Ah, its too hot !

08 May, 2018 - Barry Murray

We do seem to love complaining about the weather. With my last 1/2 marathon being Sli Muscrai in the baltic air, here I was in 20C weather getting my running cap on to block the sun !

As much as I like looking for excuses, I'll never say no to the sun. A beautiful day makes everything run smoother and this event needed it. 4 x races, bus transfers, timing chips..... the Munster crew know how to put on a good show.

Having won the first 1/2 marathon on that cold day in Millstreet, I was hoping to repeat the same with what looked like a similar trail course in Ballyhoura. Winning can make you greedy. I have to get back to why I race in the first place, and that's for the fun and enjoyment.

A big crowd for the 1/2 gathered and while we waited for the start, a few of the ultra folk trotted through. I used to be one of these and with other shorter races on at the same time, it can be tough to watch the fresher legs fly by you after you have already been running for several hours !

The race got off to a flying start and Ed Casey set a fast pace. He knew the course and knew that it was good to be at the front with a series of stiles to hop over. I wanted to try and take it easy at the start as I was still nursing a calf strain from the previous week . However, at the same time, I knew that if I wanted to do well in the race I needed to stay with the leaders. Luckily, plenty of foam rolling and trigger point self therapy, seemed to fix the calf and it didn't give me too much bother. I stayed just behind Ed as we hopped over the first few stiles. I didn't see Henry Browne but knew he must have been close. I had fellow club mate Torben Dahl right in front of me and on a good day he would be close if not ahead of me. So first few k's... Ed kept the pace at the front, Torben and myself a few metres behind. We hit the first little climb and Henry shot past us ! I knew he was good on the hills and he was definitely showing some early form.

I wasn't able to keep with him and he drifted off ahead with Ed. Having run side by side with Henry in the Sli Muscrai race, and with also being close to Ed in previous races, I thought I should be able to keep up. The 1/2's are where I can use my endurance experience a bit more. But not on this day, always a multitude of reasons, but just felt like I was working harder than I should be.

Thats how the race more or less went. I managed to pull away from Torben but knew he wasn't too far behind with 1-2 others. There were some flat sections and road sections where I thought I would gain some ground, but I could only ever see Ed and Henry in the distance. There were some steep climbs that sucked the energy out. Hard to pace yourself when you are on your own too. You can drift off and instead of a constant fast march, you can end up plodding along up the hills. Its what makes trail/mountain running so interesting though. Lots of variables. On one of the steep climbs, I did see Henry make his move and pass Ed. After that I lost them but knew that any more hills would suit Henry. Some people are just very good at going up, and Henry is one of them !

As we got to the last few miles, I tried to step up a gear but couldn't. I had John Hannon close behind me and I managed to stay ahead as we entered on to the last road section.

Back to the school and it was nice to see the finish. Sort of a game of 2 halves for me. Didn't have the pace to keep with the lads in the first half, then ended up solo for the second.

Sitting in the shade after the race was a nice luxury. Some others like Tom Blackburn took to collapsing on the grass, which is another nice luxury given the year we have had so far !

An even tastier luxury was the beer sponsor, 8 degrees, beer for recovery works ;)

Lots of runners crossed the line with either 10k or 70k in the legs. But plenty of beers and food and sunshine made it all worthwhile.

A great day out for all and great event organisation by all the crew.