10 Things I Think About The Loughrea Grey Lake 10K

1. Running Pilgrimage

I think that it is always nice to race in famous places in running history. Loughrea is probably even more famous than Ballycotton when it comes to running in Ireland. I remember watching the BUPA Loughrea Run on television when I was a small boy before I ever thought that I would end up running races. I’d love to have been running back in those days when there were no magic shoes and no nonsense. It must have been great, imagine a road race on T.V, what a time to be alive.

2. Grey Lake, Black Clouds

I think that it is a pity that the BUPA Loughrea Run no longer exists. In it’s place is the Grey Lake 10k named so because it involves a 10k around the lake which is grey. I’d never been to Loughrea before so I had no idea what to expect. On the drive up it looked like the race would be run in ridiculous wind and rain. Luckily as we parked up in Loughrea the black clouds departed for Dublin leaving behind blue skies, the wind however stayed in Loughrea.

3. Sweet Cash

I think that races that you can enter on the day are the best. There is nothing better than deciding to do a race a few days before rocking up putting a few euro in the biscuit tin or tapping on one of those sumup machines and collecting a bib. The entry process in the hall in Loughrea was very simple, fill out the form, hand it over, try to pay with my Revolut card on my watch, have it rejected, hand over cash, collect bibs, one for me and one for Rhona.

4. Lovely Lakes

I think that we don’t make enough use of our lakes in Ireland. If I was in government, I would make it mandatory for every lake to have a path around it for running and cycling, no roads. The lake in Loughrea is very nice for running but there is only a short path along the lake. It was perfect for a warmup all the same. It was very windy, the one disadvantage of lakes.

5. The Newness

I think that it is great to line up at the start of a race that you have never done before. I had deliberately not looked at the route map because I didn’t want to know what it was going to be like. I knew it was 10k that was all and that it went around the lake. On the start line I got talking to Simon O’Toole and Feidhlim McGowan from Galway City Harriers. Feidhlim had beaten me very badly in the cross country in Castlegar and Simon spoke of running with Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan and Donore Harriers, so I didn’t hold out much hope of winning.

6. Hilly Lake

I think that it was surprising how hilly the course was considering it was essentially a lap of a lake. How can a lake have hills? Lakes are flat. The first 5k was very hilly, rolling hills, nothing too steep but into the wind. I tucked in behind Feidhlim for the first kilometre before making a big mistake and overtaking him which probably made him angry as he put the foot down and dropped me the minute we met the first of the hills after a mile.

7. Chasing the Gardai

I think that I did well to keep Feidhlim in sight for most of the race. It was an unusual sight to see in front of you running around a lake in Loughrea, a fella in a t-shirt chasing after a Garda car. After 5k we appeared to reach the end of all the climbs and turned back towards Loughrea. I got going quite well on the downhill but the final little climb just before the 8km marker finished off whatever bit of motivation I had to chase after Feidhlim and the Gardai.

8. Very Cross Crosswind

I think that my time would have looked much better on Strava if it were not for the ridiculous crosswind for the ninth kilometre. It was a mad wind, the sort of wind that could only come off a lake. It nearly tore the excellent adidas Glanmire singlet off me. A t-shirt was a much better choice of attire for the wind which is probably why Feidhlim and the Gardai seemed to disappear entirely over the last 2 kilometres. I just about managed to retain both my singlet and my number but lost sufficient seconds to loose out on a sub-34-minute time for 10k which in the world that we live in was very disappointing.

9. No Great P.B by Me.

I think that it is terrible that the modern runner expects to run a P.B in every race, continuous improvement is the only acceptable form of movement. A race without a P.B. warrants a change in running coach, the addition of a new supplement to the race day routine, going dark on Strava and probably a new pair of magic shoes. Luckily as an experienced moderately old man I don’t worry about P.Bs. Podiums and prizes are where the joy is or just even being able to run and race without my knees hurting. Second place in a historic race in a historic place organised by a nice friendly running club, happy days.

10. Loughrea Crystal and Honey

I think that races where the prizes are trophies and not sweet cash are the best. After a short warm down around the nice path by the lake with Feidhlim and Simon we returned to the hall for the prizegiving. The first three prizes were nice pieces of crystal, Simon’s third place piece of crystal looked like it was made for preparing and consuming bicarb whereas my second-place piece and Feidhlim’s first place trophies were more suitable for displaying flowers. Rhona was happy with her tea and winning her age category. We walked back to the car with our prizes stopping in a shop to buy local Loughrea honey. Honey will be the next big thing in running, bigger than nomio, bigger than bicarb it’s only a matter of time.