Marathon number 167
Last Sunday the 21st of April was a big day for Brendan O’Mahony as he was running the Connemara 39.3 mile ultra-race. Brendan gives us a great account below of how the Paris Marathon and Connemara ultra-went for him. Another great achievement, congratulations Brendan!
“Paris was a great few days away. We did all the usual touristy things before and after the race as I just wanted to enjoy the event anyway. From the expo to the race, everything was really well organised. The route is lovely, taking in some of the big sights of Paris and the crowds were huge all along the course. I feel it's a marathon that suits both the fast runner looking for a quick time due to it being so flat and also the runner who just wants to experience a big city marathon. It has everything and it runs seamlessly. The aid stations were every 5km and had everything you needed with liquids and food. Would definitely like to go back at some point if I decided to race it. I started out a little quicker than I had planned and slowed a bit towards the end but I was happy with the time on the day of 3.40.
CONNEMARA
My main aim of the last few months was always the Connemara 39.3 mile and I recovered well within a couple of days which was great and managed to get a short run in around one of the city centre parks on the Tuesday. The next 2 weeks then were just a number of shortish runs to lead into Connemara. This was my 9th time running the Connemara route either as a normal marathon or the ultra and it's a beautiful but tough course which I really like. It's 7 years however since I last ran the ultra-there and I just wanted to see if I could still get around it in a reasonable time. I had done lots of marathons leading up to it as I knew I couldn't handle the back-to-back long runs which I had done previously so I wasn't sure how that would translate on the day. The changed course also has a new 10 mile section that is an out and back to Rosroe Pier, which incorporates a couple of large hills to be done both ways. It replaced the initial 10 mile section on the main Clifden road which was quite flat.
With that in mind I pretty much knew my previous time of 6hrs was a stretch but hoped to get as close as possible. I started out ok and stuck to my plan of running normal marathon pace for the initial 14 miles or so. My plan was to then walk the hills to conserve energy as well. I did this and felt ok but that was to change soon enough, unfortunately. On the day it was exceptionally warm up there for April and that caused me a few stomach issues which meant I couldn't get as many gels or liquids into me as I had planned. This started to affect me at around 20 miles as we turned and started the long road down into Leenane. I had now slowed a little earlier than I had hoped to as a result but still felt there was plenty time to turn it around once I could get to Leenane. A couple of the drinks I had left at that 26 mile aid station were also now so hot and undrinkable I had to just leave them. It was now a case of getting on with it as best I could.
GRIN AND BEAR IT
It's a long 2 mile climb up out of Leenane to start the final 13 miles and it was a case of grin and bear it now and just get it done. I ran as much as I could from there on as we made our way over to Maam and then on to the last climb at 35 miles. At this stage I knew I had to work hard just to break 7 hours and that was now the new goal. That kept me going and I was happy in the end to see 6.53 on the clock. Great to see Anne, Brian, Emma and Joe at the end and delighted to hear that both Brian and Joe enjoyed their runs as well. Brian ran yet another solid marathon and Joe ran his first road half marathon. They are both signed up for the full in Cork as well so all that to look forward to as well.
All in all though, a good weekend away. This one definitely got the best of me but I love the route so will be back. Just need to decide if I want to try once more on the 39.3m”
THE GREAT RAILWAY RUN
On the same day, the Great Railway Run was held between Cork and Carrigaline and this annual race is hosted by Carrigaline AC.
Over a uniquely tough distance of 25km, runners are treated to cracking Cork scenery and plenty of fresh sea air, what more can a runner ask for ? It was also dry and the sun was out. Our runners were seriously spoiled! This race is an ideal distance for those who are running the forthcoming Cork Marathon at the June weekend.
The club had 8 members flying the Grange flag and nice results to go with it: Johnny O'Sullivan 1.37.43 ( 1st O50 Category). John Murphy 1.39.05 (2nd O50 Category). David Buckley 1.40.49 (1.40 pacer). Adrian Collins 1.54.58. Mike Ennis 1.57.58. Joan Ennis 2.01.20 (1st O55 Category). Justin Nkomo 2.03.32. Rachel Cronin 2.32.10. They were excellent times folks, keep up the great work rate!
DROMAHANE 5K
The Barry O’Sullivan Memorial Dromahane 5k was held on Saturday, 20th April as part of the 2nd race of the Rebel Diamond League. This series also includes Banteer 5 mile, Bweeng 5k and Buttevant 4 mile. The weather was perfect for it! Some people even said that it was very hot but I wouldn’t really go that far.
214 runners were at the start including 4 and a half Grange runners. You’re going to ask me probably what is this half about! Well Deborah Madden is transferring to us and as she’s in-between clubs and April for people transferring is a kind of a limbo time, I’m going to include Deborah in the results and wish her all the best!
So the course was challenging with rolling hills, rather sharp hills! It was an out and back course like in Banteer and we knew then what to expect after turning around the cone at halfway! Liam O’Connor had another brilliant run to finish 2nd overall. So here are their results: Liam O’Connor 16.39 (2nd overall). Clotilde Fitzgibbon 19.57 (4th lady). Cora O’Connor 26.33. Laura Guerin 31.23. Deborah Madden 31.23.
Congratulations to all! Thanks very much to Dromahane Roadrunners for a very good race!
The next race of the series is the Bweeng 5k on Sunday, 12th May and Buttevant 4 mile on Friday, 17th May. Well worth entering!
For more information regarding Juvenile and Senior training sessions, you can contact Clotilde Fitzgibbon on 0863162145 or Paul Lavoie on 087-2965622.