Castlegar International Cross Country 2024

10 Things I Think About The Castlegar International Cross Country

1. Cunning Plan

I think that when you lack any real talent for running like I do the only hope you have of getting to a World Athletics Championships is to switch allegiances to Gibraltar or to read the fine print on the qualification standards. A little-known way of qualifying for the 10,000m on the track in Tokyo is to finish in the top three athletes in the World Cross Country Tour not qualified through entry standards or other ways. Improbable yes, Impossible probably, but sure stranger things have happened. Luckily enough the first stop on the tour was in Galway.

2. Orange Weather Warning for XC

I think that my chances of making the 10,000m in Tokyo would have been helped if instead of brining the silver medal winning team from 1979 to Galway, Castlegar A.C had brought the weather from Limerick Racecourse in 1979. Unfortunately, it was a lovely day in Galway, almost unsuitable for cross country with a complete absence of rain, muck and wind. If there was a weather warning system for cross country it would have been an orange level alert, consider postponing for a wetter day.

3. World Childminding Championships

I think that if World Athletics are looking for an idea for a new relay event sort of like the mixed relay, they could have the World Cross-Country Childminding Relay. I think it would be a great event. I did the pilot version of the event in Galway, meeting Rhona at the finish line of the women’s race with Billy before running over to the start of the men’s race. Adrenaline is better than any warmup.

4. Race within the Race

I think it was great to have an international field for the race. There was almost two races, the race between Keelan Kilrehill and the foreign invaders from Denmark, Scotland and Ennis Track and then the race between me, Mark Walsh and Barry Donovan. I was a bit surprised that after one small lap and one big lap the two races came back together again before the international athletes detected our terribleness and quickly left us behind to fight amongst ourselves for the glory of first Corkman home in a World Cross Country Tour event.

5. A Thing of Beauty

I think that the course that we got to run on was wonderful. I almost forgot about the lack or rain and muck. It was the perfect course for someone like me with no talent as there was lots of bends and corners to slow up the fellas who beat me badly in road races and like doing 400m reps on things called athletics tracks that we don’t have in Cork. My favourite section of the course is the series of S bends before the long back straight which was great for testing if you’d being doing the stability exercises that the physio told you to do.

6. They are Jumping Like Horses

I think that the biggest fan of the course design was Billy, his favourite aspect of the course was the jumps made of hay bales which runners had to jump like horses. I was also a big fan of the jumps, they are wonderful. I would definitely make them bigger, at least up to my knee height. By the end of the race I was jumping them very elegantly, I was evening switching legs like a proper hurdler.

7. In The Modern World

I think that it is unfortunate that in this modern world people have no ethics. Shortcuts, that’s all people want, quick wins, no 10,000 hours of work, 4 weeks to a faster marathon etc. A perfect example of this was Mark Walsh going around the outside of each of the many hay bale jumps. I jumped everyone gleefully and honestly. I suppose at least he had to run a bit longer by not jumping them. I was only aware of his non jumping because of Rhona’s videos as I was in the unusual position of being ahead of Mark for most of the race and couldn’t see him skipping around the outside of the bales.

8. The Northside of Cork Doesn’t Have a Track Club

I think that it was great to have the Cork Track Club send an athlete up to try and beat me. This time they sent Barry Donovan who gave me an awful beating in the Charleville Half Marathon. Because of this beating I was very motivated to destroy him in the cross country. I was so focused on beating Barry that I almost forgot about beating Mark Walsh. It took me a full lap to pass Barry, once passed I made sure to open the gap as much as possible as Barry is a hard man to beat in the cross country being a former County Senior Champion whereas I only ever won the County Novice, did I ever mention that I once won the County Novice?

9. Racecraft

I think that I really should have beaten Mark Walsh. On the last lap I got to the end of the long back straight ahead of Mark which was very surprising as if it was a road race he would have been finished and having a cup of excellent free coffee from the van. I knew that Mark would wait for instruction from Donie to launch his attack and sure enough just as we passed Donie with about 200m to go he went for home. There wasn’t much I could do except hang on and hope that hanging onto Mark would get me home ahead of Barry which it did which means that I should actually have run 1:10 in Charleville and not 1:12 and means I will run sub 2:30 for the marathon which is the most important thing in running ever because it will mean that I am great.

10. Tokyo Here I Come

I think that it is great to be currently ranked as the 15th best cross-country runner in the world. I am only 13 places from qualifying for the 10,000m in the Tokyo World Championships which would be only right and would horrify Athletics Ireland. Unfortunately, most of the other events in the tour are in Spain and not in Galway which is terrible as Galway is much greater for cross country than Spain. Hopefully there will be more World Cross Country events in Galway, they’re very good at organizing cross country races. World Cross, European Cross would be no problem, hopefully they will keep a place for me if they do.

Charleville Half Marathon 2024

10 Things I Think About The Charleville Half Marathon 2024

1. National Championship

I think that it was about time that the Charleville Half Marathon became the national championship. The entry list was like the entry list for the time when it was the unofficial national championship back during the lockdown years when they were one of the only organisations willing to organise a race. I didn’t get to run it that time due to a madness induced stress fracture, so I was looking forward to the humbling experience that is running in a national championship.

2. Dunnes

I think that it was a pity that I was too late to get a car park space in Dunnes. Charleville has some of the best located race parking in the world. You can’t really be too far from the start because of how the English planned the town years ago. Because Dunnes was full I drove around to the main street and luckily enough found a spot even closer to the start near the lane that runs down by the Aldi.

3. Happy Mike

I think that it was great that Michael Herlihy was so happy on the start line. The quality and depth of the field was similar to the time it was the unofficial championship. I knew that a happy Mike might result in over exuberance from the start, so I made sure and stay calm for the first and only downhill mile where most people ruin their race. Sure enough as we turned right to exit the town Mike took off up the road.

4. The Usual Suspects

I think that when you run as many races as I do you get fed up of racing the same people over and over again. Most of our training is entirely ineffective and serves only to avoid getting worse due to getting old so we all end up around the same level all of the time. After about a mile it was clear that my company for the day would be John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan plus the Dublin versions of John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan because it was the national championships.

5. GOATs

I think that the shoe distribution in the race was unusual. The new Alphafly 3 and Vaporfly 3 appear to be very unpopular amongst the top 50. I think they are terrible shoes, especially the Alphafly 3 but it could just be nostalgia and familiarity with the Vaporfly 1 shoes that made us all so fast when they arrived in 2019. I have found a source of the old Vaporflys and to prove my point about the new shoes, everyone of John Meade, Viv and Mike Morgan were wearing Vaporfly 1s and 2s sourced by me.

6. Four Hours Study

I think that the section of the course from Charleville to Kilmallock is the most terrifying piece of road in road racing. I know there is a price to pay for having a fast course but my god is it bad. I can’t hack the road at all. It is beyond boring. When we passed the three-mile mark I felt like I used to sitting down to study for the leaving cert thinking how the hell am I going to get to 9pm. It is mind numbing, I know some boring runners will love it but I need distraction, it felt like it took about three hours to get to Kilmallock. The only distractions were catching Michael Herlihy and Aidan Noone along the way.

7. Fearful Viv

I think that Viv is absolutely terrified of running at the front of a group. It is like some sports scientist told him that he should never run without someone in front of him. By the time we got to Kilmallock I was pretty fed up with having Viv attached to my back. John Meade and Michael Morgan were very willing to go to the front but Viv just sat and sat and sat. I tried to wave him through in Kilmallock but instead John Meade thought I was saying it to him and put in that awful increase in pace that only John Meade can do which made everyone miserable.

8. Frightful Meade

I think that John Meade is an awful man to have to race. He is very hard to beat because he has so many little tricks from so many years of winning BHAA races. His favourite tricks are the accelerating out of the water stop and the accelerating out of the corner. Both tricks were executed to perfection during Charleville. Luckily, I was able to neutralize both tricks when they occurred because I was wise to them so our big group stayed together all the way to Mount Charleville.

9. Mount Charleville

I think that the race in Charleville always comes down to that mountain of a bridge just before 11 miles. It is a huge bridge that can be seen as soon as you turn back out onto that road. The reason the bridge is so important is because it is basically a short version of the last mile. Anyone who goes up the bridge well will go up the last mile well. On the bridge John Meade unveiled his newest trick the attack on the bridge and sure enough a gap opened, and he was gone. I was left with Aidan Noone, Viv and Mike Morgan to battle it out to the line up the hill.

10. Sprinting for Nothing

I think that it is interesting how motivated we all were for the sprint for the finish. In reality we were all running for nothing as we were miles off the front barely in the top 50. Despite this when we turned left after the speed bump I sprinted as fast as I ever have in a race possibly because it was a national championship. Unfortunately, it was only good enough to distance Mike Morgan in his fake Vaporfly 2s as Viv and Aidan Noone were way too fast. I ended up 42nd overall and 8th moderately old man which wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, there are no medals or prizes for those positions or for beating Michael Herlihy so I warmed down with Brian Murphy who was 6th in the nearly an old man category and went home. Hopefully the national championship will stay in Charleville, it’s a good home for it.

Allihies 5 Mile 2024

10 Things I Think About The Allihies 5 Mile 2024

1. Dingle vs Allihies

I think it is a great pity that the Allihies 5 Mile and Dingle Half Marathon are on the same day. It would have been great to have had John Meade to race around the hills of Allihies and equally it would have been great to turn up unexpected on the start line in Dingle to torment him, instead we both went our separate ways with no one tormented.

2. Long Road West

I think that the drive to Allihies is wonderful. It is the sort of drive that you could market to tourists who like to drive nice cars on bad roads with great views. We had the luck to encounter the inevitable red Toyota Corolla with faded paint on the only climbing lane on the route so we got there slightly ahead of schedule but still late by most runners standards.

3. Sunshine

I think that it is great that in Cork you can drive for two and a half hours and emerge from the car in a different climate. Glamire was grey, coolish and cloudy whereas in Allihies the sun was shining with temperatures in the low twenties, a great contrast to last year’s yellow weather warning when we had to shelter in the hall before and after the race.

4. Agent Graham

I think that Graham should get commission from the BHAA for distributing race prizes. He now not only does my race entries but collects my prize. It was nice to collect the envelope from the Amazon 5K in the lovely Tramore Valley Park in a nicer place like Allihies.

5. Green Paracetamol

I think that the only problem with a two and a half hour drive with a four year old with a limited repertoire of songs on Spotify is that it can result in a bad headache especially when combined with 20 degrees and high humidity. When we arrived I checked the glove compartment and found some paracetamol that expired in 2018 which was interesting. Knowing something about pharmaceuticals and degradants I decided not to chance it and ran down to the local shop for some green paracetamol which worked as well as it said it would on the box.

6. Leevale Singlet

I think that the Leevale singlet is a great singlet. It is a very intimidating singlet as it makes you look like a wasp and no one likes wasps. On the startline there were two Leevale singlets and a few other fellas in new magic shoes that I haven’t tried yet like the Asics Metaspeed Edge Paris and the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 which was slightly worrying. I went off as hard as I could and found myself solo by the time we reached the left hand turn with the jaw dropping view of the ocean.

7. New Tarmac

I think that the new tarmac in the town has made the course slightly faster. I can’t remember if it was there last year or not as it was so wet, cold and windy last year that I don’t remember anything except that it was very wet. It was very nice to run up through the mountain that runs through the town. There were huge crowds sitting outside the pub who had their lunch interrupted by the sight of a large runner in a Leevale singlet running moderately fast for a moderately old man up a big hill.

8. Course Record

I think that my course record from the time when I put Michael McMahon on a poster is very good. Even with the new tarmac and lovely weather I couldn’t get within a minute of it on my own. I tried quite hard but it is very difficult to run fast without hatred, well for me it is anyway. I know not everyone is the same.

9. Some Finish

I think that no matter whether you are racing Michael McMahon or running on your own the finish of the race in Allihies is special. No other race will leave you as out of breath. It is definitely the steepest finish to a running race anywhere in the country. Utterly miserable and wonderful at the same time. Luckily Graham was there to capture my third victory this year on camera. I only need five more victories to make it the new fourth. It was also important to win after Rhona’s victory on Thursday night, otherwise I might be forgotten about.

10. Holding up the Whole Show

I think that Allihies is possibly the best place on earth for a warm down. It is much easier to appreciate the stunning beauty of the place at warm down pace. I was even going to do a fourth lap for the day, luckily, I had sense and turned back as Carol and Mark said I was holding up the prize giving which was very efficient and excellent. I got a nice bag with a bottle of wine and an envelope with money which was more than John Meade probably got for Dingle which was great.

Photo: mY aGENT gRAHAM

Greenway Half 2024

10 Things I Think About The Greenway Half 2024

1. Greenways are Great

I think that greenways are great. There couldn’t be enough of them. The one from Glanmire to Carrigtwohill has made running around Glanmire safe and almost nice. The one in Dungarvan is even better because it is fully safe and very nice. I had forgotten to enter the Greenway Half but luckily the very nice people in West Waterford A.C do “elite late entries” for moderately good elite BHAA road runners like me.

2. Dungarvan > Cork

I think that Cork City Council should be sent on a trip to Dungarvan to see what a town should look like. It is incredible, it reminded me of Paris during the Olympics, washed, cleaned and tidied like they were expecting very important visitors. The footpaths are so clean you could drop a piece of toast on the ground and consider eating it. It is very unlike Cork.

3. Car Pool Karaoke

I think that point to point races like the Greenway Half pose some additional logistical challenges. The organizers had helpfully provided buses to the start, but I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to psych out Viv in the car on the drive over to the start by carpooling with him. I parked in the field at the Railway Cottage ran over to Viv’s car and got driven to the start in Kilmacthomas where I collected my number from a white van in the car park.

4. Flapjack Factory

I think that the start of the race was very fast. The race starts about 2k east of the Coach House Café which is more or less the top of a small hill. We took off down the hill at a ridiculous pace for a half marathon led out by my opponent from Clonmel Dermot. It wasn’t long before we passed the nice bridge by the Flapjack Factory. I looked at my watch and saw that we were on about 68-minute pace so decided to go to the back of the group and hope everyone would blow up very soon.

5. Weeeee

I think that it took about 5k for the downhill momentum to run out. It would be fine if the downhill stopped and it was flat for a bit but instead it goes back up again for another 5k reversing all of the lost altitude. It was on this climb that I got into trouble. First the early pace setter Dermot dropped off, then I let a small gap develop between me and Viv who had hitched his wagon to the front group of three. I kept telling myself I was being sensible and the front four were mad but quickly switched to blaming the AlphaFlys when the gap started to grow.

6. Awful Alphas

I think that I will have to retire the AlphaFly 3s from racing. I have given them a good few goes now, I just don’t get on with them. They are very comfortable and great for doing a long run where pace isn’t important but trying to change pace in them is impossible. They are huge and heavy in my size UK 12, I notice every plodding step in them which is not what you want in a race shoe. I spent every mile of the race wishing that I had worn my Vaporflys so I could catch up to Viv who seems to work much better in AlphaFlys.

7. No Sense

I think that the last 10k of the race was a form of torture. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in front of me. Viv who I had administered the mother of all bad beatings to over 10k a few weeks ago was flying. He went through 10k faster than he ran for a 10k race. I know I motivate him because he loves beating me but this was ridiculous. I’m far better than any drug, stick me in a race with Viv and he is transformed.

8. Tunnel

I think that my favourite part of the course is the bit from the tunnel to the finish. The tunnel arrives at almost exactly 10 miles. Those 10 miles had been absolute torture as I could see the front group of four containing Viv, Pat Fitzgerald, Aidan Connell and Conor O’Brien just out of reach for everyone of the 10 miles. It is very dark in the tunnel and very silent, I used the darkness and silence of the tunnel to count the gap to Viv at the rear of the front group, 30 seconds, probably impossible over three miles.

9. Copper Coast

I think that the scenery that appears after the tunnel is as good as anywhere in the world. Turning the corner at 11 miles to see the sea on a sunny Saturday morning almost made the fact that Viv was 30 seconds up the road tolerable. I’ve seen the view a good few times now but it never gets old and was even nicer with a tailwind and not the usual headwind. At this point I gave up on catching Viv and resigned myself to fifth which luckily enough there was a prize for.

10. All Credit to Viv

I think that Viv might be the current greatest active Irish runner. Age adjusted his time would be 1:01 for the half marathon, I’m unsure if age adjusting accounts for a tailwind and a downhill course in magic shoes but it’s still far better than me and most runners in the country. I humbly accepted my beating, collected my prize for fifth which was great and drove Viv and Gavin back to their car in Kilmacthomas before cycling the greenway with Billy and Rhona for the afternoon which is what Greenways are also great for. A great day out aside from the bad beating.