I've been talking about this one for a while. When I first got wind of this, I was convinced it would be something unsual, and given that it was a once off, there was no 'wait and see how it goes this time'.
I haven't been training since the marathon, and the residual fitness has waned. I pulled out of the AAI cross country on Saturday as I realised that running two races back to back is tough when fit, but impossible when out of shape.
Add to that a few beers the night before, and it was unlikely that this would be a PB course, so I settled for having fun [is that what its all about anyway?!?].
I met up with Mark Flannery at the point, having jogged a warm up from Smithfield. Bumped into Wally Walsh and Diarmuid Quill from Craughwell AC on the way. Depite being an hour early, it was even more chaotic than before the Dublin City Marathon. We made our way near the front, and avoided most of the walkers. It was bitterly cold and windy at the start, about 750m from the start of the tunnel itself, up on a bridge, but myself and Mark were well prepared with old gear we were prepared to throw away. We spent an hour chatting with Gearoid Quinn and Pat Dwyer of GCH, as things got progressively more packed.
About 5 mins before the start, they let the whole crowd move up about 50 yards. It became immediately obvious that there were still WAY too many walkers ahead of us, even that close to the front, so we abandoned all etiquette and assumed the elite starting positions that we deserved. In the process, we met James Corbett so the Athenry AC trio for the day was complete.
The MC kept us all entertained and had a bit shout out for the big crew from Craughwell, and myself and Mark got a mention. At this stage he decided to get a mexican wave going from the back of the crowd. Now you could really see how big the crowd was, the wave took a good 20 seconds to reach us!
He warned us about the toll gates, about 500m into the race, but also gave us the good news that it was free today!
The start to this was was always going to be hectic, so the best tactic was to go out fast, and get some clear ground. This I duly did, when the gun went, aided by Pat and Gearoid setting a nice even pace. As the MC mentioned, it was pretty tight at the toll gates, but before long we were in the tunnel itself.
The first thing I noticed was how small it felt, very claustrophobic. The second thing I noticed was how warm it was. This caught many people on the hop. I was wearing a hat and had to tuck it into my shorts. People with thermal base layers [right and proper given the wind and weather outside] weren't so lucky.
But it was enjoyable. I couldn't see any markers but was haapy enough with my pace after about 10 mins. We were warned about the hill up out of the tunnel. It wasn't that steep, but it went on for 3 km. I hit halfway at 20 mins even, and after the turnaround, slightly after the halfway point, it was a long downhill towards the finish.
Somewhere along here, it all went wrong for me. Pat Dwyer passed me, as did Lucy D'Arcy. I just about kept it going.
But then I hit the hill back up out of the tunnel. Ordinarily, I have a storng finish and relish the uphill sections. But not today. The Guinness caught up with me, and I ended up stopping twice and almost, but not quite, got sick. Wally Walsh passed me. John Treacy passed me [yes, THE John Treacy].
I just about manged to get a jog going again, and got to the line in 40:33.
I'm not upset with the time, given the lack of training, but its the slowest I've run over 10km since May 2005.
I met up with the lads at the finish. I don't have the exact times to hand, but they seemed happy enough. I met Brian O' Connors brother Fintan who told me he had been chasing me down.
We got our medals and out shirt and that was that.
Fair play to Clonliffe Harriers for a well run race.
Ordinarily I'd say I'd be back to do it all again...but it's not to be.
Photos Courtesy of Sean The Photoman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79317093@N00/