(Women) 10 Round Numbers 2017

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Bump! So who's going for the sub 35 in Raheny. HelenAnne ? No pressure

Well, hopefully, but who knows? I haven't broken 21 in a park run this year; we'll see next weekend if it's REALLY because of off-road courses / unfamiliar courses etc, or am I just no longer capable of running faster than 6.50 pace

You? Are you doing Raheny and gunning for sub 35?

Bungy Girl wrote: »

The year is only 3 weeks old !!!!

:pac: but because of the New Year's day dispensation I've done four park runs in 2017! (St Anne's, Fr Collins, Templemore & Oldbridge) (Plus a cross country and a 2-miler.)

I know I'm going to come across as a cranky ol git, nothing new there:pac: but wasn't the idea of the tables first day to get people out and try different events? Don't en route times go against the spirit of that? No doubt that someone who goes sub-20 can go sub-12 en route and no doubt you will annihilate those times DG but I feel if we go down the road of en route times, people won't be as likely to race a 3k if they can pick it up in a 5k and so on. On the mens table for instance, a guy like KC could probably knock down everything from 3k to half-marathon in one race.

Makes no difference to me but just a thought.

HelenAnne wrote: »

ThNk you!! Really wanted to talk to you and Laura and later Aoife after but a) I was with my mum and didn't want to abandon her and b) I seemed to be in some kind of flight path for ever Raheny person heading for the tea and saying hi! Wanted to hear more about Laura's fab race! Well done all of you! 33.04 for me - delighted! Will add to table later - fingers too big to do it on my phone!

Also, hi TfGR! Said hi in the crush in the corridor!

Name|400m<70 secs|800m<3min|1 mile<6 min|3k<12min|5k<20min|5mile<35min|10k<40m|10miles<70min|Half Marathon<100mins|Marathon<200min

Bungy Girl ||||| |||||
Dubgal||2:42| |11:44|19:42|| |||
HelenAnne ||| |||33.04| |||



I'll come back and write a bit more about the Raheny 5 after work!

Bananaleaf wrote: »

So I got across the finish line yesterday in 45:24 so I'm delighted with that result. Need to work on my speed now. Not sure if it's just my computer or if everybody had a horrific time trying to get their time from MyRunResults

I couldn't look up any results from myrunresults - it just seemed to time out. (I got mine on the wall after the race, they were up on sheets of paper in the National School).

ETA: well done Bananaleaf! You ran much faster than you thought you would!

Ososlo wrote: »

Saw that in the results, HelenAnne. Brilliant time!!! A race report would be nice! Even a little one!

Ososlo, you'll be sorry you asked!!

Mods / posters, feel free to ask me to move this if it's too long.

Raheny 5 Race report:

Ok, I don’t have a log, and I never (or very rarely) write race reports – my posting is generally limited to moaning and taking issue with other posters , but since Ososlo asked so nicely, and since this thread has been so supportive (both on the thread, and literally yesterday on the course (thanks DubGal and Aquinn & TFGR!) I’ll give it a go!

The Raheny 5 is always a goal race for me, and I think I’ve run a PB there nearly every year I’ve run it. Probably because I’m sort of a nervous, inconsistent racer and I always run much better with a bit of home support and on a familiar course. Anyway, for whatever reason, I love the Raheny 5.

It’s such a big undertaking for the club that everyone chips in and does some work at the race, and my jobs were on Sunday morning – I was taking registration for the kids’ races (all morning - manic!!! And why can’t kids say their names a bit louder! ), and then leading out or whipping in the 400m races. It doesn’t sound like ideal race prep, but actually I like it – I love the atmosphere of the kids’ races, and it keeps my mind off being nervous). So I did my 400m duties, then stayed to watch a little friend in the 800m (Mrs Kenny G & KennyG Jr, in fact, and she did great!) and then ran back to throw off some layers and do a bit of a warm up (2 mile jog with a few ‘hello’ stops and four sets of strides). Met a club friend and we squeezed in really near what was then the front (about 4 rows back). We chatted a bit nervously, met Marthastew and exchanged ‘good lucks’ and ‘enjoys’. There were two men beside me who were discussing trying for 6.55 pace, and I considered moving up a little bit as I hoped to go a bit faster, but it was packed by then, so we stayed where we were – and then saw loads of people had squeezed in ahead of us and we were pretty far back. Never mind – there were five miles for things to shake out!

I’d told myself not to worry too much about pace / being boxed in etc until we got out onto Watermill and were heading for the Howth Road – that first bit around St Anne’s is just a test of not running into anyone / hitting a car / tripping into a pothole. So I just tried to run without weaving, my pace was about 6.30 starting off, but that was just race-start excitement. My friend and I were swopping places up until the Howth Road, but when we were corralled into the bus lane by the tape I pushed ahead a bit. I tried running near the curb and passed as many people as I could on the inside (keeping my elbows v tucked in as I am known for accidentally jostling people with my wide elbows!) I knew there was a little drag there, so I was just looking forward to coasting down the other side! Saw Killerz and his little boy at the bus stop before Sybil Hill, and he gave me a nice cheer.

I was feeling great going onto Sybil Hill, Rd and passing people. I tried not to look at my watch too much, but when I did it was saying 6.40-5, so that was OK! About here I gained on a man and as I passed him he said ‘Aren’t you [x’s] sister?’, so I was like ‘Yes!’ and he said ‘You look so like her!’ and told me his name – it was my sister’s friends husband who I have met a few times—he’s a runner and a climber and I’m trying to get him to join Raheny. But anyway, despite how good I was feeling I didn’t have time to chat, so I just grunted something I hope sounded friendly.

Pushed up the tiny drag to Mount Prospect, rolled down the slope, passed two clubmates and saw another up ahead, who I set my sights on (spoiler, it was MrDrak!) I knew my friend JF would probably be marshaling at 3 miles – he was, and he said I looked very cheerful. I passed MrDrak around there, I think, and then got a big shout out from my friend K who was Chief Park Marshall and was hobnobbing with the Gardaí as I went into the park.

I love the bit in the park. I know it so well, and also last year I caught some clubmates I’m usually behind on the out and back, so thoughts of that were buoying me up. I love running against the runners going the other direction – I love it on the dual carriageway in the mini marathon too – seeing the fast runners spurs me on on my way out, and then coming back, looking out for friends to cheer on (or nod breathlessly at) helps me too. On the return leg of the park avenue I saw our ladies captain ahead of me – she’s a lot younger than me, and a much better runner, but she’d said she wasn’t fully in training at the moment, so I thought I might as well try to get up to her and keep with her. To my surprise, I passed her at the left turn off the avenue, and then my friend (Kyomi on boards) was marshaling at the dog park and she shouted ‘Just one last uphill to the gate and then you’re on the flat to the finish’. That really focused my mind and (even though it’s a drag rather than a hill) reminded me to really use my arms and push to get that last drag behind me. Out the gate, and I was really beginning to tire, but there was so much support that there was no way I could slow down. I just thought ‘Fast feet, relax, don’t panic’ and tried to keep my pace (I was saving ‘How much do you want it?’ for the final two turns!) Just before we turned away from the park around the railings one of the coaches shouted ‘You’re scoring for the team, keep pushing’, so I tried to pick up the pace a bit. I was focusing on a woman from Carrick Aces ahead of me, but I couldn’t catch her! My husband (who incidentally has been processing his 4,500 photos of the race every waking and non-work moment since about 5pm yesterday and is still doing it!) has some photos of me coming up the final straight where I look very focused and zen, but actually I am repeatedly counting to twenty inside my head to keep myself running. I saw the clock was on 32.xx when I was at the corner, Dick Hooper gave me a nice shout out, and the I was over the line and sort of staggering about aimlessly. And then my mother (!!) said ‘Well done, you got your time!’ and I was all ‘Oh hello!!” (as I was surprised to see her), and then I staggered off to get my goody bag and my mum and I went for tea and met loads of people and everyone seemed delighted! (Sorry I didn’t get to chat more, LauraAC, Aquinn & BungyGirl!) Also, it being a local race, I met loads of people I was at school with, and it was only afterwards that I wished I hadn’t had mad wet hair and blue lips etc.
Oh, and I was 2nd scorer on the senior team, we were 6th, so no cigar, but I was also 1st scorer on the o40 team, and we were 2nd, so I won a blender.
33.04 chip time, which I’m really delighted with. My PB from last year was 33.35, and I really didn’t think I’d be able to match that this year.
Thanks SO MUCH to everyone in Raheny – everyone puts in so much work and time and effort. The kids’ races alone are a huge undertaking, and marshaling nearly 4,000 runners in the 5 mile is no joke either.

Really glad everyone enjoyed it!

Hope this report doesn’t sound too bumptious; I really enjoyed every minute of it and felt I was running well. I wouldn’t really change a thing I did in it, which is unlike me! It just went well!

laura_ac3 wrote: »

That's super Helen. Great racing, congrats on the pb and the scoring. Love reading about your mental tricks too

Well done you! Yours was a much better chunk off your PB than mine! Loved your report too; you sounded v focused.