A/R Awards 2021

That post from djemba djemba on Jerry was something special.

My own log has been interesting to read back on simce Mar '20. I've kept logging but with the lack of races, it became a small enough world in there. The log did provide a bit of inspiration during the last couple of years in so far as I was able to share the ups and downs and bounce ideas off the small group that follow it.

As regards the forum, Shotgun kept the lights on for a while in here, before he had to take a his leave with injuries. I get that too, I've always found it difficult to visit these parts if I'm injured or sick (as I've been this week 😭).

Djemba Djemba's post on JK was a great one alright, and Lainey's log was essential reading for any number of reasons.

My own year was pretty bereft of highlights, mainly because I very publicly put all my eggs in just that one basket, which when it didn't come to fruition was a tough pill to swallow. Hopefully I've learned some lessons from that process.

If pushed for a highlight, going up to Anrtim Coast HM and running 77mins was a good day out and despite a few organisational issues on the day, it was probably the highest quality race I've been in on this island. A HM equivalent of Raheny if you like.

Anyway, looking forward to 2022.

Totally agree with all the praise for both Shotgun (who is an exceptionally sound lad IRL, as well as a great poster) and Djemba Djemba's post.

I popped in to nominate ED.... (not sure if I got the correct number of dots) for performance of the year. The only problem being he has two awesome performances to choose from. Firstly he went and broke the record for running the length of Ireland, from Mizzen head to Malin head. I know how hard a target he set himself there, and he really put in everything to get the result. So a Guinness world record achieved there.

Then he went and won the Irish 24-hour running championship in less than ideal conditions up in Belfast in October. But he didn't just win it. He destroyed the field and smashed through the 250km barrier to annihilate the Irish record and place himself a step above all his predecessor record holders. He moved the standard of Irish ultrarunning up a notch with that performance.

I find it hard to pick between the 2. They were both tremendous. He's definitely Irish ultrarunner of the year.

My own highlight this year was my whole summer Spine race experience. The first race back after a long gap. Feeling like I had a good body of training done without really knowing how it would apply in reality. The sheer excitement of travelling for a big race (The hugely exotic experience of a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Manchester 😀 )! I was determined to enjoy the experience of running the course in the summer as opposed to battling it in winter. And the weather mostly played ball thankfully. Ended up breaking all my targets and setting a new course record, whilst thoroughly enjoying the entire experience. Just that week alone was enough to make this year a successful one from my own POV. One for the highlights reel for sure.

I'm slow to pick up on this, just had a breakthrough. Just noticed if you click on the poster's icon/picture (as opposed to the username), there's an area showing how many COMMENTS they've made, and if you click on that, it shows you all their recent posts. Looks slightly different on phone vs laptop, but the link is there either way. This is a bit more indirect than it used to be, but not as awkward as I thought. This is the way I keep track of my own posts, for example.

Duh! Everyone probably knew this already. Although the guidance on how to transition to the new way of doing things has been poor.

Agree with all that. It's still two or three clicks replacing the previous one though. That's enough to lose a huge amount of people. From a techology point of view, the capability and features are there, but not the usability. It's a crucial difference.

I'm not having the issue you are with 'up to date' threads, interestingly enough. The experience is probably different across platforms, devices, operating systems. Still a lot to iron out I think.

Thanks for the shout out for Tallaght and the DH Jingle Bells race lads (even though I was clearly AMKs second fav Elf that morning 🤣🤣) it was actually talking to @Laineyfrecks in Tallaght that got me starting logging again. I have always been more of a browser/lurker than poster. That's something I will try and rectify in 2022.

I tend to hover around the training logs most, usually to see what other folks are up to and it have been very evident that we are all a dedicated bunch who have stuck to the running for the last nearly 2 years with not too many races, some good logs to pick from as Log of the Year.

Forgot to add my highlight of the year - pretty much no contest for mine as Tallaght was a bit of a standout performance. A couple of years ago I wouldn't have backed myself to go sub 17 for the 5k so to run 16.53 was a good one, a definite reaffirmation that solid consistent training can get you pretty far.

C

You got mine yeah?

I've been meaning to put some thought into this but the forum hurts my eyes a little. Lol.

My shouts would certainly include shotguns challenges at start of year. ( post/event/poster of the year). One of my enduring disappointments will forever be the migration deleting the poll on strava art before results were shared.

As ReeRee said return to parkrun has also been nice (sorta!).

Personally, bit of an up and down year. I seemed to spend most of the year trying to keep the wheels on a wobbly wagon. First year since 2012 where I haven’t done a race. I enjoyed my flirtations with 80/20 training plan and will defo return to it.

My main highlight would probably be the February elevation challenge attempt. Running up 3 rock at first light before work was actually a really really nice experience as well as a pretty good work out.

After the events of October, I’ve also been somewhat chuffed to be out on the road at all in the last few weeks, but that’s more of a general feeling than a ‘highlight’ per se.

Haha who on earth nominated me for log of the Year! Remove me from that list...

I'll happily take poster of the Year though. I've been phenomenal. And if what shoes are you wearing now and what next wins ,I'll also take that accolade as I've single handedly kept that thread alive.

Ariana should be in there for most improved too.

I will have it tough choosing between many of those nominations, but I would separate the monthly challenges out perhaps? As I think the Feb challenge thread was particularly good.

Has no one mentioned AMK or OOnegative for the hall of fame?? Or what are the parameters?

Help us out by being specific about what was in the Feb challenge because people will probably need to be reminded of what it was about that one. I thought it was worth thinking of it as a combined thread because it could easily have been organised that way, and if you nominated them individually they might split the vote.

Re AMK/OONeg HOF noms, the answer is, they have now, assuming that is a formal nomination. 🙂