Loughrea Grey Lake 10K 2026

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 lose 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.

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

Castlegar XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar XC 2025

1. The Best Time of Year

I think that cross country season is the best time of the running calendar. It is the purest form of running, no times, no gels, no magic shoes, just magic spikes and grass. The Castlegar XC has become the Ballintotis 4 mile of the XC season, the opening event of four to five months of racing.

2. Popularity

I think it is great that XC running isn’t as popular as the marathon. I think I might be finished with marathons. They have become too popular. Imagine if you had to enter a XC race a year in advance although it isn’t that long ago that you could enter Valencia marathon a few weeks before hand, popularity spreads quickly, maybe someday there will be 50,000 people trying to enter a XC race in Galway.

3. Calf Rippers

I think that it is very important to do a few session in spikes before racing in them. I am very lucky to have the UCC Farm and the great Michael Herlihy to do sessions in spikes. The new spikes are great because they don’t immediately tear the calves off you like the old ones did. I am yet to decide which are better the track Dragonflys or the XC Dragonflys with the studs. For Galway I went with the studs.

4. Glanmire to Galway

I think that it is amazing how close Galway is with the new road. Many years ago when I was young it was impossible to go to Galway as it took 5 hours. Now it takes 2 hours and twenty minutes which is great and as quick as going to Dublin and as XC races are always on in the afternoon it is easy to do as a day trip especially when the weather is nice like it was on Saturday

5. Tot’s Race

I think that it was great that Billy got to run a race on the same course as me. The tots race took place just before my race. They ran the last 250m of the loop with even a few bales to jump over. Billy has the same agility as me so he climbed over the bales rather than jumping before passing someone out on the downhill run to the finish just like me. He seemed to enjoy racing as much as I do which is good.

6. The Dada’s Race

I think that I noticed how old I am on the start line. I was one of the oldest people racing, I could have been the father of a lot of the field which is both great and terrifying. Road racing has become the preserve of moderately old men so it was interesting to race youngfellas who just tear off with no respect for anyone. The course was slightly different to last year, nothing major just slightly less downhill from the start.

7. He’s Good

I think that the awful thing about XC racing is that it is very hard to tell if you are running well or not. Pace doesn’t matter it all comes down to position. Because most of the other runners were youngfellas I couldn’t tell whether I was doing well or not. The only runner I could use as a marker was Niall Shanahan. I was briefly ahead of him which I thought was great but then he got a small bit ahead which was also ok as I wouldn’t be anywhere near him on the road.

8. Mark Walsh Proofed

I think it was great that the course had been Mark Walsh proofed after last year. The hay bale jumps were back again but this time it was impossible to bypass them. You had to jump every single one as the course was hermetically sealed around each jump, unfortunately there was no Mark Walsh to actually test out the impossibility. It is interesting that incorporating plyometrics into my ever-expanding non running routine appears to have made no difference to my ability to jump over hay bales.

9. This is Hard

I think that 7.5k sounds like a very short race. It would be on the road, but 7.5k cross country is more like 10k on the road. After four laps I felt that familiar feeling of how the hell am I going to keep going for another lap. Luckily and unluckily, I was in no mans land, a bit behind Niall Shanahan with no one behind me so I thread the line between trying too hard and giving up and got home in the same 15th position that I started the last lap in. Another advantage of XC is that you don’t have to run for a time just a position.

10. On the Ground

I think that my favourite part of a XC race is lying down on the grass after the race. It is a different sport to road running, way way way harder, a far better sport. I was happy enough with 15th as I only recognized Niall Shanahan ahead of me and I don’t mind being beaten by youngfellas that I don’t know and shouldn’t be beating anyway. I did my warm down which was completed without any new pains before going to the best vegan restaurant in Galway Greens. A nice day out.

Photo: RHONA