2007 Dublin half marathon

Monday, October 08 2007 @ 03:36 PM IST

Read on for Patrick Grealy's report on the 2007 Adidas Dublin half marathon. Well done to all the piranhas who raced on the day.

The 2007 Adidas Dublin half marathon took place over its usual course in the Phoenix Park on the 22nd of September. Unlike previous years, the weather was ideal with good sunshine without it being too warm. The race was slightly more expensive than last year but this was accounted for by having timing chips and better tee shirts. Goody bag was decent enough too (even if the french mustard(!) was after its sell by date!)  

I got a parking space near the start and did a warm up whilst running into a few Piranha members (Maya, next year you will run in this race!). The event started 10 mins late to accommodate some of the athletes queuing at the porta-loos (so we were told!).

The race started off and I got settled into a reasonable pace. Niall McDonnell passed me at the 2 mile marker and shocked my by telling me that ‘Gav had failed to get into ’. I was well into my running at this stage and felt reasonably good despite the knowledge that I had essentially 2 laps of the park to complete.

The first lap went by quite quickly and the two hills did not seem to take as much out of me as was the case during the 10mile road race a month earlier. At the start of the 2nd lap, I took on some fluid and a couple of gels. Back down the full length of Chesterfield Avenue(on the inner path this time) and on passing the 10 mile marked, I checked the split. 2 minutes faster that the 10 mile race so was hoping to keep the pace up.

I caught up with Ian McFarlane on the first of the 2 hills. We stayed together for a while and the company took my mind off the steady drag that is the 2nd hill. Ian hit the jets and took off with a couple of miles to go. About 1 mile out, Garry Crossan came running the other way on his warm down and shouted a few words of encouragement. I felt a small cramp like pain in my right calf so stopped for a few seconds to stretch it. No point in being too brave, I thought.

Now into the home straight and I picked up the pace for the last half mile to finish in just under the 100 minutes mark. 9 minutes faster than in 2006 so I was pleased. It must have been all the track sessions with Garry and Maria McCambridge. Thanks Guys!

After a few cups of water, I hooked up with a few of the Piranha contingent who had already finished. Spirits were good and everyone seemed in good form. Good prep for the gig one in October.

The Piranha finishers were

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