10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Coolagown 10k

1. Anti-Hero

I think that I am officially the anti-hero to John Meade. This is certainly the case in places like Coolagown, where the appearance of John Meade is treated with great respect and reverence. I almost feel evil turning up to try and knock him off his perch.

2. The Search for John Meade

I think that it was unsurprising to arrive at the race and hear the commentator anticipating the arrival of the great John Meade. There was a hint of panic in the voice of the commentator as there had been no official sighting of the great man. Anthony Mannix had been seen but no John Meade. They continued to hope, Coolagown 10k wouldn’t be the same without John Meade would it.

3. Late On Two Fronts

I think that this is the first time that I have been late both entering and turning up for the race. I missed the online entry because I thought I’d already entered. The new Eventmaster system is a big problem when you enter as many races as I do because all the emails look the same and you can’t figure out what you’ve entered. Thankfully the race poster had a phone number, so I sent a message and was told to bring €15 to the tent which I did slightly after the 710pm cutoff for collection.

4. Normal People

I think that only John Meade would miss a race in Coolagown to make his acting debut in an opera in city hall. On the starting line the timing guy was trying to figure out who was present from last year. He called out my name and then looked for John Meade. I had been sent a message live from the stage/beach just before the race, so I was able to say “John Meade is not here he’s acting, no seriously, that’s what he’s doing, he’s acting”. Everyone agreed that this was a plausible explanation and off we went John Meadeless.

5. Magic Singlet

I think that the next big break through in running will come from clothing. Shoes have become about as magic as is possible. The next revolution will be some sort of fabric that keeps your body temperature optimal while running. You can already buy a graphene singlet that is supposed to make you feel cold at any temperature below 18 degrees. I am not quite convinced of the technology to spend €200 on a singlet so I bought the nice Asics singlet with lots of tiny holes in it that I saw Sergiu wearing in Galbally last year instead. Magic singlet doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though, does it?

6. Commentary Van

I think that my favourite thing about this race apart from the absence of the new Paul Mescal was the commentary van. Dick O’Brien does a fabulous job reclining in the back of the van providing excellent commentary on the race from an entirely horizontal position. After the confusion with Nick O’Donoghue last year, I’m sure that he was absolutely certain of my name.

7. Silage Season

I think that the first mile of the race was very pleasant, we took off down the first of the two and a half downhill miles, myself and Anthony Mannix went to the front and after about a mile and a half we had opened a good gap on third according to Dick in the van. After about 2 miles we came to a junction where our rhythm was briefly interrupted by a convoy of silage wagons. I was quite happy to be still with Anthony as John Meade had already dispatched me by this time last year.

8. Water Barrels

I think that I did a good job of hanging onto Anthony Mannix, the magic shoes have resulted in closer racing as it is a lot easier than it used be to hang onto the back of someone. Despite my extra cooling singlet, I felt terrible and even had to take a water bottle after three miles. The water bottle setup was extremely excellent with barrels which had been cut in half just after the water station to throw your water bottle into. Cork City Marathon should ask the people of Coolagown for the patent for the design.

9. In the Name of the Father

I think it was probably inevitable that Dick would get my name wrong at some stage during the race. He might just be doing it to wind me up. After five miles myself and Anthony were still together as we turned right out onto the semi major road Dick announced; “Anthony Mannix closely followed by Tim Coakley”. I couldn’t let this one go so I shouted up at the van “Tim Coakley is my father”. “Donal is clearly not suffering too much as he was able to tell me that Tim Coakley is his father”. This was not true as I was suffering majorly to hang onto Anthony.

10. Same Ending Different Week

I think that what happened on the steep ramp back to the finish in the well kept village that is Coolagown was inevitable. I got to the left turn back up the hill on par with Anthony. As soon as we hit the short steep gradient Anthony put the hammer down and I was quickly dropped. There was nothing I could do, I am too big to go up a steep hill as quick as Anthony, it’s basic physics, it’s not over racing, it’s not imperfect training, it’s physics and talent. I tried to catch him on the short downhill to the finish but it was too late, second again for the second year in a row, a little bit quicker than last year at least, must have been the magic singlet. I‘ll try again next year. I’d never miss Coolagown.