Having spent a happy hour glued to the superb race booklet that Athenry AC produced for their recent 10k on St Stephen’s Day, I decided it was time to write my first personal race report following the Tuam 8k on 2 January. Having targeted the Athenry 10k for months and having got a new 10k PB that...

Well, we love 'em, our spouses, don't we, but what do you say when you are training for a marathon and you hear "Don't run too fast"! ... I had planned to make a bid for a goodish time in Dublin this year for my first marathon but a bad chest infection in early Summer meant that I couldn't train so...

Where: Dundrum, Co. Tipperary. When: 6 July 2005 @ a little after 8:00 PM. Distance: 10KM. Conditions: Drizzly, breezy, dull. Course: Two lap circuit over quite varying road surfaces. Competitors: 100+ including five from Athenry AC, four of whom were wearing the new club gear (very, very sharp!). I...

Where: Claregalway, Co. Galway. When: 20 August 2005 @ 6:00 PM. Distance: 10KM. Conditions: Cloudy but dry, slightly breezy. Course: Single slightly overlapping circuit through local countryside. Competitors: 130+ including 11 from Athenry AC. Detail: I had run Claregalway twice previously, neither...

I first really heard about the Dunshaughlin 10KM a few months back, probably via the Irish Runner. A quarter page advert. Usual thing! Sounded like an interesting race, albeit a bit away from HQ in Athenry. What made it a much more viable and doable option in recent weeks was the fact that it was...

Ballycotton 2005 (6 March 2005) was my 4th attempt at its famed 10M obstacle course. 2002 was taken semi-seriously and I trotted around in something over 74 minutes. 2003 was more serious and a few additional training miles were committed beforehand to clock in the mid-71s. Yet more miles...

Sligo on a very wet and freezing cold early Saturday morning in the middle of one of the wettest January in recent memory. One to warm the cockles of the heart? Absolutely not! Lady wife was not impressed with my upping stumps to head off to a "nothing" (Connacht Cross-Country) race, thus negating a...

Ran my third Ballycotton 10 yesterday (7 March 2004)! My first attempt two years ago was for a bit of crack. Started at the back of the field: jogged around the first half, speeding up during the second half, passing a load of people in the process, coming home in 73:25, with a negative split of...

Mick and myself travelled up from Athenry for this last race in the Mayo Series version 2003. It was my first race of that series, having missed the others for a variety of reasons including refereeing duties and injury. The evening itself was cool but dry and bright. Typical late August weather...

Lovely day out, again! Drove down with Mick in his person-carrier with James Corbett, Dee McGrath and Philip Magnier in the back too. Was a much nicer day than last year at the same venue. This time around, there was no wind, on-shore or off-shore. There was no rain, only sun. The roads were dry and...

Training for this race had gone well enough, with runouts on the Claregalway and Athenry 10KM circuits in the month before yielding almost identical times, 44:47 and 44:46. The day of the race itself was clear, cold and dry. Excellent running conditions! Mick and myself made it up from Galway, as...

Race Report ”“ Philadelphia 8K on Marathon Weekend Nov 20th 2005 A long year was coming to its fruition with our trip to the US and an entry in my hand for the Philadelphia Marathon. However, as much as this has been a great year for me in my running, this weekend was to be one of mixed emotions...

Respect for the Distance Most runners will have come across the advice that in long races, particularly marathons, you must "respect the distance". Those attempting their first or second marathons will most likely encounter this maxim more than once in the weeks leading up to the big event. My...

All of this nonsense started maybe ten months before the London Marathon in 2003. On the 'Runner's World' UK site I read an article which lauded the Flora London Marathon (FLM) as 'the best marathon in the world'. I had my doubts. Having recently returned from the 106th running of the Boston...

Kilmurray Ibrickane/North Clare 29th Feb 2004 - Mick Rice I would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast in weather conditions for this race from last year to this. Twelve months ago the wind howled in from the Atlantic over the rocky coastline of West Clare and the waves charged relentlessly at...

Ballycotton 2005 Mick Rice The omens were not good to begin with. I had tried playing some music on my laptop in the hotel on race morning. The computer was set to randomly select a track and it plumped for a particularly depressing version of “Sad Songs and Waltzes” by Willie Nelson. Crap! If you...

You know, I haven't really written a proper race report in ages, and I'm not sure if this rambling will end up to be a long or short account of my latest marathon adventures, but here goes anyway. I'll keep this as short as possible. (I'm typing this after writing the full report to apologise for...

It was raining. Heavily. It was cold and the wind was blowing. Marathon day had arrived. I had the training done, logged the miles, bought the runners, wore a revealing running singlet. I was ready. Its 8 am on a Bank holiday Monday morning and I'm standing outside Tescos on Baggot street...

Before we get to 9 am on a wet Dublin Monday Bank Holiday, I'll take you back to the start of the year and a decision taken to simply enjoy my running this year, not worry about times etc., and hopefully get fit enough to run another marathon. It has been 4 years since I last completed 26 miles, and...

There were six runners in the traveling party from Athenry AC for this years running of the Edinburgh Marathon. In 2004 there had been one-and-a-half. Twelve months ago Ray and I had entered this race before I was sidelined with injury. In the end Ray ran and I carried the bags. We both ended up...

This is my race report: Happy, should run faster J 1st mile: did not see the sign but was ahead of all Athenry runners for 500m! 2sd: did not see the sign 3rd mile: 22min37 4th mile: 29min47 5th mile: 37min04 or 36min and ???

London to Brighton Road Race 2nd October 2005 - Race Report By Mick Rice This race had called out to me for the last couple of years. I had read about it, thought about it and dreamt about it. All that was left was for me to run it. The whole package is almost irresistible to anyone with an interest...