10 Things I Think About Running

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.