Donadea 50km 2019 Race Report

First race of the year back on the 9th of February and I was all set...well almost.....I hadn't been feeling 100% the entire week before so I knew I was fighting off something but I decided I was doing it anyway as I've had this feeling before and I've been fine

Courtesy of Paul Daly

Saturday morning arrived and its about a 90min drive to Donadea Forrest so it was an early enough start to arrive with plenty of time and to register for the race start at 10am.


After not going to many races in the last few months it was good to once again see so many familiar faces and before everyone knew it it was 9:45am and time for the race briefing.   Now for those that haven't been to a race with Anto as the race director you are missing out.   The briefing is pretty straight to the point and no messing about, it boiled down to:

- No Headphones!
- No littering, use the bins!
- No headphones, if you use them you are disqualified
- Do 10 laps of the 5km course within 5hours and then fuck off home
- No headphones!

My aim for the day was to do the 10x laps and aim to do it in 4hours 30min or less.

We all started off at around 10:01am and at the start I was about 40seconds plus ahead of the 4:30 pacers on the entire first loop, but I started to slow down throughout the loop and by loop 2x I could see them right behind me.

All felt good initially but by loop 3x I had to stop for toilet break and I then lost the pacers and spent lap 4x chasing them.  The muscles in my left leg then started to get fairly tight and I knew this was going to be an issue.

I continued on and got chatting to various people but the day still didn't feel right and I was beginning to really feel the effort.   By the time I started hitting the mile 18 mark I knew I was in awful trouble and decided I had enough, I wasn't slogging it out for the remaining few hours/miles and I was calling it a day!

At mile 21 I called it a day and looked for Anto at the start/finish , Anto was happy got me to pose for a Loser/DNF photo and it was as simple as that, my first ever DNF.

Overall I managed a slower pace then I wanted for the race upto then of 9.14min/mile, further information can be seen on my Garmin of the race.

I didn't hang around once I dropped out and picked up my drop container I have left just after the finish line and I headed to the car.

The next day I got onto the physio (Bodymend) and arranged to have some dry needling sessions to sort out the IT Band and as always it did the trip.....but as always the sessions were far from pain free. They did the trick however and I was back running shortly afterwards.

Courtesy Of Antony Lee

Was dropping out the right thing to do?
It was a hard decision to make as it was my first DNF, I feel perhaps I'm less stubburn then I used to and I feel I put this down to trying to pack it in during Connemara 100 2017 race.   Prior to this race I've always refused to DNF no matter how much pain I was in and I was discribed myself as either too stupid or too stubborn to DNF.

None the less, it was the right thing to do. My right IT band wasn't in good shape and took a few sessions of dry needling to put right afterwards.  I

feel it also effected my running style as afterwards I ended up with another muscle injury in this month during a 30 mile training run prior to Connemara Ultra 39.3miles.

Tullaroan Ultra-marathon (39.3mile) 2018 Race Report

Another year and another race report for the Tullaroan Ultra-marathon (39.3mile) which I ran back on the 3rd June, this was my third running of the Ultra course in Tullaroan and likely my most unprepared running of the race to date!

So, in previous years back in 2016 and 2017, I was using this race as part of my training for Connemara 100mile on both occasions so I was regularly running numerous 20/30mile runs and was also regularly running back2back 20mile runs to get my body used to running tired.  This year, however, was nothing like that by any stretch of the imagination.

While I have run a handfull of 20mile runs since January and around 2x 30mile runs I've not run very hilly routes and I'm certainly out of my normal running routine of 5-6 training days a week, instead, I'd say I'm averaging around 3 training days a week.  However, I had signed up ansd paid for the Tullaroan Ultra back in Novermber of last year so I didn't want the money to go to waste :)

So keeping all of this in mind I headed off to Tullaroan for my usual 7am start for the Ultramarathon and for the first time my wife Grace came along with me to see me off at the start, this year 17 people stood at the start line of the ultra and due to my lack of training I figured I'd arrive somewhere at the middle of the pack at the finish line, nothing like my 4th place finish in 2016 or my 3rd place finish in 2018.

So off we went at 7am (including a guy in a Wolf costume) and the morning was lovely and cool with mist on the hills so it was a lovely morning to be out for a run.

Now for those that have never run Tullaroan half/full or ultramarathon a quick recap of the route.... it's hilly, very hilly, in fact, its hillier then Connemara Ultra which is held in April.   Here's a brief comparison:

Tullaroan  Ultra course: 663m elevation gain

Connemara Ultra Course: 402m elevation gain

Tullaroan consists of a 13mile loop and you just do it as many times as you need to complete the chosen distance so in my case I was doing it 3x times.

Unlike last year where when we started I was determined to be top 3 (ideally second) I kept a far more conservative pace this time around and settled in chatting to a few guys including a group of guys from Carrick en Suir who were planning to take part in the Energia 24hr race in July (good luck to them) and also a chap who was planning to run the Extreme North 105 Ultra next year but after the first loop the field had spread out so much that I was pretty much on my own from then on.

As I was moving a slower pace I missed the marathon start and half-marathon start (unlike last year) so that meant it was at least 30miles before I actually started meeting a few more people from both races, the day had also warmed up by this point too and I was starting to feel it.  

Basically, all I had brought with me was water and although I had a backpack I was only wearing it to carry my water bottle as I hate holding water in my hand all the time, I was totally depending on the aid stations which stocked jaffa cakes and coke to keep me going. Thankfully they had plenty of both!

By the time I got to 34miles I knew it would be around a 6hr 30min finish but I wasn't bothered with such a slow pace and in fact I was surprised it wasn't pushing 7hours or more. But to be honest I didn't fancy spending 7hours on my feet on the day in question.  At this point I gave Grace a ring (as she had gone home earlier) and asked her to meet me at the finish line.

During the last 3miles I met a group of 4 half-marathons and I was happy to explain what test of the course would be (downhill and flat!) and they were delighted with this good news, I eventually upped the pace for the last 2miles and kept a 7-7.30min pace as I felt pretty good.   

I crossed the finish line in 06:27:15, almost bang on target for my predicated 6.30 finish I had figured earlier and it was nice to see Grace at the finish line too.   Oh and surprisingly I had finished 4th again!

Time for some numbers!
So that means out of 3x runs of this event I've finished 4th twice and 3rd once, here's the somewhat amusing part........      

If I had been training like I was in 2017 I could have managed 1st as the winning time this year was 05:47:15 and I finished in 05:47:58 last year so with a little more effort I may have managed first or at the very least a comfortable 2nd as 2nd place this year finished in 06:09:12.

Overall the winning times for the Ultra were much slower this year when compared to 2017 as the 1st place winning time last year was a blistering 04:55:46.

To be honest I'm not actually terrible bothered I just thought it was somewhat amusing, I actually expected to finish around 10th.

So that's it for another year, a very surprisingly results given my lack of any decent training and once again Tullaroan put on a well organised race. I'd def recommend it for those seeking a challenge regardless of the distance you are seeking.

New medal design from Tullaroan AC

The pressure is on

The pressure is on.......
Why you may ask?  well, this year I've had no real training ragieme up until now but that mean I didn't sign up to any races, I've signed up for one...the annual Tullaroan Ultra.

For those that haven't read my previous running of this event I've run the Tullaroan Ultra on two occasions so far, in 2016 when I came 4th and last year when I came 3rd. Prior to that before the ultra option was introduced I ran the Tullaroan marathon on a few occasions.

This year unlike previous years I've not been properly training as in 2016 I was training for Connemara 100 and I was training the same last year too, but this year as i have no "big race" I have't been properly training like previous years.

In the last two months I have been aware of this and I have been occassionally running LSR runs of 20miles, I've also managed 2x 30mile runs under my belt so I don't think it'll be too bad in some ways but at the same time it'll be a challenge to get around the course especially the last third as after all Tullaroan is a very hilly course!

In prep for Tullaroan last week I managed to fit in two long runs of 20 and 30miles and these took me past the birth place of James Hoban, for those that don't know James Hoban designed the White House in Washington DC and also Leinster house here in Ireland.

This week will be more about focusing on speed which I kicked off with a fast'ish 5mile run yesterday evening and I am to complete some intervals during the week (I really hate intervals on my own!).  But, as much as I dislike intervals I can't argue with the fact that when it comes to improving pace they certainly help.

Spirit Of Place Memorial to James Hoban

2017 Year in Review

I'm a few months late posting it but here is my 2017 year in review!

What a varied year it's been last year, a new PB, placing top 3 in an ultra, taking on another 100mile and finishing off the end of the year with an injury (none running related) and some nice enjoyable runs.

While my big race of the year was again the Connemara 100 which I ran in aid of a local charity I'll begin with my return to Donadea 50km after a 4-year gap since my last Doneadea 50km race,

This was a sizable improvement on my previous PB 50km time of 4:49:33 which I also set in Donadea back in 2013, my rough plan for the day was to aim for a sub 4hr 30min finish. After experiencing some issues with my quads from the 7th of the 10x 5km loops for the race I just missed out on my goal time but I still finished with a very respectable 4hrs 37min 17sec.

My next race of the year was in April where I had opted to pace 1hr 45min for the Wexford Half Marathon.

The last time I ran the Wexford Half I set a PB of 1:44 with a lot of effort since then I've improved to the point of a 1:29 PB so this was going to be a nice return to the course. The day went to plan but it was much warmer then I had expected which was not helped by the fact I missed picking up water at two of the water stops.


Throughout March, April and May I had started regularly running the newly completed Waterford Greenway and in April myself and a few other runners got together to run the entire greenway, more details at Greenway Out & Back as a day-long training run.

It took the bones of 13hours to complete the 59mile (or so) route but it was a really enjoyable day out.

At the start of the year I sort of set myself two goal races, my big race of the year would, of course, be the Connemara 100mile but I had also decided that when I would run the Tullaroan Ultra in June.

Previously in Tullaroan for the Ultra in 2016 when I ran the 39.3mile course I finished 4th so when I looked at the results and noted this I had decided that with some planning on the day and effort I could definitely place in the top 3,

Initially and certainly up until the 32mile mark I was in 2nd place but towards the end, I was passed by another runner and I eventually crossed the line in 05:47:58 to finish in third place. I was thrilled!

After the Tullaroan Ultra at the start of June it was back to training for Connemara and as part of that I was planning to run the Waterford Marathon, this was my first time running the Waterford Marathon which is more than a little strange I suppose as I used to live in Waterford City for around 10 years and I live relatively close to the city still.

Rather then just run it like a "normal" marathon I opted for something different, so with that in mind and with the marathon start being at 9am on a Saturday morning I left my house at 2am to run the 30 or so miles to the Marathon start line.

I eventually arrived down in Waterford City at around 8am and the marathon started around 9am. My biggest mistake for this day was not paying attention to the route profile before setting my pace and as the miles went on I realised there were lots of very steep climbs and these took a lot out of me which resulted in a lot more walking then I would have liked.

Still, I didn't mind the walking as it was all good training at the end of the day for Connemara.  As I approached the finish line it was nice to get a mention over the loud speaker of having run from Kilkenny and doing over 56miles as I crossed the finish line.

After the Waterford marathon, it was taper time for Connemara 100, but it was also back to fund raising for Mount Carmel House.

Mount Carmel House provides supported care for low dependency elderly people from the local & surrounding areas. The community resource has a link to my family as my mother has been on the board for a number of decades and my Uncle who at the time was the local GP was involved in founding it.  So I kicked off fundraising for this community organisation by going door to door in the evenings.

After finishing work each evening I kept going to houses door to door and explained what I was doing, most of the responses I got were a sort of disbelief and by far people were very generous in relation to what they gave.

Eventually, the weekend of Connemara 100 arrived and while it didn't go to plan it was certainly an experience and I have a very detailed blog entry about the weekend here.

How did I do with the fund raising in the end?   Well, in the end, I helped raise over 4,600 euro in aid of Mount Carmel House at the end of the fund raising so it was fantastic. I even got a mention in the local paper once or twice :)

After Connemara, I took it easy and I opted to do easy runs and cycling in order to maintain fitness, I didn't want to over do it because in previous years I learned that if I, for example, start into a new training cycle for another race I very quickly end up injured or sick.

All was going well until the end of September when I was coming back from a morning cycle and the bike just slipped from under me approx 200metres from my house and I hit the ground hard!  I cut up my arm and I thought I bruised myself pretty bad....as it turns out however I had actually managed to crack a rib!

I'll admit this fall but an end to my cycling and much of my running for the next few weeks as while it didn't hurt to run for example a 9min/mile pace I couldn't drop the pace to 7min/mile as it would hurt to breathe, this was more than a little annoying!.

Healing from the fall seemed to take weeks and weeks and despite the discomfort or pain if I run some fast miles I was still determined to maintain what fitness I could so I opted to run the Dublin Marathon as a training run, the same with Stook 10mile and I also took part in  the South Eastern Mountain Rescue which was in Clonmel.


The mountain rescue race was especially fun as I approached it as a bog standard training run but I decided to have a bit of a laugh and ran it with a Christmas hat and Christmas lights wrapped around my backpack, this got a lot of comments from people I must admit.

After the South Eastern Mountain Rescue race, I did opt for running the Waterford Half-Marathon but I ran it at the slowest race I ever have, for 11miles I took it seriously easy but I only upped the pace for the last 2 miles.  Nothing very special to report on this race.

So that's it for another year, I've nothing big planned for 2018 just yet but I'm going to resume regular blog updates now :)

Connemara 100 Mile 2017 Race Report

Friday's Pre-Race Briefing

Race day had finally arrived and it was a bright and early 6am start, we arrived on Friday evening at around 6pm and attended the pre-race briefing at 7am in the Station House Theatre, then a quick bite to eat and we headed off to bed for what I hoped would be a decent night sleep...that however was not to be.

I wrote the following at around 4.30am on Saturday morning before the race:

Not the best night sleep, I'd say I slept about 3 hours total last night which is very unusual for me. Normally the night before a race I have no issues sleeping, but last night the brain just didn't switch off. I'd be lying if I said it didn't worry me.....

Still, while the lack of sleep was worrying me a little it wasn't going to be the end of the world so I got ready for the race and performed the final checks with the crew.

This year the crew was made up of my wife Grace, my 3 sisters Sinead, Claire and Finola, Finola's two children Jane and Neil also helped out and finally Victor Young. Everyone of them had given up their valuable weekend time to drive around Connemara supporting me and I'm very thankful for that. Thanks guys!

Fancy new sign!

Learning from last year we had opted for some nice big vinyl signs for the back of the cars and also a flashing amber light which we'd swap from crew car to crew car to ensure they'd be better seen during the day and night, this would ensure better safety for the crew and myself during the race.

At around the 5.30am mark we headed towards the Station House Hotel in Clifden in preparation for the race start and also the short pre-race briefing, you could feel the nervious energy in the air, like any race I've done regardless of whether it is 10miles or 50miles, I'm always nervous and a little emotional at this point.

At around 5:50am we started to make our way to the start line for the annual starting line photo, this year 19 men and women stood at the start line. A lot can change over the next 30 hours and we knew that it was unlikely that all 19 would finish the race as its usual for around 30-40% of the field to DNF (Do Not Finish) on this 100mile course.

Courtesy of Maryse O Connor Mackessy

A brief countdown to 6am start and we were off.  The start of Connemara 100 isn't like a big city race as it is a much slower, more casual affair as everyone first does a slow lap of Clifden town passing the starting area where the crew are standing and clapping before finally leaving Clifden and heading on towards Letterfrack and later Tullycross.

Start to Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 28):
My view is the first 5miles or so after Clifden are very easy going as there are no crew cars yet and everyone is taking it nice and easy, at the starting loop in Clifden I had been chatting to Louise O'Rourke, Derek Mackessy and others during the first few miles.

Something that I've found often comes up when I get chatting to people during marathon and ultra-marathon races is my blog and this race was no different as a few people mentioned me posting on it and posting on Facebook including Louise. I'll be honest, sometimes I'm just surprised people actually read half of the stuff I type here after races :)

Miriam & Myself

During this section I also got chatting to Miriam O'Connor who had previously run the Connemara
100 like myself and she had also taken on the six day multi-day Marathon De Sable last year which was impressive as I honestly don't think I could hack either the intense heat or the annoying sand.

Despite the easy miles by mile 8 I was slightly worried, I could feel a hotspot developing on my left foot just near my big toe and I mentioned it to my crew so they pulled up around mile10 and I changed out my socks and re-greased my feet.

By mile 15 I wasn't happy and I knew I had a blister so the crew pulled up again and I applied a Compeed Blister plaster to the area, at this stage I was worried as a blister developing at mile 8 is something I've not had happen for years! I've done 40mile races without any blister even starting in more recent years so this didn't look good for the day.

I continued on through Letterfrack and Tullycross, just after the junction at Tullycross I got chatting to Johnny Hanson. This was his first 100mile event and I was telling him what to expect going into Roundstone (not trusting the lights) and Clifden at the end, I know that not knowing what to expect last year really affected me so its helpful to know the course layout.

This section of the course is visually lovely as we pass a picturesque lake and what looks like an old school, we also passed many walkers for the Connemara marathon walk and we received lots of words of support. At this stage myself and Louise had met up again and had chatted again for a few miles.   At one stage a farmer was herding sheep down the road passed everyone...you certaintly don't get that during the Dublin Marathon.

Eventually I arrived at the junction that turns right towards Kylemore and we passed the well known "Stop & Pray" church for the first of two times today, then a few miles later it was a left turn towards Lough Inagh Valley and the first checkpoint of the day. Lough Inagh Valley was very hot at this stage of the day but the scenery was stunning. I kept a good running pace for this entire section and finally I approached Lough Inagh Lodge.   If you ever want to get away from it all, this is a good choice for a place to stay as you won't get a mobile signal on this part of the course. As I was approaching the Lodge I spotted Seb who is one of the checkpoint crew standing near a stream, he took the photo below which shows just how beautiful parts of the course are!

Approaching Lough Inagh Lodge

When I arrived into the Lodge it was time for a quick pitstop and also to get some boiled potatoes into me.   I arrived into Lough Inagh Lodge at 11.11am.

Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 28) to Leenane (mile 55):
It was time to change over the crews and so I bid fairwell to Sinead and Grace with the arrival of my new crew for the next few miles - Victor and Finola. After leaving Lough Inagh my plan had been to mainly run untill the N59 Galway/Clifden junction, but first I walked a bit to allow myself to eat my boiled spuds. The N59 section is the busiest road on the course as I have to take in approx 10miles of the N59 Galway/Clifden road. For any sections with sharp bends Victor and Finola stuck with me to stop any motorists running me over.

About 2miles from the Peacock Hotel I met Johnny again, like myself he was run/walking this section but I still appeared to catch him quickly enough. Although the road was busy I would actually say it was less busy then last year.  Still, it was a lovely sight to finally see the clock tower belong to the Peacock Hotel.  Once we reached the hotel Victor and Finola set me up on a chair and Victor rubbed down both my legs which really helped freshen me up again as they had been getting very tight at this point.

After the Peacock Hotel is the "Hell of the West", for anyone who has ever done the Connemara Marathon Half-Marathon/Full-Marathon or Ultra-Marathon held in April each year you'll be very, very familar with this section as this is the last big hill you have to climb and descent before you finally run onto the finish line at the Peacock Hotel.   Unfortunately for me I had to do this hill in reverse and also continue running the Half Marathon section onto Leenane and then a further 45miles once I reached Leenane so it was going to be a hard day.

This section for me really is a pain, its hard when doing the race in April and it is even harder to do when you already have 40miles done on the legs. Victor decided to keep me company for this section so it was a mixture of run and walking with him for this entire section. At this point I was passed by Peter from Donadea AC who to my surprise was running all the hills as we approached Leenane. Eventually we reached the drop into Leenane which is about 2-3miles of downhill, this section last year really did a number on my legs but this year wasn't too bad. I arrived into Leenane at 5.05pm, where we had another change of crew with Sinead and Claire taking over.

Finally in Leenane

Originally I had decided to change all my clothes at this stage as I thought it would freshen me up and this might give me a boost, but I actually felt pretty fresh still so I opted against this. I also didn't mess with my socks or shoes either as that blister patch from earlier was still holding fine. Although I didn't change clothes Victor and Claire set me up lying on one of the picnic tables and they worked on both of my legs, normally one person doing this can hurt a lot but two people doing it at the same time hurts like hell!
Despite it hurting like hell it didn't stop a crowd around me gathering and appearing to find it amusing while I'd shout every so often, thanks guys! :)



Leenane (mile 55) to Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 67):
Once my legs were finished being rubbed down it was off again, I ran as far as the Ferry dock and then opted to walk the very steep hill out of Leenane as I thought I would be crazy to run it. The benefit to walking this section is I was also able to take on some food. Although the crews had been planned to change over in Leenane Victor stayed for this entire section and it was nice to have some company.

Myself and Victor leaving Leenane

My crew was now Sinead, Claire and Jane & Neil had tagged along as well for this section, I continued to walk once I reached the top because the road dips and rises again before finally dipping again and heading towards the famous "Stop & Pray" church, this would be my second and final time passing this church. This time the church section was much busier as there was a mass on but overall the traffic on the roads was getting less and less, I kept a running pace for most of this section and I opted to listen to music for the first time.

After the climb out of Leenane

However, as I couldn't fine my headphones I had to put my phone on loudspeaker to listen to the music so I must have looked crazy running along the road listening to blaring music, I didn't care as it helped pass the time.

Eventually I finally reached the junction that turns left into the Inagh Valley and thankfully the heat was starting to reduce at this stage too. My plan had been to run almost this entire section and then walk the final section with the hills just before Lough Inagh Lodge and then once again pick up the pace and run into Lough Inagh Lodge. For the sections when I walked Sinead kept me company which was a nice break from being on my own again.

I arrived into Lough Inagh Lodge at 8.22pm.

Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 67) to Roundstone (mile 82):
Leaving Lough Inagh Lodge the plan was to run/walk to the N59 Galway/Clifden road and then once I reached the road as this section was up hill I was going to walk it until I finally reached the Roundstone junction and then I picked up the pace again and run. During this section I was joined by my niece and nephew Jane and Neil and we chatted about this and that, I commented to them how nobody in either of their classes at school would ever end up walking around Connemara at around 10 at night in the dark during a 100mile race so it would be an experience to hang around with their crazy uncle Barry.

Sinead, Jane & Myself

Finally I reached the Roundstone junction and I could once again pick up the pace, I also opted to listen to music again but no sooner did I start running but my legs started causing me problems again so shortly after the junction beside a church the crew pulled over and Claire rubbed down both my legs again, this once again gave me a boost.

I continued on and shortly after the crew switched over again and I was joined by Victor who even after so much running earlier decided to join me for the last 5miles or so into Roundstone. The first time we saw the lights for Roundstone and Victor commented on them I told him not to trust the lights as we were still miles out. In the last 5miles approaching Roundstone I started getting really cold and every so often we'd hit a really cold pocket of air, so I put on extra layers but that didn't help. The crew packed a foil blanket around my body underneath my jacket but that also didn't really seem to help. I just couldn't get warm and this just kept making this section harder and harder for me.

At around mile 80/81 I had resigned myself in my own mind that as soon as I reached the checkpoint at Roundstone at mile 82 I was out of the race and done, I didn't tell Victor this and even when Victor kept asking was I ok I honestly didn't have the energy to respond back to him especially during the last mile before the checkpoint. Once we reached the checkpoint at 1.50am and I saw them marking down my time I just turned around and collapsed to the ground hitting my left knee on the ground. As I fell Victor and Ken (staffing the checkpoint) caught me and I remember being lifted up and things went dark. The next thing I remember was sitting up against the crew car wheel, my legs in front of me on the ground and Victor holding up my head and slapping my face....I had passed out!  This is very much a first for me as I've never passed out during a race before. I could see everyone looked really worried and I was really worried about what my wife Grace must be thinking as I had seen her to my right just before I collapsed.

They asked did I know where I was and I responded Roundstone, they also asked me a few other questions and Grainne (support crew and Ken's wife) got me to drink some sugar water. I said I really needed to sleep and they put me in the crew car and covered me in blankets and stuck the air con to hot in the car, once I was lying down I asked for the crew to get out for a minute and asked them to get Grace as I wanted to talk to her.   Grace got into the car and I said to her I thought I was done and that I didn't think I could go any further, that I knew how many miles were ahead and I couldn't go through them knowing it would take so long.   I was sure Grace would say "Ok babe, you go to sleep and we'll get you back to the hotel", but she didn't.To my surprise she responded in a really upbeat tone saying she didn't think I was too bad, I had been much worse the year before and after a sleep and a change of clothes we'll see how things are, just before I feel asleep I held her hand and I slept for around 40minutes.

I asked Grace to write something about what happened in Roundstone:

"From my perspective I knew he was emotionally in trouble, but physically he was far worse last year and therefore had more to give. He wasn't done in my opinion. Naturally I was worried about him when I saw him hitting the ground, but he didn't hit his head, he was out for a matter of seconds, and he wasn't bleeding anywhere, so for the most part I wasn't too concerned. I also know my husband well enough to know if he had quit then, he never would have been content. He needed to give it one more go. Also, I wasn't having a situation where we would have to come back next year due to his DNF this year! I made a call with the help and advisement of the other crew members that a sleep, some food and a change of clothes would do him the world of good, then we could decide if he could continue or not.
The other crew members and support crew members were worried, and honestly believed his race was finished. There was a medic on standby to sign him off, and there was a lot of concern through the support crew regarding whether he would be able to continue. Once he had slept, I asked him if he wanted me to change his clothes and see about continuing on, or did he want to finish and go back to the hotel. Once he said "I don't know", I knew he wasn't resolutely finished. With that, it confirmed my initial thought, he's not done yet. I got him changed, the crew checked him out, and made sure he was with it enough to go on. I said to him "if in 5 or 10 more miles, you decide you are finished, we have at least given it our best try. Let's just see how you get on." He said okay, and kissed me and I never doubted for a moment that not only was he good to continue, but that he would cross the finish line as well. Barry's determination literally knows no bounds!
- Grace - wife and crew member.

After the 40minute sleep Grace woke me up and got me to change clothes and eat some food, I opted not to change my shoes or socks as I didn't want to mess with something that had worked perfectly from mile 15 since I put the blister plaster on.  The crew switched over again at this point and I was in the hands of Sinead and Claire.


Roundstone (mile 82) to Finish (mile 100):
Once ready I left Roundstone with Sinead walking beside me at a "blistering" 17min/mile pace which I kept up for around 3-4miles. During this time I passed Johnny who I had chatted to much earlier in the day around Tullycross and Peacock Hotel, Johnny was doing a much slower walking pace then myself and he must have really been feeling the cold as he had switched to pants (I still had shorts on but I was no longer cold!).

After around 4miles of 17min/mile I once again started to flag and I was getting worried I might collapse again as I had trouble just keeping my eyes open, Sinead who was still walking with me commented then I should dig deep and keeping going but I said I was worried that if I did collapse they wouldn't be able to get me up off the ground again without help.   So I opted to sleep in Claire's car this time for around 20 minutes during which time Johnny passed me. After this it was a very mixed walk all the way to Ballyconeely, I'll be honest this section felt utterly endless to me. I could not wait until I would be finally 9miles away from Clifden. At Ballyconeely the crews met up again and I was so thankful to have Grace walking beside me again at this stage. I would go through stages of having the energy to hold a conversation to not talking at all. At one point I felt so tired that we stopped and sat on a wall beside a lovely beach for a few minutes just so I could rest.

As the miles counted down to Clifden we met Ray (race director) and he mentioned we were 4miles out from Clifden. I asked him if he heard about me passing out at Roundstone and he commented on how I was Lazarus for getting back up and heading for the finish. I knew at this stage I could 100% finish the course and that I'd finish it under the 30hour limit. It wouldn't be the sub 24hr I wanted and it certainly wouldn't be my fastest 100mile race either but it would not be a DNF. (I'm perhaps too stubborn or stupid to DNF). At this stage Grace took a break from walking and Victor once again walked with me as we finally made our way up the hills towards Clifden town and we commenced the 3 loops of Clifden town.

This has to be the hardest finish of any race I've done. Most races you see the finish line and you cross it.    But Ray designed this race so that when you see the finish line you have to pass by it 3 more times before you can finally cross it, to quote another runner who was speaking to Ray earlier in the day "You're a very bad man!".

Just as I started the first of these 3 loops I once again met Johnny who was also starting the loops, we spoke words of encouragement to each other and to his crew and we headed off. It was around now that I found out that I had been last place in the race but I'd jumped to second last after passing Johnny. Last year when I did this section it was desperately slow and it must have taken me 20minutes to complete each loop, this time it took me around 10minutes per loop. Victor did all three loops with me, Grace did the first loop also. On the last loop Grace joined me again and we made our way around, as we got closer to the finish the rest of the crew joined me so myself, Grace, Sinead, Claire, Finola and my niece and nephew (Jane and Neil) joined me as I completed this final loop.

On The Last Loop

Coming towards the finish on the last loop I noticed I had less than 40seconds to go to finish under 29 hours and although the legs were tired and the energy levels were very low I refuse to be one of those people that walk across a finish line so myself and Grace started running while holding hands. We finally crossed the finish line in a time of 28hours 59min and 37seconds (10.59am) to everyone clapping and cheering, including other runners who had finished earlier in the day.

Finished! - Courtesy of Miriam O'Connor

Neil & Jane at the finish line

After crossing the finish line I made my way to the nearest thing that looked like a seat and I was never so glad to sit down, this was the longest ever time I've spent on my feet out of any race I've completed. While I've done three 100miles since 2015 this race was almost 90minutes longer then my first and I've never passed out in any race I've done before so that was unsettling. However, despite passing out I would actually class last years Connemara 100 as a harder race because mentally it was torture as I had to basically walk at a shuffling pace for miles upon miles until the finish. This time I at least knew that at times I could walk a brisk pace so I knew that instead of doing 2miles per hour like last year I could do upto 4miles per hour.

After sitting down for a few minutes I made my way back to Foyles Hotel where myself and the crew had been based for the weekend and as I got to the front door the receptionist came out and clapped and congratulated me on finishing the race.  Despite the hotel having finished serving breakfast they were very accommodating and were happy to serve breakfast to myself and the crew.  I devoured every bit of the breakfast as it was lovely and it was nice just not to eat something loaded with sugar again.

Post Race Presentation:
One of the special things about the Connemara 100 race is the feeling that despite how fast or slow a runner is that everyone including the crews are in it together. There's a real good feeling about the race and everybody is happy to help everyone else along the way. For the race presentation Ray O'Connor the race director talks about the runners and crews and also talks about the people that didn't finish and thats important. In a race like this a lot can go wrong and a person could be feeling fantastic at mile 50 but they could be out of the race by mile 60. Each team has a story and there were plenty of interesting and funny stories and comments made during the presentation, when it came to me Ray once again referred to me as Lazarus due to what happened at Roundstone and he asked me to explain what happened. I told everyone about how I had resigned myself to not finishing the race around a mile from Roundstone and once I saw them mark my time I collpased and then passed out. But it was only with the words of encouragement from Grace that I continued on. I wouldn't have completed the race without her, thanks babe.

Presentation from Ray O'Connor

The race was incredibly hard but it was an experience and I was so thankful to share that experience with my crew, I know it was hard on them to dedicate so much of their weekend to me and I'm very thankful to them for all their support.   There were times in the race when I know I was cranky or I may have snapped due to exhaustion and you put up with it and everyone of you walked with me at some point during the race and that company was very much appreciated as it made the time pass faster and I liked being able to share the experience.

To Victor, thanks very much for running so many miles with me. It was likely many, many, many more miles than you had expected to run but its certainly a good start for training for the Dublin Marathon again. If you do decide to run the Connemara 100 I'll be more then happy to crew for you! :)


Post Race Recovery & Fund Raising:
On Monday morning I felt reasonably ok, despite the massive lack of sleep over the weekend I felt pretty good after 9hours sleep and during the day I had plenty of messages to get done so I got a good bit of walking in on the legs.   I also paid a visit to Body Mend Physical Therapy & Sports Injury Clinic for some work on the legs and they felt miles better afterwards (Thanks Tracy).
With the exception of the leg muscles being a bit sore and the one blister on my left foot I've no issues or pain to report and after a visit to Bodymend it's no longer hurting to sit up from a chair, so that is always a good thing!

The race has been an experience and I'm glad that I've been able to use the race to raise awarness and funds for Mount Carmel House, the support I've received from everyone has been fantastic and every donation has been much appreciated, thank you to everyone that has donated.

I would once again like to thank my two main sponsors D&M Supervalu Callan and Callan Co-Op for all the support they have given, it’s made things easier for organising everything on the day and they have helped to raise funds for Mount Carmel also. Their generosity has been overwhelming.
Of course many other businesses have kindly donated over the past number of weeks, including Bodymend, John Murphy Family Butchers, Callan Bacon, Philip Ireland Tyre's, Unecol Oil, P.Molloy & Sons Funeral Home & Sculptures, Doheny's Crash Repairs, Ormonde Veterinary, Keogh’s Model Bakery, Keogh’s Pub, & Callan Truck Parts. Thank you to all of you!

Over the next while I'll be posting updates in relation to the total funds raised for Mount Carmel House and the funds will be presented to them, so stay tuned for updates!

Waterford Viking Marathon Race Report 2017

As part of my training for Connemara 100mile in August this turned into a race with a difference and a race report with a difference as it's really less about the race and more about the journey.

Originally I had planned to take it handy doing the Tullaroan Ultra at the beginning of June and then to race the Waterford Viking Marathon at the end of June before moving onto Connemara in August.

However, things change and I was mindful that although I had ran the Waterford Greenway out and back I needed some longer runs, so instead I opted to race Tullaroan with the aim of placing in top 3 (succesfully!) and then to just run the Waterford Viking Marathon but with a difference.  That different was of course to run the 30 or so miles to the start line in Waterford City.

Passing under the M9 motorway at around 4am

So with that in mind after working all week and with only 2-3hours sleep on Friday I was up and out my front door at 2am,.  Just as I was starting my run I met my wife Grace coming back from a night out...she was (understandably) worried about me running so late at night on country roads.

As I ran through the town I only met two people, one person looking out their front door at me seemed pretty amused by the sight of a man with a headtorch wearing shorts and a backpack running through the town at 2am, I suppose who could blame them really?

So off I went into the dark of the night as I left the town, the roads for the night were not busy and for the first two hours or so other then seeing the odd bat or hearing animals in the ditches I only encountered maybe 2-3 cars and just as I crossed under the M9 motorway I encountered a truck.

After a pretty disappointing sunsise at around 5am I pushed on and after spotting yet more wildlife (a fox standing looking at me with a bird in its mouth) I finally reached Mullinavat, on the Mullinavat to Waterford stretch I did the most walking as I figured that it could do no harm, it was good training and I was actually 30min ahead of schedule for reaching Waterford as I had planned on a 6hour run and instead I arrived in around 5hours 30min mark.

At one stage I did manage to stumble on a cats eye on the road a few miles passed Mullinavat, while it didn't cause me any problems at the time it certainly did afterwards....more on that later.

At around 7.33am I finally reached Rice Bridge in Waterford City and finally I could sit down for a while and get some more sugar into me, by right I should have taken in some sort of decent solid food at this point but I didn't and this was perhaps rather foolish, but then I didn't really feel like it at the time.

After a little bit of a stretch and getting down to the finish line I got to sit down for a while and it was most welcome, as the race start started to fill up however I started to see some familar faces and it was good to chat to a few people and catch up on things and share stories and experiences.

Heading towards the toll bridge

My aim for the marathon was to stick with the 4:30 pacers, this also happened to be paced by JP and Anthony who happened to be with JP so I figured it couldn't hurt to have some company for the day, especially after spending the previous 6hours on my own.

At 9am we were off and I started my second long run of the day with 26.2miles to go. The race started at the Mall in Waterford City and it headed down the quays and over Rice bridge turning left towards the interchange which provides exits to the M9 motorway and the new bridge and bypass.

This was the first challenge of the day as the road up towards the intercharge is a long drag of at least 1mile, after that we headed down towards the bridge and ran through the toll barriers, this is likely the only time you'll get through this toll bridge without paying!

After that we crossed over a temporary footbridge and ran for the first of two times in the day on the Waterford Greenway. Up until this point I had been fine but by the time we reached Mount Congrave I was starting to flag and feel tired so on the hill leaving the Greenway I walked for the first time of the day. Once I started walking I pretty much knew my goal of a 4:30 marathon was gone but I wasn't too worried as this day was about distance and time on my feet so even if it took 5hours it wasn't a problem.

It was at this stage that it dawned on me that this new Waterford marathon route was going to be much hillier then I had expected it to be and to be fair I hadn't checked out the course elevation or route too much before hand so I guess this was to be expected.

Once I lost JP and the 4:30 pacers it was basically myself and Anthony until the finish, always good to have company for a long day like this!

The day had now warmed up a good bit and as the miles ticked on I was glad of being able to pour water over my head, it really made a big difference!  Between all the walking breaks during the marathon myself and Anthony knew this wasn't going to be a 5hour finish for the marathon and as we started to count down the final miles we knew it was going to be much closer to 5hrs 20min.

As we approached the finish we could see the clock was 5:22 and I was glad to finally cross the finish line, after 11hours and 8min of running and 56miles covered I could finally take a proper rest.

As I was crossing I was surprised to hear the announcer mention my 2am start and my run to the marathon start line which was a nice touch.

Credit: Noel Browne

So, why did I mention the stumble over the cats eye earlier in the day, well it seemed to have cause a problem with my right ankle.  While not an issue during the marathon I found after the marathon it was painful and the next day I could barely walk with the pain, its now 5 days later and its 95% back to normal now so its nothing serious thankfully.

However, other then this injury and a blister on my right foot I had no other issues so overall a good day :)

Oh, almost forgot, here's my garmin log of this entire run.

Connemara 100 - Take II

Yep, it's official I'm doing Connemara 100 again!

Last year I learned loads and I'm doing it again but this time I hope to pull off the sub 24hr time.

I came awfully close to it last year as I think I could have managed 23hours only for I hit problems from mile 86 onward but I think I've learned enough in relation to gear and nutrition to overcome the problems I experienced and to get under 27hours as a finish.

In addition to doing another 100mile race, for the first time since my first marathon back in 2011 I'm running an event in aid of a charity and this time its a local organisation called Mount Carmel House, here's some infor about the organisation.

Mount Carmel House is a voluntary centre, established for the supported care
of low dependency elderly people from the local and surrounding areas. The centre
provides supported living and respite care for a maximum of 20 residents requiring minimal assistance in a homely environment.  A lively Day Care Centre environment also allows people to socialise and take part in a variety of activities.   Mount Carmel also provides meals and other services to people in the local community.

So between now and then I'll be aiming to raise funds for the local chairity, if you'd like to support the organisation please fee free to donate online at JustGiving.com or if your local to me let me know and I'll drop by with a sponsorship card.

Over the coming months they'll also be some fund raising events as well.

Onwards and upwards!

Tullaroan Ultra-marathon (39.3mile) 2017 Race Report

Welcome to another race report, its the June bank holiday weekend and that means the Tullaroan Half/Marathon & Ultra took place on Saturday.

This is the forth year that Tullaroan AC have put on a 5km/10km/half & marathon races. Last year they added a 39.3mile Ultra for the first time after previous requests for the distance and you can read all about my race report from last years running of that course here.

It's been exactly a year since I ran a 39.3mile distance and prior to last years run I hadn't run this distance since Connemara Ultra in 2014 where I managed to finish in 5hrs 52min 19seconds.

Last year in Tullaroan after running part of the third loop way too fast and experiencing a good bit of cramping from the 34mile mark onwards I finished it in 6hours, 3min and 36seconds and came in at 4th place.   I was determined to improve on this and maybe, just maybe finish top three!

As always it was an early start for the Ultra as it set off at 7am, it was a small enough field with only 13 taking place and I got number 12!

and we're off....

This year I had opted to take on less food during the race and to only carry 4 gels and because I hate carrying water in my hand, I opted to use my Ultimate Race pack for the day.
In all honesty I didn't need the race pack and I could have just dropped the gels at certain points before the start but I didn't bother.

We were off at 7am and it was a slow and steady start with the aim of averaging an 8:30min/mile pace for the entire race. For the first 4miles or so I was chatting to a few people but after that I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the day.

I knew from this early stage in the race that I was actually in 3rd place (overall) and 2nd place (male) as both the 1st place male and female had raced ahead of the main group after the 2mile mark and we lost sight of them.

Although I had set the goal of running an 8:30min/mile avg pace early on I had noted that I had run the 1st loop at an avg pace of around 8:20min/mile so I opted to slow things down a bit and do my best to stick to my goal pace on the second loop.
This started well enough but I pretty much knew anyone I was spotting behind me after the 13mile point was also part of the Ultra as both the 8am & 7am marathon starts were in front of me. After spotting somebody at around 15miles I kept the slightly faster pace but I did drop it down to around 8:23min/mile average.

By the time I hit the 26mile mile mark I felt I was in decent shape, unlike last year I completed my second 13mile loop ahead of the half-marathon start who I had actually met up with just as I started my 3rd and final loop. I did however meet some 10km walkers and on some of the hills I ended up walking and chatting to them from the 28mile mark as the hills were starring to really effect the legs.

Still, I didn't forget I was in a race and I knew I was still in 2nd place for male finish of the Ultra so this spurred me on. I passed the 31mile (50km) mark in 4hours 31min which was a personal best for this distance and eventually the half marathon runners started to pass me coming up to 32miles.

Still, it wasn't all bad, but the time I hit the aid station at the Valley Inn I was still in pretty good shape and unlike last year I didn't cramp up and end up on the ground, thats always a good thing!

Shortly after the Valley Inn from around the 35mile mark it was a run/walk to the finish, although I didn't know it at the time one of the male Ultra runners past me between the 35 and 37mile mark, at least this is when I'm pretty certain they passed me as from 37mile to the finish line nobody else passed me and prior to this I had kept an eye on the race bibs for the people passing me. I pushed it on for the last 2miles and I kept up pace with one of the half marathon runners I finished the last mile in 7:51min.

As I crossed the line I was pretty sure I was top three but I wasn't certain if somebody had passed me or not while I was walking so I checked things out with Vincent the race director and was delighted to be informed I came in as 3rd male for the Ultra.

Considering I came in 4th place last year I'm very happy with this results and it'll be my first top 3 finish for anything other then a 3mile race I once did a few years back.

Official finish time was 05:47:58

As always you can check out my Garmin of the race here and you can see the full race results on the myrunresults website.

If you're interested to know how this 39.3mile Ultra compares to the Connemara Ultra held in April each year check out last years race report.

Finally a trophy for the cabinet!

As always, an enjoyable event put on by Tullaroan AC, well organised and plenty of stuff at the aid stations. Thankfully it wasn't as warm as last year but the course will always make it challenging!

Waterford Greenway Out & Back Training Run

Finally got around to writing up this training report!

A week ago on Saturday the 15th April, I finally did the Waterford Greenway out to Dungarvan and all the way back to Waterford. Of course, I wasn't just me doing this on my own, there was, of course, a group of us that did the run.

It was an early start so I headed down to Waterford City and picked up Paul Croke and JP Tierney and we headed to the quays, just before we did this we dropped a few supplies with JP's wife Nicola who would be our crew for the day.

At the quays, we met up with John Boyle & Stephen Brennan. Myself, JP, John, Stephen & Paul would be the core group that would run the entire greenway out and back but we had others that either met up near the start or at the half way point and they'd run between 20-30miles each.

Overall it was going to be a productive training run for everyone!

The Starting Line, Courtesy of JP

So a quick picture of the group before we got moving and we were off, we started a pretty relaxed pace of 9:40-10:20min/miles.

However in hindsight, this was actually too fast and we'd have been better off actually slowing it down further as it would have meant we'd have kept a more consistent speed overall....but more on that later.

Before we knew it we were at the WIT Campus in Carrigmore beside the greenway and we met up with David Sheridan, he had planned on doing a 24hr event on Saturday only to find it was canceled a few weeks back so he opted for this training run anyway.

Throughout the run, we all chatted with each other and before we knew it we had 2hrs done and we were near the quarry a few miles out from Kilmacthomas. At this point Stephen decided he had enough miles done for the day so he headed back to Waterford, he'd still finish the day with around 26miles done by the time he got back to the quays.

By the time we reached Kilmacthomas David had been having issues with an injury so he decided to head back to Waterford, although we lost David we picked up another runner Paul Brunnock.

Paul had actually run out from Dungarvan to meet us and was now planning on running back to Dungarvan with us, this would mean he'd finish the day with around 30miles done, not bad considering he had taken part in a 4mile race the night before in Co Waterford.

We refueled and topped up our water and we were off again as we approached the Kilmacthomas viaduct we got a lovely view of the Comeragh mountains and the day had brightened up.

Approaching Kilmacthomas, Courtesy of JP

From Kilmacthomas onwards we finally started to meet people and it got increasingly busy as we approached the Ballyvoile tunnel, for those that don't know what the Ballyvoile tunnel is. It's a 400metre long brick-lined tunnel that was previously part of the rail line.   The approach to the tunnel is what I like to refer to as "Jurassic Park like".

Entering the tunnel, Courtesy of JP

Leaving the tunnel, Courtesy of JP

We crossed the third of the greenway's old railway viaducts and we then got to see Clonea strand below us, from here there is a nice 2-3mile downhill as we start to approach Dungarvan and this section was even busier than the tunnel.  In fact, as we approached the last 3miles into Dungarvan it got really very busy.

Considering we're not even into the summer I was surprised by how busy this section of the greenway was, it should be interesting to see just how busy the greenway is in the summer and how the numbers hold up as the years go by.

Clonea Strand, Courtesy of JP

Finally, we reached Dungarvan for the turnaround point.   The marker of the greenway start/finish in Dungarvan is a giant modern art sculpture of two fish so we rounded that and we started our return.   But before we left Dungarvan we met up with JP's wife Nicola for some food and drink which I think at this stage we were very grateful for.

After the refuel, we left Dungarvan and Paul Brunnock also left the group as he headed home. The rest of us crossed the causeway out of Dungarvan and started the 2-3mile slight climb up towards the Ballyvoile tunnel and not for the first time we also started walking on and off.

As we approached Kilmacthomas we met up with Nicola again and for a quick refuel and we also picked up another runner Anthony O'Neil, Anthony had decided to run with us the remaining 22-25miles back to Waterford as a training run. We were delighted to have him, the more the merrier.

Fuel stop before Kilmacthomas, Courtesy of JP

We headed off once again and our plan was to continue to Kilmeaden where we'd meet Nicola again for the last crew stop.

I will say that at this stage especially in the last 2miles coming up to Kilmeaden I was certainly starting to feel it, I also got my first blister of the day but like always I ran through it to where it stopped hurting me anymore.

Finally, we reached Kilmeaden and we had around 4-5miles to go to the finish. As we sat down a cyclist pulled up and sat down at one of the tables next to us and asked how long we were out for? We mentioned since 7 and he had to stop for a second and as "7 am??", we explained we'd been out since 7 am and were just coming back from Dungarvan after running to Dungarvan.   He seemed very surprised at the whole idea of this.

Me at around the 55mile mark

We then headed off for the home straight and again it was very much run/walk from here until the finish, I was happy when we reached Bilberry which is the actual the official start of the Greenway in Waterford City but I was happier still to see the Clock Tower on the Waterford Quays which had been the start of the day's training run (also my car was parked near it!).

Overall it was an enjoyable day out and it was fantastic to have a group training run like this as it made the time fly as we chatted to each other, this was especially good as we had spent the bones of 13hours running and when you're on your own and you're tired this amount of hours can start to feel awful long!

Now, who's for doing the Waterford Greenway Ultra 50km & 100km as a race event!? :)

For anyone interested you can find the Garmin log of the training run here.