10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Munster Senior XC 2025

1. It’s all about the Merch

I think that it is very important for any new running club to have high quality merchandise. While the DIY asics singlet was very excellent, the official adidas Glanmire A.C kit is next level excellent. The Munster senior XC provided the perfect venue to debut the official attire. €35 per singlet.

2. Horsebox Humour

I think that news of the arrival of Glanmire A.C has not yet reached all quarters of the athletics community. When I went to collect my number from the horsebox in the field the man in the horsebox replied, Glanmire A.C who are they?. Then he found the envelope. There were no safety pins in the envelope so I went back to ask for them, they had none but there were two safety pins embedded in the ramp of the horsebox so he said I could have them, “you’ve no big chest on you, two will be grand”.

3. Studs or Spikes

I think that it was amazing that the field in Twomileborris was as good as it was. There was no evidence of any rain having fallen apart from the luscious green grass which was unusual for November. I had brought the Dragonfly XC with the studs for the mud but after a jog around the course I decided that the Dragonfly 2s with 6mm spikes would be perfect which they were. The Dragonfly 2s are excellent, much more stable than the Dragonfly 2s because apparently Jakob Ingebrigsten told Nike to make them wider in the midfoot which they did.

4. The Departure Line

I think that it was great that we got to spend a good amount of time on the startline waiting for the race to start. It gave me good time to appreciate the high quality of the Glanmire A.C adidas singlet. It really is a great singlet. I also got to have a good look around to see who was running, Paul Hartnett, Jeremiah Sheehan and a few young fellas from Nenagh so no chance of top 5, there was no John Meade. Then the gun went off and off we went.

5. Youngfellas

I think that the reduction in distance from 10km to 7.5km has had a big impact on these races. A 7.5km race goes off very fast, especially when there are youngfellas in the race. I was left a good bit behind, at least 25th or so. I pretended to myself that I was being sensible but in reality I just ran as hard as I could and ended up where I ended up.

6. Cork Only Has Two Tracks Club

I think that it was great to have the Cork Track Club Clippers in front of me to motivate me. It took until the first long lap to get past them. When I got up to them I knew I had to go straight past them as otherwise they would clip me and I would end up with cut legs. Those Cork Track Club lads are desperate for the clipping, they are so bad they even clip their own as was evident by the cut on Anthony Mannix’s leg after the race.

7. Coffee and Oaties

I think that the next person I wanted to beat after the Cork Track Club Clippers was Nick O’Donoghue. He had given me a very bad beating in the county senior when I blew up after leading the race in my white singlet. When I got up to Nick I used the same approach as with the Cork Track Club Clippers and went straight by him which somehow worked. It is a very good strategy, run faster than the fella you want to overtake.

8. Battle of the New Clubs

I think that after Nick the next battle was to become the first finisher of the new clubs. There are so many new clubs it is hard to keep up. Glanmire, Cork Track Club, Cork City A.C and The GIA (Great Island Athletics). Jack from Cork City A.C was next up after passing Nick. I worked out that he was leading the new category that I had created in my head. On the last lap I caught up to him and using the same strategy as had worked so well on the Clippers and Nick I went straight past him and stayed in front to win first in the New Club Category and 12th overall. Unfortunately there was no medal for the new category as it isn’t actually an official category yet.

9. “I was Catching Him”

I think that as you get older as a runner it is very important to have an internal narrative to tell yourself and other people who will listen to you about why you didn’t win or beat the fellas that you should have beaten. After the finish line I walked over to the North Cork A.C tent to collect my shoes When I got there I could hear Michael Herlihy telling another fella how he was catching me and that if the race was still 10km he’d have beaten me. I left him alone, happy that he was happy in his own head with his story.

10. No Medals but Oaties

I think that I was very unluckly not to win a medal. I ended up 7th of the Cork runners with the top 6 scoring on the gold medal winning Cork team. We will have to work on getting a full Glanmire A.C team out at some stage once Damian has finished with his treadmill marathon. I was feeling a bit down about having no medal until Nick O’Donoghue drove up to my car, rolled down the window and handed out a big tub of oaties. That cheered me up, those East Cork athletes are class acts.