Newmarket 5K 2025

1. Valencia of 5Ks in Cork

I think that the Newmarket 5K is to 5ks what the Valencia marathon is to marathons, except maybe just confined to Cork and surrounding counties. Because of the generous course and usually ideal running conditions it offers the perfect chance to run a great P.B by me which can be broadcast across social media for all to hear, witness and acknowledge which is very important and the reason that most of us run.

2. Perfect Timing

I think that 1pm on a Sunday is the perfect time for a race. It allows plenty of time for sleep even allowing for the hour-long drive to Newmarket. It initially looked as if the race would be held in pouring wind and rain but as I left Glanmire at 11:30 the rain started to stop and the traditional perfect Newmarket 5k running conditions of cold and dry with a little hopefully helpful wind prevailed.

3. Photo Photo

I think that the Newmarket 5k offered many great opportunities for excellent photos to be taken. We had a big turnout of Glanmire A.C athletes, five in total which is our highest to date, we failed to get a group photo because of the large crowd and my lateness but I did get a photo with chairman Gruff.

4. False Start

I think that it would have been great if the rules and regulations of local 5k road races had of been enforced and all the youngfellas that false started had been disqualified. This would have returned the race to the moderately old men like me who are more used to the local road race scene. Instead, everyone just lined up again and off we took at a ridiculous speed down the hill that is primarily responsible for the quick course.

5. Need for Speed

I think that people get a little bit carried away at the start of this race. There is no need to panic at the start of a 5k, it is a very long race, yet still everyone goes off like it is a 400m race. I was a long way back after 400m despite seeing 4:40 mile pace on the watch, perhaps the times would be faster if the start wasn’t so fast, there aren’t many people that can tolerate running 4:40 mile pace for 400m and continue to run 5k.

6. Top Cat

I think that it is interesting how popular the Pumas are. They really are fantastic, my favourite shoe ever. The really great thing about them is that some people can’t wear them, so I get an advantage. Viv wouldn’t believe me for ages about them because he doesn’t trust me but when he ran in them in Waterford, he got two minutes back in the half marathon which is amazing. They seem to be sold out now which is terrible as they don’t last long so I’ll have to use my pair sparingly.

7. Ken’s Army

I think that it was great to see the abundance of youngfellas in the race today. There were hundreds of them and they are really good, most of them appear to be coached by Ken Nason or influenced by Ken Nason. It is very terrible to have to race youngfellas over 5k as a moderately old man as you simply cannot compete with the power and speed that they have. The only hope you have is that they go out too fast and blow up, but this doesn’t happen any more now because they all believe in LT1 and LT2 etc and don’t just train flat out the whole time.

8. Magnitude and Direction

I think that we were very unlucky with the wind today. It appeared to be some sort of cross headwind that was no help going out the road nor back the road. It seemed to be pushing us back no matter which way we ran. Luckily there was an abundance of youngfellas to shelter behind, so it didn’t really matter too much.

9. There Goes Sean Davin

I think that other that the speed and power of the 100s of Ken Nason’s youngfellas in the race the most impressive thing I saw was Sean Davin’s overtake of me at 4km. He came past like he was going to go past everyone ahead and win the race. It really helped me as I am programmed to chase after that St Finbarr’s singlet due to John Meade so I was able to use him to get through the last km which is ever so slightly uphill.

10. What’s 5k Effort?

I think that some people struggle with defining 5k effort. To me 5k effort is really not much different to all out sprinting effort. At the end of a 5k you should be experiencing a lot of misery and not really be able to breath. Luckily there is a photo from the end of the race that shows exactly what I mean by 5k effort. My 5k effort resulted in a 19th place finish which I was quite happy with, the time was very good too. I’m unsure if it was a great P.B by me but sure it was close enough and you can never have enough P.Bs.

pHOTO: dERMOT hever

Churchtown 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Churchtown 10

1. Big Big Rain

I think it is a pity that the Churchtown 10 miler wasn’t a cross country race. With all the rain that has fallen a 10 mile cross country race would be wonderful. Instead all the rain did was turn the 10 mile route into two laps of 5 miles which is actually a great idea because it allows more opportunity for excellent photos.

2. VIP Parking

I think that I was very lucky with parking for the race. I was relatively on time by my standards arriving 30 minutes before the race but it looked like I would have to park well away from the hurling field where the race registration and start were. Then I saw a familiar face in a safety vest walking towards me, John Mannion, “pull in there at my house, it’s the house next to the hurling field”. I got stopped by several stewards on my drive up through the town but all I had to do was roll down the window and say the magic word “John Mannion” and I was ushered through.

3. Between the Living and the Dead

I think that sleep is very important especially the night before the race. I had very bad sleep on Friday night, it was very broken bad sleep that left me extremely head tired. I had the alarm set for twenty past seven in the morning, I initially ignored it and went back to sleep before waking at twenty to eight and deciding that I might as well go to the race. I’m nearly 40 now which means that bad sleep means that everything feels foggy, not even coffee will fix it.

4. Head Tired

I think that you can tell a lot about how a race is going to feel by the warmup. This is probably the first time that I have experienced what Michael Herlihy calls head tiredness. Nothing was working the way it should, I had no injuries or niggles or pains but everything felt slow and delayed. My heart rate was even high which is very unusual. It is very difficult to tell whether head tiredness is actually a thing or is it just being nearly 40.

5. Tro-Bro Léon

I think that it was great to have a visitor from Bretagne in France in the race. Nohé Le Guillou was his name. I started talking to him on the startline because he was wearing a Valencia half marathon t-shirt and I thought he was Spanish. He thought I was Spanish too which was great and excellent. Just before the race started we exchanged half marathon times, I ran 69 in Seville once, then just as the race was starting, he said he ran 66 in Valencia and with that I realized I was not going to win.

6. Jeuken it Out

I think the only man in the race who was not phased by the 66 minute half marathon Breton was Chris Jeuken. It took until about a kilometer into the race for Chris to actually appear, most likely because he was tired from having already run two laps of the course. I passed on the important information about the Breton having a 66 minute half which Chris acknowledged before taking off up the first of the many hills after Nohé. It was a great pity that John Meade wasn’t racing as if he had he would have spent the whole race tormenting Nohé by talking to him in French.

7. Mile Long Mountain

I think that the race route was wonderful, entirely unsuitable for someone of my height but great for maximizing suffering. There were many hills, the most important hill was the mile long hill from three to four miles which was then repeated a second time from eight to nine miles. It is a very excellent hill as you can see a kilometre of it straight out in front of you before you turn left and have to run up an even steeper part of the hill for another 600m to complete the mile long mountain.

8. Never Run Past The Car

I think that the only problem I have about the two lap course is that when you are a head tired sleep deprived nearly 40 year old man it is very tempting to stop after a lap when you are going past the car. I was very tempted especially as I had been left behind by Chris, Nohé and Sean Davin who were flying up the hills at an annoying rate. I distracted myself from the temptation to stop by thinking about breaking 55 minutes again.

9. John Walshe’s List

I think the only thing that kept me going on the second five mile lap was the possibility of getting another sub 55 time for John Walshe’s list. I have broken it twice this year, in Dungarvan when I beat Tadhg O’Sullivan for the last time ever even though I only had half a leg and hadn’t been training properly and a few weeks ago in England. Finishing the first lap the clock showed 27 minutes and 10 seconds or so which wasn’t a bad time for a hilly five mile route so I had a bit of a buffer.

10. If You Can See It You Can Run It

I think that it is a terrible feeling to watch the clock tick over the time you want to run. I could see the clock showing 54 minutes with about 200m to go, it was even a downhill 200m.Unfortunately due to the bad head tiredness and being nearly 40 I had to watch as the clock ticked well over the 55 minutes by the time I reached the finish line. My hopes of a third appearance in the John Walshe list were gone, fourth place, my unusual place, I did however win the M35 category which was great. I warmed down with Viv who was worryingly close to beating me having danced up the hills like they weren’t there. Luckily he doesn’t trust me about the Pumas so I was saved from a bad beating.

Eyeries 5 Mile 2025

1. Favourite

I think that the Eyeries 5 mile route might be my favourite 5 mile race. If it wasn’t for geography I’m sure that the race would be one of those races that sells out 10 months before the race is even on. It has everything, wild scenery, beautiful colourful buildings, hilly challenging course and great prizes.

2. Red Hyundai

I think that renting a car for weekends where you need to drive to Eyeries on a Saturday and Dublin on a Sunday is a great idea. Rental cars are very cheap in November, they are basically giving them away, €36 for a Hyundai Tuscon which is far more suitable for tall people than a VW Scirocco is a good deal. The heated seats were nearly worth the €36 alone.

3. Orange Puma Club

I think that it is terrible that Mark Walsh has the Pumas already, I was hoping that news of the benefits of the Pumas would spread a little more slowly. Unfortunately for me he rocked up in Eyeries with a new pair of Orange Puma Fast R3s that matched his Leevale singlet perfectly. On the other end of the shoe spectrum last years winner John Lenehan turned up in a pair of Alphafly 1s which are approaching 6 years of age.

4. The Race Will Be Televised

I think that it was great to have the camera crew back this year. It was the same setup as back in 2022 when my victory over Anthony Mannix got full extensive high-quality coverage on YouTube. The only problem was that I had to try and keep up with Mark and John to feature on this years video which would prove very difficult.

5. Let The Hills Begin

I think that if it wasn’t for the camera crew in the back of the lorry I probably wouldn't have been as motivated to keep up with John and Mark. Once we had the steep downhill start out of the way we began the climb to the top of the course. I stuck to the back of John with Mark taking his normal approach of sitting at the back and waiting. It felt fine until about 200m from the top of the climb where the pace started to bite and sensing my weakness Mark moved by and opened a small gap with John

6. Three Minute Ks

I think that it was scary how quick John and Mark dropped me on the downhill. I wasn’t worried when the small gap opened on the uphill as I was confident, I would catch them on the downhill. I was very wrong, instead I looked at the watch and saw 3:00 minute kilometre pace yet Mark and John were getting further and further away so far away that I began to worry that when the camera crew came past us that I would not feature on the video at all.

7. One Battle After Another

I think that Paul Thomas Anderson must have watched the video of me tracking Anthony Mannix down on the rolling hills of Eyeries. The car chase scene in One Battle After Another is almost identical to Eyeries, the rolling hills, with the runners disappearing before appearing again as they crest the brow of each little mountain. Unfortunately this year I was not in the staring role, instead I was looming in the background.

8. Puma vs Alphafly

I think that it was interesting to observe the battle for the win between John and Mark. It took until the second last hill just after 4 miles for John to finally crack and for the Pumas to win out over the Alphaflys. The thing about a course like Eyeries is that when you do crack you really crack as the hills are so steep. When Mark left John it looked like John had stopped running and that I would catch him, it was however an optical illusion due to the extremely steep hill and I had no hope of anything other than 3rd.

9. Spider Baby

I think that it was great to be interviewed after the race. I finished third so the film crew weren’t as interested in me as they were in Mark Walsh and Michelle Finn. In the interview I made sure and tell them that I had won the race before. I also told them that I had overhauled Bobby Tangney in the series which was my main goal for the day anyway.

10. Bate Bobby

I think that it was great to finally finish the Beara series, I had been thwarted by injury every other year, always missing one race. This year I was determined to finish it and get a trophy to match the trophy that Rhona got when she won the series in 2022. I couldn’t run Allihies and Bere Island full tilt due to cross country commitments, but I ran them hard enough to leave me in third place one minute behind Bobby Tangney heading into Eyeries. Thanks to Mark and John I got dragged around three minutes quicker than Bobby and leapfrogged from third into second place in the series which was very important. Michael Dullea was uncatchable in first.

Defense Forces Cork BHAA 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The Defense Forces Cork BHAA 5K 2025

1. God Bless The Influencers

I think that when you are an Elite Level Local Cork BHAA runner the best way of maximising your chances of winning a race is to pick the right races. The months of May and October are peak months for marathons. Tadhg O’Sullivan Cork’s number one running influencer, will have most of the local runners of Cork out doing 40k runs on a Sunday so the potential field for a Sunday race will be much reduced. All that leaves is John Meade who is easily distracted by some still weather and the opportunity to climb mountains in Kerry.

2. Tramore Treeless Park

I think that if I ever get into power the first thing I will do is plant a million trees in Tramore Valley park. It is not the worst running loop but the lack of trees just makes it feel wrong. The smooth Formula 1 track like tarmac surface should be the most fabulous place for running but the lack of trees just makes it inhospitable and confusingly not a particularly pleasant place to run.

3. October Weather

I think that October weather is great, it is either lovely still and calm with weird foggy clouds or pouring with ridiculous amounts of rain that makes cross country great. Normally what happens in October is the first two weeks are dry still and calm, the third week is a crazy flood, and the fourth week is cold and windy and wintery. This year seems no different, so we were blessed with a calm cloudy day perfect to send John Meade off to Kerry and me to Tramore Valley park to try and win a BHAA race for the second or third or fourth time ever.

4. Great Things From Herzogenaurach

I think that the main reason I wanted to do the race was to try out my new magic shoes the Puma Fast R3s. Since my terrible career threatening injury that kept me out for 11 weeks, I had not really been able to test them out. A 5k in Tramore Valley Park seemed like the perfect opportunity to see if they would do any damage to my calves like some people have been complaining of.

5. Denis Hegarty Style

I think that it is very important to respect the opposition on the start line. I was delighted to that Tadhg had influenced most of my usual rivals into battering themselves for 40k in preparation for a marathon abroad where it will probably and hopefully be too hot for running. Still nowadays as running has become more popular and me more older, I must be aware of unknown young fellas who could just appear from no where and run 15 minutes for 5k. To account for this, I took the race out as fast as I could and didn’t look back like how Denis Hegarty wins the BHAA races.

6. It’s 2019 Again

I think that the Pumas might be like being back in 2019 again when the Vaporflys came out. They are the closest thing to the magic that the Vapoflys brought. They pop off the ground and like the Vaporflys, make you run with what feels like good running form. I haven’t felt this good since the first time I ran in the pink Vaporfly Next%. Perhaps I should do what the early adopters of the Vaporflys did in 2019 and say nothing and claim that the improvement is actually down to my own greatness.

7. SPR

I think that when running around Tramore Valley Park it is very important to run the shortest possible route so that you spend as little time as possible running around the lunar tarmac landscape. It is always unnerving in a race when you can’t hear anyone behind you after a kilometer. My great fear in races like this is that I am being tricked, John Meade would be the chief suspect, that he is going to start way back and let me dream that I am going to win before effortlessly passing me with 50m to go making me look like the useless article that I am. These are in fact positive thoughts however as I use them to motivate myself. The only way of fighting such a scenario is to run as fast as I possibly can which is what I do.

8. Teddy Guantanamo Bay

I think that the course in Tramore Valley Park is deceptively hard. The most awful part of the course is the hill by the teddy bear Guantanamo Bay where the teddies are imprisoned and pinned to the fence. This sort of hill is a Barry Twohig or John Meade hill, a hill that requires power, power that I cannot generate well. It costs me a lot of time and then you have to do it twice to make it worse.

9. Great Solo PB By Me

I think that it was a pity that I didn’t get to break the 16-minute barrier. I was just over it which is still a solo 5k P.B for me. I am normally about 30 seconds slower over 5k when running on my own so it must mean that the Pumas are the game changers that they feel like they are.

10. Club Record

I think that it is great to be the current Glanmire A.C club record holder over the half marathon and 5k distance. This is one of the hidden benefits of starting with a new club. In addition to the club record I also got to go and collect my BHAA prize which was handed over in an envelope. I won my first BHAA road race on a beach in Youghal 15 years ago so it was nice to win another one as a moderately old man. Only a few more to catch the unofficial all-time record holder John Meade.

Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

10 Things I Think About The Rob Heffernan 1 Mile Race

1. Second Mile

I think that this was probably only my second ever mile race. My first mile race also happened to be organized by Rob Heffernan back in 2005 at the Mardyke when he was coaching UCC and I was pretty much the only runner in UCC. Just like now I had no idea about running so took off as hard as I could led for most of the mile before being passed by Rob’s brother Elton on the home straight. I ran something like 5:20 which meant that I was in with a good chance of a PB 20 years later.

2. Trepidation

I think that there is unnecessary fear of a mile race. Mile races should be way more popular than 5ks, 5ks are horrible, the pain lasts for way longer. A mile is over before you know it and you are guaranteed to finish a lot closer to the winner in a mile than in a 5k .The main issue with mile races is that it is highly possible that you will get beat by someone that you don’t want to get beat by because raw talent is probably a bit more important than training for a mile race. Well trained donkeys can beat horses in 5ks, horses always win mile races.

3. Spanish Vibes

I think that if it wasn’t for the weather the race could well have been in Spain, there was a great atmosphere in Blackrock Village where the farmers market is on a Sunday morning with a big stage and food trucks. The place was overrun with local running celebrities, Sonia, Derval, Rob Heffernan, Pa Murphy and even John Meade. Just around the corner was the finishing line with the start at the City end of the Marina near Cortado. It was a proper event with Graham Meikle not only measuring the 1 mile course but also taking photos.

4. UnSpanish Weather

I think that it was very unlucky that the weather was not like in Spain. I always wondered what they would do in Spain at a race if it was raining. In Cork we just get on with it, I suppose in Spain it would at least be warm. It would probably have been ok if there had of been a howling westerly wind to blow us from one end of the Marina to the other but instead the rain came in these useless swirling squalls that did nothing but make you wish that you were in Spain.

5. Childminding Relay

I think it was great that there were separate men’s and women’s races as it meant that Rhona and I could both run without the need for Billy minding. It was a slight logistical challenge as there was 15 minutes between the start of each race so once Rhona crossed the line 4th in 6 minutes I had to run quite fast back down the Marina to make it to the start which I just about managed. It made for a good warm up.

6. I Really Shouldn’t Be Here

I think that it was very intimidating up on the start line of the race. I was surrounded by fellas that I knew would destroy me in a 10 x 400m repeat session. I was pretty sure I was going to be left behind at the start, my main concern was not falling or knocking over one of the fellas who were going for the sub 4-minute mile.

7. Pumaflys

I think that the biggest change in running since I did my first mile race back in 2005 has been the shoes. We now have magic shoes not the suction boots that we used to have to run in. The Puma Fast R3s are probably about 300g lighter than whatever shoe I wore back in 2005, combined with ridiculously bouncy foam and a carbon plate. They are so so good for this sort of race where you are up on your toes for the whole race. I’m so glad that these were invented just in time for my 40s.

8. Proper Track Athlete

I think that I was surprised at how the race unfolded. I had fully expected to be left behind at the start. My fears were correct but only two fellas and Italian and a Romanian left me behind. I found myself surprised in fourth or fifth once we went through about 400m. The Pumas are so good that I was able to overtake Denis Coughlan who is a proper actual track runner and move up into third. I got to 1 kilometer still in third which I kind of didn’t believe. I still felt ok mainly because of the Pumas so I decided to try and run harder which amazingly resulted in me even opening a little gap. Maybe I’ve been doing the wrong event all this time.

9. Away Victory

I think that the last 200m of the race was pretty inevitable. My hopes of a third place finish and the €200 prize evaporated within sight of the line as a fella in a grey t-shirt tore by on the left at a speed that I have never run at nor will ever run at. Some how I was still ahead of Denis but I could see him out of the corner of my eye. I just about got to the chip timing line ahead of him which was excellent and probably horrifying to Denis.

10. Giant Cheque

I think that the feeling after a mile race is wonderful. I haven’t had that mixture of breathlessness and pain in a long time. It is way more fun than a marathon, why does anyone run marathons? The post race event back in Blackrock village was great especially as both Rhona and I got to go up on the stage to collect prizes for 4th place. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get top 3 as they even had a giant cheque for the prize. I’ve always wanted a photo with a giant cheque. Maybe next year, it might be time to move down in distance and give up the marathons.

Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Glengarriff 5 Mile 2025

1. Jean-Marc Bosman

I think that it is terrible to transfer clubs. I should probably have stayed with Leevale forever. It would be a lot easier. Leevale is a great club with great athletes and even greater coaches but unfortunately I live in Glanmire which is too far from the city to get to Leevale training especially when you have a desperate fear and hatred of traffic like I do. The other problem with changing clubs is that unlike in the soccer where you can play immediately for your new club in athletics you have to serve a one-month period of club purgatory so this was my first race in purgatory sans club.

2. 4.30pm

I think that 4.30pm on a Saturday is a great time for a race. I’m a very tired, sleepy and lazy moderately old man so the later I can get up the better. 4.30pm means you don’t have to set an alarm even when the race is 90 minutes away in Glengarriff. I got up at 11, had some toast and coffee, did some foam rolling, almost like a professional.

3. Wet Saturday in September

I think that it is always dangerous doing a race in West Cork. It is a place with very bad weather, normally Mark Gallagher uses his weather machine and the sun is shining but every so often we get the proper weather that fits the surroundings and scenery. Saturday was proper West Cork weather, proper wet, proper windy too, perfect cross country weather.

4. Uphill Start

I think that an uphill start poses an unusual challenge. Because of the career threatening injury that I suffered in the Midleton 5 mile I am very race rusty. The Glengarriff route starts outside the church at the bottom of the hill. I know from experience that the worst thing you can do with an uphill start is to sprint up the hill so when we got under way in the pouring wind and rain I found myself in about tenth by the time we got to the first corner at the pub. Luckily there was a nice downhill section on the lovely footpath to make up the ground on Tommy Arthur who I presumed would provide the main opposition.

5. Racing is Hard

I think that I understand why people prefer training to racing, training is nice, you get to chose how long you run for, take nice rests so that the bar graphs look tall on Strava and you never really have to suffer. Racing is different, you don’t get to pick the pace just follow whoever is in front and however fast they are going which in this case was Tommy Arthur and Michael Dullea. I would have chosen a slower pace, especially up the hill to the entrance to the forest.

6. Forest Running

I think that the forest in Glengarriff is as close to an indoor athletics arena that we will get to in Cork. On a wet and windy day there was no better place to have a race. Just like on an indoor track it was very difficult to pass on the narrow forest paths, well that was what I was telling myself as I was stuck in third place after three miles struggling to keep up with Tommy and Michael.

7. Blue Flag

I think that Tommy Arthur must have thought he was in a Formula 1 race as he kindly waved me through like there was a steward at the side of the path waving a blue flag. Perhaps he thought that I might try a mad lunge up the inside of Michael resulting in a collision with Tommy taking advantage and winning. I was happy enough to try and follow Michael knowing that the last mile of the race was downhill on the road about the only thing that I am anyway good at.

8. Are You John Meade in Disguise?

I think that it always surprises me that John Meade doesn’t do the races in Beara, instead he heads to Dingle where he habitually wins the half marathon routinely. After about a mile of following and studying the powerful running form of Michael Dullea I became concerned that it actually was John Meade after using one of those Mission Impossible face mask swapping machines. He was even wearing the same Edge Sports singlet that John Meade wears. Michael/John was very difficult to keep up with in the forest, with a powerful dynamic stride that makes you think I can’t possibly keep up with this level of intensity.

9. Open Road

I think that while it is the athlete’s responsibility to know the course in case you go wrong it is also very advantageous to know the course so that you can run to your strengths. I knew that the last mile of the course was downhill on the road with only the last little steep climb to the finish. Once we got out onto the road I thought about the drills that Michael Herlihy taught me on the track in Font Romeu and slowly but surely reeled in Michael/John before passing him as we went over a speedbump.

10. Skedaddle

I think that my running drills must be working as I was able to hold off Michael on the uphill finish. Once across the line I was half shocked that he didn’t reveal himself to be actually John Meade but it appears that he actually was Michael Dullea. We took photos in the rain and wind before very kindly and in consideration of the weather Mark handed out the prizes which facilitated a quick warm down to the car and return to Glanmire without getting colder or wetter. The good news is that it couldn’t possibly rain any more for the remaining three races in the series which is just as well as this is the only indoor/forest race in the series.

Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Rathcormac 4 Mile 2025

1. Reigning Champion

I think that it is nice to go back to a race as the reigning champion. It is a rare enough thing to happen to a moderately old man like me so it is important to enjoy these occasions. I won last year by beating one of my heroes James McCarthy. Unfortunately, 2025 has been a year of injury and time spent on Zwift cycling so there wasn’t much hope of a repeat victory, not that there was much hope even if I hadn’t spent the summer banjaxed.

2. Law of Conservation of Injury

I think that one of the laws of running is that running injuries are neither created nor destroyed merely transferred from one runner to another. Thankfully my time as an injured runner has come to an end. It took 11 weeks for my right anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament to knit itself back together after the Midleton 5 mile. Unfortunately, this means that some poor other runner is now injured. Think about it if this law wasn’t true there would be no physios.

3. Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

I think that a lot can change over the course of three months. New shoes have arrived on the scene in the shape of the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 which are supposed to be better than everything else according to science and YouTube. Local runners are also using Bicarb which has filtered down from the elites and YouTube. Isn’t it great to be alive at such a time, you don’t even have to train to get better just buy stuff. I decided I would limit myself to the shoes only and keep the bicarb for a night where the toilet is closer to the finish line.

4. Perfect Training

I think that I will do only perfect training while I still remember the time I spent cycling on Zwift while I watched very annoying influencer running channels. The fear of ending up back on the bike watching drivel is enough to put manners on my madness for at least a few months or weeks or days.

5. Photo Photo

I think one of the things I missed about being injured is that no one was around to take my photo. No one took my photo while I was cycling on Zwift which is just as well. There lots of excellent photographers in Rathcormac, from Garry Lee to Graham. I don’t think I look different after the injury which is good.

6. No Respect

I think that it was terrible to be left so far behind at the start. Despite the fact that I was the reigning champion there was no respect given. Paul Hartnett was gone into the distance within 400m with victory assured, Pat Hennessy and Aidan Connell were gone too leaving me without even hope of a podium. After about 400m I figured out how to work the Pumas and started to move up from about 9th to 6th.

7. Missed Misery

I think that the thing I missed most about racing is the feeling of utter misery about halfway through a race. It is marvellous. You don’t get anywhere near the misery on Zwift, the misery on Zwift is a horrible misery whereas running a race misery is wonderful. As enjoyable as the misery was it was becoming clear that I would have to fight for my usual fourth place finish as both Niall O’Callaghan and Struan Simpson were proving difficult to get ahead of.

8. Potentially Fourth, Potentially First

I think that because I won the race last year, did I mention that, I assumed that I would be able to repeat my moderately fast finish of last year. The last mile, that’s where I’ll get Niall I thought. Unfortunately, Niall had other ideas and I became more and more confirmed in fifth position. The Pumas which earlier I had feared were going to result in a torn calf became more comfortable but didn’t result in any magical finish. Perhaps I just watched too much YouTube.

9. Disappointed Commentator

I think that the commentator at the race must have been unaware of my terrible injury and the superiority of Paul Hartnett even if I was in the full of my health. Clearly I was expected to win comfortably as he was disappointed to have to wait until 5th place to welcome me home. Using the Michael Herlihy Method ™ of calculating where you would have finished in races you ran but were not at full fitness, I reckon I would have done well to get fourth on a good day seeing as when I won last year I ran 20:50 or so.

10. Definitely Not Injured

I think that it is great not to be injured. Injuries are great because they make you appreciate running and racing. It is such a privilege to be able to run a race not be hurt and then do a warm down afterwards in no pain. I don’t really mind if I never get to win a race again or run a PB again as long as I can run and experience pure misery while being watched by a field of cows. It is so much better than sitting on a bike sweating watching running influencers on YouTube.

Midleton 5 Mile 2025

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.

Kinsale 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Kinsale 10 2025

1. 22:42

I think that it was nice of Ryan Creech to let me know at twenty to eleven the night before the race that he had gotten an entry for Kinsale. “Is it as bad as Cobh?” “It’s horrendous, the hills are vertical like mountains, and the locals throw rocks at you. I’d stay away.” I told him. It didn’t work.

2. Monday Race

I think that races on a bank holiday Mondays are great. If this race hadn’t been rescheduled from the original February date due to the apocalyptic rain and wind, I’d have missed it as my left fibula was on the brink of stress fracturing at the time. Mondays mean less competition as there is a large cohort of runners who must for religious reasons do a long run on a Sunday no matter what happens.

3. How to Win a Race as a Moderately Old Man

I think that the morning routine is very important when you are a moderately old man who is hoping to win or finish on the podium in a local 10 mile road race. The first thing you must do in the morning when you wake up is check Strava. You check to see what the known competition has done that morning, 10 mile run, great. Session, wonderful. In Boston for the marathon, excellent. On holidays very far away, brilliant. Then you can go to the race knowing that you are in with a great shout of a podium, no training or new shoes required.

4. Tadhg Adidas Athlete

I think that this was the first race in about six years that I haven’t worn either a Vaporfly or an AlphaFly. Cork’s number one running influencer Tadhg O’Sullivan has been eulogizing about the Adidas Pro 4 so I had to get a pair just in case he was not actually just influencing and was actually telling the truth. Ryan Creech was wearing the same shoe albeit in a different colour so at least I wasn’t disadvantaged for the show down.

5. He Gone

I think that Ryan Creech is doing a different sport to what I do. When the race started, I thought I might at least make an effort to get to the first corner with him just to make it into a photo. Unfortunately, I’m more on the Donkey end of the racehorse spectrum so he was well gone after only 100m. The race if there ever was a race was over, it was a battle for second place. Second place was fine with me.

6. Same Sentence

I think that it was great for the race to have one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland leading the race. Unfortunately for the commentator there was no natural follow on to the sentence “and up front we have Ryan Creech one of the fastest marathon runners in Ireland”, and in second place we have Donal Coakley from Leevale doesn’t quite work. This was about the only time I was close enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ryan.

7. Rain Shower

I think that after the Kinsale 10 last year when we ran in what was basically a storm everyone was terrified of the rain. Last year was a special event with special wind, rain and cold. I can still remember how numb my legs were after seven miles and how I didn’t care whether Viv beat me or not because I was frozen. This year we had lovely sunny weather with only a light breeze at the start, there was a little shower on the worst hill just before five miles but we seemed to run out the other side of it and were left to run home in lovely sunny weather. It was very pleasant.

8. Good Joe

I think that it was difficult to spend another race on my own from start to finish like in Carrigaline. I hate running on my own in races because I get terrified. I spend the whole run hearing noises while being afraid to look behind. All I wanted was someone on the side of the road to tell me how big the gap was. No one did until I passed Joe Cunningham outside the Lilly plant. It was such a relief to learn that the noise I was hearing was my own shoes and not someone right behind me.

9. Run like Ryan

I think that the Adidas Pro 4s are a good shoe if you want to run like Ryan does where you bring your heel up high enough to kick the back of your head. I spent the last mile of the race trying my best Ryan Creech running impersonation but all it did was give me a slightly sore hamstring and tear the achilles off me. I think I’ll revert to the tried and trusted Nikes.

10. Miles Better

I think that I was very unlucky not to make John Walshe’s list of good 10-mile times for the second time this year. I was only thirty seconds off which wasn’t bad considering the course has hills and I’m useless at time trialling on my own. I already ticked the box in Dungarvan, so it is no big tragedy. The gap to Ryan was only six and a half minutes or a good bit more than a mile which wasn’t too bad. It does however mean that the statement Ryan is miles better than me is very true.

Great Railway Run 25K 2025

10 Things I Think About the Great Railway Run 25K 2025

1. In Brussels

I think that if it wasn’t for the terrible nearly running career ending calf tear and stress reaction in my left fibula back in February, I’d probably have been running the European Road Running championships in Brussels. It was very unfortunate as using the Michael Herlihy method of calculating where you would have finished in races you didn’t run I would have helped the Irish team to a bronze medal. It is comforting to at least know that for sure. The Railway Run was a good substitute.

2. Lateness

I think that races that send out the numbers in the post are great. It allows for chronic ridiculous lateness. Parking at 9:20 for a 9:30 start is fine, absolutely no problem, 5 minutes to put on magic shoes and 5 minute warm up to the start. I probably should have done 5 miles before hand to make it 20 miles for the day to get ready for Cork like most other people seemed to be doing.

3. Evan and Paul

I think that it was terrible to see both Evan Fitzgerald and Paul Moloney on the start line. I was pretty sure that the rampant marathon mania combined with Easter holidays and the Brussels event had taken care of all my known competition like John Meade and Barry Twohig from last year. I suppose a €500 first prize is always likely to draw out the big guns.

4. Kilometer of Hope

I think that it would have been great if I had been fit enough to run with Paul Moloney, even until the hill in Shanbally would have been grand. Evan made it clear from the start that he was going to win by being out of sight after only 500m, I ran the first kilometer full of hope with Paul until we ran back through the start where it became obvious that 5:30 pace was not possible to maintain so I let him go and resigned myself to a best possible finish of third.

5. I Go Solo

I think that it was much better last year when I had company for the whole 25k. This year I was left solo from kilometer one until kilometer twenty five, twenty four kilometers of solo running. I am not good at running on my own. I am not particularly motivated by time so I just get slower and slower as time goes on. My mind starts wandering and thinking about other stuff when I’m running on my own. I tried to focus on keeping the kilometer splits at 3:35, not for any particular reason other than that’s the first split I saw on the watch when I started looking at it once we got onto the line. This worked for about 5k then I lost interest and started looking across the water to Cobh.

6. Session Obsession

I think that the Railway Run is a great run to do as preparation for Cork Marathon. Even if I was solo there were plenty of water stops and the act of pining on a number provides a little bit more motivation than doing a session on the same route. It’s kind of odd really how because of Strava if I did this run as a session and ran the same pace as I did in the race I would expect to be hailed as the second coming of Christ but instead because it’s a race and I came third it’s only ok. Sessions are greater than races for some reason these days. I blame YouTube and Instagram.

7. Julius 300

I think that Julius in Monkstown provided key information that halted the exponential pace decline that was occurring. I asked him was there anyone behind expecting the answer to be “no you’re fine”, instead I got “300m”. 300m is very close so I started concentrating again, then I got a flashback of last year when the dynamic duo of Barry Twohig and John Meade flew by on the run to Raffeen which was very scary.

8. Shanbally Shakeup

I think that the U-turn around the traffic island in Shanbally provides the perfect opportunity for seeing who is behind you. The 300m that Julius had calculated had become about 100m by the time we reached Shanbally with Nathan and Ruairi closing the gap on the very steep raffeen hill where a barking dog provided more information on the proximity of my pursuers. As we began the climb out of Shanbally I remembered last year when I caught Danny Mullins with a kilometer to go to take third. Maybe it’s my turn to get caught with a kilometer to go I feared.

9. Fear

I think that there is no better motivator for running than fear. It is far better than clock watching, a bit of fear of being caught is wonderful, if you had both fear and hatred you’d be flying it all together. The fear of being caught made the last four miles fun. Luckily the fear provided enough motivation to get to the finish in Carrigaline in third again just like last year which meant prize money which is one of the reasons I like running races so much, no one gives you money for a good session, just kudos on Strava and emoji comments which are not money.

10. Race to the 220

I think I had the logistics of the race well worked out, once I crossed the line I met Paul, we had a photo then I ran over to the 220 bus stop where amazingly there was a bus waiting. I hopped on the bus, talked about golf to an 85-year-old lady and horrified everyone else on the bus with my short shorts, got off at St Finbarr’s hospital to have a short warm down back to the car. Drove to Glanmire to collect Billy from babysitting before back to Carrigaline to collect Rhona and my third place prize. I was almost as proud of the logistics as I was of the race.

Cork BHAA PWC 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The PWC BHAA 5K 2025

1. Climate Change

I think that the new climate is great, it rains in Spain and it is beautiful and dry if a little windy in Cork. It makes running so easy and nice. To make it even better the clocks have returned to normal and the evening BHAA races are back.

2. Beautiful Clean Shoes

I think it is terrible that the modern runner believes that they are only a new pair of shoes away from greatness. Greatness can be purchased, victory over that person who always beats you is only a pair of shoes away, you just have to be online at 8am and get the shoes before they are all gone at 8:02am. Last Thursday I was that awful modern runner getting a pair of the Vaporfly 4. I’d have been better off getting an extra run in. Miles are the secret not shoes.

3. On Time

I think that I will try and be on time for the races this year. It is a much more pleasant experience being on time. No stress, no messaging Graham asking him to pick up the number, a warm up, a chat, it’s a better way to operate.

4. Stress Reaction

I think that I did well to limit the impact of a stress reaction in my left fibula to only a 8 week absence from racing. I think I hurt my calf in a cross country race then ran Seville, Dungarvan and the Little Island 5k with a calf niggle which turned into a bone injury. I’m getting wise in my old age so stopped before I couldn’t walk so the recovery was relatively quick.

5. 90 Day Pause

I think that the start of the race was very well organized. There was a line on the road for the start with microphone speakers mounted on a plywood plinth which meant that there was no need for the usual will ye for god’s sake push back, instead we walked forward slowly to the line and then waited for the chip timing. It was a good long wait but it was fine because it was sunny and nice.

6. SuperValu

I think that it was apt that the race ran around SuperValu Pairc Ui Caoimh as BHAA offers truly super value. A 5k race for €5, no inflation, no tariffs. It’s cheaper than a coffee at the Marina Market. The route was one I haven’t seen before, up to the red shed with no walls in front of Pairc Ui Caoimh, around that, then a sharp hairpin before running along the back of the main stand. I got to the stadium in contact with the front group containing one of the Barrys, Tadhg, Mark Walsh, Danny Mullins and Nate but the pace became too much and I lost contact as we went around the Blackrock End terrace.

7. Golden Mile

I think that the new Marina Mile is tremendously beautiful. It is a wonderful surface to run on, like a golden track. This was the first race to use the new path, it was so nice not to have to study the ground for potholes and patches. Unfortunately I was left to run along the path on my own as the front five were way too strong and left me to enjoy the new path on my own.

8. Tadhg Not Like Us

I think that it was great to see Tadhg win the race. I am happy because Tadhg is a believer in the more miles is better and that you don’t need to do 400s to run a fast 5k. For some reason marathon training is better for 5ks than it is for the actual marathon.

9. Not so Solo

I think that I was lucky that I didn’t end up solo to the end of the race, otherwise I wouldn’t have broken the magical 15-minute barrier. I did my best on the long run to the finish along the Marina Market Road to keep Tadhg in sight so that he wouldn’t think that he was that great. As I approached the roundabout I began to hear footsteps, then I heard well done Ray, so I initiated John Meade mode and sprinted for the line and the sub 15 minute 5k.

10. BHAA Vaporfly 6%

I think that instead of being stuck to a phone at 8am to buy magic shoes people need to start running BHAA road races. It is much better value and more fun. According to the GPS watches which have papal levels of infallibility the race was around 4.6 to 4.7k. Sure what harm. I think there should be more races like this, keep us guessing, have course records become a thing, a lap of the Marina is a lap of the Marina who cares if it’s 5k or not, Tadhg still won.

Cork BHAA Janssen 5K 2025

10 Things I Think About The Janssen Cork BHAA 5K

1. In GPS we Trust, Everyone Else Needs a Jones Counter

I think that the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route might be the most famous 5K route in Cork. It’s the one where everyone runs tremendous times, the one where the Stravalurkers who didn’t run the race think it’s short because they don’t like the times. The GPS watch must be trusted, never mind that it has been measured with a wheel, the GPS watch is always right. I was hoping the Stravalurkers were right I fancied a 5K PB, it’s been a while.

2. Late for the Late Start

I think that it was a great achievement to almost miss the start of a BHAA race that started fourteen minutes late. There was a very long queue for registration, very long, it went back into a part of the sports hall that I didn’t know existed. At 10am it looked like the race couldn’t start for at least another 30 minutes, so I decided to drive down to the finish with Rhona and Billy and jog back up to the start. As I was putting on my magic shoes Michael Herlihy offered to drive me up to the start as he said they were just about to start, fearing the speed of the Audi Etron more than missing the race I decided to jog up. Running past the eerily empty sports hall I feared that I was about to meet a wave of runners. Luckily, they were just after the “for god’s sake will ye push back” phase of the start so I was fine.

3. White Shorts

I think that it is too difficult to purchase coloured shorts. Irish people are very boring when it comes to colours. Shorts are grey or black, cars are grey or black, nothing else is allowed. Spanish races are very different, it is like a competition to see who can wear the most colourful costume. My contribution to the battle against the grey and black short brigade is white shorts, yes they look like GAA shorts but they’re not grey and not black. You can get them off Adidas, they’re retro apparently.

4. Tis Neither Good for Man nor Beast

I think that the real reason why the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route produces so many tremendous times is the prevailing wind direction. The route runs from west to east so normally it has a strong tailwind component for about 70% of the race. Unluckily for us on Sunday we encountered the beast from the east meaning, 70% of the race was run into a block cold headwind. Not good for the PB chances.

5. Two Beasts

I think that the other runners in the race were very lucky that John Meade and I turned up for the race. Two brave men not afraid to run into the wind. The race quickly settled into a formation that would not change from start to finish except for the bit at the finish that actually is the most important bit of the race. John Meade and I up front, Aidan Noone in the quarterback position, flanked by Darren McCann, John Longan and Sean Twohig.

6. Three K Trouble

I think that I knew I was in trouble after three kilometres. Three kilometres in a five kilometre race is a crucial point, if you are in a group at three K you’ll probably be in the group at five K. The group of six was still a group of six. I tried everything I could to shed a few from the group, everything involved trying to run fast down the hill but every time we turned right at the bottom of the hill we were met with a wall of wind and John Meade brought everyone back together.

7. One to Go

I think that I knew what was going to happen with a kilometre to go. The fourth kilomtre marker at the top of the hill signified the start of the actual race. For the second time I tried my only tactic of running fast down the hill. Again John Meade neutralized the attack, unlike the first attack Aidan also followed John Meade so I went from first to third. Aidan had yet to feel a breeze at this stage having cleverly and patiently waited for myself and John Meade to tire ourselves out.

8. John Meade Fan Club

I think that Aidan is lucky that John Meade didn’t take inspiration from Martin Drake who was marshalling the turn for home. Martin is very clearly a John Meade fan and was vociferous in his support for John once we turned right with between 400 and 430m to go depending on whether you are going by GPS or measured course. John initiated the all too familiar John Meade sprint which is usually an insurmountable challenge for all but the best local elite Cork BHAA runners, unluckily for John he had Aidan Noone on his tail, a man who is borderline unbeatable in a sprint as John was about to find out.

9. Swamped

I think that I would normally be able to hold onto some level of contact with a John Meade finishing kick. Sunday was different, once John and Aidan had separated themselves from the group of six I was left in third. I didn’t stay third for long as coming onto the finishing straight Darren McCann flew around the outside of me in a pair of what looked like Adidas Adios Pro 4s, I tried to sprint but my sprint isn’t very sprinty so it wasn’t long until I saw John Longan and Sean Twohig fly by leaving me to jog home 10 seconds and six places behind Aidan.

10. Suspicious Fast

I think that having run the Cork BHAA Little Island 5K route there is something about the course that makes it fast. Despite the headwind and tactical race the times were tremendously fast. I don’t think it is short as I have carefully reviewed the GPS data and it is clear that the GPS is cutting the corners so reading shorter than the route that we actually run. I think it is fast because of magic shoes, a course that lends itself to the formation of groups and being ever so slightly downhill, add a westerly wind and it’s very tremendously fast. Anyway I don’t really understand the obsession with 5K road times, who cares what time you ran, it’s much more important who beats who and Aidan Noone beat us all very badly especially John Meade.

Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Dungarvan 10 Mile 2025

1. Sometime that I used to Run

I think that I’m beginning to understand what it’s like to get properly old. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to beat my 10 mile time from 2023 so I need to find new things to focus on to make racing interesting. Luckily Dungarvan provided other things to focus on as nearly everyone was running it. I decided to focus on beating Tadhg and fending off a resurgent Michael McMahon.

2. Fear of Carparks

I think that Irish people in cars are magnetically attracted to parking on grass, or even better a grassy kerb or most preferably of all a grassy kerb outside someone’s house. It is great to know this because no matter what time you arrive into Dungarvan on race day you can sail through the town and park in a lovely tarmac car park less than 400m from the start. Aidan who came with me was very impressed with my knowledge.

3. Dashboard Warning Light

I think that no matter how many terrible stress fractures and injuries I get I will never be able to resist ignoring the signs of a potential terrible injury. I probably shouldn’t have run Seville Half never mind Dungarvan as I’ve been suffering with sticky outside of calf syndrome where one part of the calf attaches itself onto the other and won’t come free. It’s not in any physio books so it is a new injury. If it was a warning light on a car it would probably be yellow so I just press the reset button for the race and drive on which will probably only work for so long.

4. Ballycotton 10 Style Field

I think that the field for this years Dungarvan 10 was the strongest deepest 10 mile field I have seen since the days of the Ballycotton 10 in non-magic shoes. Everyone from Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and a few invaders from Dublin turned up. Looking around I was thinking top 20 would be a great achievement. Tadhg asked me to drag him around to 53 minutes which made me want to beat him and put him back in his box even more.

5. This is Mad

I think that the start of the race was very mad. It went off more like a 10k than a 10 miler. Fearghal and Sean Doyle were gone gone, like properly gone with a few stragglers thinking about following. I was left miles back in a huge group of heavily trained or highly talented runners. I made up a bit of ground on the downhill before the one mile mark but was quickly passed out again as we went around the GSK roundabout and ran downhill towards the slippery U turn. I looked at my brand-new watch with AMOLED display which clearly showed that we were all going way too fast, so I let the group go and waited for the inevitable lull in proceedings to occur.

6. This is Grand

I think that it is very helpful to have run a race a good few times as it inevitably plays out the same way each time. Once the huge group reached the U turn with the slippery surface the pace dropped nicely, I used the downhill to catch back up to Tadhg and Michael McMahon who were my main targets for beating. Once I found them, I sat in and waited for the wind to start between miles 3 and 5 which seems to always be the case at this time of year in Dungarvan.

7. Tadhg’s Back

I think that Tadhg is very similar to Viv. He would love to beat me, it is very important to him. He is also similar to Viv in that he doesn’t seem to know what to do when he gets to the front of a group. I nearly had to jump up on his back to avoid crashing into him after four miles as when he found himself at the front of the group, he just stopped running. I don’t like tactical running as we are all way too useless to be using tactics so after the near terrible collision, I just ran near the front of any group to stay out of trouble.

8. Tailwind Time

I think that the section between 5 miles and 8 miles in Dungarvan is one of my favourite sections of road to run. It is probably because it is slightly downhill, is nearly always run with a tailwind and has a nice windy smooth road surface. I thought I was doing great as I was flying along catching Shane Collins and Tony Forristal until suddenly at seven miles I was passed at what seemed like twice the speed by a group containing Kris Liepins and Niamh Allen. It was an unfollowable group but at least it didn’t contain Tadhg, Michael McMahon or Viv.

9. The Two Barrys

I think that the last two miles of Dungarvan are horrendous. Mile 9 is utterly awful, a hill with a gradient that only impacts tall, elegant runners like myself. To make it worse you can see miles ahead. Mile 9 was a bad mile. I was fooled into thinking I was catching Barry Twohig when in fact I was not and was about to be passed out by the other Barry, Barry Donovan who stormed by on a mission.

10. What Number Did You Do?

I think that I did well to finish 22nd. That last little hill up to the finish is very stressful for someone like me who can’t run up hills, so I focused on staying in reasonable proximity to Tony Forristal which worked well in fending off the vicious dual attack of Tadhg and Michael McMahon. Once across the line I was delighted that ignoring the dashboard warning light had not led to an inability to walk or jog which is very important. I collected my nicely coloured Nike T-shirt, told Sergiu and Sean Doyle where to get Vaporfly 1s and walked/jogged back to the nice car park with Aidan. It looks like Dungarvan is becoming the 10 mile race, you can see why, it’s like the Valencia Marathon of 10 mile races.

Grange Fermoy 10K 2024

10 Things I Think About The Grange Fermoy 10k 2024

1. Glanworth

I think that it was nice to get to run a race in the town where my father is from. We didn’t get to run past the house as it is in the town but I jogged past it while I was rushing to collect the number and excellent t-shirt. Glanworth is a great place for a race, only 30 minutes from Glanmire with a nice bridge and castle. It was great to see it busy with all the runners when I arrived early 30 minutes before the race.

2. Sure You’re Only a Jogger

I think that Michael Herlihy must own Sixt rental cars in Cork. The poor Scirocco broke down the day after Clonmel so I had to go and get a rental car. When I went to collect it they have me a Dacia Jogger, I pleaded with them for anything else but they had nothing (apparently) so I was left to drive as a jogger to the race in my jogger.

3. French Grinds

I think that it is much better going to Clo’s farm to do a race rather than to do French grinds for the Leaving Cert like I did nearly 20 years ago. It seems mad that 20 years later there is a race starting right outside the farm you could even park in the farmyard if you needed to right by the start.

4. Gone with the Wind

I think that the wind was a big big factor in today’s race.I love a bit of weather in a race as it puts the PB and watch checking runners off kilter. I couldn’t care less what time we run so I led off into the wind like a fool. At least it was downhill so it kind of balanced out. I was surprised to be still in the lead when we turned right at the first kilometre marker.

5. The Pack

I think that a group of runners at the front of the race is like a pack of wild dogs. There is an unspoken known order of assumed greatness that should be established at least after a mile. This race was very usual, because of the wind no one could escape the bunch so the natural order was never established. Perhaps this was the day where the order of the dogs was going to change, perhaps the big hairy dog with tanned long legs wearing pink Vaporflys and yellow shorts would become the leader.

6. Perfect Pacing

I think that it was great to be still leading after 5k. After the race Michael McMahon gave out to me for being an idiot and said that I could have won if I was sensible and clever. I think that he was very wrong though as I prefer to be at the front as it is sort of like a hybrid car in that the battery is getting topped up by the act of leading the race and annoying the other people who feel they should be leading the race.

7. Every Dog Has His Day

I think that when I got to 6k still in the lead I started to think that perhaps Rhona had secretly given me a blood transfusion as my Christmas present. I was ahead of Sergiu even. This never happens, Conor McCauley was under pressure. Very usual, I didn’t even feel terrible. Every dog has his day perhaps.

8. Citizen Kane

I think that Kane Collins ruined my day. When we turned the corner out of the wind at 7km he took off and shook the bunch of dogs apart. Suddenly we were lined out one by one with gaps developing rapidly, Sergiu was second, Kris was third, Conor fourth, Nick fifth and me and Tadhg joint sixth with an actual proper journalist Brian Canty of Sticky Bottle fame right on our tail.

9. Remember When I Beat Hop

I think that today was my chance to beat Conor McCauley like I beat John O’Connell around this time of year many many years ago which was a great breakthrough moment in my running career. All I had to do was follow Kris, instead I got stuck in a battle with Nick O’Donoghue who took a while to shake off. The downhill with the wind run to the finish over the last 2k should have suited me perfectly but it seemed to suit everyone just as perfectly.

10. Shudda, Wudda, Cudda

I think that Michael McMahon was right and that I would have won the race if I wasn’t such a fool running into the wind. The new route for the race is wonderful, a great success, a route for racing, a route for a clever underdog. There were even prizes down to sixth place which is very unusual which I unfortunately couldn’t collect as I couldn’t wait to get back into my Dacia Jogger for the drive back to Glanmire.

photo: GRAHAM Meikle