Dublin 27/10/2008

Back where it all began for us. Dublin 2008. This was our third year in a row running Dublin and it was great to be back. The Dublin Marathon went through a rocky patch in the late 80s/early 90’s when it almost died out due to lack of interest and funding but now it had returned with a bang. A record 11,000 and something runners were lining out for the 2008 edition. Alan and I strolled up in the cold, bank holiday Monday morning where we met Gerry Mc at the bags area. We took our time making our way down to the start but timed it nicely as we didn’t have to wait too long for the gun to go off. I lost Gerry and Alan at the start so was running on my own for the first few miles. Got to Phoenix Park in good time where I met Gerry and we ran together for a few miles. Like the Berlin race I wasn’t really aiming for any time but just went out to enjoy it and see how things went. It seemed as though the poorer times during the year had knocked every competitive bone out of my body.

At 13miles I was under 4 hour pace but wasn’t unduly excited or concerned about this. An absolute nightmare of a race here in 2007 had taught me some harsh lessons about trying to judge times when only half the race is run. So I just sauntered along and bided my time. The weather was great, the crowds, as always in Dublin, had lined the streets in their droves and were as supportive as ever. At around 17 miles Danielle and Nicki had come out to cheer us on and that gave me a bit of lift as well. 19 miles in there comes what is the only real climb in Dublin and after surviving that and still feeling strong I realised I was still running under 4 hour pace.

With my competitive bones seemingly restored I decided to have a lash and see if I could do a sub 4. It would be close, it would require some guts and it was going to hurt but I felt well up for it. So off I went, needing to run the last 10k in under an hour which, for me, at that stage of a marathon, is a big ask. I thought I was going to lose it with about 3 miles left but got myself together and really pushed it over the last few miles. I was gritting my teeth coming up the last mile and a bit and was really hurting but the crowds were great and out of the corner of my eye saw Danielle cheering me on from the sidelines. I crossed the line in 3:59:03 although the official clock that I ran under at the finish said 3:59:58 which looks great for the photos. It was another sub 4hr. Only my 3^rd of the year but all the sweeter because it wasn’t planned or expected and really made up for my nightmare here last year. Again Dublin turned out to be a great race. The weather has always been kind and the crowds come out in force and voice year after year. With marathon running enjoying a real resurgence in Ireland it looks like the race will keep growing and growing for the next few years.

Dublin Race Info:

Marathon Type:  City Marathon.

Temperature: 16 degrees

Conditions: Sunny

No. of  Participants: 11,000

Entry Fee:  60 euro

Berlin 28/09/2008

As one of the world’s 5 Major Marathons (Boston, Chicago, London and New York are the others) Berlin attracts almost 40,000 runners each year. This year, all eyes were on one man. The great Haile Gebrselassie was coming back to Berlin to try and break his own world record. His previous best, set in Berlin in 2007 was 2:04:26. This year he was aiming to beat that and go under 2 hours 3 minutes. For a 4 hour plod-merchant like myself, those kind of times are barely imaginable. It is unlikely that I would be able to keep up with that pace for even a single kilometre. As it turned out the great man did break his record, coming in at 2:03:59…

As Haile crossed the line basking in glory, yours truly was still plodding around the course with around 21km still to go. With a county hurling final coming up the following weekend I decided to take this one easy and just run for fun. The start of the race was a bit chaotic with 40,000 people trying to get off to a decent start. There were so many people poured into the Boulevard that it took us a whole 15 minutes to even cross the start line!

The nice wide roads of Berlin meant that the race spread out fairly quickly though and there was plenty of room to run in comfort. I took it grand and handy all the way round, never really exerting myself and just enjoying the ride. It made for what turned out to be my most comfortable race. At no stage did I find myself in any distress, paced myself nicely and for the first time ever ran the whole 42k without stopping to walk at any stage. I finished in 4:05 which I was pleased with considering I didn’t really push myself. Alan finished in a very respectable 3:48.

Berlin looked great on the day. The sun also obliged and the crowds were out in force to cheer us on. Organising a marathon of this size takes an enormous amount of work and everything ran smoothly on the day. The only gripe I would have was with the start where people seemed to be piling in from all angles without any kind of controls or marshalling. But I suppose this has to be expected in a race of 40,000 people. It’s a small complaint though and was soon forgotten as 4 hours later I passed triumphantly (well, relatively) through the iconic Brandenburg gate. It was also very pleasing and a great honour to have run in the same race and along the same roads as one of the greatest athletes that ever lived. And while he may have finished 2hrs ahead of me I can always claim to have raced against Haile Gebrselassie!

Berlin Race Info

Marathon Type:  Big City Marathon.

Temperature: 18-20 degrees

Conditions: Sunny

No. of  Participants: 40,000

Entry Fee:  60 euro

Longford 24/08/08

After the excitement  and adventure of the Swiss Alpine marathon, the humble Longford Marathon was just what we needed to bring us back down to earth. While most people have never heard of the Longford Marathon it has been on the calendar for a number of years now and is very popular with the serious running fraternity in Ireland.  The most serious of them all was to be found in the sports hall at St Mel’s where we went to register on Sunday morning. Tony Mangan was attempting to break the world record for 48 hours running on a treadmill. By the time we arrived he had been on the go for well over 47 hours and had already broken the record. When the stopwatch hit 48 hours he had smashed the world record and had clocked up an incredible 405.2kms (252 miles). After witnessing Tony’s amazing feat we left the hall, suitably humbled, to prepare for our measly 26 miles.

There were about 300 participants lining up at the start of the race and it seemed that everywhere we looked there were faces that we recognised from previous races in the Burren and Connemara. We ran for a while in a group with some guys who had already run the marathon route on the Friday as a kind of practice run. (These are the kind of people you meet all the time at these races – amazing guys but seriously mad).

After a downpour of biblical proportions in the first mile the sky cleared and it turned out to be a perfect day for running. At the 7 mile mark we went off the main road and started down the back roads and lanes. The route actually took us through three counties including Leitrim, Roscommon and of course Longford itself. Alan left me after about 9 miles at which stage we were both going fairly well. At around mile 18 I met a guy who was wearing a t-shirt from the Swiss Alpine marathon. Small world.  I asked him how he had got on there and he said it had nearly killed him. I knew the feeling.

22 miles in I caught up with Alan who had been having a few problems. At this stage I was heading for a personal best and wanted to keep pushing on. The last four miles were torture though and I couldn’t keep the pace up. We both finished together in a time of 3 hrs 57 minutes which was my best time of the year.

All in all Longford was perfect for what we needed – a no-frills, close-to-home race that didn’t involve any travelling or expense. We had originally planned to do Helsinki but for the reasons above Longford turned out to be a far better option. The only pity was that it wasn’t better publicised in the town itself. Most people didn’t seem to know what was going on and more than once people walked in front of us or across us as we came up the finishing straight. Other than that it was a well organised race on a nice route and well done to all involved.

Longford Race Info

Marathon Type:  Country roads.

Temperature: 12-15 degrees

Conditions: Overcast

No. of  Participants: 300

Entry Fee:  45 euro

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Swiss Alpine 26/07/08

What can we say about the Swiss Alpine race? Heaven and hell rolled into one. The most punishing and exhausting course in the most beautiful and breathtaking surroundings. Swiss organisation and efficiency mixed with a sense of danger and adventure.  This, for me, was the best of them all.

We arrived in Davos on Thursday. Danielle was taking on the half marathon challenge and Nikki was to be our official motivator and photographer. Davos is situated high up in the Swiss Alps, about a three hour train journey from Zurich. In summer it is a Mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, bikers and hikers and in winter is a busy skiing destination. This weekend however it was all about the runners. There were several races over various distances taking place including the half-marathon, full -marathon and the daddy of them all, the 78km Ultra marathon.

After a day of relaxing and swimming on Friday we got ourselves ready and went to bed early. On Saturday morning Alan and I got the train to Bergun where the full marathon was starting. As we warmed up and stretched we watched the leaders of the Ultra race pass through. They had started at 8 that morning and had already run 36k.

Our own race kicked off at 11.30 and off we took into the hills around us. The first 10km was all uphill but it was only after that the real hills began. From there we were on a mountain path 6 kilometres long to the top of the Keschhutte at around 2632m. Everyone was walking. It was impossible to run but even if you could run it would be pointless because the pace would be only walking pace anyway. So up the hill we all streamed in single file gasping for air as we went.  We hit the top of Keschhutte at over 2 hours.

Then it was downhill into the valley below. We tore downhill, bouncing along the trail and somehow managing not to twist an ankle or break a leg. At 21k it was back up again. Up a savage incline that took us to the top of the Scalletta Pass. Again everyone was walking. Here the trail became dangerous as we were forced to walk across sheets of ice and snow with no foothold other than the prints of those who had gone before. At the top of the pass we were over three hours. Alan was starting to really suffer and so I went on ahead alone.

The downhill into the valley was treacherous.  It took great concentration to pick out your steps while running and as people got fatigued you could see the mistakes starting to creep in. People were stumbling all over the place and I was lucky not to twist my ankle on at least 3 occasions. Soon the route flattened out and became a long, arduous run in to the finish. This was less a race than a grim struggle for survival. It was more akin to some kind of ordeal the SAS or the Foreign Legion would put their recruits through to break them. A death march if you will. How must the 78k guys have been feeling?!

I finished strongly after taking a life saving gel at around 35k and crossed the line in 5hrs 53mins. Alan followed about 20 mins later. Danielle did her very tough half marathon in 2hrs 31. Despite the ordeal the body felt in reasonable shape. I had been running for nearly 6 hours and had burned 4500 calories but I had felt worse. The sense of satisfaction was better than anything I have felt this year.  Everything about this marathon was exceptional. From the superb organisation, to the supporters who trekked into the mountains to cheer us on, from the camaraderie between the runners to the stunning scenery en route, the whole experience was incredible. I’ll definitely be back at some stage and might even have a lash off the Ultra!

Swiss Alpine Race Info

Marathon Type:  Alpine Mountain Trail.

Temperature: 20 -23 degrees

Conditions: Hot & Sunny

No. of  Participants: 5000 (combined all races)

Entry Fee: 70ish euro

Tromso 21/06/08

The Midnight Sun Marathon was a novelty event offering the chance to run in the Arctic Circle on the longest day of the year and to see the sun above the mountains of Tromso at midnight. It was nice to say that we have run in the Arctic Circle and seen the midnight sun but the expense and hassle of getting there and getting home again took a lot of the pleasure out of this particular marathon.

Norway is an expensive country and one not well served by our friendly low fares airlines. We took a Ryanair flight to Torp which was 150km away from Oslo. After spending a night in Oslo we got a plane to Tromso on the Saturday morning and arrived in good time for the race that evening. The weather was miserable and reminded me of nothing more than a pissy day on the west coast of Ireland. Thankfully the rain cleared and at half 8 we took off on our 6^th marathon of the year.

The route was of the “out and back” variety which meant that as we were on our way out of town towards the country we passed the leading runners on their way back. I passed Johnny Donnelly of Saw Doctors fame and gave him a “Good man Johnny. Come on Ireland!” kind of shout out. Although when he passed me again later on in the race my greeting was distinctly less enthusiastic. I was going well until about 8k to go and was looking at doing under 4 hours when suddenly my hamstring cramped up and it was a struggle home after that. I finished in 4hrs 12 and soon hooked up with Alan who had done 4h 03. He told me that he had got violently sick half way round and was vomiting at the side of the road for a few minutes before he could continue. Very strange.

We headed back to the hotel around half one, passing the surreal sight of half pissed Tromsosians queuing for the nightclub in broad daylight.  I got  a couple of hours sleep before getting up early to begin the nightmare return journey to Dublin.

The marathon itself was reasonably well organised. There were a few annoyances however, most notably when the route of half marathoners, who were just starting their race, ran across the path of the full marathoners who were about 13 miles through theirs. Some marathoners had to actually stop to let the others cross them. At around 60 euro the entry fee was also slightly on the extortionate side. Tromso was a strange one. Nice to say we’ve done it but I wont be going back.

Tromso Race Info

Marathon Type:  Road through town and some countryside.

Temperature: 8-10 degrees

Conditions: Overcast /Midnight Sunny!

No. of  Participants: 500

Entry Fee: 60 euro

The Burren 24/05/08

Ballyvaughan was the destination for our second marathon on home soil. As this was the inaugural year of the Burren Marathon we didn’t really know what to expect in terms of the route, terrain and general organisation of the race. Our main concern that day though was whether we would be home in time to watch Munster in the Heineken Cup Final.

 The best thing about this race was the fact that we could sleep in our own beds and didn’t have far to travel on Saturday morning. It also meant that some of our friends could join us in the various races that were taking place in conjunction with the marathon.

It was a typical morning in Ballvaughan, overcast, cool and misty with the threat of rain hanging in the air. The official race starter was none other than Brendan Gleeson who gave a nice little speech about the beauty of the Burren and who looked like he may have had a late night in some of the local hostelries. He started the race with the immortal line “I haven’t said this since I was about ten: On your marks. Get set. Go!” And we were off.

The marathon was planned as a walking marathon but of course at such events you will always get lunatics like ourselves who want to run them. One such lunatic passed Danielle (who was doing the half marathon) and me in the first mile or so. He had seen my T-shirt with the 12 marathons on in it and said “Fair play to ya! This is my twelfth marathon already this year and my 108^th altogether.” Suitably humbled I acknowledged his greatness with a smile and let him run off into the distance. There’s always one….

The first five or six miles were uphill but I was going well and feeling strong. Danielle was running well too but she broke off on her own course after about 7 miles. At this stage we were well off road and running through rocky, mucky walking trail. After about 9 or 10 miles I came across a guy from Galway and we started chatting. It turned out he had also done the Connemara marathon and I actually remembered him from that race. I remembered him because he used to run ahead of me then he’d be knackered and start walking and I’d pass him out. Then he’d start running again and go past me and stop again up ahead. I told him all this and described what he had been wearing that day and he said: “Jesus, that was me alright!” We had a great chat until I had to rudely interrupt it with a trip to the bushes for a Number 2 – a result of all the dates I had eaten in the car on the way up!

The first real nastiness came around mile 11 – a tough hill which most people had to walk. But by the time I reached the top the sun had come out and I was looking out over the bay to Galway with a downhill stretch for about 5 miles into Fanore. Life was good. As usual in a marathon though, the good times don’t last for long. Instead of following the coast road from Fanore back into Ballyvaughan and home, the organisers sadistically decided it would be more fun to route us back up hill over Blackhead and down to the finish from there. And thus began again the hell with which I had become so familiar over the last few months. No point going into it here again. Suffice to say I got over it eventually and finished in 4hrs 28 mins. At the finish I met Alan and Danielle who had also finished their races and we rushed home to watch Munster.

The race was tough, but a great challenge and was very well organised, with plenty food, drinks and water all along the course. The only pity was that there were no official times recorded. It’s always nice to have your time recorded for posterity and to give a sort of stamp of officialdom to your suffering. Big thanks also to Marie, Emily and Bernard who completed the half marathon and to Catherine, Edel and Keith who all completed the 10k.

Burren Race Info

Marathon Type:  Mostly hill walking trail some road.

Temperature: 16-22 degrees

Conditions: Overcast then Sunny

No. of  Participants: ?

Entry Fee: 30 euro

Connemara 06/04/08

Our first marathon on home soil and it’s a pleasure not to have to get on a plane and fly half way across the continent to get there. It’s only been 3 weeks since Rome and in those 3 weeks I have run a paltry 14 miles. My hope is that by giving the legs a well earned rest they will repay me with a stunning performance on the day and carry me home in record time.

Inevitably this does not occur.

I pick Alan up at around eight and we drove as far as Oughterard. From there busses were supplied to take us to the race start at Lough Inagh. Lough Inagh is a beautifully scenic spot located in a valley between the Twelve Pins and the Maamturk mountains. But with a cold wind whistling through the valley and some ominous clouds looming in the distance it seemed like a pretty desolate location for a race start – a stark contrast to the start in Rome three weeks previously.

We greased ourselves up, ran and stretched, jumped up and down and employed various other strategies to keep ourselves warm. It seemed like an eternity before the race started and in the meantime we watched some of the ultra runners pass through what was their 13 mile mark. How people can run at that pace over such a long distance is an absolute mystery to me. One could only stand back in awe and applaud.

For some reason Alan and I managed to find ourselves at the head of the field at the start line and when the gun finally went I took off like a lunatic over the first few hundred metres. I swiftly realised that I was running at about 6 minute/mile pace and if I didn’t slow down pretty sharpish my race would be over by about mile 4. So I eased off and, as the Kenyans say, let the run come to me or in other words, let everyone else pass me out. By this stage Alan had long since disappeared into the distance and I would not see him again for some considerable time.

Connemara apparently has its own microclimate and we were introduced to this phenomenon by way of a hail shower of biblical proportions after around 6 miles. Once that eased the sun came out briefly before being obscured again behind some heavy black clouds gathering over the Bens. For this marathon we were sporting our new running tops (kindly sponsored by www.runways.ie) which listed our 12 marathons on the back of the shirt. This provoked many kind words from runners who were passing me by and sparked a conversion with a Kilkenny lad who ran with me for a couple of miles.

By the time I came into Lenane at 13 miles all was well but by the time I came out of it the whole show had collapsed around me. The road out of Lenane is a steep hill that rises for about 2 miles before flattening out again. 200 metres up the hill I knew I was screwed. My calves were screaming at me and before long I was reduced to walking. As my previous reports have demonstrated, a walk, run, walk, jog, hobble strategy is one that I have employed on several occasions in the past. This time however, it was being introduced after just 13 miles which did not bode well for the rest of the day.

I struggled along in this fashion until mile 22, where the infamous Hell of the West (the big pass between Maam and Maam’s Cross) begins. Since I had already been through my hell at Lenane, this particular version of hell didn’t faze me all that much, although it was still a struggle. From the top of Hell it was downhill all the way into the finish where I crossed the line in a personal worst of 4:37. Alan finished in a PB of 3:33 which was an outstanding time for such a tough course.

I definitely think the previous races caught up with me on this one, although I fail to see why it’s not affecting Alan as much. Damn him and his improving times! Next up is our closet race to home in the Burren on the 24^th May. That gives me 6 weeks to eat pizza and drink beer. Nice one!  

Connemara Race Info

Marathon Type:  Road running through spectacular countryside.

Temperature: 10-16 degrees

Conditions: Overcast/Sunny spells/Hail/Wind

No. of  Participants: c. 400

Entry Fee: 70 euro

 

Rome 16/03/08

Eight hours tramping the streets of Rome was probably not ideal preparation for running 26 miles around the same city the following day. But there’s so much to see in Rome and our time there was so limited that it would have been a shame not to go a-tourin’.     

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

My race plan for this month’s marathon had been to fall in behind the 3:45 pacemakers (the guys with the purple balloons) and follow them to the finish and thus set a new PB. Simple plans are always best.

The first flaws in this plan began to become apparent as we started to line up for the race. As I only sauntered up to the start at about ten minutes to nine I found myself herded towards the back with the walkers with not a purple balloon to be seen. Not to worry. I resigned myself to catching up with those purple balloons as soon as the gun went off and decided to enjoy my surroundings for the start of the race.     

                                                                                                                                                                                      

As far as a backdrops for race starts go, Rome easily ranks among the most spectacular. We lined up with the magnificent Colosseum at our backs, the Imperial Forum to our left and the crowds looking down on us from the hill up to our right. It was a far cry from the midnight run on an anonymous track in Zurich back in January.     

                                                                                                                                 

Further flaws in my plan began to reveal themselves in the opening kilometres of the race. The sheer volume of runners and the narrowness of the roads made it near impossible to pass anyone out for the first 6 or 7 km. My purple balloons had long disappeared into the distance at this stage. The route started to open up around 8 or 9 km and I started to pick up the pace a bit.  At around 13km I met Danielle who was surprised to see me so far back as I had told her I would be running with the purple balloon boys.  I ran well  until around the 30 km mark at which stage I was just under 2hrs 50mins.        

       

At this stage I felt myself beginning to tire. Usually at this point in a marathon my legs are starting to scream and my mind is starting to consider death as a viable alternative to enduring any more of this torture. On this occasion however none of the above occurs. We run back into the centre of Rome where I spot Danielle on the side of the road. I stop to give her a kiss and she gives out to me for stopping. Later I pass her again by the Trevi fountain. At this stage my time has again drifted to shite (see Zurich & Valencia blogs for previous instances of this phenomenon). The last 6 or 7 kilometres are along the cobbled streets of Rome which is very tough on the soles of the feet. I will later use this as a lame excuse for my poor time.      

                                                                  

The last few kms are to be savoured rather than suffered. We come past the Vittorio Emanuelle Monument, run past by the Circus Maximus, the scene of Ben Hur’s greatest hour, and finish on the Via Fori Imperiale in the shadow of the mighty Colusseum. 4hrs 14mins. Pretty disappointing but it’s another one down. I meet Alan and Danielle shortly afterwards. Alan has knocked 3 minutes off his Valencia time and the fact that he is improving while I’m going backwards makes me even more depressed. Still, a few beers later and all is well with the world again. Connemara is in three weeks time. I’m thinking of giving the legs a complete holiday ’till then. Well it certainly can’t make me much slower!

Rome Race Info

Marathon Type:  Road running through city. Some cobbled streets.

Temperature: 19 degrees

Conditions: Overcast/Sunny spells

No. of  Participants: 14,000

Entry Fee: 47 euro

 

Valencia 17/02/08

As I enter the athletics track for the last 200 metres I’m vaguely aware of crowds seated around the stadium cheering us on but am too punch drunk to pay them any heed.  I stagger over the line and collapse in a heap.  A girl comes over and opens my lace to take off my racing chip.  She asks me something in Spanish but nothing registers.  My brain has shut down. Someone hands me a medal, someone else shoves a towel in my hand, another gives me a bag of food and a bottle of champagne type stuff.  I wrap myself in the towel and crawl under a tree, shivering and waiting for my brain to come back to life, cursing the marathon and all its evil works.

Four hours earlier I was in a far more positive frame of mind. The themes to Rocky and Chariots of Fire were just some of the tunes blaring out over the PA system at the start line. Who could fail be inspired with those classics ringing in their ears? And so Alan and I set out together, clipping along at a very nice pace. Our plan was to try and run 3:30 and although I had a feeling it was a bit too fast for my blood, I decided to shoot for the stars. After all, if I didn’t try I’d never know. We clocked 10km in 50 minutes which was pretty good going. There were small pockets of enthusiastic support at several points on the course but a 2k tailback of angry-looking, horn-honking drivers along one stretch served as evidence that not all Valencians were overly enthused by us shutting down their streets for the day. After about 12km Alan decided to push on a bit harder so I left him off. I kept clipping along on my own and reached halfway in 1:46. I was feeling strong but in the back of my mind I had a nagging feeling that I was going to pay dearly for this pace later on.

And so it transpired. By kilometre 28 I was feeling the strain. I stopped for a bit of a stretch and started up again. After another few kilometres I knew the game was up. The last 10 kms was an agonising sequence of run, stop, stretch, walk, run, stretch, hobble. With my legs screaming out for mercy and my brain melted with fatigue I eventually stumbled home in 3:59 – just barely under the 4 hour mark.

Alan spotted me under the tree shortly afterwards. He hobbled over. He had finished in 3:39. He had been going well and was nicely set up for 3:30 until the last 10km when it all began to fall apart. It seems our race strategies still need some fine tuning but at least we have another 10 chances to get it right. Roll on Rome!

Darren

Valencia Race Info

Marathon Type:  Road running through city.

Temperature: 17 degrees

Conditions: Overcast

No. of  Participants: 3500

Entry Fee: 42 euro

 

Zurich 01/01/08

While the world was clinking champagne glasses and swinging along to Auld Lang Syne, we lined up at the start of the Zurich New Year’s Marathon with a collection of other lunatics and attempted to stave off the cold. At midnight, to the cheers of a handful of hardy supporters, we set off into the dark, foggy night on the first of our twelve marathons for Cystic Fibrosis. To say we weren’t in the best of shape would probably be an understatement. As Christmas Excess was going to be joining us for the ride we had decided to adopt a “take it handy” strategy towards this marathon. The first few minutes of the race were spent admiring the fireworks that lit up the sky as the good folk of Zurich rang in the new year. While it lasted this was a pleasant distraction. But as the festivities began to wane the realisation slowly set in - we had a long night ahead of us.

The course was mostly trail – 3 laps of a park area around a lake. The fog came down heavy and we soon found ourselves running with only a couple of metres visibility ahead of us. As there were no markers it was almost impossible to judge our speed or how far we had gone. Every so often dim lights would appear ahead in the distance and we would reach a drinks station where hardy volunteers handed out cups of warm water with salt. We did the first 10 km in 55 minutes – not bad considering the conditions. We ran for a while with a bunch of about five or six guys one of whom fell flat on his face at one point after tripping over a root sticking up through the ground. As the race developed the field inevitably broke up and for about an hour Alan and I found ourselves running alone. This made it even harder to judge our pace and our time began to drift. Every so often we would see runners headlamps appearing out of the fog on the other side of the lake bobbing up and down as they went along.

As the night wore on and fatigue crept in the experience became ever more surreal. The heavy fog lent a kind of spooky feel to the whole affair and with voices echoing off the lake and people appearing suddenly out of the darkness it felt like being trapped in some puragtorial nightmare. With all semblance of a respectable time gone out the window we staggered through the last 10km and crossed the line in 4:19. One down, eleven to go.

Back in the sports centre, we were presented with a bag of museli each for our efforts in being the first (only) Irishmen over the line. A bag of museli?! Were they taking the piss? Our disappointment was soon put aside however when the presenter announced that we now held the distinction of having run the fastest marathon by Irishmen thus far in 2008. Our glory may be shortlived but we can always tell our grandkids that, for however long our miserable time stands, we once held the Irish marathon record for 2008! That made it all worthwhile.

Darren

Zurich Race Info

Marathon Type: 70% trail, 30% Asphalt

Temperature: -5 degrees

Conditions: Cold, dark, foggy.

No. of participants: 95

Entry Fee: 40 euro