A shot from last week in Rathfarnham
And now - This Week's Race....
It's so nice to be sitting down and simply write race reports again. No diatribe about injuries at the moment, and this morning I woke up to a far colder, crisper morning than we have been enjoying this Indian Summer in Ireland. Today's race was an extended distance for me, following my 5K Parkruns and the Rathfarnham Race last weekend, also at 5Km. Today was to be over 5 Miles in the Phoenix Park, with the finish being a grind up the Kyber Pass, certainly a challenge.
I just missed a bus to head over to the Park, so I decided, as the sun was out, despite it being very chilly, to walk over. It worked out well last Sunday, so another long walk warm up saw me arrive with only 10 minutes to go to the start. This Race is aimed at raising money for the Simon Charity for Homeless Services, a worthy cause, and is advertised as a Fun Run, with a lot of young people entering this through their schools. This results in a large entry, highlighted by the number of finishers showing 1,653.
Still feeling chilly, I moved into the starting pen, getting quite close to the front, given the number of under 18's in the pack dressed in varying fancy dress, and after a moving minute applause for Irish Athletcis stalwart Pat McCourt who sadly passed away recently, we were off.
Starting on Acres Road, by the Papal Cross, the first half mile was spent bobbing and weaving, and apologies to the young girl who got a clip from me as she stopped dead in front of me after her sprinted first 200m - Seriously, start further back, you should know that 5 miles is a long way to spring at 12 years old! (Rant Over!). Turning onto Chesterfield Avenue we were already setting into the rhythm, and Mile One was passed at 8:52. I latched onto a runner wearing a Deloitte's T-Shirt, and I kept her in site for most of the rest of the race. Turning onto the Ordnance Survey Road there is a gentle downhill gradient, and I passed the 2 mile mark with a 7:58 split, and the next mile through the autumnal trees flattered to deceive as we were heading down hill through the Upper Glen and the 3 Mile mark came up with a 7:44 split, much faster than I was expecting, but I was well aware of the uphills to come in the last quarter of the race.
From a racing point of view, I was now into unchartered territory, passing the 5Km distance, with the hardest part of the race to come. In the distant past, I remember running down the zig-zags in many races, but this time, it was up-hill, and glancing up and seeing those a hundred meters or so ahead, some 30 meters above my head as they reached the top, was not encouraging. I dug in, stuck with Deloitte's, and made it up to the top of the zigs, without zagging too much. Thankfully there is then the respite of the downhill on the Military Road, but again armed with the knowledge that at the bottom of the hill was a turn onto the Kyber Road, not named ironically at all, as this was going to be a tough grind.
Somewhere before the end of the downhill we passed 4 miles, with a much slower 8:43 split, and I turned determined to make it up in one piece. I was doing the Maths in my head, and could work out I was still on target to run under 43 minutes, but it was a tough climb. Clearly I haven't got the strength in my legs and I had to take a couple of short breathers, but as we flattened out at the top, I dug in and pushed on to "sprint" to the finish, although I nearly blew it as there was a Timing Stantion about 40m before the actual Finish barrier and I was kicking for this first mark, before realising there was still a way to go - BUT, I kept the kick going and made it to the line without collapsing (just!).
My time for this race today, 42:29, and a placing of 261st out of 1,653, and the age graded figure of 60.63%. Have to be pleased with the two chip-timed races in the last 6 days, but now it's back to training and Parkruns before I fly off to the Southern Hemisphere in a couple of weeks, and I'll try and take in a couple of races down there while I'm away. Things are still heading in the right direction.
