Rene Borg

25 May, 2012

MEN
1. Crusaders AC 49 (8 Jeff Fitzsimons, 13 Torben Dahl, 28 Gavan Doherty)
2. Rathfarnham WSAF 70 (4 Peter O'Farrell, 32 Mike Long, 34 Michael Devine)
3. Clonliffe Harriers 88 (1 Stephen Cleary, 3 Rob Cleary, 84 David Duffy)
4. UCD 119 (7 Brian Caulfield, 12 Niall Fox, 100 Philip De Chazal)
5. Boards AC 135 (18 John Ahern, 50 Laurence Colleran, 67 Richard Nunan)
6. Setanta 181 (11 Paul Mahon, 58 Andreas Kusch, 112 Fergus Byrne)
7. Team Galco 330 (44 Padraig O'Dwyer, 131 Declan O'Dwyer, 155 Oliver Rynne)
8. Sportsworld 387 (76 Shane Reynolds, 151 Allister Gerrard, 160 John Fitzgerald)

LADIES
1. Crusaders AC 59 (11 Cearbhal Beggan, 23 Bronagh Cheetham, 25 Roisin McDonnell)
2. Setanta 80 (3 Moire O'Sullivan, 14 Hazel Thompson, 63 Caitlin Bent)

Brian O Murchu

24 May, 2012

They say that the Inuit have 11 different words for (types of) snow. Glasnamullen & Djouce brought into focus for me that I have 11 different types of IMRA fears which I will outline as follows (I hope you don't think I'm an anxious person...):

1. Getting to the race
Fear #1 was not an issue as Tomas McElhinney kindly offered to carpool.

2. Getting out of work on time to get carpool/lift.
Fear #2 was dissipated as Glasnamullen/Djouce wasn't as far to travel to as the previous week's Carrick Mountain...phew! we left a little later.

3. Getting lost en route to race registration.
As a typical Northsider, I don't have a clue where I am when I cross the Liffey. Most times I have no idea if we have taken the right/wrong turn, but if we are still driving when it goes past 7pm, fear #3 kicks in.

4. The long queue at registration impeding on warm-up time.
Fear #4 is usually a knock-on effect from Fear #3, a double whammy.

5. Needing a toilet pitstop post-registration and pre-race....need I say more

6a. Getting boxed-in due at a narrow start point.
This is normally a fear for me, but as I had been on part of the course before I felt that it wouldn't make much of a difference to my overall position/time going a little less than full-gas at the beginning due to what was to come around and up Djouce. In fact going less than 100% early on probably helped me run well up the open mountain.

6b. Getting stuck behind someone on an unpassable narrow uphill section.
Fear #6 was abated, as this was not the case at Glasnamullen & Djouce. This race goes on my 'doing again' list.

7. Getting scratched/impaled by thorny/sharp things.
With the narrow start at Glasnamullen, there seemed to be alot of runners around me eager to overtake early on. As there was barely room for two-abreast, some runners seemed to be jumping into the furze/gorse in attempts to overtake....ouch!

8. Not being able to see/getting lost
This was a new experience for me, early on in the race the sun was directly in my eyes and I was having difficultity seeing much of anything, particularly the surface I was running on, also the branches (& thorny things) around me.
The fear of getting lost was not as issue as the course was very well marked and marshalled -good job guys!

9. Falling!
Spending too long admiring the view can be a risk with so many hazards to trip on. The more scenic the race, the more Fear #10 comes into effect.
After biting the dust a few weeks previously (a non-view admiring fall)at Three Rock (200m before the finish line I may add), my rule to avoid Fear #11 is to always take 2 small steps instead of 1 big one traversing rocky/bumpy sections.

10. The downhill!
As a terrible downhiller, I hate them! After doing all the hard work on the uphill putting sizeable gaps into other runners, they just close in and breeze by on the downhill. If there isn't another uphill or flat section, I won't see them again until the finish. The Glasnamullen & Djouce downhill was a bit of a success for me as I ONLY got passed by 1 runner. Anyone have a copy of 'Downhilling for Dummies?' If only IMRA had Formula 1 type of neutral no-passing zones....

11. Photographers on the route
You're getting my good side, right?