Capodanno di Corsa San Giovanni Valdarno 2026

1. 49th Capodanno di Corsa

I think that it is great to do new races, it is also great to do new distances. I’ve always liked the races where it is just whatever the loop around the town is so I was delighted to find a 13.5km race on New Years Day about the same distance from Florence as Mitchelstown is from Cork in a town called San Giovanni Valdarno. The ideal race, no expos, no queues, no sold out 12 months in advance, sign up on the day if you like, perfection.

2. Sub Zero

I think that it has been over 15 years since the last time that I ran a race in sub zero temperatures. That time was the All Ireland XC in Derry when there was a thick layer of snow on the ground for the race. There was no snow in Italy but it was ridiculously cold. Dry cold, cold which is good for running fast but not for standing still.

3. Music Hall

I think that the registration and number collection was very efficient. I had been in contact with the race organisers on Facebook to send them our medical certificates. All we had to do was queue up in the music hall, collect out numbers and the generous goodie bag which contained all my favourites, wine, coffee and pasta. We even got a running singlet all for the very low entry price of €10, yes €10 for a race.

4. Partenza

I think that the start line was very atmospheric. The advantage of having a loop or two loops of the town is that the start line can be in the best spot possible which in this case was the centre of the town in front of the main square framed by a large old building with impressive arches that you only see in Italy. I warmed up by jogging up and down the main street in my Pumas as it was too cold to be changing shoes. A local club seemed to have exactly the same purple and white singlet as my Glanmire A.C top so I exchanged confused salutes with my new clubmates. Before the start we were all huddled together like penguins before being walked up to the start line where the mayor fired the starting pistol to get us underway.

5. The Man in The Van

I think that races with a man in a van are my favourite. This race had a very excellent man in a van, the van drove off in front of us with the man in the van with the boot open videoing and doing commentary on the race. We would occasionally get too close to the van at which point he would shout at the driver to go faster. We followed the van for about 2km until he pulled over to video the rest of the field, before overtaking us and resuming the coverage. I made sure to make my move to the front every time the van appeared as it is the age of social media and it’s important to be seen.

6. YouTube

I think that this must be one of the most well televised races in the world. After entering the race I found the videos of the previous editions on YouTube. Before Covid the race seemed to have a contingent of Kenyan runners who would dominate. This years race was the 49th edition making it the longest running race in the locality. Luckily for me I appeared to be the only foreign athlete on this occasion.

7. Podium

I think that my favourite thing to do on holidays is to get on the podium in a local road race. After the first 5km lap around the town I knew I was in with a great chance as the group at the front had been whittled down to three of us, me and two athletes from a local club with green singlets. I led the race going through the line for the first time as it isn’t too often than you get to lead a race in Italy while running over a red carpet. The second lap was a larger lap of the town to make up a total of 13 km or so. With 3km to go the man in the van was back to see the group further distil down to just me and one of the two green singlets.

8. Sprint

I think that I knew I was in trouble if the race came down to a sprint finish. I have never out sprinted anyone so I decided to try and go from a kilometre out. I picked a point just before a sharp right hand turn into the long finishing straight. Initially I had some success but I knew from the lack of heavy breathing from the pursuing green singlet that it was only a matter of time before I was defeated. Sure enough with 100m to go the afterburners were initiated and I was left to sprint home on the red carpet happy enough in second place four seconds behind the winner.

9. Hot Tea

I think that one of the best things about racing in Italy in winter is that once you cross the finish line they always have hot lemon tea as a post race drink. There is no better post race drink. I think it is just the Lipton stuff warmed up but it is so good in sub zero temperatures. I had a nice cup of hot lemon tea while I discussed the race with the winner who is aiming for a 68 minute half marathon in Florence at the end of the month. I warmed down by running out to Rhona and finishing the race with her. I told her they had the hot tea at the finish to motivate her.

10. Spider Baby

I think that the local organisers were delighted to have an Irish person on the podium. They were very interested in interviewing me. I had learned some Italian sentences quickly from google translate so that I could make some attempt at an interview but they also had an excellent translator who had spent two months working in a hardware shop in Cork. It was great fun and a great way to spend New Years Day. After the interview we had a nice coffee and vegan croissant in the local bar. The Italians know how to organize races to perfection, I suppose after 49 previous editions they have had plenty of practice.

Munster Masters XC 2025

1. On The Promenade

I think that Tramore was a great venue for a cross-country race. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to Tramore before, it is quite far away from Glanmire but worth the trip. A nice seaside town, like a Spanish town without the sunshine and heat. The course was right beside the promenade in a park with a playground, a bit different to the usual farmer’s field. It was almost like having a cross-country race in a town. A great idea.

2. Norwegian Michael Herlihy Method (NMHM)

I think that the closest thing that I have to a coach is Michael Herlihy, both of us are pretty much uncoachable but we do run together a lot so we must agree to do the same sessions. Before the start of the race, I told him that we should repackage the training program as the Norwegian Michael Herlihy Method and sell it on the internet for €20 a month more than normal training because of the word Norwegian, it could be a sensation, we could even get local Glanmire Norwegian physio Chris Smetana to endorse it.

3. Short, Long or Studs

I think that it is very important to come to a cross-country race prepared for all conditions. Because there is no timetable for these events you may not have a lot of time before the start of the race. What I do is I make sure I am prepared for all eventualities and bring three pre tooled pairs of spikes, one with studs, one with 6mm spikes and one with 12mm spikes. Then you can have a look at the course while collecting your number before taking the appropriate pair of spikes from the boot of the car and running over to the start. In this case the studded Dragonfly XC were chosen.

4. Sure I Wouldn’t Know I’m Just Getting Changed

I think that the self-service number collection system worked well at the event. It was sort of like the self-service checkout at SuperValu where there is a person watching you and they only intervene if you get stuck. I jogged over to the tent and found the numbers neatly stacked in brown envelopes on the table with the club names labelled on them. There was a man in the tent who I asked if I could take the number for Glanmire A.C but he was only getting changed in the tent and had nothing to do with the operation so I just took the envelope and jogged back to the car hoping that I might get a mile of a warmup done.

5. La Source

I think that who ever designed the course in Tramore should get an award for designing the best cross-country course ever. It was wonderful, a triumph of imagination, sort of like a combination of a Scalextric track and a Formula one track except with moderately old men instead of super-fast cars. The first corner was like the first corner at Spa-Francorchamps, I was wary of a first corner collision, so I took it handy off the line and waited for the second or third corner to make my move to the front.

6. Take a Mucky Picture of Me

I think that it was great that there was a bit of muck on the course. It wasn’t anywhere near as mucky as I had hoped for but there were still hairpins with ankle deep muck that made you grind to a halt before getting going again in the opposite direction. It appeared as if there were several people taking pictures which pleased me greatly as it is great to get a picture of yourself running through the muck.

7. Dermot and Me

I think that it was a very tough race with Dermot Gorman. You are always guaranteed a tough race in the Masters division. On the line there were numerous people with marathon times sub 2:30 with Dermot’s excellent 2:28 from New York this year being one of the more recent sub 2:30 marathons in the field. I was particularly worried when he was still following me around like my shadow on the third of the four big laps.

8. Downhill Difference

I think that I was very lucky with the course design. The great person who designed the course helpfully made the uphill section twisty with the downhill section straight, so I was able to push the downhill every lap and survive on the uphill twists. On the second last time down the hill, I managed to get enough of a gap on Dermot that I could see him parallel to me as we went up the twisty hill for the last time. I was still terrified of being caught so I continued to run as hard as I could all the way to the line which is generally a good idea when you are leading a race.

9. The Missing 500m

I think that it was terrible for Michael Herlihy that the course measured 500m short on the infallible GPS watch. It was very clear that he was catching me and only for the short course he would have beaten me. I do wonder about people who look at their watch in cross country race. What is the watch going to tell you? The pace? The distance? All are irrelevant just run faster than the fellas around you and run the number of laps that you are supposed to run, who cares about the distance. I felt like it was a good long race anyway as I was completely out of breath crossing the line, so out of breath that I didn’t see the black dog doing his best dancing priest impression.

10. Medals

I think that it was great to win the first cross country medal for the newly reformed Glanmire A.C. I don’t know the history of the old club as the internet only goes back to about 2006. I presume someone from the old Glanmire N.A.C.A club would have won some sort of medal at some stage as Glanmire is a great place for running. Hopefully it is the first of many more medals for Glanmire A.C.

Photo: James Veale

Fen 10 Mile 2025

10 Things I Think About The Fen 10 Mile

1. Leicester Says No

I think that I was very lucky that the Leicester Half Marathon was sold out. Despite having past winner Ryan Creech trying to get me a number I couldn’t get a late entry. I was in Leicester for the weekend so a race in Leicester would have been the easiest solution to the never-ending search for a race so instead I had to consult runABC for a suitable replacement.

2. To Wisbech or to Wisbeech

I think that there is no better man to ask about a 10 mile race than John Walshe. A 10 mile race in a place called Wisbech (apparently pronounced Wisbeech) seemed like a good idea so I asked John if he had ever done it and sure enough he had back in 2011, very flat with a nice t-shirt were his main memories. That was enough for me, only problem was that it was sold out. Not to be deterred I contacted the organisers on Facebook who offered me a transfer which I gladly took.

3. 40 Year Anniversary

I think I was worried when I heard that the 2025 edition of the event was the 40 year anniversary. I wondered if like Ballycotton this would be the last event. Although on arrival in the small quiet town of Wisbech it seemed like a field of 300 runners was not an unmanageable task and that everything was very much under control and organisation via an object you will only see at races in England, a clipboard.

4. Our International Athlete

I think that it was very nice of the chief organiser to give me a shout out during the pre-race briefing. “Our international athlete, from Glanmire A.C” which was met with surprise by the two people who I was standing beside who also happened to be from Glanmire which was very strange, Rathcooney and Caherlag to be precise. Once the pre-race briefing was over we all lined up under the arch and off we went.

5. Pumas on Grass

I think that having the start and finish in the same spot in a field beside the local school is a great idea. It made the event very safe and manageable. There was a minimal walk to and from the registration with a playground right by the finish to entertain Billy. The only problem I had was that the first 200m and last 200m were on grass which is not the best for the new Pumas. I made sure to take it handy on the grass before we turned left onto the road which I accomplished without incident.

6. Stranger in Purple

I think that it is great to be completely unknown at a race. It was clear that all the other runners had an established pecking order like we would have in Cork having raced each other all the time so they all grouped together for the first 400m. Because of this I was free to do as I pleased so I did what I normally do and went straight to the front and went as fast as I felt the Pumas could maintain for 10 miles which was surprisingly fast.

7. Dave and Mitch

I think that I was very lucky that two other fellas seemed to be at a very similar level to me and my Pumas. After about a mile I was joined by Dave and Mitch, I know they were called Dave and Mitch because the people on the side of the road were cheering them on. I got cheers too just without a name. We had a good group going with a pace that I continued to be surprised by. There were absolutely no hills which made maintaining the pace a little easier than normal.

8. The Thin Blue Line

I think that we were lucky that the race didn’t have to be cancelled. After about 3 miles we were carefully overtaken by two police cars. I thought they were just out policing the roads for the race but it turns out that there were five more police cars behind us and that they were carrying out some sort of raid. I tucked in behind the front two police cars until they pulled in and we continued unaware of the drama that was unfolding behind us.

9. The Merest Hint of a Hill

I think that I thought I could have a chance of the win until about 7 miles. I was suffering majorly but somehow, most likely due to the superior energy return of the Pumas (94% apparently) I was still hanging onto the back of David. Then came my worst nightmare the smallest of small hills, David powered up it at an uninterrupted pace while I lumbered up it like a giant, a small gap opened, and I was left in second place with cheers for Mitch still within earshot.

10. Winner’s T-Shirt

I think that I did very well to hold on for second. I could tell by the cheers that I had about 15 seconds on Mitch. Mitch looked like a fella that could easily launch a 3:00 last kilometre so I knew I was in trouble. Luckily the Pumas are very excellent and responsive so when I pushed for the last kilometre, I managed to hold him off even on the grass run to the finish. Once across the line we got a medal, a nice purple t-shirt and a free beer. Then into the hall where I got two prizes one for second and one for first senior. I might have to come back and try and win it though because the winner David got a unique t-shirt with Fen 10 winner printed on it, a nice touch at a nice race.