From the RD's perspective

26 February, 2024 - Deirdre O Gorman

As 2024 was the second running of the Clonmel Trail Half Marathon, it made for more relaxed race preparation. The maiden voyage in 2023 caused many a sleepless night worrying about markers, traffic management, sheep, parking, no one showing up on race day….you get the picture! This time round I knew it could work.

Weekends in late 2022, early 2023 were spent circling my local woods and mountains, discovering new trails, getting lost and trying to put together the best bits into one loop of 21km. Finally I had a loop that could start at a good base for start and finish (Hillview Sports Club), access the woods, have a good mix of terrain, show off the best sights and views and still be manageable should bad weather descend. I brought a few of the well-seasoned IMRA lads out on a recce for some critique and the route passed the test!
This route worked well in 2023 so I stuck with it for 2024.

I like to be prepared early so I had booked both Hillview and Damien McDonnell (chef extraordinaire!) soon after the IMRA Munster AGM in October. I’m lucky in that we have some parking in Hillview and we also have a large, free car park 500m away so parking is sorted.

I then started thinking about what kind of race souvenir I’d like for the runners. Last year we gave a lovely mug complete with my own sketch of Carey’s Castle. This year I went for a buff with the castle sketch and another sketch of the Holy Year Cross; Robbie kindly ordered these for me along with the buffs for Sli Chorcai.

Next on the list was to contact Raheen College to check if I could use their grounds for the start/finish; school principal, John, was happy to oblige once again. I also touched base with the local MTB club to give them the heads up on the race location, date and the times that runners would be on the particular trails. Club secretary, Evan, was really helpful and even gave his members a reminder on race week without any input from me! The local MTB riders are absolutely brilliant for maintaining the trails so we have them to thank for a large part of the race route.

Prizes! My dad, Kevin, had taken up wood turning in early 2023 so the source of my prizes was a no-brainer. He spent hours carving 6 blocks of maple into 6 beautiful plates, and even taught himself how to wood-burn so he could add the inscriptions. I always love getting a unique prize for a race so I hope our winners will treasure these and always be reminded of a good day out when they look at them.

Once I have an idea of total expenditure for the race, I can set an entry fee. This ensures I don’t end up costing IMRA Munster money! Once the entry fee is set- entries can then be opened. As the entries trickle in, I also keep an eye on my list of volunteers who have signed up on the event page and start figuring out who I can put in each role. The 2023 race gave me a good framework for marshal points, how many parking stewards I need etc so it’s just a case of filling the spots!

Race week is a lot of confirming- numbers for food, confirming venues, buying drinks, making sure I print start lists, finish line sheets, maps for marshals, and email the runners and volunteers.

I like doing the race marking myself (bit of a control freak, I know!) so I started doing small sections on the weekends leading up to the race. I discovered markers removed from some of the wood sections on the morning before the race, so after lots of expletives and re-marking, I learned my lesson for next year-don’t mark too early! My marking buddy (and pretty much deputy RD!), Lianne van Dijk, then drove from Kerry and joined me to mark the long open mountain section. She also checked the entire course on race morning AND marshalled at the castle; I’m so grateful for all her help.

Race morning dawned bright and beautiful- I couldn’t believe we were getting sunshine two years in a row! I arrived at Hillview early to meet Seamus who was already setting up. Seamus and the members of Hillview have been so supportive of the race and really go above and beyond to make everything available to us; a kitchen, hall, changing rooms, showers, and even a TV and bar for the Ireland v Wales rugby game which would be kicking off later.

Volunteers started arriving so I met each of them and went through their role and where they needed to be. I had the best team of volunteers; they all knew what they needed to do- no fuss, any direction followed, no questions asked. My whole family (bar one sister in Australia!) were drafted in; I am so glad to have their support. Damien and Natasha were already hard at work in the kitchen, preparing food for the 500!

Martin Hennessy had run the route very early that morning and he had come across an issue…. hedge cutting on our route down from the Holy Cross. Martin had thankfully stopped to talk to the workers and explained what was going on; they agreed to move to another area while the runners were coming through- phew! Tom Blackburn also headed up to make sure all would be ok before runners came through- thanks Tom!

Time flew by and soon the early starters were ready to go- race briefing done and they headed off on course. I hate public speaking so the early start briefing is a good warm up for the main start brief! It took a bit of manoeuvring from our super stewards to move the runners out onto the road for the main start; myself in the lead car, Sarah bringing up the rear. And Goooo!

Once the pack were gone, we can finally take a breath. Updates in the WhatsApp group told us where the leaders are on the course and gave marshals an idea of when to expect runners. I spent this time having a few catch ups with the team, a few sips of coffee and a sambo and keeping updated & receiving the odd call. We then got word the leader was on the way; from then it was all hands on deck for the results team. I spent my time moving around, chatting with runners, hearing their reports of the race and dishing out the prizes for the first 3 women and men. I headed back to the finish line to see the last few runners come in; followed by Pat who swept and de-marked the whole course (sorry about all the tape Pat!)

Locking up the school gates and heading back up to Hillview, I was delighted to see that my wonderful team had the clean up well underway, while some of the runners were enjoying the match in the lounge. We packed up the IMRA van and I did a last sweep of the hall, changing rooms and toilets to make sure everything was as we found it. Saying goodbyes and thank you’s to the last of the stragglers, I was mighty glad that home was just one mile away; definitely ready to throw the feet up!

Hopefully this report gives an idea of what goes into IMRA races; it’s a lot of work but it was so worth it to see the tired, smiling faces at the finish line, runners swapping stories about their day on the hills. We don’t have many races here in the South East so I wanted to show people the super trails and mountains available and hopefully encourage them to come back to the area.

None of these races would be possible without our volunteers. This report is long enough without naming all of my team but each was integral in the smooth running of this event; everyone is short on time these days so I’m very grateful that they decided to give up their Saturday to help out. If you have any doubt about signing up to help at a future race, just do it, it’s the best way to get to know fellow IMRA members and you will have fun, I guarantee it!

It's all uphill Lisa

25 February, 2024 - Patricia Ryan

My physio wasn't exactly delighted when she heard I signed up for the Clonmel Half. It was only two weeks after the tough Slí Corcaigh Half but I am recently drawn to the suffering for some reason. Himself had advised me last year not to do Clonmel as he said it was a brutal course but if I got through Slí, I'd find Clonmel a piece of p..s. He gave me an honest breakdown of the route which sounded like it was all uphill but there was only one way to find out, well obviously I could have done a recce first but sure where's the fun in that! There had been loads of rain and even snow during the week but we got really lucky with the day, blue skies all round and if you got the head up you would have seen the snow capped Galtys to the left. Hillview welcomed the IMRA again, two years after successfully hosting the World Masters. The place was buzzing with chat and excitement ahead of the race, loads of familiar and new faces around. RD extraordinaire Dee O'Gorman got us going at 11am with a warmup on the road before heading into the climb, after climb, after climb but you know what, even for a middle to back of the pack runner like me, the climbs were actually runnable. Chatting away with Carlos from Croatia/Cork helped get the first few kms out of the way before Dee's mammy turned us down into the picturesque Carey's Castle. From here we encountered plenty of steep trail climbs which needed a good rhythm of tippy tappy. After crying to Lisa at the aid station "it's all uphill Lisa" we were soon out onto the open mountain where I slipped and slid my way down the boggy section with the sun belting down. Up again with impressive views all around if you had the energy to lift your head. Two refreshing river crossings before well marked open mountain sections. No sheep out, they must be all in for lambing. Passing a Leinster man before the last climb to the cross I told him to keep it up, the last few kms are downhill so they don't count. Great relief to reach the familiar cross knowing that all the climbing was over and I would be back in time for the match. I always enjoy this downhill road section as the legs will just turnover without effort. I was joined here by the improving John Corry from Clonmel, he's gearing up for the World Masters in Spain this September and I can see that he's going to smash it. More words of encouragement from Dee's mammy on the final bend before the push for the finish line. First Aider Tricha B was patching up a few of the lads who took some tumbles while Mary handed me a welcome cold can of coke "you look like you need some sugar". Damien's post race spread was delicious especially the lemon tartlets. I took up a front row seat to watch the rugby match in the bar. Following a great win for Ireland I went home a very content lady after a super day out with my IMRA family. Thanks Dee and all the volunteers, looking forward to this one again next year