Feeling your age

13 February, 2023 - Barry Murray

Having raced the 1/2 marathon for a few years , I decided to give the 10k a go this time. Living in West Kerry means most races are an 1hr+ drive away so Glenageenty is my local. The Loopers always put on a good show and it is of course John Lenihan country who you still see most days out on the trails digging or putting up a fence.

The race kicked off at the top of a hill leading into the entrance of the trail. The 1/2 marathon started before so there was already 60-70 racing that course. We had similar numbers for the 10k but I didn't see many of the usual faces. RD Niamh started us off and a few of us went off flying down the steep hill. Apart from this little section, I knew the course well and its the type of course where you need to constantly change gears, very little sustained pace running. I had a couple of young lads with me and I recognized one of them who was just ahead of me at Mt Hiliary, Ryan McCarthy, so I knew I had him to beat at least. The other young lad started to pull away from us after the first kilometer or so , when you are twice their age, it doesn't feel too bad !

Myself and Ryan stayed close to each other for the next few km until I managed to pull away from him, turned out his calves were burning up on the descents after a schools cross country race ! I thought I might catch up with the leader in the last few km but he managed to stay out front and out of sight.

I was happy to come in 2nd even if it was a small enough field, especially given the guys I was racing were half my age ! Good to have young blood in the IMRA races to keep us vets in check. I jogged back to the pub after for soup, sambo's and creamy Guinness. Another nice day out in Glenageenty and a great event put on by the local Loopers crew.