Alan's report picked up the main parts of the day. I haven't
much to add other than a few personal asides...
The run of the day from any competitor must have been Gerry
Fahy's from HP/Craughwell AC. He and I have jousted a few times
in the recent (and distant!) past but today he beat me all ends
up. I felt my race was overcooked very early on when he glided
past me on the way out the road after less than one KM. He was
flying and I looked and felt like a clapped out auld banger and
there was still over 9KM to go! Gulp...
I'd done a good bit coming into the race but conditions on the
day weren't the greatest and I was feeling ever worse. Wettish
under foot with a strong breeze against us all the way up the
town and out to the turn onto the boreen. Not forgetting it was
quite nippy too. Having to face "that" hill four times with the
wind nibbling away at me was going to be gut-wrenching,
especially for a lad whose every second under 41:00 was going to
be hard work enough already.
Anyway, If I had any chance of recording a good time, I really
had to stay in touch with Gerry but he kept going further and
further away from me with each succeeding KM marker, depressingly
so from my perspective. He was well over a minute ahead of me at
8.5KM and I felt that he must be in sub-40 shape and that the
'magical' barrier (for a club runner!) was his to lose. At that
stage - at the 7KM stage in actual fact! - my goose was already
in the bin. I got to the bell in 27:35 and was dead on my feet
and had Thomas Porter hot on my heels too, to make matters worse
:). I felt like giving up, there and then, but couldn't as I
still had a decent chance of breaking 41:00 - something I'd not
done here before. A deep breath and I ploughed on. There was
also a lot of traffic around me now, and for most of the race,
something I'm not still quite used to, even with nearly 70 races
under my belt.
Thomas overtook me soon after and I was powerless to counter
fully. I stayed with him but, by then, the hamstring and stitch
had already set in. I was still only 15-20 metres behind him
going up the final hill but I wasn't able to close the gap. I
was thankful that no one else passed me in the final few metres.
Gerry was already well home and hosed. I was certain he'd broken
40:00 but he didn't know himself for sure. When he said to me
that he was within grabbing distance of young Doherty from
Headford, I knew that the prized barrier was well and truly
broken. As it turns out, he actually did 39:36, shattering the
mythical barrier between a decent club runner and the rest of us
completely.
I hobbled home in 40:58. Thankful that I'd broken 41:00 for the
7th time on 7 different courses but little else. I was hardly
able to walk afterwards but went out for a warm-down with the
Craughwell AC lads to be sociable if nothing else. Was sorry
that I didn't have a camera as I'd have liked to have a picture
of the Athenry AC team along with the Craughwell AC as we'd both
travelled a fair distance to give our all on 'foreign' fields.
Hopefully someone else got a picture of Gerry after his moment of
glory. You only break 40:00 for the first time once, if you know
what I mean.
Hung around for the prize giving as Hollymount are famed for
their team prizes. This year was no different. Athenry AC
eventually finished 7th and I was quick out of the blocks when
the prizes were announced. What I didn't realise was that Alan
Burke had whipped out his picture camera just as quickly and got
a shot of my accepting the team prize on behalf of the other
three Athenry AC runners. Immortality, indeed.
Forgot, again, that the only way to get a fair set of splits from
this course is to take one's time at the finish line each time
it's passed so as to get three 3.25KM splits.
Mary Porter's radio report on Galway Bay FM from last night is
attached in this article as well.
Again, well done, Gerry! I wish I could have been there with you
today. It wasn't to be but I continue to hope that my day in the
sun/rain/wind/snow will come soon...
P.S. Thanks to the Craughwell AC "bus" for the lift up to the
venue in the first place. Mike, Padraig, Diarmuid and Caoimhe.