Cork County Senior XC 2026

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior XC 2026

1. Unforgiving Strava Graph

I think that filling in the 12 week bar chart on Strava is very important. My Strava chart had not been full for the last 12 weeks because of my career threatening injury earlier in the year. It was very fortunate that the most important race of the year fell just on the week that the Strava graph filled with 12 weeks of beautiful consistent 100km weeks and which is more, it happened to be on in Carraigadrohid one of my favourite cross country courses.

2. Finding Carraigadrohid

I think that it must have been very difficult to find cross country races before google maps. I have been to Carraigadrohid once or twice a year every year since probably 2016 but I can never figure out where exactly it is. Thanks to eircodes and GPS it’s just a case of following the maps until you see the familiar yellow signs saying “AAI Cross Country” with an arrow pointing the way. Then you know you are nearly there.

3. Glanmire Spiders

I think that it says a lot about the quality of the Glanmire A.C equipment that we assumed that the small black spiders that appeared in the field in Carraigadrohid had come from the Glamire A.C flag. It appears that the spiders were actually already in the field and were just upset at a cross country race upsetting their natural habitat.

4. Aggressive Warm Up

I think that warm ups are a neglected aspect of the sport. I have found two types of warm ups to be effective over the years for cross country. The arrive 5 minutes before the start, run over collect your number and franticly put on spikes warm up is very effective. My new warm up of arrive early, do a bit of a jog and then do three by one minutes at a bit of an effort seems to replicate the same level of adrenaline. A 20 or 30 seconds stride doesn’t seem to be enough, it needs to be a minute or maybe 45 seconds on a hill to get a little bit out of breath.

5. Hatred Is Nothing Without Control

I think that it is very important not to keep your head on the startline of a huge important cross country race like the Cork County Senior. It is very easy to get carried away due to the presence of lots of people that you would like to beat. Calm controlled hatred is much better. On the starting line it was mainly moderately old men with a scattering of under 23 runners, there were very few actual senior athletes because of marathons and Instagram. This was great as lots of my old enemies like Michael Herlihy, Michael McMahon and Mark Walsh were present, there was no John Meade.

6. Unsustainability

I think that it is very important to remain calm when you end up very far back after a few 100m of the Cork County Senior XC. The first few 100m were straight downhill with a sharp right hand turn at the bottom of the hill, this was very bad for me because of an old career horrific ankle injury which has left me with a permanent cankle I struggle badly to turn right so my main concern was not injuring myself in the first corner which I achieved. Everyone else appeared to have gone off at an insane unsustainable pace, or at least that’s what I told myself.

7. G Force

I think that the course in Carrigadrohid was fantastic. It was like a cross country roller coaster course. There were parts of the course that were so downhill and turny that I probably experienced mild G forces because I was going so fast. Once the first lap was over, I started to push the downhill sections as hard as I could, once the downhill was over, I sat behind whoever was in front and waited for the next downhill before pushing again. It was great fun, sort of like a luge.

8. Well Done Boi

I think that it was great to get to work my way through the field in the race. The only person I didn’t get to pass was Michael Herlihy as I seemed to be ahead of him for the whole race despite taking it very handy at the start. Passing people is great, I had to resist the old trick of going “Well Done Boi” as I passed in order to both psychologically and physically torment them. It took until the last lap for my progress to stop. The youngfellas of Cork Track Club and Cork City A.C could not be passed so I ended up crossing the line in 8th my best finish in the race since about 2010. A great P.B. by me if finishing positions can be P.Bs which they can and should be.

9. Bicarbonate of Soda

I think that it says a lot about what Michael Herlihy thinks of my athletic ability that he thinks that I took bicarb or some other magic supplement shortcut from Instagram to beat him so badly. I’d love to say that the bad beating resulted from some secret supplement, but the truth is that it resulted only from controlled hatred and the randomness of running. Some days are better for running than others, it’s just that those days become rarer and rarer the older I get.

10. Not Make Dreams Your Master

I think that it is important to realize one’s level in running. It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking if Michael Harty can win the County Senior XC as a moderately old man why can’t I? This would lead to a lifetime of unhappiness and stress fractures from trying to achieve something that is impossible, this human is limited. My maximum level is 8th in the County Senior, that’s as good as it is going to get so it’s very important to be happy with that. 8th is great.

Castlegar XC 2026

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar XC

1. The Famine is Over

I think that the cross-country season is too short. It has been way too long since the last cross-country race. September to January outside of that it’s relentless road races. I prefer cross country always have, always will. I think the reason that all my road race great P.Bs by me are in December and January is because my legs are strong from all the cross country races.

2. Any Excuse to go to Galway

I think that even if there wasn’t a high-quality cross-country race on in Galway, I don’t require too many reasons to make a trip. It’s a great place to spend a weekend, nice coffee, good restaurants and nice hotels. It seems other people think so too as all of the hotels in the city seemed to be either booked out or charging €400 a night. Luckily cross country is possibly the least popular form of running so the Clayton right by the course in Ballybrit was available for a reasonable price.

3. No Messing, High Quality

I think that even though cross country isn’t exactly popular in the same way that marathon running is, that doesn’t mean that a smaller field is necessarily lesser quality. Everyone who enters a cross-country race is good at running. Castlegar was no different from tough men like Kenny Rodgers, international athletes like Rory Chesser and up and coming stars like Oisin Davis and obviously me.

4. Popupraces Tent

I think that the one problem with Galway apart from the traffic is the weather, the weather is not good. It is very good for cross country but for general activities like standing outside watching a cross country it is very bad. Rhona ran the women’s race which started off in normal enough Galway conditions, a little bit of rain and a lot of wind. She had completed one of the two big laps when what can only be described as a mini hurricane struck Ballybrit. Billy and I took shelter under a Popupraces tent which while impressively built felt as if it was about to take off. I sent Billy into the stands while I stood in the warm rain and wind preferring to avoid the risk of being carried away by a Popupraces tent.

5. Tots Race

I think that it was amazing how the mini hurricane disappeared the moment the women’s race was over. It was just as well as the next race up was Billy’s race. Billy was a little upset with the choice of music for his race, he would have preferred the Seanie Maguire song Free from Desire that the girls crossed the line to rather than Blinding Lights that soundtracked his storming run to the finish.

6. No Cross Country for Moderately Old Men

I think that 10 minutes is plenty of a warmup for a race. I have nearly perfected it now, three or four minutes of jogging and then three by one minute of a bit of an effort. It was a bit intimidating to realize that myself and Niall Shanahan were probably the only masters runners in a field of predominantly young fellas. Kathryn Casserly organized us all on the line, told us the number of laps, one small and five big and away we went. It didn’t take long for the youngfellas to disappear.

7. T-Shirt and Asics

I think that just like in a road race one of the worst things that you can see in front of you a few minutes into a race is the sight of a fella wearing a t-shirt and non-magic shoes. There is another level to this awful sight, that is when the fella in front of you is in a cross-country race and is wearing a t-shirt and Asics Cumulus with no spikes and you are wearing top of the range Dragonfly XC 2s. Thankfully it only took the first small lap to go past the fella in the t-shirt and the normal shoes.

8. Moving on Up

I think that jumps over hay bales should be mandatory in cross country. After a few laps the race was pretty spread out. I could see Oisin Davis getting the better of the Ennis Track lads on the section where the course looped back on itself in what looked like a close battle. I had hoped to use Niall Shanahan as a gauge for my race but after three of the big laps he was nearly a minute ahead, so I just focused on beating the two Galway City Harriers fellas who I ended up running with. The four or five jumps every lap kept the race kept things interesting in the absence of any great enemies.

9. Beautiful Day

I think that it was amazing how good the weather was for the men’s race. It was a total contrast to the women’s race, blue skies, a gentle breeze, nice and warm, very uncross-country weather. There were a few wet spots in places because of the ridiculous downpour of rain but nothing that would slow down a fella wearing a pair of Asics Cumulus and a t-shirt too much.

10. 14th Good Performance?

I think that it is always hard to judge how great and excellent you are doing in a cross-country race. It wouldn’t make for a great Instagram post. “Well done to me for coming 14th in the cross country, I beat this fella who trust me is good”. It’s not as easy as “I ran 2:29 in the marathon aren’t I great.” In the end I beat the two Galway City Harriers fellas, I was surprised however to cross the line and see right behind me the fella in the t-shirt and the normal shoes. Surely, he must have another lap to do? But no, he was finished. I told him afterwards that he’d have beaten me if he’d spikes which he would have. Turns out that he’s David Carter’s cousin, the only Galway man who runs races in Cork and a very handy runner himself. So, it was a good performance even if the pictures say that I was nearly beaten by a fella in a t-shirt with no spikes.

Photo: rhona

Campaccio XC 2026

10 Things I Think About The Campaccio XC 2026

1. €1 Espresso

I think Italy is great, what a great country, a country where coffee isn’t out of control. €1 for an espresso at a café just outside probably the best running park in a city anywhere, Parco Sempione. There was no Trevor to run with this time like I had done before Cinque Mulini, although he was still in Milan, managing a team of Great Islanders and introducing them to the joys of Hotel Poli and The Birra. I should be getting commission at this stage.

2. Straight Down Rain

I think that the rain in Italy is much better than the rain in Ireland. Italian rain comes straight down because there no wind, also because there is no wind it’s not even cold. The weather for the Campaccio weekend was nothing like the almost summery weather we got for Cinque Mulini in November. I was hoping for enough rain to turn the course into a mucky swamp like last year but unfortunately all we got was enough rain to make the course a little mucky and a little soft in places.

3. How Dare You

I think that I was horrified to see M40 on the envelope when I went to collect my number for the race. The Italians do things differently, along with banning juvenile athletes from wearing spikes, age categories are based on the year of birth not the actual date so being born in 1986 makes me M40 already which is terrible as I’m still only 39 and a half. The only good thing is if they let me run this year I still have 5 more years left which is great.

4. Burundian Warm Up

I think that it is worth going to these Gold Label XC races just to see how the real athletes prepare for the race. An hour before the race just as Rhona was getting ready for her race, the Burundian ON athletes were warming up with a most impressive, synchronized skipping routine. I can do the skips but not this type of skipping, this was next level skipping, no wonder they are so much better than us.

5. Zero Craic

I think that the best level of running is my level, the level where things like results and times don’t really matter and it is just from fun. There was very little craic in the warm up pen before we were brought to the start line. I tried talking to the Burundians in the ON kit but I got no response. So I moved on to David Nillson a Swedish runner with Puma who was probably the second oldest man in the race after me albeit with a slightly faster 2:10 marathon time. He was a little bit more responsive than the Burundians, then we were called up to the line for the real craic.

6. Lesson Learned

I think that the most important thing with running these cross country races in Italy is that you have to get out fast at the start otherwise the race is over. I think I learned the lesson a little too well though as after a few 100m in Campaccio I was not far off the top 20 and ahead of my Swedish 2:10 marathon runner friend. This didn’t last long and as soon as we hit the twists, hills and turns of the middle bit of the 2k lap I began to be passed and passed and passed some more until it felt like I was last.

7. Turn Right then Turn Right

I think that I need to remember that the Campaccio course has some unique challenges that other cross country courses don’t have, the middle of the 2k lap is a mixture of almost all right hand turns which is a terrible thing when you have a very bad right ankle like I do. It didn’t seem so bad last year when the course was 95% muck but in this less mucky edition it was proving very difficult, a difficulty that was amplified by my poor choice of footwear in the Dragonfly 2 instead of the Dragonfly XC although it’s almost a course where a trail running shoe would be the best choice.

8. Backwards

I think that it is an awful feeling to be passed by loads of runners. Everyone in Campaccio is really good at running, most of whom are probably doing double threshold and stuff like that, so any mistakes like going out too fast will be punished badly. A lot of people passed me over the first three of the five laps. The only advantage of going out fast was that it seemed very unlikely that I would end up lapped which is my main concern at these races anyway.

9. Francesco Meade

I think that I have done enough of these races now to have some enemies. It took until the second last lap for my enemy from Cinque Mulini, Francesco, to pass me. I had just beaten him back in November so I decided that he was going to be last person that was going to pass me. As I got to the end of my fourth lap I saw the Burundians on the other side of the course heading out on the last lap so I was sure of not being lapped which made me happy.

10. Hot Lemon Tea

I think that the best part of the Campaccio is the hot lemon tea in a special Campaccio mug with the masot on it that you get after finishing the race. I didn’t manage to catch Francesco but I did hold off everyone else by sprinting as hard as I could on the track which makes up the last 300m of the lap. I collected my hot tea said well done to Francesco and walked back over to my shoes where I explained to an women in Italian that her son would be fine with 9mm spikes. Then I went back for a second cup of tea.

Cork County Masters XC 2026

1. PGA Tour vs LIV Golf

I think that we have reached a crossroads in running. Racing is being replaced by time trials, time trials that can only be run on idyllic days in Valencia and no where else. No one cares where they finish, you have fellas crossing the line in 497th place celebrating like they won the Olympics, it’s mad. This didn’t happen in Golf, no one cares if you shoot 59 on an easy course. It’s about Augusta and the challenge, maybe it’s a bit of stretch to compare a field a few miles outside Bweeng to Augusta but it’s my Augusta.

2. Boys in the Better Land

I think that I probably shouldn’t have watched the Valencia 10k before heading off to Bweeng. It was sort of like being in fifth year in school and seeing the easy Leaving Cert Maths paper the sixth years got, thinking that’ll never happen again, they’re going to make it harder next year. Do we all have to go to Valencia? I’ve been there before and I prefer Bweeng and Italy. I suppose there’s always Grange Fermoy on New Years’ Eve, that was fast this year.

3. The Trifecta

I think that it was great to finally get a day with perfect cross-country conditions. We basically had the opposite of Valencia 10k. We had wind, very strong big wind, wind that whistled through the electricity wires, wind that broke tents. We had big rain, the sideways rain that you can video even on an old iPhone, rain that hurts you like its hailstones but is actually only fast-moving big droplets of rain. We had muck, all kinds of muck, sticky muck, slippy muck, dirty muck, treacherous muck, cold muck, deep muck, something for everyone. Fantastic stuff, perfection, idyllic, bliss.

4. First Annual Athletics Ireland Award for Excellence and Sportsmanship

I think that I should get an award from Athletics Ireland for offering shelter to a rival club runner in the stormy horrific weather. As I was searching for the horsebox with the numbers, I came across Trevor Cummins from our great rivals Great Island Athletics. He was trying and failing to get changed outdoors in the cold rain and wind. It was a far from glamorous sight as he did the flamingo pose in a failed attempt to remove his soaking pants. He asked if he could use my car to get changed into the green and white, “of course, no bother, come with me to the purple Scirocco”.

5. Sheltering Behind a Bush with Barry

I think that there is only one problem with the conditions that we encountered and that is staying warm and dry before the start. The organisers did a fantastic job, when you consider that it was basically a storm that the race was run in. Luckily there was a perfectly positioned bush where I stood with Barry Twohig to shelter before the race. I tried to persuade Barry to go home as it was too wet and windy and he’d been there all day; he was almost on the point of leaving but then Dan Kennedy turned up so he had to run.

6. Point of Order

I think that I should have ruled Michael Herlihy out of order when he suggested not doing the two 500m laps that had been planned to make up the 7000m distance. “Just do 3 big laps”. I don’t know why I didn’t object; it could have been that Michael Herlihy is a big scary man that looks like he should be responsible for deciding how long that we should be racing for. Anyway no one objected so we were left to race over the shortened distance of three two-kilometre laps.

7. Bad Decisions Lead To

I think that I made a terrible decision when I decided where to line up on the start line. I picked the inside line because I thought we were doing the 500m small lap which would have meant a left hand turn first. Because of Michael Herlihy’s point of order the first turn was now right which meant that the outside was the place to be especially as the ground was better out there. You know who was on the outside, Barry Twohig. The race started and Barry Twohig was gone, I was left floundering in the muck, happy but floundering.

8. Gonna be Golden

I think that despite my atrocious start I still thought I might win. I was very tempted to barrel through the people who were in front of me on the downhill to the first corner but instead I stayed calm and waited for the course to open up before making a move up to second. I’ll catch him no bother on the downhill I thought, just get through the zig zags and it’ll be no bother. I was correct, up to the top of the hill and then down the hill onto the back of Barry Twohig. Phew, now just get up the big big hill.

9. Mountain Dew

I think that last year I said that there were two men I was terrified of on a course like this. Barry Twohig and John Meade. I was very right, very right. It is a pity that there wasn’t a drone following Barry Twohig up the big big hill so everyone else could witness what I witnessed. He clearly had some sort of insider knowledge about the ground near the tidy high quality fencing as he seemed to be almost magnetically attracted to the fence as he flew up the hill effortlessly, it was incredibly annoying, the only way it could have been any more annoying is if it was Barry Twohig and John Meade together and they were whistling or telling each other stories while flying up the hill.

10. Hyrox Bweeng

I think that Michael Herlihy was right to shorten the race to 6000m. I don’t know if we would have been able for 7000m of that. By the time the last lap came it was more of a survival contest than a race, I had given up on catching Barry and Michael Dullea was probably thinking the same thing about me in third. The last time up the hill was like what I imagine a Hyrox event would be like, my legs were burning and screaming no more, I felt like I was carrying weights. I barely got up to the top of the hill before jogging across the line as best I could as my legs no longer worked. Second to Barry Twohig at what was basically a day’s work for him isn’t too bad I suppose. I’m happy I chose Bweeng over Valencia. Always choose Bweeng.