 2022 with a race. It would have been nicer if the race had of been in Spain but Fermoy was a good replacement. 2022 was a very good year as I ran as many races as I wanted to and I achieved my lifetime goal of being significantly just faster than Michael Herlihy in the marathon.

2. Additional Mileage

I think that it was great to have an excuse not to run extra mileage at the actual race. I will never complain about the chance of doing additional mileage. We were told to park in Fermoy which is a mile and a half from the start in Grange. The perfect way to guarantee an additional three miles for the day which is very important when you are trying to make up miles for the year.

3. Ginger Chilli Rice

I think that the main issue with running races around Christmas time is that you have to eat unusual food for social reasons. I know what to eat not to have trouble in a race, I now know that Ginger Chilli Rice at 10pm the night before a race is a very bad idea.

4. Farmers Gate

I think that Vaporflys are not good for climbing gates three minutes before the start of a race when you have had Ginger Chilli Rice the night before. Thankfully as I was halfway up the gate, I saw that the gate was tied with one of those easy to release knots that my grandfather taught me how to do. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember how to do the knot so I just did a shoelace knot on the way out. I hope it was ok, I should nearly go back and check.

5. Alphaflys

I think that a lot of people got Alphaflys for Christmas. Ryan and Mark Walsh were the main culprits. They really are awful looking shoes, you can tell someone is wearing them without actually looking at the shoes because you can see the self-consciousness and awkwardness. Everyone else like me was wearing Vaporflys which aren’t as bad.

6. Uphill/Downhill

I think that the start of this race is excellent. Starting uphill before going downhill makes it nice and calm as no one wants to sprint off uphill at the start. Then you can get going on the downhill when the field is nice and spread-out. Ryan and Sergiu were well gone even by the time we got to the top of the short hill leaving Pat Hennessy, myself, and Mark Walsh in the battle for the money for third.

7. Battle for Money

I think that the battle for the money didn’t last long enough. Once we turned left in Grange and ran out the road to nowhere in particular, I thought that there was a chance that I might get third. For about 2k it was myself, Pat and Mark, then all of a sudden Pat picked up the pace like he had remembered that he could run faster and disappeared away up the road taking the last of the prize money with him.

8. The Battle for Fourth

I think that the best thing that can happen in a race like this when the money is gone is that you find a nice group of runners of a similar ability level to run the whole race with. Once Pat had departed, I was left with Mark Walsh, his alphaflys and a fella from Port Laoise who I presumed was Tom Lupton. We were perfectly matched and spent until 9k rolling along up and down the beautiful small hills at a horrible but pleasant pace. I loved the course, reasonably quick and never boring.

9. Mark and his Alphaflys

I think that it was interesting to watch Mark Walsh run in the Alphaflys. Once we reached the final kilometre, I thought I had a chance of my usual fourth place finish as I felt good. I have been in a few last mile battles with Mark and normally he destroys me. When I saw the nine-kilometre marker I moved right to start my slightly faster sprint good and early. Mark was having none of this, normally you would see some sort of obvious effort but in the Alphaflys he just glided off up the road in that efficient smooth Kipchoge like form that the Alphaflys make everyone run in. To make it worse the fella from PortLaoise who wasn’t Tom Lupton went by and followed Mark up the road leaving me in sixth.

10. Turn Right for the Portaloo

I think that I was very lucky that this was a 10k and not a 10 mile. Once I realized that Mark and the fella who wasn’t Tom Lupton were gone my attention turned to the Ginger Chilli Rice. My primary motivation for reaching the finish line as quickly as possible was the portaloo that was just after the finish. It’s a bit of an anticlimax to finish a race in a portaloo but at least I finished. I warmed down back to the car in Fermoy with the intention of returning to the hall for coffee but I had enough miles done for the year so I went home.

Togher A.C 5K 2022

1. Definition of Insanity

I think that doing two races in two days isn’t as “crazy/mad/idiotic” as it used to be, magic shoes have almost made it sensible. Despite the magic shoes it is still utterly pointless as nothing will be achieved in the second race other than hopefully getting through it in one piece.

2. Suboptimal Conditions

I think that as cold and horrible it was in Clonmel, Togher was level 9 winter misery. It was almost dark, incredibly grey, cold and wet even though it didn’t appear to be obviously raining. These Christmas races are incredibly unlucky with the weather as if they were on at any other time of the year they would be the best races of the year.

3. Risk Assessment

I think that the warm up for a race when you have done a race the day before is very important. It’s not really a warm up more of risk assessment on niggles that could potentially turn into injuries. On the jog up to the remarkable efficient number collection at the community centre I felt surprisingly normal, just the usual pains and aches of a 36 year old man. Mostly the pains reside in my right knee and old stress fracture sites, especially when it’s cold. There were no new pains which meant the risk of running the race was low-medium which is like a greeny-amber colour which means drive on.

4. Shimozzle

I think that the start of this race was great fun. It started outside the SuperValu just up from the Lough, I hadn’t really looked at the course map so it was all new to me. There was an interesting ninety degree right turn a few hundred metres after the start. The problem/great thing with a turn so close to the start is that everyone wants to get to the corner first. I was never at risk but there were a few fast starting juvenile North Cork athletes that could have been in danger. Owing to my agility and nimbleness I avoided any trouble before receiving an Anne Marie McGlynn style elbow from Aoife Cooke which was entirely unnecessary.

5. Cautious Conor

I think that it was a good idea to follow Conor for the first mile of the race. He is a very sensible man, possibly the most sensible man in the race. A lot of people went off very, very, very fast which from my experience will take about 12 years to learn is a bad idea. After about 500m I followed Conor as we overtook 4 or 5 fast starters before settling into our likely finishing positions plus or minus a few.

6. Excellent Corners

I think that the corners make this race great. It is a fabulous route. Very imaginative, sort of like a Raheny 5 just with the correct distance and 5k instead of 5 miles. Even the grey concrete looks the same as in Dublin. I love all the right angle turns they are perfect for running, nothing too tight and never too close together. They definitely make the race go by quicker.

7. Nutrition vs Pharmacy

I think that it was good to race some new people today. After about 3k, Conor’s sensible pace became foolish to me so I dropped back. I feared that I was about to be swallowed by a huge pack of runners but only Ben came flying by in a UCC singlet. I tried to beat him because he is also a podcast superstar like me but it quickly became clear that he was far better than me.

8. The Forgotten Fourth Kilometre

I think that the fourth kilometer of a 5k is the most important, I have no memory of what happened in the 4th kilometer other than it was very wet and very grey and Ben and Conor started to get further away. I think that if I had concentrated properly during the 4th kilometer I might have gotten under the magic 16 minute barrier which is all that really matters when you are running a 5k.

9. Kieran McKeowns

I think that there must have been about seven Kieran McKeowns on the course today. He seemed to be everywhere, perhaps there are just lots of people who look like Kieran McKeown in Togher, he was definitely at six of the twelve corners. With about 800m to go he made his final appearance to tell me that Aoife and her gang were 50m back. This made me very worried as I could hear footsteps. Then I heard “Well Done Brian”, who’s Brian I thought, I don’t normally race Brians, then I remembered who Brian is.

10. Kerryman

I think that I did very well to hold off Brian Murphy over the last few 100m, he must be very disappointed as I’m absolutely terrible in the last few 100m of a 5k and normally anyone in sight of me beats me. I will take it as a victory over Michael Herlihy too as Brian beat him in the cross country so that’s positive. It was great fun and I didn’t get injured. Don’t worry the injury will probably happen soon.

Clonmel A.C 4 Mile 2022

10 Things I Think About The Clonmel A.C 4 Mile 2022

1. Where it All Started

I think that this race in 2015 was the reason I started going to Spain after Christmas. It has taken me 7 years to recover from how cold and wet it was that day. You could see the cold in the photos that’s how bad it was.

2. ParkRun + Goal Mile

I think that Christmas Day is a lot better when you can leave the house to go running. I spent Christmas morning pushing Billy around the Glen like a maniac (according to Tobi) with a Santa hat on followed by a goal mile at CIT where I got destroyed on the last lap by two young fellas. It was a very good morning.

3. Fake Sun

I think that there is something terrible about the sun in Ireland in December. It is horrible, it blinds you but provides no heat and no benefit other than permitting sunglasses to be worn in a race. I hadn’t worn my excellent orange sunglasses in ages.

4. Blueway

I think that I might have to go back to Clonmel for a normal run. It looks like a great place to train, a lovely path along the river that the signposts say goes all the way to Carrick on Suir with Font Romeuesque mountain trails looking down the town. No wonder there are so many good runners from Clonmel.

5. Green Light Indicates Satellites are Secured

I think that I will have to get a new watch or just stop wearing it in races. I thought the days of not being able to find satellites ended with the old Garmin 305 square watch. At the start my relatively new Garmin Forerunner 945 couldn’t find the Clonmel satellites. It didn’t look like it was going to find them in time for the start so I prepared myself for the worst and accepted that this race wouldn’t end up on Strava. Then just as the race started the watch went green indicating satellites have been secured so I pressed start and started running, then the screen went blank. I spent the first 400m of the race looking at the watch pressing buttons until the screen came back to life after pressing the lap button. I should have just dropped out.

6. Third Group

I think that I was lucky I didn’t fall while troubleshooting the watch issues. It’s amazing how far and fast you can run while not actually looking where you are going. Its a skill that I have probably developed from walking around town scrolling through Twitter. When I looked up and stopped looking at the watch after about 400m I saw that I was just off the back of the third group led by Cillian O’Leary. This was acceptable so I tried to stay with them.

7. The Bridge

I think that I did well to get to the bridge at two miles in the third group. I felt terrible, the sort of feeling that makes you question why you bothered, it is interesting how some running days are just terrible. An unusual combination of a long sleeve and a pair of orange sunglasses was probably reflective of my level of motivation, neither interested nor disinterested, neither happy nor unhappy.

8. Fast and Flat

I think that this must be one the nicest courses in Munster. It’s perfectly flat in that it’s not totally flat, it’s nicely flat, there are some nice little short bumps and a few bends to keep it interesting. The only thing that is a little annoying are all the noisy non-electric cars on the road on the way back to Clonmel. It might be nicer to come back along the Blueway after the bridge but I don’t know how that would work with the dog walkers and cyclists.

9. Wind

I think that there should be a name for the wind that we encountered once we turned left after the bridge. It was both cold and persistent, no gusts, just relentlessly resisting our attempts to return to Clonmel as quickly as possible. I thought I’d be clever and tuck in behind Cillian and his gang but with about a mile to go just as we passed David Mansfield I was eliminated from the group and left to go solo into the wind which was hopeless especially with a long sleeve t-shirt under my singlet.

10. The Final Turn

I think that Susan was right to warn about the finish being left around the corner. It is an unusual finish sort of like the race in Spain where I beat John O’Connell because he thought the finish was before it really was. Unfortunately in Clonmel I was on my own and my course knowledge was useless other than for ensuring that the time on Strava was faster than it would otherwise have been. It’s a great race, if only it was on in Spain or maybe May.

Munster Masters XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Munster Masters XC

1. Badness

I think that you don’t have a problem when you know what you are doing is wrong. I know that I should recover properly from the marathon so that I can get even more excellent. I would love to have the patience to try and become even more excellent, but it seems like a miserable existence. I try not to think of the marathon as anything special as it is just an invented concept that your body has no knowledge of. If there is no obvious badness after the marathon sure why wouldn’t you be fine to race again. Magic shoes and limited alcohol definitely help to reduce the amount of debadification required.

2. Freezing Fog

I think that this is the first race that I have run in freezing fog. It was terrible to come back to this awful cold place after a few days in wonderful Spain where it is warm and there is no ice unless you deliberately want to have ice and go up the mountains. Freezing fog is very atmospheric to run in, if it wasn’t so cold it would be a great addition to any race.

3. Course Check

I think that Clarecastle might be my favourite venue for cross country. It is an acceptable distance from Cork and for some reason the course seems to agree with me. I have beaten many people in this field, for example Conor McCauley even though he claims not to remember the beating. Clarecastle is one of those courses that gets very mucky, I wasn’t sure what it would be like in freezing fog, it turned out that it was a lot like the course in Donegal, sort of like a soft carpet with short portions of muck, perfect for Dragonflys.

4. Dragonflys in the Field

I think that Dragonflys are the best thing that has happened to cross country. I have always been in favour of them, they are excellent shoes, probably the most comfortable spikes ever, they don’t even feel like spikes. Nike are even bringing out a XC specific Dragonfly now which will have the triangular cone shaped spikes. I tried to put my current triangular cone shaped spikes onto my track Dragonflys but they don’t fit so I had to go with regular 9 mm spikes.

5. The Old Grey Whistle/Gun Test

I think that the start of this race was very unfair. There were a lot of runners in the race because the Munster Intermediate was being run at the same time as the Munster Old Man race. The starter had both a whistle and a gun which was slightly confusing as either is an accepted starting method. He waved the whistle at us as he backed away which made me think the gun was broken and he was going to use the whistle which is normally used for giving out. Then he tried to fire the gun but it didn’t go off so we had to regroup. Then again he tried the gun but it didn’t work, then the gun worked so we were off, myself and Michael Herlihy were badly delayed as we weren’t anticipating the third successful firing of the gun.

6. Helly Hansen

I think that running with a t-shirt under your singlet is normally a sign of a lack of interest. When it is actually freezing like it was in Clarecastle a long sleeve under your singlet is essential. There should be a rule about the colour of the longsleeve, it should be colour co-odinated with the singlet otherwise the photos will look terrible on Instagram. I choose a black Helly Hansen top that I have had since 2010 when it was cold last and I had to use YakTraks to run.

7. Chesser Checks Out

I think that Rory Chesser nearly won the race on the first lap. Because of the dodgy start myself and Michael Herlihy lost about 50m on the bunch of Intermediate and Old Men at the start. I deliberately took it somewhat handy for the first kilometer as I wasn’t sure how my body would react to the race. After a kilometer which was also a lap I felt totally unbad so I picked it up a bit and dispatched Michael Herlihy and moved up into third a good bit behind Rory Chesser and a little bit behind Kenny Rodgers.

8. The Gambler

I think that Kenny Rodgers tactics for the race were very interesting. After three of the seven one kilometre laps Rory Chesser had a good gap on myself and Kenny. Listening to his breathing I didn’t think that Kenny was going to be able to bridge the gap up to Rory but slowly but surely or quickly and certainly, I can’t quite remember, I was dropped and Kenny caught Rory. I was left in third happy enough to be without sight or sound of Michael Herlihy.

9. Herlihy vs Murphy

I think that Brian Murphy did me a big favour today by distracting Michael Herlihy. Seven one-kilometre laps is a lot of laps to be worried about being caught by a resurgent terminator like Michael Herlihy. Thankfully Brian Murphy was keeping him busy so I was left alone in third to concentrate on looking excellent for the photos in the fog. The problem with a one kilometer lap and effectively two races in one was that lapped runners became an issue for the last two laps, combined with the freezing fog it must have been great fun trying to figure out who was who.

10. Confirmation

I think that no matter where I am in a race I will always be afraid that I will be confused with a lapped runner and sent off for another lap like keeps happening in the National 10k on the track. Thankfully the stewards did an excellent job counting the chaos and at the end of seven laps I was sent into the finishing chute in third behind Rory who had been overhauled by Kenny Rodgers. I had time to feel the ice that had formed in my hair before turning around to see Brian Murphy storm in just ahead of Michael Herlihy. 15 seconds was the gap, which is similar to the gap between our marathon times.

Photo: Steve O'Sullivan

Valencia Marathon 2022

10 Things I Think About The Valencia Marathon 2022

1. I Have a Dream

I think that it is very important to have goals in life. Goals provide motivation and reasons to run when it is cold, wet and windy in November and you’d rather sit in the car and pick the dirt from the grooves of the car key than go out and run 10 miles. My main goal for the last few years has been to torment Michael Herlihy by running a faster marathon than him. 2:30:25. It has been my primary motivation for at least six years.

2. Preparation

I think that I did excellent training for the marathon. The most important thing when training for a marathon is to believe that your training is the best training and that what everyone else is doing is wrong, you must have total faith and belief. My training plan involved 5k reps and lots of racing. What is far more important than any training is picking a nice flat marathon in a nice cold calm place like Valencia in December.

3. Billy’s Race

I think that more races should have races for two-year-olds before the main event like what they do in Valencia. Billy’s Mini Maratón took place on a road parallel to the finish of the marathon on a 300m loop. The baby race had more loud music than the actual marathon and had an equally chaotic start. Billy was almost disqualified on the starting line for removing his race number and flinging it on the ground in protest at the dilly dallying, luckily the steward realized that it was pointless trying to pin it back on, so we were allowed run with me holding his number. A 300m race is a long way for a two-year-old, he started well, got to the halfway cone comfortably, had a bit of a stutter near the finish line but finished strongly in about 14th. A good debut.

4. Boxes

I think that it was great that the organizers put the runners into boxes just like I do. The start was arranged into boxes based on previous marathon times. The boxes were quite large, possibly based on the opinion of a Spanish Michael Herlihy type figure. There was Box 1 which had proper runners under 2:20. Then I was in Box 2 which was everyone who had run under 2:50 previously. The boxes were very easy to access, easier than Berlin and Seville. I was staying on the street the marathon started on, so I went from the apartment to my box in 3 minutes, ideal, perfect.

5. Penguins

I think that there were too many good runners in this marathon. Because I was staying so close to the start I was late getting to the start. When I got to my box 15 minutes before the start it was very full of people who could run under 2:50 for the marathon. I didn’t bother pushing up into the box because I assumed it would go out fast it being box 2. It didn’t, when the race went off after less fussing and music than there was in Billy’s race there were just too many runners for the width of the road. After 3k it was like being in a pack of penguins waddling along. You could feel the heat of the pack of runners, it was horrible and there was nothing I could do except try not to get stressed. I was very patient until 3k, then I started slaloming and elbowing like it was a cross country race. Once I got to 10k it was nice, still people everywhere but moving nicely according to my watch.

6. One Faced Liar

I think that I might run the next marathon off the km split signs. The GPS just doesn’t work. No wonder everyone was running PBs in those virtual races during lockdown, it’s minutes off. My watch was telling me I was great all race, miles under tormenting Michael Herlihy (TMH) pace. It was only when I got to the halfway mark that I realized that I was only barely under TMH pace. 1:14:58, not much time in the bank.

7. Entourage

I think that it is a good idea to bring someone with you to these marathons to hand out bottles. We were very professional and even rehearsed the bottle handoffs at the 16k, 25k and 30k points on the course the day before, this was mainly because we were terrified that we would mess up Tim O'Donoghue’s race by not getting him his bottles. The bottle handoffs were executed perfectly by Tim and Rhona. I also had one gel up my sleeve in my decathlon arm warmers and two gels in my shorts so six overall which is a lot. I have always believed in the importance of gels and water.

8. YouTubers and Irish People

I think that every youtuber in the world must have been running in Valencia. They were all over the place, it was a good way to pass the race trying to spot them. I ended up chatting to a less well-known YouTube shoe reviewer Nick Harris Fry who was on about the same pace, he was very nice and didn’t try to sell me anything. The other game I played was spot the Irish person. I only spotted two, David Callaghan from Tallaght and Brian Lenihan from Blackrock. I beat them both, I didn’t beat the YouTuber.

9. Waiting for Something

I think that I was too happy with tormenting Michael Herlihy. Marathons are waiting games, you keep running at a predefined pace waiting for something to go wrong. Valencia was very unusual as absolutely nothing went wrong, nothing, no stomach issues, no niggles, plenty of gels, perfect 12-degree weather, no wind, excellent magic shoes it was almost too good. Despite the absence of problems, I was terrified of pushing beyond my practiced tormenting Michael Herlihy pace for fear that I would blow up so I kept waiting until the last kilometer.

10. 2:30 for 2:30

I think that it is a horrible feeling when you realize that you are going to miss a sub 2:30 marathon. I only realized when I saw the 800m to go sign. I looked at my watch and it said 2:27:30. 2:30 to get under 2:30. Impossible, 5-minute mile pace. I tried anyway, aided significantly by the downhill bouncy blue mat. When I got onto flat but still bouncy blue mat to the finish, I looked at my watch and smiled. The tormenting of Michael Herlihy had been completed. 2:30:14. The sub 2:30 can wait for another day. It would have been a shame to have no goals left in running.

Great Glenville 4 Mile 2022

10 Things I Think About The Great Glenville 4 Mile

1. Synonymous

I think that I am running out of new places to run races in Cork. Glenville was a new one for me. The word Glenville brings two words to mind John Meade. It is a race that I would assume he would be at, it would almost be wrong if he wasn’t.

2. Industrial Numbers

I think that the race numbers for the race might have been the biggest thickest race numbers I have ever seen. These were industrial style numbers that couldn’t possibly disintegrate no matter how much rain and wind arrived. The bit that I didn’t realize until the end was that they were reusable numbers, at the end the tag was peeled off and collected for reuse. Very good, very green, very Eamon Ryan.

3. Warm Up

I think that the mile warm up only works if you are late and are extremely stressed. If you are late and not bothered about being late a mile warm up is not enough. I had absolutely no adrenaline despite arriving in Glenville 20 minutes before the unusual 11:30am start. I was hoping my new Pink Vaporflys would help but even they felt a bit flat which made me question their authenticity given that they were bought from Goat.com.

4. Big Turnout

I think that it is very difficult to tell who will turn up to these races. The people you expect to turn up like John Meade don’t turn up and the people you don’t like Gavin, Mark Walsh and Alan O’Shea do. There were also an exceptional amount of Vaporflys and Alphaflys on the start line which when combined with an expensive Nike singlet with cooling holes are a worrying sign.

5. Not Feeling It

I think that I have never gotten a worse start than in this race. It is a very favorable start, a short steep downhill that you’d instantly recognize from all the photos of previous years. On the start line we were counted down from 10, I waited for the 1 to go but Alan O’Shea was gone on the 2 or possibly the 3 and everyone else followed. I was left behind in about 8th by the time we began the mile long hill into the wind.

6. Catch Mark

I think that it is great fun tracking someone down in a race. It took until the top of the first hill for the adrenaline to kick in. I felt terrible on the hill, my Vaporflys felt unusually unbouncy and there was a strong headwind. Mark, Alan and Gavin looked like they were gone and there were two orange Nike singlets and Barry from the Barr’s in the gap in between. Thankfully the hill wasn’t that long and was followed by a downhill with the perfect gradient for my legs.

7. Tormenting Mark

I think that I probably shouldn’t have let out the groan I did when I caught up to Mark Walsh. It took until about a mile and a half to catch him. He had sensibly dropped off Alan and Gavin. When I caught up to Mark I let out a Michael Herlihy style groan to torment him. It definitely worked as he pulled my singlet as I went by. It’s very important to beat someone both psychologically and physically.

8. The Descent

I think that the middle two miles of this race are the wonderful. My tormenting of Mark didn’t really work as he just sat in behind me. I could see that Gavin was just sitting on Alan up the road so I thought we had a chance of catching them even though they were about 15 seconds ahead. Even though my Vaporflys didn’t feel as bouncy as normal they seemed to work very well on the gradual downhill. As we reached the three mile mark the group of two became four. Because the Michael Herlihy groan had worked well when I caught Mark I let out a similar groan when we caught Gavin and Alan. On hearing the groan Alan O’Shea turned his head and gave me a look that I can still see.

9. Donie and Con

I think if Donie and Con had been a few more metres away from the finish I might have beaten Alan O’Shea. The last mile unfolded almost exactly as I thought it would except that I beat Mark and came 3rd. I knew that Gavin would destroy us all in the last mile which he did, what I didn’t expect was that I would be so close to Alan. In my head there is no way I should be any where near Alan, he is many boxes ahead of me, I didn’t believe I could pass him, it would almost have been disrespectful. It was only when Donie and Con said it to me with about 300m to go that I thought it was possible. It wasn’t.

10. Hallophobia

I think that I have a fear of halls after races, the last two years have done irreparable damage to my brain. I must have looked very odd standing outside the hall waiting for the photos and prizes. I was terrified of catching a cold or something before the marathon in Valencia next week. It is not normal behavior, but I can’t help it. At least I was brave enough to enter the hall to collect the prize for 3rd and have my photo taken (there was none for Mark in 4th a feeling which I’m familiar with). Liam Tracey fixed my hair for the second photo so if I do get sick, I’ll know who to blame.

Munster Senior XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Munster Senior XC

1. To Hell or to Limerick

I think the initial hesitancy to hold this event in Limerick racecourse was understandable. Having said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the course. It was a fabulous cross-country course, one of the best courses ever. The perfect antidote for the nonsense in Abbotstown. It should be the opposite way around where they talk about moving the course because it’s not dangerous enough.

2. B vs B

I think that there is too much minding of oneself in running. It is a terrible shame that both Leevale and East Cork fielded “B teams” for this race. It was great for the members of the B teams like myself and Mark Walsh but it should be the case that you have to run both the County and Munster cross country in order to qualify for the Nationals. It would stop people skipping a race because they know it is going to be run in a ridiculous swamp in Limerick that will have absolutely no relevance when it comes to the Nationals. It should be like the GAA where if you are caught training on a weekend where there is a cross country race that you are eligible you get banned.

3. Triangulation

I think that I will have to order a pair of the triangular spikes that Michael Herlihy had for this race. They are the spikes from the Nike Zoom Victory 5 XC. The shoe companies make no effort to innovate when it comes to cross country spikes for pure bogs like Limerick racecourse because there are only about 40 customers in the entire world. I am very tempted to try a pair of Inov-8 mud claws in races like this as there must be something better than spikes. I could try training properly but it is a lot easier to buy something that could make you faster.

4. Scandalous Decision

I think that the decision to reduce the race distance from 10k to 8k was scandalous. They said it was because of the tough conditions. This was clearly nonsense as the runners who had turned up were the maddest of the mad runners in Munster, farmers and strong fellas who either don’t know about or have utter contempt for magic shoes and who want to suffer as much as possible. It was clearly shortened so that people could go home ten minutes earlier. It was only afterwards that Michael Herlihy told me that if I had objected, they’d have had to have made it 10k. If I’d have know I’d have said something.

5. This is Bad

I think that after 100m of the race we were all glad that it was 8k not 10k. The race started with a ridiculously loud bang from what was possibly a new starting gun and off we went up the hill as fast as we could before all slowing dramatically when we encountered the first bog. That first bog was a good introduction to what lay ahead, this was not muck, this was a shin swallowing swamp.

6. Mass Cheating

I think that marking the course with only flags was asking for trouble. On the first lap everyone was very good and ran outside the flags all the way around the course. After the first lap new questionable lines were being taken, we’d already been given two kilometers off but when faced with ridiculous conditions it’s probably fair enough to lop off another few meters so long as everyone does it.

7. Downhill

I think that my favourite part of the course was the downhill section. It could have been a perfect course if they had taped off the hard path that ran down the middle of the downhill section so that you’d have to run downhill through the swamp instead we went from 7 minute miles through the uphill swamp to 5 minute miles down the hill with everyone desperately trying to find the hardest ground. 12mm spikes and rock hard gravel is not very pleasant.

8. The Swamp

I think that if I could have figured out a way to run through the swamp at the bottom of the course I could have beaten Michael Herlihy. The bottom of the course was a mystery to me, everyone else seemed to fly through it but every time I tried to turn at the final corner I came to a complete stop. There is no worse feeling in a XC race than when you put your foot in the ground and it doesn’t come out. The only worse feeling is when you see Michael Herlihy plowing through the same ground at twice the speed you are going with muck flying everywhere.

9. Like a Michael Herlihy in Muck

I think that there was no happier man in Limerick than Michael Herlihy, he was almost joyful, nearly smiling. I was ahead of him on the first lap but as we went onto the second lap he danced past clearly absolutely delighted with himself. It’s interesting that you can tell how happy someone is by the way they are running. Every step into the mud seemed to make him happier and happier. He was bouncing and ploughing his way through the swamp like a young bullock on his first day out of the shed.

10. The last will be first, and the first last

I think that these sorts of conditions should be mandatory for cross country. They turn the results from road races and road races on grass upside down, that’s the way it should be. I beat lots of people that beat me in the Abbotstown road race on grass and people I destroyed in that same race like Michael Herlihy beat me very badly in the muck. The only reason for cross country is to torment track and road runners. Despite my bad beating by Mike, the Leevale B team was still victorious in the battle of the B teams which proves nothing and probably doesn’t count as it was only 8k and not 10k. Hopefully the Nationals in Donegal will be in similar proper conditions; Donegal couldn’t possibly be dry could it?

Photo by Niall Moran

Cork County Masters XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Masters XC

1. Beautiful Rain

I think all cross-country races should be run on ridiculously wet bank holiday Mondays. Monday was a beautiful cross-country day, the sort of dark wet day where you put a SAD lamp in your Amazon shopping basket. The rain was so bad that I warmed up at home in Glanmire before driving the fifteen minutes to White’s Cross aka John Meade land as I knew what was ahead.

2. Parking at the Gate

I think that calculating when to arrive at a cross country race is a skill as important as actually running. I got the timing for this race almost perfect. Because of the terrible rain they rattled through the juvenile program in an hour which is unprecedented, Michael Herlihy looked delighted to be leaving when I was walking in, I was equally delighted as I had managed to park right beside the gate because everyone else had left.

3. Field of Dreams

I think that it is very important to remind people of great races that you ran in the past in case that they forget. There isn’t enough of this on social media. This field at White’s Cross was the site of my greatest achievement before the photo of me beating John Meade in the Rebel Run 10k while coming second. It is an achievement which I rarely speak of. It was in this field in 2015 that I won the County Novice XC. It was a great run by me on that day in perfectly dry conditions. Conor McCauley never won the Novice nor did many other people.

4. Pat Murphy

I think that Pat Murphy would be an excellent name for John Meade. John Meade had difficulties with the entries so he had to take Pat Murphy’s number for the race. It suits him perfectly. It might be a good idea for Masters Cross Country for people to get to choose a new name, it might encourage more participation, a sort of a rebirth, a new career, no one would know what age you are then.

5. Michael Herlihy Tactics

I think that it is a pity that Michael Herlihy didn’t hang around in the ridiculous rain to watch my perfect imitation of his tactics. I imagine I ran the race like Mike would like to have run it if he had my current fabulous form. I didn’t go mad on the first lap and left John Meade and Kevin O’Brien take it on in that sort of way you can when you know that you have good form. I’m beginning to see the logic in not going mad on the first lap, it makes the rest of the race easier. If only someone had told me this years ago.

6. Equipment Selection

I think that this course had the perfect level of muck. It was not deep muck, it was 12mm spike muck. I might have gone with 15mm spikes, but I gave my bag of 15mm spikes to Paul O’Donovan last week and I was afraid to ask for them back because he has Olympic Medals, and I don’t. 12mm spikes were perfect anyway.

7. Hairpin

I think that the course layout was fantastic. There was a lovely hairpin at one part of the course where you could catch the stake and use it to leverage yourself around the corner. The rest of the course was lovely and flat with only muck to slow you down. It had lovely short sections of good ground where you could make an effort before slowing down for the very mucky sections. It was perfect, none of that continuous effort nonsense from Abbotstown, this was real cross country, the sort of course that track runners would hate.

8. The Banshees of Puigcerda

I think that John Meade is going to live to regret that race in Puigcerda where he arrogantly sat behind me for the whole race and then did just barely enough to beat me on the line. I will remember that race forever. Once I had gotten a gap on the group after two of the five laps all I thought about was that race in Puigcerda. I wanted to bury him by as much as possible. Kevin O’Brien was in between the two of us but all I was concerned about was making sure the gap to John Meade was huge

9. We won’t call it quits, we’ll call it the start.

I think that this race was a step closer to avenging the race in Puigcerda, once I crossed the line just ahead of Kevin O’Brien, I had to wait for fifty nine seconds (00:59) for John Meade to appear in third. I was tempted to go and get a coffee as I was nearly cold by the time he arrived, considering it was only 7000m, fifty nine seconds (00:59) was a desperate beating, a crushing, an annihilation on home turf and all. This is only the start, I hope, he won’t be able to go to a small local road race in peace again.

10. Dialed in Coffee

I think that my favourite part of this race was the presence of the Rooskagh coffee van in the middle of the field. We have come a long way as a country, you can now get a perfectly dialed in coffee in a farmer’s field immediately after a cross country race. An oatie, a coffee and destruction of John Meade, bank holidays don’t get much better than that.

Rebel Run 10k 2022

10 Things I Think About The Rebel Run 10k

1. Genetic Lateness

I think that I have a problem with lateness. I am eternally late for everything. It is terrible. I’m never late enough that I miss anything, but it is a very stressful way to live. I wish I could do something about it but unfortunately I think it is a genetic trait amongst Coakleys and there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it.

2. Parkenomics

I think that car parks are interesting. There was a big queue for the car park which amplified my lateness. John Meade helpfully jogged over to the car as we were stuck on Melbourn road about 30 minutes before the start to taunt me. When we finally reached the car park I realised what was causing the delay, the car park was being filled from the top. There must be a PhD in how to fill a car park, I imagine it is like a bottle where the first car in should go to the bottom.

3. Carbon Footprint

I think that making everyone collect the number the day before was a great idea as there was absolutely no queue for me on the day because I didn’t bother to drive out the day before. I’m not sure if it such a great idea on a carbon footprint basis as it is in effect doubling the amount of travel, I drive a dirty diesel, so I was doing the environment good by ignoring the email about collecting the day before. I think John Meade did the same as me.

4. Adrenaline

I think that one of the great things about being eternally late is that you have an eternal amount of adrenaline. When you arrive at a race with ten minutes to spare then you only need a five minute warmup because of the adrenaline. All of my best performance have been because of extreme lateness. It is a beneficial genetic trait, perhaps that’s why it has been passed down the generations.

5. The Kieran McKeown Course Accuracy Test

I think that this must be one of the best 10k courses in Cork. It passed the accuracy test which is if Kieran McKeown is giving out about it being long on the watch, then you know that it is an accurately measured course. The route is lumpy but wonderful, it’s a mixture of rolling roads and bike paths. The marshalling was excellent which is very important on a route like this as it would be very easy to go wrong.

6. Natural Order

I think that the first few miles of the race were a struggle. On the start line I was putting people into their various boxes trying to figure out who I would have to spend the race with. I put Anthony Mannix, John Meade and Keith Kelly into my box, Kieran McKeown wanted to be in the box but he threatened to thrown me into the flood at the speed bump so I didn’t put him in the box. After about a mile of the race my box prediction proved accurate.

7. Worst Clip Ever

I think that I was very lucky to survive the clip of a Vapofly that I received from Anthony Mannix just after 5k. Clipping someone in a race is forgivable if it is just the heel but side to side foot contact is borderline an attempted trip. I initially presumed it was John Meade tormenting me as you would never suspect Anthony Mannix of such a tactic. I didn’t actually find out the truth until after the race, he’s lucky because I might have mustered some motivation to try and beat him if I’d known.

8. The Distancing of John Meade

I think that dropping John Meade in a race is one of the great achievements in running. There are not many people in Cork who can say that they have dropped John Meade in a race. After about 7k I became a member of this exclusive club, to make it even better he was dropped on a hill which is like beating him on home turf. To be honest if it wasn’t for Anthony Mannix I don’t think the gap would have opened. I just followed Anthony, that was enough to drop John Meade.

9. Go on John Meade

I think that almost everyone wanted John Meade to catch me and beat me like he normally does. As we left the cycle path and headed back up the hill towards the track he was getting all sorts of encouragement, “Go on John Meade”, “Well done John”, “Only 20 metres”. I knew that 20 metres on John Meade with a section of track to finish is the same as no gap. Somehow I got to the entrance to the track still ahead, the atmosphere in the stadium was electric with 100s of John Meade fans surprised to see me 20m ahead of their hero but probably still confident of a victory by their hero.

10. Humble

I think that poor Anthony Mannix must have felt like he didn’t win. As I entered the home straight Anthony was crossing the line, all I could hear was a cacophony of “Well Done John, Go on John” as he roared after me down the home straight. Thankfully Michael Herlihy has taught me how to run fast so I was able to go just fast enough to hold John Meade off and cross the line gracefully and respectfully in second place. It’s very important to be humble on these occasions.

Autumn Open XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Autumn Open XC

1. Masters Trial

I think that masters running is great. If it wasn’t for masters running, it would be hard to motivate yourself to drive all the way to Dublin for a cross country race on a course you detest. The definition of running old age is interesting as it is really up to you when you accept the game is up, signing up is really the beginning of a new career.

2. Beara to Abbotstown

I think that I did too much driving this weekend. Bere Island is much closer to Glanmire than Abbotstown but it take precisely the same amount of time to reach both. The drive and boat to Bere Island is much nicer. The boat gave me a good idea on how to solve the traffic in Dublin. Turn the M50 into a river and make everyone get a boat into the city, it would fix everything.

3. Spikes, Dragonflys and Vapoflys

I think that cross country is nearly worse than the road for shoe choice dilemmas. Michael Herlihy did a reconnaissance lap on the Saturday and reported back that the course was rock hard. Vaporflys are now legal for cross country, so I threw them into the boot just in case I had to fight fire with fire. Thankfully the only cheating taking place was dragonfly related which are based on the research probably worth 3.43% running economy. I stuck to my Brooks which was probably a bad decision.

4. Sand not Gravel

I think that this course is not being used as designed. I went back and looked at the website of the original course designers (who were actual horse course designers). The design specifically mentions sand sections. There are no sand sections. There is rock hard gravel which is a faster surface than the track at the Mardyke. We have enough road races and track races, they should at least make the course some bit challenging.

5. Carlos Sastre

I think that running the race in Bere Island the day before was a great idea. It meant that I really didn’t care about the race as I had an excellent excuse for Michael Herlihy and Viv beating me. Because I had nothing to lose I decided to try out some different tactics. I decided to warm up into the race like Carlos Sastre used to on the climbs to win the Tour De France and less memorably like Michael Herlihy did to finish an excellent 8th in the county senior a few weekends ago.

6. I Ain’t Worried

I think that this was the most fun I have ever had in a race. Because it is a glorified road race the race went off like a downhill 5k road race in south county Dublin would. I was miles back after half a lap but despite barely trying I was still ahead of Michael Herlihy, perhaps I had confused him by running like him. Viv was well gone and not to be seen.

7. Target Engaged

I think that it is very handy to have spotters on the course. By the third lap I had gotten going and started to mow people down. I wasn’t actually going any quicker it’s just that I didn’t slow down like the other runners. Rhona and Billy told me that Viv was up ahead, I looked for him but couldn’t spot him but as I reached the top of the hill I spotted him entering the gravel track section. I was so motivated by the thought of catching him, passing him and burying him that I jumped in the air and took off down the hill, at least I did in my own head.

8. Max Verstappen

I think that my overtake of Viv was one of the best overtaking maneuvers in a cross country race ever. It took until halfway through the last lap for me to get near him. It was beautiful, I swept around the outside of him through the gate that leads into the uphill section that is invisible to spectators and absolutely buried him up the hill. Declan Guina helped me then to open a huge gap on him over that last few hundred meters. It was definitely my best victory over Viv.

9. Perfect Pacing

I think that there should be an award sponsored by Strava for the nicest looking pace graph on Strava after the race. I think that I would definitely have won this award as my graph was very beautiful. I’m sure that Michael Herlihy was very jealous as he sat on the sofa with the laptop and a large glass of electrolyte drink analyzing how I destroyed him by forty five seconds which is ages. I might use this tactic again.

10. Seventh Best Priest

I think that it is just as well that I live in my own self-created world where I have victories over Viv and Michael Herlihy as in the real race for the M35 team I failed miserably and was beaten very badly. I was the seventh best moderately old man. Apparently only the first four moderately old men get automatically selected to buy their own Irish singlet so I will have wait for another year. It’s alright, I honestly don’t mind.

Bere Island 5 Mile 2022

10 Things I Think About The Bere Island 5 Mile

1. Island Life

I think that Bere Island is my favourite of all the small islands off the coast of Ireland. It is a very interesting little island. It’s sort of like where I grew up in the Galtees except that you can’t escape to the city without getting on a boat. The roads look identical and the hills were very similar.

2. Weather Forecast

I think that weather apps are too catastrophic with their colouring systems. I checked the windy app on Friday and Bere Island had red coloured wind. It looked terrible and there was constant rain forecast. It seemed like it would be impossible to get a boat to the island with red coloured wind and fast-moving arrows. When I got up on Saturday morning I looked out the window in Glanmire expecting the trees to be bending over but instead the leaves on the ground were barely moving so we hopped in the car for the two hour drive to the ferry from the pontoon.

3. Ferry

I think that getting to a race start by ferry is a great idea. I have a terrible fear of going on a ferry from when I was a child going across to Clare Island so I was very scared. Thankfully it was an excellent ferry like the one that goes from Passage to Cobh with absolutely no side to side motion and no risk of death.

4. GAA Island

I think that there must be a law that says there must be a GAA club on every island in the country. For the warmup we jogged over to the impressive GAA club to use the facilities. There doesn’t appear to be much GAA being played on the pitch as the grass was longer than the grass at the cross country race in Carrignavar. Perhaps they could convert it into an athletics track and turn the island into a running paradise. It has everything else, lots of hills and plenty of quiet roads.

5. Strava Routeplanner

I think that there aren’t many options for course designers on Bere Island. There are very few roads and only one of them has a loop. If you asked Strava for a five mile route on Bere Island I’m pretty sure the computer would come up with the Bere Island five mile loop.

6. Leevale

I think that the Leevale singlet is very scary. When we lined up for the start I was half horrified to see a young fella in a Leevale singlet. It is a very intimidating singlet, I think it’s the colours. I was thinking did Chris Harrington or Ken Nason send some young fella down on purpose to torment me, a new Charlie O’Donovan, he looked like he was. When we started, he kept up with me for about a mile. A mile is long enough for it to become worrisome.

7. Haute Category

I think that if it wasn’t for the gigantic, enormous hill in the second mile I might have had company for longer. The second mile of this race is indescribable. It is a hill unlike anything I have seen in a race in Ireland. It is remarkably steep, at least as steep as Patrick’s Hill. I was very glad of the huge hill as I had magic shoes unlike my fellow Leevaler so I was able to bounce right up to the top. If you had no magic shoes it would have been a very hard hill.

8. Sqaull

I think we were incredibly lucky that the weather apps got it all wrong. Before the race there was a weird squally shower, sort of like a mini hurricane that would last three minutes, it would have been impossible to run in that. Somehow during the race it was perfect, there was barely even wind, the sky might even have been blue. You could hear thunder in the distance which was kind of nice. Bere Island seems to have it’s own climate that weather apps can’t predict, it seemed to be terrible everywhere else nearby.

9. Rush Hour

I think that the last three miles of the race are lovely. Once the ridiculously steep massive hill was out of the way it became a lovely rolling slightly downhill run to the finish. Apparently, we took a detour to avoid a slippy road but I didn’t notice as the route seemed perfectly logical to me, I just followed the lead van which was fine until we encountered the only two cars on the island who were out for a drive. The roads are very narrow, so I had to wait while they maneuvered around each other, sure what harm, sure who’s in a rush on Bere Island.

10. Course Record

I think that course records are great. I like course records because they apply only to mad courses. When there is a course record you know that the route is mad so they have to have a course record so that people won’t be upset when their time isn’t as fast as it would be on the John Buckley 5k loop. In the end I only barely got it by about 10 seconds, I probably should have waited on the line until the time was just one second under and then stepped across so that it would be easier to break again next year like that guy in Spain did last week. I’m not sure if that would have gone down too well in West Cork.

Cork County Senior XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior XC 2022

1. Countless Hills (and Laps)

I think that the new course in Carrigadrohid might be my favourite cross country course ever. I was getting a little bored of the old course layout, it was very good the first few times but familiarity breeds contempt. The new one in the same field is a triumph of imagination and cross country course design. Twenty hills in seven laps (depending on how you define a hill), sweeping bends, steep downhills, and wonderful long grass with bumpy ground rendering magic shoes utterly useless. If only it could have been wet.

2. Fourteen Times

I think that I might be able to beat Denis McCarthy’s record someday. My only complaint about the day was that there wasn’t a man with the mic doing excellent commentary and general announcements, well there was but he was very shy, the only thing he said all day was that this was Denis’s 40th County Senior which is very impressive. It was my 14th which is also impressive given how tanned and young looking I am. I’m confident I can do 40, the only ones I have missed have been because of stress fractures, I have no bones left to have stress fractures in so I should be good to go for 26 more.

3. Spikes

I think that people using Dragonflys on this sort of course shows you the power of Nike advertising. I can think of nothing worse to have attached to my feet in a farmer’s field than a rigid carbon plate with some squishy ZoomX foam. It cannot possibly help. It can only increase the risk of terrible ankle injuries. You need nice flexible cheap spikes so that when your foot hits the rutted hard unpredictable bump in the ground it can mould around it, grip it and push off without your ankle twisting.

4. Carbon Footprint

I think that it was a bit much of East Cork to be laughing at Leevale and our band of mercenaries from Donegal, Dublin, Wexford, Limerick, Tipperary etc when they had Kenyan and UK based arrivals to bolster their ranks. It was probably a fair battle in terms of long-term carbon footprints, although the East Cork team was probably a more geographical team than Leevale. It was always going to be a good battle.

5. Boxes

I think that one of the worst things about running is that after a while you get put in an ability box. For example, it is considered absurd, ridiculous, and outrageous for a known confirmed useless article like me from the 7th to 20th placed box to lead the race. I was not doing it like one of the teams in the Tour De France going in the breakaway so that their sponsors get attention, I wasn’t doing it for my YouTube channel, I wasn’t doing it for my sponsored blog, I went into the lead because it was fun and everyone else was jogging down the hill because they were terrified of the 18 hills that were left and I knew it would annoy people a little bit.

6. The Mini Hill

I think that the hardest hill on the course was the shortest hill. It was the second hill of the lap, a horrible little hill, way too steep for my long-tanned legs but perfect for the shorter untanned legs of the likes of John Meade. It was on the mini hill that my leading came to an end on the second lap and I was put back in my box by the better runners, fortunately John Meade and Michael Herlihy are also unwilling perhaps even unknowing inhabitants of that same box so there was plenty of fun left in the race.

7. Donal Coffey

I think that Donal Coffey enjoyed this race more than Michael Harty. I’ve never seen a man take such delight in the misery and suffering of one person, that person being his namesake. Every time I passed he tormented me by ignoring me and then shouting, “Well Done John Meade”, or “Well Done Mikey” even when they weren’t behind me. He was obviously thrilled when John Meade bustled past me on the mini hill. The “Well Done John Meade’s are definitely an advantage. I felt like I was an away team. I don’t know why I’m not supported.

8. Two Seconds of Hate

I think that John Meade had only one goal in this race and that was to beat me. This was one of my better battles with John Meade, normally our battles are not really fought out and it is more in my imagination, but this was a real battle. We must have exchanged places four or five times. I thought I had him on the ropes on the last lap as he looked very hunched over and started breathing audibly. I have never heard John Meade breathing in a race, but this was unmistakable suffering, gasping for air. It would have been wonderful to sail by him on that last hill but unfortunately, he had just enough to hold off my hatred by two short seconds.

9. The Terminator

I think that Michael Herlihy was like the cat who got the cream after the race, he was possibly as happy as I’ve ever seen a man who had finished 8th in race. Thrilled with himself, utterly delighted with his self-anointed Terminator style run, like a fella who had just run a 2:19 marathon in a pair of magic shoes. As I lay thrown on the ground after the race hoping that someone would take a good picture for the blog and Instagram, Mike stood over me and said “That was a terrible performance”, his justification being that I should have beaten him because of the one training session where I dared be ahead of him. Then someone asked him how he ran, and he said excellent and that he was very happy with it.

10. Medals

I think that we will have to appoint a team member to count the laps in Carrigadrohid in future. This is the second time where I have ended up with a medal I didn’t deserve because one of my teammates has counted the laps wrong in this hilly field. Last time it was Mark Walsh who got it all wrong, that was probably much worse as it cost us gold, this time poor Gavin did the same thing, sprinted on the second last lap thinking it was the last one and wasn’t able to finish. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Mark’s shocker though as it didn’t really impact the team result as East Cork were in dominating form. It did however give me an undeserved silver medal for fourth Leevale scorer which was nice. John Meade only got a bronze and Michael Herlihy got no medal, so I’ll take it.

Charleville Half Marathon 2022

10 Things I Think About Pacing The Charelville Half Marathon Badly

1. Charleville or Berlin

I think that it is terrible that I wasn’t able to race both Berlin and Charleville. I had a great feeling of sadness yesterday not to be doing either. Berlin had proper weather for once and Charleville would have been a great victory over Jeremy, John Meade and Mike Morgan, probably. Instead I agreed to Michael Herlihy’s request to pace 1:35 and save myself for the cross country.

2. Warm Up

I think that it is very difficult to know what sort of a warm up to do for pacing. I was half wrecked before the race as I had finished fourth or fifth in the session at the farm on Saturday morning beating Michael Herlihy significantly. It had been my first time in spikes in about 6 months so my calves were a bit tight. I settled for half a mile of a jog during which I met Jeremy who was devastated that I wasn’t racing.

3. Vietnam vs Indonesia

I think that one of the reasons Michael Herlihy gave me the 1:35 pace group is that it is probably what he thinks I would run for a half marathon if I didn’t have magic shoes. To prove him wrong I wore my simple non magic New Balance 880 V12s which were made in Vietnam. With New Balance shoes you have to get the ones made in Vietnam because the ones made in Indonesia fit a half a size smaller. I have told this story about New Balance shoes and where they are made to many people on runs but no one seems to be interested in it. I think it is fascinating.

4. Balloons and T-Shirts

I think that it was very kind of the Charleville half marathon to give all the pacers a free t-shirt and a free balloon. The Charleville t-shirts are very nice as they have lots of random sponsors sort of like the t-shirt you get at a Spanish road race. The balloon with 1:35 written on it was also very handy as I could give the balloon to Billy afterwards.

5. Kilometers or Miles

I think that when pacing a half marathon it is better to go off km pace than mile pace. 1:35 was 4:30 per km which is easy to remember. The problem is that GPS watches are terribly inaccurate lying machines which you can’t trust so you have to err on the side of 4:28 or so to account for the course being measured properly. This was what I was aiming for anyway.

6. Trickle-Down Economics

I think that Charleville is a very difficult course for a pacer. The first mile is a little bit downhill so you end up running it a bit faster. I’m still not sure if the pacer should run exactly the prescribed pace for this mile. I don’t think that would make any sense because the first mile isn’t the same as any other mile, it’s sort of like free money. Anyway I didn’t do that because I’m very logical, so we went through the first km in about 4 minutes. We then ran along the very flat and featureless road until we reached 10k at Kilmallock in about 44:20 which I thought was excellent pacing even though we had 40 seconds in the bank.

7. Sound of the Alphaflys

I think that the worst thing about pacing is that you must listen to Alphaflys for an hour and a half. They make a terrible terrible clapping sound. I’m not sure if I could stick it for a marathon. Unfortunately, due to Kipchoge’s world record I had to buy the orange pair immediately after the race so I’ll soon find out if they are as loud and awful when you wear them yourself.

8. Wind

I think that everyone in my pacing group should have thanked me when we turned back onto the main road after ten miles. There was no evidence of any wind before the start but by the time we arrived onto the road a strong headwind had developed. I gathered a bunch around me and gave them great shelter with my huge frame over the next three miles. Because of my quality pacing we had plenty of time banked to account for the headwind so we didn’t have to worry.

9. Quality of The Pacing

I think that anyone who complains about pacers should be banned from running a race ever again. Pacing is an incredibly difficult job, probably more difficult that race organiser. You have to account for winds, road surfaces, hills, downhills, humidity, GPS watches, magic shoes all while getting paid nothing. The only solution to avoid people complaining might be to get one of those pace lights like they have for the Diamond League or perhaps have electric bicycles with pace lights cast onto the ground behind them. That way it couldn’t possibly go wrong. I’m sure Michael Herlihy could sort this out. It’s probably the next step for the race.

10. Volunteering

I think that volunteering doesn’t suit me, it was awful to watch Jeremy, John Meade and Mike Morgan running times that I would have liked to have run, they were all too happy afterwards while I had to make do with the lesser endorphin hit of pacing albeit badly. My pacing was probably the only thing that wasn’t perfect about Charleville this year. Everything else, even the weather seemed to be perfect.

Allihies 5 Mile 2022

10 Things I Think About The Allihies 5 Mile 

1. To Allihies or to Galway 

I think that if it wasn’t for the disease that is my chronic lateness I would have ended up running a cross country race in Galway today. I have terrible trouble with being on time for things, I’m invariably at least five minutes late for everything. Add in a little bit of jet lag and getting to Galway for 12:30 became an impossible task so off to Allihies we went.

2. Toyota Corolla

I think that Google Maps needs to factor in Toyota Corolla’s in its calculation of how long it is going to take to get to Allihies. It is a very long drive from Glanmire, the road is fine until you turn off at Béal na Bláth then the Toyota Corolla’s of various vintages start. The first one was a grey one like John Meade used to drive, it was tolerably slow but went a long way along the road to Allihies before finally turning off left, only to be replaced immediately from the next cross roads by a 99 faded red Corolla that just about got around each bend. As we got closer to Allihies the Corolla’s were replaced by tractors. 

3. Michael McMahon

I think that Michael McMahon must think that I was playing games with him. I had told him during the week that there was a race in Allihies that he should do. He said he’d think about it. I said I definitely wouldn’t be there as I was going to Galway. While we were stuck behind one of the Corolla’s who did I see in the mirror only Michael McMahon. I’m sure he had the same mixed thoughts of well at least I have some one to warm up and cool down with but do I really have to race him.

4. So Good You Do it Twice 

I think that the course in Allihies is amazing. It must be one of the best road race circuits in the world. There is nothing like it anywhere, it is fabulously mad. It is made up of two, two and a half mile laps like the old Churchtown South race in Ballycotton. There are no flat sections, it is either uphill or downhill like a cross country course. The scenery is Icelandic, viciously beautiful especially on a sunny day with no wind. It would look great on TV. 

5. No Hanging About

I think that racing Michael McMahon was always going to be fun. At the start about 50m outside the town we both took off like mad lunatics with no regard for the course or distance in a way that would have tormented Michael Herlihy if he had of been there. The first mile is half sweeping uphill bends followed by a beautiful downhill section facing out over the bay. Michael took the lead and didn’t look like he was ever going to surrender it. I felt terrible, a mixture of jetlag and tiredness from driving behind Corolla’s for two hours. 

6. Dangerous Downhill

I think that the pace at which Michael McMahon went downhill in this race was frightening. I have never seen anything like it. I am normally the best in any race at going downhill as I have that perfect mix of height, heaviness and madness. Following Michael McMahon downhill off the cliffs of Allihies was what I imagine it must have been like for the guys in the Tour De France trying to follow Tom Pidcock off the Col Du Galibier. It was terrifying and safer to be watching on TV.

7. False Flat

I think that I knew I had a chance once we reached the second mile of the race where we encountered the only part of the course that is remotely flat. It is still probably a 1-2% gradient but it looks relatively flat. Because of Michael’s wreckless descending he was getting a gap on me everytime we went downhill but on the “flat” section by a field where a farmer was attempting to turn rocks into grass I started to close the gap.

8. Maybe

I think that this race evolved the complete opposite way to every other race I have been in. Normally in a race like this I would get a gap on people on the downhill and they would close on me on the uphill. But in this race it was like I had metamorphosed like Chris Froome from someone who can’t climb to the best climber in the world. Hills were my friend for once. Maybe it was my day.

9. Definitely Maybe

I think that after the first lap I had a good idea of what I needed to do. I couldn’t get ahead of Michael on the first lap no matter what I did but as we ran back up through the town with it’s lovely multicoloured houses I knew that he was going to be vulnerable on the climb to the finish as normally I would get dropped on any gradient. He led all the way until the four mile mark when I briefly took over on the false flat section before being immediately overtaken on the downhill section.

10. Alto de Allihies

I think that more races should finish on vicious climbs like this one. They do it on purpose in cycling. You can’t see the finish at the bottom of the last 100m ramp up to the finish it is so steep. As we approached the town Michael was still leading having re-opened the gap on the last of the mad descents. Then as we commenced the climb home I started to close in, with 800m to go I made my move. Just like Chris Froome in that breakthrough Tour De France I unexpectedly increased my cadence before flying up the vicious slope to appear at the top victorious. There is no drug testing in Allihies.

Golden Gate Park XC 2022

10 Things I Think About The Golden Gate Park XC

1. Golden Gate Park

I think that a cross country race in Golden Gate Park sounds fabulous. It sounds like it would be amazing with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background and lots of fog. In reality it was great but for different reasons than you would expect. Golden Gate Park is pretty much the Phoenix Park in San Francisco and you can’t see the Golden Gate Bridge but it’s very nice and great for running.

2. Thirsty

I think that it is questionable as to whether you should be allowed to call a race a cross country race if it hasn’t rained in the preceding 6 months. San Francisco is thirsty, parched, yet the park is deceptively green due to the sprinklers which are everywhere so perhaps they get a pass for that.

3. Shoe Choice

I think that I didn’t bring enough shoes with me. Normally when you are going to a cross country race you bring only spikes. The only choice is how long your spikes are. American cross country appears to be very different as spikes are almost redundant. Concrete was the problem on this course, back home it would have been covered in fake grass but here it was just left as is with no thought for the Irishman who likes pure proper cross country. As it turns out I had the perfect shoe for the course but it was back home in Cork the New Balance 1400. All I was left with was a choice between a pair of Dragonflys with spikes and evil cheating Vaporflys.

4. Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

I think that wearing Vaporflys in a cross country race is an immoral act. It’s no longer illegal which is terrible but it is still very wrong. I really had no choice for this race as spikes would have been dangerous with the concrete and not ending up in an American hospital with a broken leg was one of my main goals. I felt so guilty lining up on the startline but then I looked around and most people had some sort of super shoe on. I suppose if everyone else is doing it it’s not really cheating.

5. Pre Race Ra Ra

I think that if Irish cross-country teams started doing pre race hype chants like some of the American teams did before this race they would be run out of the field. I can just imagine North Cork AC led by Michael Herlihy before the County Senior chanting “Two, four, six, eight/ Who do we appreciate?” It just wouldn’t work, it would be funny but it wouldn’t work. It even looked ridiculous in San Francisco, like something you’d see in an Adam Sandler movie but I suppose when your team is called the Aggies it can’t get much worse.

6. Sprinklers

I think that over zealous sprinklers ruined the course from a Vaporfly point of view. If it wasn’t for the wet and slippy downhill 400m stretch just after the start Vaporflys would have been perfect. It was so wet it looked like it had rained which it hadn’t. Unfortunately, Vaporflys are terrible on mud. I had taken the start handy anyway but being faced with 400m of slippy downhill mud in the first mile of the race made my start even worse. I ended up way back, miles behind the pre-race chant inspired Aggies, maybe they are onto something?

7. Standards

I think that the standard in this race was very high. I had wondered where all the American runners were as any road race I have been to has had a shocking standard. Now I know, they all run these USATF races which are like races back home. Unusually most of the runners were way younger than me, I was probably the oldest person there. I wish we had races like this at home all of the time, I don’t mind finishing nowhere as long as the standard is high.

8. Singletrack Sand

I think that my favourite part of the course was the section of sandy single track about after about a mile of the two mile lap. It came just after a wide-open green grass section so you could make a big effort on the open plain and then no one could pass you for the next 200m. It was also uphill and sandy so it increased the suffering. I would like more sections like this in cross country courses, at least we got to do it twice in this race. Vaporflys appear to be good on sand.

9. Uphill Gravel

I think that my next favourite part of the course was the brown uphill gravelly grass section after the sandy single track. You could take a little rest on the single track and then using your Vaporflys bounce up the hard brown gravel path up to the highest point on the course under the big American looking trees. I thought I was making great progress but I was still nowhere with loads of young fellas and Aggies ahead of me.

10. Celebration

I think that the greatest thing about a race like this is that because there is so much depth there is always someone to race. It reminded me of the All Ireland Novice just in America, it was even the same distance. Unlike the Novice I had no team to run for but that didn’t stop me wanting to beat and torment people. As we came into the finishing straight, I could hear someone catching me so I sprinted all out, I even looked over my left and right shoulder to see where he was, then when I kept him behind I did the finger wagging celebration across the line, for 29th place. Small victories, big celebrations. I must remember to do that the next time I beat Viv or John Meade.

* Yes this was the day after the half marathon, I felt fine which worringly makes me think I could get away with this more often.

Oaktown Half Marathon 2022

10 Things I Think About The Oaktown Half Marathon

1. Oakland

I think that I was unnecessarily scared of Oakland. I had heard many terrible things about Oakland. I was picturing some sort of post apocalypse streetscape with barriered up shops, sort of like a bad dangerous North Main Street. The only thing that made me think it might be ok was that the race was starting at 7am. Sure nowhere is bad at 7am, is it?

2. Parking

I think that the main thing I was scared about in Oakland was parking the car. I had numerous warnings “leave absolutely nothing visible in the car, nothing.” The race organizers email said to take the BART but at 7am this probably wasn’t going to work. So being the very brave man that I am, at 6am in the semi darkness, I drove into the heart of Oakland, to my surprise it was perfectly normal, very clean, tidy and modern with a parking lot just before the start. I couldn’t pay for the parking as I’d no phone reception, so another runner kindly gave me their phone to pay. So far so good.

3. Razzmatazz

I think that you should always be wary of races with too much stuff not related to running. The race looked like a super slick operation, loud music, a DJ, big gantries, and lots of stalls selling stuff that you don’t need to run. It made me realize where the $150 entry fee was going. Yes, you read that right $150 for a race and this was if you selected none of the Ryanair style add-ons on the super slick website.

4. No Easy Day

I think that my hopes of an easy day were dashed by the sight of a pair of Alphafly 2s on the start line. I was half hoping that there would be absolutely no-one at the race and that I could run around at 6 minute mile pace win and run the cross country the next day with no problems. Unfortunately, a guy with a new pair of Alphafly 2s took the race out at 5:30 pace so I knew that my easy day plan was gone.

5. East Berlin

I think that the first 5k of the race was the part of Oakland that people were talking about. Once we left the start area near the nice lake we entered what I think was downtown Oakland. It reminded me of those streets in East Berlin that look kind of dangerous but actually aren’t with lots of bars and warehouses. I felt perfectly safe as there was no-one about except the many police officers who were marshalling the race. After about 5k I had two other runners for company, a fella in a t-shirt who I knew wasn’t going to get much farther and the fella in the Alphaflys who looked very comfortable, too comfortable.

6. Lake Merritt

I think that the race should just have been four laps of Lake Merritt. I am unsure of what the race organizers were trying to achieve with what was the most convoluted course designs I have ever seen. Lake Merritt is a lovely lake to run around, but for some reason they decided that the Lake wasn’t nice enough and we were sent out into downtown Oakland before coming back to the Lake to do a lap before going back around the lake in the opposite direction and then back out into downtown Oakland before finishing back at the lake. Four laps of the lake would have been fine with no need for all the police officers and cones.

7. So Many Cones

I think that traffic cones must be the cause of all race course problems. Has there ever been a problem with a race that wasn’t caused by a misplaced cone. Once we had completed the first lap of the lake I was expecting to have to turn around and go back around the lake in the opposite direction like the map had said. Instead, the police officer on the lead bike kept going, there was never any obvious turnaround, so I assumed that he knew what he was doing. He looked like he knew what he was doing.

8. Kiplimo

I think that it would have been a great finish if we’d followed the actual course. Up until 9 miles I had been leading keeping the pace around 5:35-5:40s. Then at mile 9 the guy in the Alphaflys picked it up and tried to drop me. Amazingly with some effort I was able to follow him. To both of our surprise just as our watches ticked to 10 miles the police officer drove us back through the finish and parked up. We jogged over to him unsure of what was happening, “Wow, you guys are amazing, you’re done, super-fast”. “No we aren’t” “We didn’t break the world record for the half marathon”

9. Right on Harrison

I think that it was a bit optimistic of us to think that we could remedy the situation at this point. I always have hope. I convinced the guy in the Alphaflys that we could just run back to the 11 mile mark which was about a mile back the road and resume from there, sure no one would notice. We ran back to the 11 mile mark, fist bumped and resumed racing. I seemed to have more interest in the resumed race and got a gap quite quickly. Then after we passed the 12 mile mark we were sent the wrong way again. We ran on until 14 miles appeared on the watch with no sign of the finish. Then I saw one of the many the police officers picking up the cones. The game was up. We stopped and asked the police officer for directions back. “Turn Right on Harrison”, “Thank you Sir” and off we jogged defeated.

10. Refund > Prize

I think that I was lucky that the half marathon went so wrong. When we finally got back to the start after turning right on Harrison we met the race organiser who was very apologetic, my Alphafly buddy and his coach (think American Donie Walsh) were a little more angry about the whole thing than I was. They obviously hadn’t heard of the Raheny 5 or the Cork Half Marathon. We asked to be refunded the race entry fee which the race organiser said would be no problem, this would only happen in America. As it turns out there were no prizes for winning the race anyway so the best result was to get a refund of the entry fee. The lesson is always enter a race because it’ll be great fun no matter what happens especially abroad, just maybe don’t take them too seriously.

Cork BHAA Stryker 4 Mile

10 Things I Think About The Cork BHAA Stryker 4 Mile 2022

1. 2006

I think that back in 2006 and this might have been the first BHAA race that I ever ran. It is difficult to believe that I’ve been running these for 16 years. I look way too young and tanned to have been running BHAA races for 16 years. I remember the course was almost identical back then just it started by the church taking and finished in the town. We got a lovely light blue t-shirt which I wore for about 10 years. I didn’t take any t-shirt this time.

2. Why am I Mad?

I think that it is very odd that people think that I am mad for racing the week after a marathon. I don’t think that I am mad at all. I think other people are mad. I see people on Strava do stuff that is way madder than what I do but they never race. Racing is much better than training. There should be rule that you can’t go more than a month with out racing if you aren’t injured otherwise you get banned from racing.

3. Original Magic Shoes

I think that I was never so happy as when I saw the original Next%s appear on the Nike website. It was like a dream come through. They are definitely the original and best magic shoes. They feel bouncier than all the other ones, even the later colours of the Next% are not as good. The ones I got must have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for the last three years as the box was a bit dusty but they feel so great. I have five pairs now, that should keep me going for a few years.

4. Running Paradise

I think that it is amazing how the cyclepaths around Carrigtohill magically appeared the moment I no longer had to go to the factory for work. For years and years there was nothing but goat tracks around Carrigtohill to run on, you’d do well to make a five mile loop, then we were all sent home forever and when I return the place is a running paradise with links to Glounthaune and Little Island. It is amazing, we should all continue to vote for the Green Party.

5. False Start

I think that the start of the race was a bit chaotic. It is a bad idea to repeatedly test the starting sound which is working perfectly while 600 people are waiting to run. Once we got going I felt all of the badness from the marathon reawaken in my legs. Eric and Denis took off in the lead but it looked like they weren’t doing what they normally do so I should have been able to keep up with them but I couldn’t. Instead, I had to stay back with James McCarthy and a fella in a black singlet who I didn’t know.

6. Established Order

I think that it is very motivating when there is someone you don’t know up ahead of you in a race. Once we turned left at the deadly junction in the village I started to feel less bad. Denis and Eric were just ahead with a fella I didn’t know in between. I have an established order of runners in my head and it is upsetting to me when a race doesn’t play out in accordance with this order. To have someone you don’t know or recognize ahead means you are probably running terribly. This helped greatly as I used the hatred to run up the hill by the ludicrously located train station to pass the fella I didn’t know.

7. Progress

I think that I ran the second and third mile of the race excellently. I was probably the winner of the second and third miles. Once we turned left onto the road where you normally can’t run for fear of being mowed down by a fella in an Audi or BMW estate who is late for a vital morning meeting. I started to make excellent progress. I had dispatched the fella I didn’t know which reduced my worry about the terribleness of the potential time and began working on beating James McCarthy who I quickly passed on the downhill because I’m definitely one of the most excellent runners at downhills.

8. Morning Runs

I think that it helps to have run part of a race over and over again during easy runs. When we turned left for the third time I was onto a stretch of road that I used to run every morning before working from home became a thing. I was in third place within sight of Denis who appeared to be comfortable in the lead and Eric who I thought I could catch. I could hear James McCarthy just behind so I was worried about him as he is a recent convert to magic shoes. If he had of been in his old suction boots I’d have destroyed him.

9. King of Ballintotis

I think that I shouldn’t be too surprised that the King of Ballintotis schooled me in the last 100m of the race. When we turned left for the fourth and final time out onto the Ballyseedy road I felt I had a chance of beating James. I got to the wooded section with the broken up gravel still in third although I could hear him closing so I put in the last of the surges that annoy Michael Herlihy at the farm so much. I thought this had finished him but when we emerged out onto the footpath again a white singlet aggressively and authoritatively brushed passed in a sort of I can’t be beaten by you way. I gave up then and ran the last 50m quite slowly condemned to another fourth place and probably no prize.

10. Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

I think that my finishing position is a good example of statistics. You could try and teach someone about sampling and sample sizes by it. Generally, in a sample of 500 runners I am about the fourth best runner. This has been proven too many times. If the sample size reduces to say 150 like in Doneraile then I have a good chance of being first. But like sampling just because there are only 50 people in a race like in Liscarroll it doesn’t mean that I will be first. That’s why you need to run lots of races and take lots of samples to make sure you get a good estimate of the actual result which is normally fourth when the race is kind of big. See running is all about statistics.

Reykjavik Marathon 2022

1. Cancelled Volcano

I think that if it wasn’t for the volcano I wouldn’t have gone back to Reykjavik for the marathon. The volcano is just outside Reykjavik and hasn’t erupted for 6,000 years. Unfortunately, the day we arrived it decided to stop and go back to sleep. At least the marathon wasn’t cancelled.

2. SuperValu and the Marina Market

I think that Iceland is like living in a country where you can only shop in SuperValu and drink coffee in the Marina Market. It’s not “expensive” as such, mainly because Ireland is just as bad. €7 for a coffee and a croissant is just Cork hipster market prices, it’s still ridiculous but at least it’s in Iceland and not down the docks in Cork City. The shops are just SuperValu prices.

3. Goldilocks

I think that Reykjavik could be one of those goldilocks marathons. It is about the only place in Europe where you can run a marathon in August with temperatures guaranteed to be under 20 degrees and probably below 10. It’s not particularly hilly but not flat. It could be perfect if it wasn’t for one thing, the wind.

4. 156 Words for Wind

I think that Icelandic wind is special. I’m familiar with wind, I grew up under the Galtee mountains, so I have good wind knowledge. I have never experienced anything like Reykjavik wind. A northerly wind that felt like it had come directly from the artic tundra. At the start it looked like a normal day, a perfect day for a marathon. It was only when we reached the coast after a mile that the wind started. Unfortunately the next 10 miles ran directly along the coast.

5. Fly Away Chip

I think that it would be a good idea for the Reykjavik marathon to use a separate chip for timing. The timing chip was attached to the number. The problem with this is that if the number comes off the timing is gone. As we ran along the coast the number was under serious pressure. I began to picture the number breaking free from the safety pins and flying off into the Atlantic never to be seen again. It almost would have been a blessing. To stop it rattling around so much I tucked the number and singlet into my shorts which worked well.

6. Oh Yeah I’m in a Race

I think that I only really started to think about the race after 10 miles. The first 10 miles were all wind, there was nothing else to think about. I let a lot of people go ahead of me while I was thinking about how terrible the wind was. I had considered stopping as the pace as hitting 6:40 pace. Then when we reached the turnaround at about 11 miles I saw that of all the people ahead only three were running the marathon. The first two were well clear and gone but the third and Italian looking fella was only about a minute ahead. Third was money, money was motivation.

7. Inland Catch

I think that I would have run faster in the race if I hadn’t caught the Italian in third so quickly. Once we got off the coast the wind was barely noticeable. I started counting down the gap to the Italian, it is very motivating to see that you are catching money ahead. As we got to 15 miles I caught him and went straight by making sure to bury him. I did feel a bit bad as he was wearing adidas suction boots so it probably wasn’t a fair fight.

8. Fear of Fourth

I think that my fear of fourth place was not as good a motivator as my desire to get into the money in third. Once I had dispatched the poor Italian and his adidas suction boots I was left with 10 miles on my own. Thankfully a steward appeared on a bike and began to cycle a bit in front of me. I’m not sure if I’d have been able to follow the course if it wasn’t for the bike as it was very convoluted in and around housing estates. It’s not a bad course, just lots of bike paths and twists and turns. It goes by quickly.

9. Prisoner of Time

I think that Marathons are ruined by the obsessions with times. I was half disgusted when I got to the finish and saw the time on the big red clock. It was the sort of time that I would expect to click on and see a Strava pace graph falling off a cliff, but it wasn’t like that at all. I ran the last mile and a bit excellently fast; it was very unusual. When I crossed the line I was met by an official who told me I was third and to be at the podium at 11:40 to collect the money.

10. Seventy Five Thousand

I think that I might never win as much money in a race again. Icelandic money is excellent as it is very big. On the podium I was given a bag with a note in it saying that I had won 75000 Icelandic money for third place in the marathon. If I had of been Icelandic it would have been double that. I think I will have to look into Icelandic citizenship, I would be the second-best marathon runner in Iceland. I must have some relatives up there, we are all related to Vikings, perhaps if I grow my hair back it might help. Donal Timothyson.