10 Things I Think About The Ballycotton Lighthouse 5 Mile 2026

1. Memory Lane

I think that it was great to go back and run in Ballycotton 17 years after the first time I ran the 5 mile in Ballycotton. It was interesting to look back at the results from that day. I ran 27:59 finishing 14th in a pair of Nike Air Marathoners, the shoe that Paula Radcliffe broke the world record in. In 4th place was Ryan Creech in 26:46 who has improved a small bit since.

2. The Same but Different

I think that is great how little Ballycotton has changed over 17 years. I seems almost identical with a few more modern buildings and the obligatory coffee horse box. I think the registration and prizegiving was in the same hall as back then as well. The only thing missing from 17 years ago was the Ballycotton Running Promotions, John Walshe and the Sean McGraths and James McCarthys.

3. Parking

I think that the logistical challenges of a race in Ballycotton are significant. One road in and one road out. If it rains like it has every day for the last 60 days, then it is impossible to park in the fields like we used to in August. This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t incapable of being on time like me. Arriving at 10am for a 1030 start and having to park at the start of the cliff walk meant a very hurried warm up to collect numbers and get back to the car to install magic shoes.

4. Cashman and Gruff

I think that it is very odd to be on a startline where the other runners assume that you are going to win. Paul Cashman won it last year and was back again this year to attempt the double. The only other top 20 finisher from 2009 to be back was Gruff who had finished only 10 seconds behind Creech in 2009. The race started a few 100m further back than the Ballycotton 5 course outside what used to be a chipper I think. When we got under way I ran as hard as I could for the first kilometer, by which time I realized that no one was coming with me.

5. 2009 vs 2026

I think that running in 2026 is very different to running in 2009. Age has little and a lot to do with it. In 2009 I was 23 and could run very hard for the first two miles, then it would get hard and I would slow dramatically for the last three miles. This wasn’t unusual, no one kept running at the same pace all race because you actually had to do the running with your muscles. In 2026 it’s very different, you bounce along at the same pace for the whole race, no one slows down, blow ups are rare. I would have loved to have run in magic shoes when I was 23 it would have prevented a lot of injuries.

6. Eidetic Memory

I think that it is interesting what the brain remembers about race routes. I only remembered the first two miles of the Ballycotton 5 route. I had a video like memory of those miles then nothing of the rest of the course. This is probably because I was completely starved of oxygen for the last three miles every time I ran it in the past. They are a lovely two miles out to the cross roads near Shanagarry where you turn left. The new version of the race seemed to be as well organised with as many stewards as the old great race.

7. Selective Amnesia

I think that I completely forgot about how hard the last three miles are. It is a very tough course. The hill at three miles is mad. When I was going up it I had a flashback of getting dropped by someone, I think it might have been Donal Coffey, it was like a nightmare. I had no one to race but I was still scared, I feared that John Meade might appear on my shoulder having started at the back like he did before in Age. I’m sure he would have told me the story of the time he won the Ballycotton 5 beating James McCarthy in a sprint, he loves that story as he should.

8. Proper Course

I think that there is no way the Ballycotton 5 mile would be popular with the modern runner. There is no way they would tolerate the hill. “You mean it’s not completely flat and I probably won’t run a P.B? What will I put on Instagram? The lighthouse? The time will be slower, what will I do? It will look like I am getting worse, what about continuous improvement. They won’t know what to comment on Strava.” It wouldn’t work; it’s just as well it isn’t on anymore. It was perfect in its own time.

9. Media Training

I think that it was great to win the new version of the race. The finish line was a little different, finishing outside the school on a little hill. I finished in 27:29, 30 seconds faster than in 2009 which isn’t too bad considering that I’m now a moderately old man. Once I crossed the line I got a nice medal with the lighthouse on it and a bottle of water. Then I was interviewed by the man with the mic, I can’t remember what I said but it must have been good because the people listening to it said that I must have received media training.

10. Nostalgia Overload

I think that it was nice to collect the prize for the race in the hall where the prize giving for the Ballycotton 5 mile series used to take place. My best finish in that series was in 2010 when I came 6th, just behind John Meade and just ahead of Donal Coffey. I can’t remember what the prizes were but I think I got a nice Nike hat and an Army Surplus voucher. This time I got a nice envelope from Midleton Credit Union with some money in it. A great day out, the best compliment I can pay the race was that it reminded me too much of the old Ballycotton 5.