Irish Runner 5 mile 28th June '14

M.J.M.C

Thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their free Saturday to hand out water / fruit all that kind of thing in the rain. I REALLY appreciate that.
If ever i'm injured i'm gonna sign up to do this (helping out)

HelenAnne

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Irish Runner 5 Mile 2014 Race Report



Mile 5

You would think that the flat(ish) stretch of road between the top of the hill and the Furze Road would be easier. However, by now I'd completely blown my lights, and couldn't pick up any kind of speed as I got passed by more and more. Just after we passed the point where you can look down towards the Glen Pond, the aforementioned Raheny girl breezed past me, but I had no energy to try and stay with her, or anyone else that followed. Just before the finish line, a tall guy in a Raheny top whizzed by, something he also did to me in St Annes a month or so ago. I saw him retching just after the line and went over to see was he ok - no worries to report, he seemed quite pleased with himself in fact!

As for me, a time of 35:32 was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. I've a good few other races in the coming weeks, and maybe it's asking a lot to be hitting top form in all of them. Plenty to think about on the slow walk through the lashing rain back to the car. Next up is the Clontarf HM, a race and distance I like, and hopefully I will be in better shape for a PB attempt on the day. Well done to all who took part on Saturday, especially those who got PBs on a tricky course.

That 'breezing' girl sounds like me! I finished just ahead of RedRunner, and I was in that singlet. I didn't feel like I was breezing along at that stage though! (Didn't manage sub-35 and am a bit disappointed - have been sub 35 in my last three 5 miles). Well done to you -- sounds like you managed to hang on even though you were suffering!

DBK

I thought I had given up on running for a while until some family members pulled me back in. They said they were running this and my brain said "so are you".

Ah well. I was well pleased with my time of 37:51 , up from 39:40 last year Really happy with that.

About 3.5 miles in I thought "A little rain would be nice"... jesus, I felt for the guys coming across the line around the 50min mark.

DBK

DBK wrote: »

jesus, I felt for the guys coming across the line around the 50min mark.

o/

I loved it

I would take the rain over the sun any day of the week! Even the monsoon rain that came out of nowhere on Saturday.

DBK

I love rain too, but there is rain and then there's RAIN.

Yeh it was heavy alright.

I saw lots of people changing under the trees into their race t-shirts, but I wondered how they were hoping to get from under the tree to wherever they were going without getting wet?!

Wubble Wubble

HelenAnne wrote: »

That 'breezing' girl sounds like me! I finished just ahead of RedRunner, and I was in that singlet. I didn't feel like I was breezing along at that stage though! (Didn't manage sub-35 and am a bit disappointed - have been sub 35 in my last three 5 miles). Well done to you -- sounds like you managed to hang on even though you were suffering!

Thanks Helen, only myself to blame really (although I could blame my BIL for having his leaving do the night before my race, the nerve!) Pacing's my major weak spot, I usually end up going off fairly quick in the first half and then having to dog it out to the finish. I wouldn't mind, I run those roads a lot, and did the same race last year nearly half a minute quicker. You were going a lot faster than I was !

James Howlett

I’ll give a race report a bash here.

This was my first one of these races since 2011. I had a PB in 2010 Irish Runner 5 Mile with 32:41. The following year I didn't do quite as well and came home with 34:34. I didn’t participate in the 2012 or 2013 events but did best my 2010 PB in January of this year with 32:40.

I was hyper nervous the night before the race. I run my local Parkrun every weekend but for whatever reason was quite nervous about this race. The aim was sub 32minutes and so I planned no further than to keep a pace of 6:20 per mile.

Mile 1:
Past the start line fairly quick after the gun. Flew up the ranks on the left hand side which was a mistake as the first corner was a right turn. After the first bend I spotted a runner I recognised from this forum so I decided to keep on his back for as long as I could. Mile 1 was 5:52.

Mile 2:
I wasn’t paying too much attention to the time as I knew I would be going a little faster than I should be. I figured that whatever seconds I gained would be ‘banked’ for later use. Mile 2 was 5:56.

Mile 3:
At about 2.5 miles I spotted a regular from my local Parkrun just ahead of me. I was quite close behind him at the bottom of the Kyber Road and turn for going up Military Hill but catching up to him wasn’t an option; I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with his pace once beside him and an unnecessary quickened pace would have been required to even get there which wasn’t advisable at the halfway point. Mile 3 was 6:14.

Mile 4:
Started to get tough here. I tried to keep a steady pace going uphill and then pushed where possible coming down hill. Two runners that I had marked were ahead of me but still in view however I lost sight of both them at the end of this mile. Mile 4 was 6:35.

Mile 5:
I had little energy left for this mostly uphill climb and no one to follow. A handful of folk passed me on the climb but I’d say from 4.3 miles onwards I was with another chap and we kept passing each other in turns; that’s a positive as it kept us both going. I knew that I was safe in terms of a PB when I could see the finish line in the distance but by how much exactly I didn’t know. I pushed a bit from far out once the end was in sight but it wasn’t a great push. Essentially I was done in my mind; I had secured a PB so I would be happy with whatever I got, even if it was above the original goal of 32minutes.
Nevertheless I pushed for a bit of a sprint at the end. Wasn’t that great a sprint and it hurt like hell (picture proves it J ), but it was worth it. Mile 5 was 6:34.

Total time: 31:30, a PB by 1minute and 10 seconds. 112th (I think) place out of a field of 3119 runners.


Alright, alright, alright.

davedanon

I had a decent race, and at the finish had that feeling I had run 'better' than my 32.38 would indicate. I knew I wasn't in racing form, having done little, apart from sem-obligatory races, since Derry. I was stronger than I was expecting going up the 2 major climbs, and only weakened in the last mile. Only for that I would have been close to 32 minutes, which isn't bad at this point. My gripe with the race tops is that they're always t-shirts. I have dozens of the fecking things, whereas I only get a long-sleever when I do a marathon, and they're always useful. Once in a while A SINGLET would be nice, race organisers!

el_greco

Does anyone know if there will be photos on marathon-photos.com or any other websites?

Dub13

el_greco wrote: »

Does anyone know if there will be photos on marathon-photos.com or any other websites?

I seen a few lads with FinisherPix bibs on, maybe try that site.

fletch

Doesn't look like they've been uploaded yet
http://www.finisherpix.com/events/single-view/eaction/show/ectrl/Events/event/irish-runner-5-mile-2014.html

RayCun

There's a load of photos on the Facebook page of jumping the fun

tang1

Quality one of AMK posing for the camera on jumping the gun's facebook page!!

barryoneill50

fire away!

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Hi everyone, I wrote up a race report on my blog but I'm new to the boards so not sure if I'm allowed to link to it here? I am happy to cut/paste it here if anyone is interested in reading it. I was quite slow to finish (took me over an hour!) but still, I beat my last 5 mile time so I'm happy enough!

RayCun

***t-shirt review****exclusive to boards.ie***must credit boards.ie******t-shirt review****exclusive to boards.ie***must credit boards.ie***t-

A couple of loose threads in the stitching around the neck, but nothing worrying
A little heavier than most running tops, I don't think I'll wear it much in the summer. But lighter than my Boards top
Its grand

Murph_D

Pity about the graphic design though!

fletch

fletch wrote: »

Doesn't look like they've been uploaded yet
http://www.finisherpix.com/events/single-view/eaction/show/ectrl/Events/event/irish-runner-5-mile-2014.html

pics are up now

eoinín

fletch wrote: »

pics are up now

7 of the 12 photos they are offering me don't actually feature me in the photo! This is my favourite, and a bargain at only $18!