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.

Donoughmore 7 2026

10 Things I Think About The Donoughmore 7

1. Did I Mention I Won This Race Before?

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

2. Viv and the Incoherent Nonsense

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

3. Irish Singlet

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

4. Warm Up Session

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

5. Moderately Old Man Strength

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

6. Anti-Ageing Shoes

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

7. Get a Gap

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

8. The Alp

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

9. Extreme Hatred

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

10. Death Sprint

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