Eamonn Hodge

18 June, 2010

With it being Bloomsday I'm going to get into the spirit of things and so I'll use the Joycean term Stream of Consciousness to describe my ramblings. There ends the literary nod. No offal or innards of beast or fowl were consumed by me today. Cornflakes, coffee, water, lasagne, coffee, water, more coffee, Coke and Redbull was my diet for today.

Would this be the day that I would actually beat Mick Hanney. Nah, didn't think so. But damn I was going to try this time. There was no difficult descent in this race, well apart from a little bit down to the Dargle. Not enough to matter really. I've been close enough to Mick on several ascents before he puts the afterburners on and disappears into the distance.

As suggested by Peter O'Farrell and probably Colm Hill before him I was intending on doing a self timed downhill. With a bit of recovery at the top I was looking forward to attacking the downhill. Not the first part. That's just mental. That's for the big boys. But where it opens up and is nice and grassy that's where I want to speed! This was just a distraction though. The race was too the top and I wasn't going to be thinking about the descent. No need to worry about that. It was all about the uphill.

I decided to take a leaf out of Colm Hill's book and really, really try to push myself to the top. Zoran Skrba and Mick Hanney were going to be my pace makers. Just try to stay close to them. Without having to worry about having strength in my legs for the downhill I was determined to reach the top at the point of exhaustion. If I managed to vomit at the finish line, that would be excellent. Then I would know I had given it my all. I draw the line at coughing up blood or blood in the urine. Blood leaving my body in any form is not to be encouraged.

I had selected my Asics DS Racers for this race. Assuming there wasn't a torrential downfall in the days preceding this race the conditions underfoot would be suitable for a non-hill-running specific shoe. My beloved lurid lime green and black Salomon Speed Cross 2s would not be used tonight.

I had a super light rain jacket which I could tuck into my shorts. Hopefully it wouldn't be too cold at the summit. Donna Mahon had done this in 42:05 in sloppy conditions last year with Martin Francis and Mike Long a minute or so behind her. In dry conditions I was hoping I could beat the old female record (I had a strong suspicion that the female record was going to be broken tonight by Suzanne Kenny). Suzanne had a great race at the Euro trial on Sunday (also in the Powerscourt area) and had run leg 4 of the Wicklow Way Relay. So with a bit of luck she would be exhausted and wouldn't be able to cope with 6.5k uphill. However, she is a formidable climber and climbs steadily throughout the race. Many times I've started off quickly (too quickly?) only to be caught by the relentless Suzanne. I don't want to be beaten by a girl!

I did do a recce of the route but not today and not with Suzanne! Went up on Monday with Feilim Guinan and James Mulligan. Feilim was looking forward to the event. James, it has to be said, was not. The bauld Mulli is not a fan of descents so I was haranguing him in the run up to this race saying this was his *ideal* race! Also a chance to beat his work colleague Niamh Purcell. I'd say it'll be a while before he starts challenging the multi marathon running Niamh (that's multiple individual marathons not crazy double marathons such as the Mourne Way Ultra that Eoin Keith won over the weekend). I didn't tell him that she wasn't actually going to turn up. Apparently the Royal Ascot is the place to be seen in mid-June not grimacing your way up Djouce of all places where John Shiels is ready to capture you in all your sweaty glory.

I knew the course fairly well. The idea was to go hard from the start. really to hit a threshold of effort where to go harder the performance would suffer. There were some flat bits which I really wanted to push myself before the uphills came. I have no problem with walking sections. I find they give me a little break and I can then do the next four or five strides with a bit of speed and usually maintain my position relative to the runners around me.

There would be no smiling Eamonns captured by John Shiels tonight. Grimace, pain, malice even. Those were to be the themes of the race. This was a race where I would prefer to mess up by going out too hard than to arrive at the finish line with more in the tank.

I don't think I was too hard on myself this Saturday for the Wicklow Way Relay (gosh darn it, could have done better!) so I think I was relatively fresh. Rene's hill session this week didn't have so much uphill in them (only 4x200m rather than the usual 4x400m). Bit of Tag Rugby last night which was just a set of quick sprints really. Shouldn't have had much impact on me. Got a great massage from Jason Kehoe's physio (I'm not injured just maintenance!) apparently my calves and hamstrings are a bit tight. Well, they were. Not anymore. But enough about my shapely muscles.

Paul Joyce arrived early as well and we had a chat about the victorious Boards A team which won the Wicklow Way Relay last week. Paul brought over the gold medal for Suzanne who ran leg 4 in the 3rd fastest time of the day.

Stuart Scott (race director) arrived and rumour spread like wildfire that rain jackets would not be required. Well, it might not have been as dramatic as that. It was more like Shay Foody said - we don't need jackets. This was not good for me. I was relying on people having to carry massive heavy, sweaty rain jackets tied around their waists which could keep on becoming undone requiring them to stop and re-tie that stupid knot etc. etc. I had a super (duper) light rain jacket complete with hood and drawstrings and it even had elasticated cuffs. It also rolls up to the size of an empty crisp packet. Kevin O'Riordan took a picture of it which he will hopefully post up and I'll link to it here. Three people independently came to the conclusion that I was "Practising Safe Running". It'll make more sense when you see the photo. I was going to tuck it into the waistband of my shorts and gain a huge advantage over my competitors. 'Twasn't to be unfortunately.

Went for a warm up jog for about 15 minutes just to get rid of the nerves and a little excess fluid. Think I rid myself of about 500ml of dead weight. Suzanne and I had a quick chat with John Shiels as he lugged his heavy gear up to find a good space to take pictures. He made it to that weird area strewn with roots just before the descent to the Dargle. Fair play.

Stuart Scott gave us the last minute instructions and sent us on our way. Four lads from the mountain rescue team including Wayne Jenkins arrived in matching t-shirts. Go team! They're fundraising at the moment so if you want to buy a couple of lines or take a card to sell raffle lines to your friends then just ask one of the guys in the pub after the next race.

The aim was to go out hard and hang on. No fast descenders were going to pass me today! No skill just sheer bloody mindedness was going to get me up those hills tonight. I laughed to find myself in 6th place as we came to the first corner. Zoran Skrba and Daniel Morrogh pulled away but not *too* far. Another two guys passed me and I was in 8th (I think). Des Kennedy came to my shoulder and made a remark about Rene's hill session on Monday. This was in the nice flat (downhill?) section where I made a point of trying to slightly close the gap. Two chasing runners fell slightly back. When we hit the uphill they overtook me and I found I was in 10th. Still good. Lads were making a bit of distance so I tried to push myself to catch them a bit. Over the rocky cliff section after the Powerscourt view I got a bit of speed. I overtook one guy on the tricky root section. Turlough overtook me just before this. He also overtook Daniel Morrogh who wasn't having the race of his life tonight! :) Didn't even see John Shiels until I was about two foot away from him. These Irish eyes were not smiling tonight. I can only imagine what I looked like. I was under serious pressure. Said hello to Rachel who was marshalling the Junior's turn around point but didn't lift my eyes from the terrain. As allowed by the race director I chose the straight down grassy route down to the Dargle rather than the loose, stony, zig zag path. I reckoned it was shorter and quicker. Both Turlough and Daniel flowed down this descent and opened up a lead. I managed not to fall on this section and I was very happy with that. Got to the bridge back onto relative flat and managed to catch Turlough fairly quickly. I walked a couple of steps and Turlough would ease away then I'd do a few quick strides to catch him again. When I eventually passed me he encouraged me with a "good man Eamonn". Daniel was up ahead. I was continuing my walking/quick striding strategy. There was a guy (think I've seen him running before) and his two kids were spectating and he said "We only clap if you're running!" so of course I had to put on a show of strength and run for at least a little bit.

There was another flat bit before the stile and broken wall. I got past Daniel Morrogh at this point and knowing that it was fairly flat tried to create a bit of a gap before an indignant attack came. Now I was focussing on Des. Not really to overtake him just to try and at least maintain the gap if not close it slightly. Keep running Eamonn, keep running. Keep the legs turning over. Keep breathing deeply. Just keep going. Don't let Turlough catch you. Look strong. Don't walk even though it probably wouldn't be slower. Look strong. Keep going. I feared an attack would be launched. Turlough's rhythm was relentless. Mine became more start/stop as we got to the real uphill coming up to Djouce. I caught a glimpse of white and thought it was Turlough (even though I knew he was in a green Rathfarnam vest). Very quickly the white vest caught me. Gerry Lalor - who I had run up Djouce with several weeks ago. I seem to recall that I walked this section the last time as well. I kept with him for a little bit but after each time I walked my quick strides didn't quite catch him. I should have forgotten about Turlough and aimed to keep with Gerry. In the end Gerry's metronomic climbing produced a huge gap between us. 30 seconds over about 200 metres or so.

Stuart had had a great idea of moving the finish line to the little obelisk (?) on top of the rock which was festooned with red and white tape. It made a great finish actually. When I could see the finish line I got a new lease of energy. Made a strong finish to the end. Went straight over to Gerry to shake hands before starting to cough quite a bit. Lots of handshakes. Very little talking until people got their breath back. We clapped and shouted encouragement at Turlough and Daniel and Niall Heffernan and... what the hell?... Mick Hanney! Good God! He was behind me?! I was so focussed on Turlough and Daniel and the lads in front that I completely forgot about Mick. Mick had obviously destroyed himself on leg 5 of the Wicklow Way Realy achieving 3rd best time and top M40. I was 5 minutes slower than him on the same leg 5. I thought I was giving it my all last Saturday but with no competitors to gauge my performance on I obviously hadn't. I felt too fresh on Sunday. So Mick was not yet recovered but that allowed me to cross the finish line ahead of him. Sweet!

John Ahern and Paul Joyce came along. Paul Joyce enquired as to how many places I was behind Mick and I couldn't help chuckling when I said I came ahead of him! Sorry Mick not trying to gloat, more that I didn't think I'd beat you in a race this year (maybe next year) and was over the moon.

My best result of the season because I knew I didn't need to hold anything back for the descent. When I eventually decided to head down my legs felt really weak, I was tripping over the most benign stones and tufts of grass and Jim Fitzharris offered to walk instead of jog if I needed it. This was on the lovely grassy gentle descent after the steep descent (which I walked down *all* of). I was exhausted and delighted really that I had pushed myself that much to get there. Final time was just under the 40 minutes. Darn happy with that.

Mens results:

Barry Minnock - 1st (yawn)
Tristan Drute - 2nd
Niall McAlinden - 3rd.

(I wonder how Brian Furey would have done?)

I had had lunch with Barry where I pleaded with him not to turn up to the Powerscout Uphill. I knew he would. "Focus on the track Barry", "What about the 10k national champs Barry?", "Wouldn't want to risk an injury Barry!" To no avail. He turned up and savaged my percentage. So I'm going to use Tristan's result to make myself feel better! (edit: after writing this I heard that Tristan was only about 30 seconds behind Barry).

Favourite female would have been Suzanne until Donna Mahon turned up for this one. This was to be Donna's first regular mountain race of the year. Donna had run leg 4 of the Wicklow Way Relay a good 3 minutes quicker than Suzanne. As Suzanne later relayed (pun alert!) to me she started ahead of Donna and it was at the long flat part that Donna overtook her. She didn't panic and stuck in behind her and stayed there up until the benches with the incredible view over Powerscourt. She found it very hard to keep to Donna's pace but at this stage Donna eventually started to slow ever so slightly and Suzanne felt a little more comfortable. Suzanne overtook and managed to hold onto the lead to the end. She kept running all the way except for the final climb even though she wanted to walk the section after the river! Mick Hanney was ahead and was walking a good bit. She kept trying to close the gap between them but even though she was still running and he was walking his long strides kept him ahead much to her frustration!

If I recall correctly the first three girls came in pretty close succession. I don't have the results to hand but I don't think Kate Cronin was far behind the other girls. I didn't see Jenny McCauley and Rosalind Hussey take 4th and 5th. (apologies if these results are incorrect!). Rosalind is in first position in the league standings at the moment with 29 points. One of those is 10 points so if she can get rid of that with another podium finish she'll be in the low twenties. Kate Cronin has only run 6 races and has 20 points. If she can get another top finish she'll be another contender. If Suzanne Kenny can manage two out of the next three races she's likely to gain the top spot.

Barry made it seven from seven and so is the Leinster League champion!

Daniel Morrogh

18 June, 2010

Like Eamonn Hodge, I also eschewed the Joycean fare of offal and innards, opting instead for a spectacularly unsuccessful combination of fresh cherries and spicy green olives; for more information please see Annex 1.

It had all the makings of a terrific race; a balmy sunny summer evening; a large field of eager runners; an even larger field of hungry super-midges to chase us should we slow down too much; and a cracking great run up to the top of Djouce.

A terrific race it proved to be. The wide fire roads running through Crone woods up to the side of Maulin gave plenty of scope for the field to spread out before hitting the narrower trails overlooking Powerscourt waterfall.

As usual, the mountain goats that populate the podium every week disappeared over the horizon, leaving us mere mortals to battle it out for the leftovers. I started well, passing other runners until I caught Zoran, who was going along at a very nice pace. I tucked in behind him for as long as I could, until about midway up the zigzags when he started pulling away from me, about the same time that I realised that my legs were not going to play ball- that horrible sluggish feeling that signals nothing but hardship and grief ahead.

The flat stretch through the felled forest and the short downhill to the river provided a much needed respite before the slog to the summit began again. Eamonn Hodge (and many others) had caught me before the drop to the Dargle, and I managed to claw back 2 places before crossing the river. The steep section up to the shoulder of Djouce slowed things down a bit, until the turn onto the open mountain- which coincided with the realisation that my race was well and truly over and just getting to the top would be a victory of sorts for me. The gently sloping open mountain and perfect running conditions meant the pace sped up considerably; I was more than content just to watch people running off into the distance.

The last steep bit proved to be as tough as it always is. I pushed hard and tried to keep moving, but like most other people I discovered that walking was considerably more energy efficient than shuffling/kidding yourself that you are actually running. By then Mick Hanney had caught me, and Suzanne Kenny was snapping at my heels too- and all I wanted was for the race to be over… By some cruel twist of fate, the powers that be had deemed last years race to have been too short and too easy, and in their wisdom lengthened it to include the cairn. It was those final yards to the cairn that proved to be the very longest yards ever known to mankind, but when they were finally over the relief was mighty. I was chased in by Suzanne Kenny, the Chosen one Il Presidento Dermot Murphy and Niall Heffernan- all of whom looked considerably fresher and more fleet-footed than I did. The run/walk back down was a very leisurely sociable affair allowing aching legs to start the process of getting back to normal.

Annex 1. Pre-race preparation: Contrary to popular belief, pre-race feasting on handfuls of fresh cherries followed by countless green olives (Freshly sourced directly from Sicily) does not lead to mountain-top glory, rather, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, leads to a particularly unhappy stomach accompanied by numerous and dramatic quick steps and fox trots to the toilets. Do not try this at home or anywhere else for that matter.

Rene Borg

17 June, 2010

TEAM RESULTS

MEN
1. Rathfarnham WSAF 18 (1 Barry Minnock, 4 Aaron O'Donohue, 13 Turlough Conway)
2. UCD 50 (6 Niall Fox, 9 Zoran Skrba, 35 John Kirwan)
3. Sli Cualann 60 (7 Cormac Conroy, 22 Jimmy Synnott, 31 Martin Francis)
4. Boards AC 60 (12 Eamonn Hodge, 15 Mick Hanney, 33 John Ahern)
5. The Kyrgyz Freedom Alliance 138 (16 John P O'Regan, 56 Viv Lavan, 66 Eoin Hardiman)
6. Crusaders AC 139 (20 Niall Heffernan, 49 Gavan Doherty, 70 David Williams)
7. GEN 153 (27 Alan Ayling, 96 Joe Lalor, 128 Brendan Doherty)
8. Glenasmole 220 (62 Cillian Stewart, 73 Thomas Galvin, 85 Ercus Stewart)

LADIES
1. Crusaders AC 25 (6 Susan Seager, 9 Roisin McDonnell, 10 Emma Boland)