Rahan Woods- Good To Be Back.

21 February, 2024 - Martin Cooney

Rahan Woods (18/02/2024) - Good To Be Back.
By Martin Cooney.

I made a late call and booked Rahan Woods race on Saturday afternoon. I ran Corrin in January but have been tentative to race since as I lost most of 2023 to injury. Up early to get myself ready for my trip to Cork. It’s been a while since I was up this early to get ready for a run. A dry morning and quiet roads greeted me. I made great time down to Mallow & was up at the entrance to Rahan Woods by 9.30am. A hoard of luminous bibs greeted me- I thought this might be a new IMRA initiative that runners needed to wear when running in woods so that they don’t get mistaken for bears and shot on sight.

I got out of the car and was met with chilly breeze & cloudy sky. I went over to the IMRA van & registered for the race meeting some of the volunteers there. I then went off on the route to see what it was like as I hadn’t been here before. A gentle downhill on compressed hardcore for one kilometer was my introduction to this route. I got to a junction, turned right & immediately there was a decent pull uphill. I went up this hill for about 500m passing a couple of junctions on the way. I knew that I would have to go up this hill but also would have to come back down it twice on route. I decided not to go much further in case I got geographically misplaced (lost)! I trotted back up to the start and met some of the volunteers & runners as a crowd began to gather. As it got closer to 11am, a big crowd had assembled by the IMRA van.

As we lined up for the race, we got a race briefing which consisted of thanking the volunteers, without whom the race wouldn’t have happened, a big round of applause as fellow Clare-man Sean O’Neill who was completing his 100th IMRA race. We were then informed that we might get our feet wet along the course, then 3, 2, 1, Go! … That was the race briefing if that what it was called- a bit different to Pat Murphy; who made Mt. Everest sound like a doddle compared to Corrin Hill with his race briefings (absolutely legendary to hear).

Anyway; off we all went. I was in the fourth row of runners as we head downhill. The field spreads out fairly quickly and gaps start to appear after about 500m. A few eager runners pass me by like thoroughbreds after released from their horse stalls at a race. As I am returning from injury (2 hernia operations in 2023), I have made a conscious decision not to go out fast early in the race in case I hurt myself again. I am probably between 30th to 40th position. I can see David Yelverton in his Watergrasshill singlet in front of me along with Sarah Whelan. The pace is too quick for me so I can see them all moving away from me slightly. There are so many new runners at the races that I am struggling to reference who is who. We reached the first junction at the one kilometer mark & take a right uphill. Immediately the pace slows… or at least mine does! I make my way slowly up the hill when I feel my lace coming loose. Myself & running laces never seem to agree on anything- too tight, too loose; they are such attraction seekers! I pull in & tie up my lace quickly; not as fast as a Formula 1 pit-crew but not bad either. I take off again & seem to make my way up along the hill at a reasonable pace, enough that I am passing some of the runners who had already passed me.

As it evens off, there is a left turn up into a narrower fire-road. I pass a few other & slowly catch up to Sarah Whelan. As we pass the next marshal, it looks like the path narrows somewhat. I am right on Sarah’s shoulder now in this narrow funnel between the trees, which has turned very mucky. I pass her & another female runner on their right while trying not to get myself b**ch-slapped by the branches which are at head height. I pass them okay & am catching up the next couple of runners. They are moving along nicely so I decide not to try to pass them as we are still only a couple of kilometers into the race. Next thing, we pop back out onto a fire-road & are directed left up a gentle hill. There are a group of five of us all within 20m of each other as we cruised along. There is an exchange of places as the guy with the IMRA 100 Race t-shirt seems to be going up a gear. Off in the distance I can see David Yelverton so I know I am not doing too bad. We slowly bunch up together & the St. Finbar’s man with the bag hanging off his shoulder is passing someone. In turn, I too pass this runner. Before I know it, we are starting to go downhill with a right turn in sight. From the course route on the IMRA site, I know there is a long downhill for the next couple of kilometers. I slightly increase my stride but am careful not to over-stride in case it causes pain. I start to gain a little ground on the runners in front of me but am being closely followed by St. Finbar’s bag-man and a tall guy in an orange t-shirt. We catch up to David Yelverton halfway down this hill. David and I have a quick chat as he tells me he is “gassed” out already. I tell him he will get his second wind- he informs me he is on his third wind! I ease away from him, hanging onto orange t-shirt guy and St. Finbar’s bag-man.

The fire-road merges into a narrow, mucky single path. I follow the two runner in front of me as we make our way to the right through this mucky path. We start going gently uphill so I know from the route, we are on the back end of the course and into the second half of the race. I keep up with these runners as we traverse upward along the side of the hill, the only part of the course which is not surrounded by trees. Suddenly we see another marshal who direct us left and downhill again. The St. Finbar’s man is slowing so I squeeze past him. It flattens off, then uphill so I try to catch up with orange t-shirt guy. I catch him just as we exit this uphill muddy section and onto a fire-road. Orange t-shirt guy seems to have caught up with his buddy who is all in black. As I pass them both, I can hear some words being spoken- “Damn you anyway, I could’ve still been in bed”; “no-you’re grand”; “Don’t ever come up with an idea again”. At this point, I was gone out of earshot from them, they could’ve been hammering the heads off each other by this stage!

This fire-road incline was not too steep so I could keep running even though I was tiring. It does a full 180° turn and about 50m up were more marshals. They directed us left back into one of the early muddy sections except this time it was uphill. I plod through the treacle-like mud as fast as I can- I can see it is sapping the energy out of the runners in front of me. I pass an early-starter who kindly gives me preference & I thank him. Just as we come out of this muddy section & onto the narrow fire-road, I catch up to IMRA 100 Race t-shirt guy and I am going stride for stride with him… Who is it but Aidan Hogan (may be known from my Glengarra race report); we exchange a few words & I apologize for not messaging him to see if he was going to the race seeing as I pass by the area which he lives. We go stride for stride for about 500m. Then I can see a right turn ahead which will bring back onto a downhill. I stride out a bit and inch my way past Aidan and another runner. As we get towards the turn, I try to get a good line so that I won’t have to slow down; which works. I can hear the footsteps behind me becoming fainter so I know I must be moving okay. Down the hill for about 500m before a sharp left turn up the hill to head for the finish, which is one kilometer away. I can see three runners in front of me. I slowly catch up with two of them, creeping past them on the outside. They seem to be out of gas and cruising to the finish. I try to catch the last runner I can see; who is Damien Holian. I am catching him but the finish is only about 300m away. I give in to temptation for one last push for two reason; (a) I wasn’t going to catch him without re-busting my hernias and (b) he was RD at the one IMRA race I have won so I can thank him enough!

I make it to the finish line, now out of breath. I sit down and relax, soaking up the atmosphere of the runners chatting all around me- God, I’ve missed it. Hopefully I can stay injury-free now and get more races in… Congrats to Barry Twohig & Kealey Tideswell on their race wins.

Massive thanks to all the volunteers from Mallow AC for putting on a great race, to Paul Carroll bringing the IMRA van and to people like Damien McDonnell (who is injured) and still shows up to help out- It is appreciated!