10 Things I Think About The Donoughmore 7

1. Did I Mention I Won This Race Before?

I think that it is nice to go back to a race that you’ve won before. I love that I won this race before because it really annoys Michael Herlihy. Despite my recent terrible career threatening injury I had some hope of winning again as there had been two races already this week, so the potential competition had been worn down.

2. Viv and the Incoherent Nonsense

I think that Viv could be a character in a Shakespearean play. He is a nuanced character. On one hand he is a very nice kind man, one of the nicest you could meet, a gentleman. Then you have the viciously competitive runner that will not quit, and then the side that most people don’t see, the nonsense spouting man saying he would be taking it handy tonight.

3. Irish Singlet

I think I should apologize to anyone that was confused by my wearing of the Irish singlet during the warmup and during Billy’s race. I want to make it clear that I have not ever run for Ireland in a senior race, I know it’s hard to believe, I bought the singlet off the internet for €35. I was going to wear it in the race as it is exactly the same fit and material as my adidas Glanmire singlet, but I thought it might cause too much confusion. You can’t get them anymore now because they are sold out, apparently people have been coming from Gdansk to buy them.

4. Warm Up Session

I think that as I become more and more confirmed in my moderately old man status the more, I need a good fast warm up. A two mile jog doesn’t work anymore I need to do a few efforts to get the legs working. So after Billy’s race I did a few 300m reps on the grass pitch at some bit of an effort. I think it works although I still believe that the best warm up for any race is to arrive at the last minute a little bit very stressed.

5. Moderately Old Man Strength

I think that it is interesting that the top ten of most local cork road races seem to be dominated by moderately old men. During the first two miles of the race I think I could see why. Sean Davin was gone into the distance but the battle for second was between the same moderately old men that have been around since 2010 or so. The sheer strength of fellas like Mike Morgan and Mick Corbett is frightening. It is not strength from a gym; it is strength from running in the terrible shoes that we used to have to race in before 2019 and the dawn of the magic shoe era.

6. Anti-Ageing Shoes

I think that magic shoes are great. They get more and more magic every year meaning that despite the ageing process there is no deterioration in time. Viv is getting better if anything, it’s wonderful, the shoe du jour at the moment is the Puma Fast R3. There is no better shoe for a moderately old man. Mick Corbett was wearing the Saucony Endorphin Elite but Viv, Mike Morgan, Tim Twomey and I were all in the Pumas, the new king.

7. Get a Gap

I think that the great thing about being taller and bigger than Viv is that I can run downhill much faster than he can which drives him mad. The Donoughmore 7 is an unusual course, it starts with two miles uphill, followed by two miles downhill, then a rolling mile and finishes with two miles of a climb to the finish. I knew that the two downhill miles were my only hope so once we turned left onto the downhill section I put in a big effort and sure enough the pitter patter of Viv’s feet faded away only to be replaced by the sound of rain falling from blue skies.

8. The Alp

I think that the last two miles to the finish are wonderful, it must be the best finish to a road race anywhere. It is more like a cycling race than a running race. I am utterly useless at running up hills so I was terrified of what was about to happen when I swung left to begin the ascent, I had seen two consecutive 3:00 kilometers on my watch so I knew I had some bit of a gap but was pretty sure than most of the gap had been eroded by a marauding Viv when I saw a 3:48 minute kilometer appear on my Garmin with only one third of the climb completed.

9. Extreme Hatred

I think that no matter how far I was ahead of Viv at the bottom of the climb he was going to catch me. It was inevitable. He runs on hatred of me; it is his super fuel. All of his P.Bs are in races against me because he hates me so much. 400m before the finish the catch was made, Viv had also dragged Mick Corbett with him. I knew they would want to take a breather once they had caught me, so I eased up a little bit, let them catch me before putting in one last final effort in an attempt to keep second place.

10. Death Sprint

I think that if there is one person you don’t want to have to sprint against for a slightly larger John Buckley Sports voucher it is Viv, well maybe Aidan Noone would be worse, but Viv is pretty vicious. As we rounded the corner to the finishing straight, he opened a bit of a gap. I sprinted as hard as I could and was amazed to see the gap closing and not see Mick Corbett also going past. I started to believe I might actually beat Viv in a sprint but alas the finishing gantry came too soon, and I had to accept third place albeit in the same time as Viv. It was just as well he was only taking it handy.