10 Things I Think About Running

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.