10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Midleton 5 Mile 2025

1. It Was a Bright and Sunny Evening

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

2. Jarveys

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

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

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

4. Resignation

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

5. Start Line Introductions

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

6. The Four of Us

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

7. Hanging On

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

8. Man Down

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

9.Very Late Entry

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

10. Roy Keane

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