Dates of Visit : December 10th 2022 & December 17th 2022

Introduction

This time last year (2021) I was Lifestyle and Physical Activity Manager in the Mardyke Arena UCC Cork Ireland. We needed to close for a day due to hazardous weather. When we reopened we had to respect the law of the land and ask for the COVID-19 vaccine cert before we welcomed you in. The Omicron variant was starting to run rampant. I met more than one anti-vaxxer. Curiously they all stopped coming in when Omicron ran riot. I remember talking to Tommy in the Arena. “Will we shut down? What do we do with the vaccine mandate? Is this our new normal?” We had 5 minutes between patients and clients. The arena team never had any time to stand still. We were roaring in the arena. I remember saying a few things 1) Every Vaccine mandate in history has been eliminated because the vaccine helps control the disease 2) We’re overdue for a streak. My way of reminding people we will get on top but yes right now we’re under the cosh 3) Our place is roaring our members and patients are riding the wave. I think this is us punching threw. We didn’t know what we were seeing. We’d been there in January 2021 when the place was empty. We felt it in December 2020 when things were about to take a turn for the worst. In 2021 something felt different. It was different I was parkrunning again. It felt like we were clawing our way back.

Fast forward to 2022 I’m married, moved to Dublin, expecting our first child in May 2023, working for the most advanced IT division in the state, studying artificial intelligence, living in Dublin and attending Cabinteely parkrun because it’s near a place we can review a potential parkrun stroller and yes life hasn’t just changed it’s jumped a shark. Things feel different again. Cabinteely??? Didn’t I just click on the Malahide blog? Yes you did. This blog was about Cabinteely until most of Dublin called off parkrun due to ice the night before and with only Malahide parkrun left standing I drove their to keep my hopes of hitting 40 parkruns in a calendar year alive. I’m at 39 out of 40 as of finishing Malahide parkrun on December 10th & 17th 2022.

Journey to parkrun

The day before parkrun was chaos our landowner in Tramore Valley parkrun Cork advised us to cancel that morning. The ice he reckoned wasn’t going to lift. We only needed a glance at the photos to cancel. The rest of the day was spent communicating the message to our participants. At this stage I’m of the belief stage Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp and the red tag on the website simply aren’t enough to communicate that we’re cancelled. We’re still missing people but that could be Christmas time as well and we haven’t had that switch off for a while.

Once I had exhuasted all the communication strategies available. I turned to the parkrun cancellations list. My hopes were pinned on Griffeen. The following morning just after 8 am dressed in many layers of Lycra and sipping coffee Griffeen cancelled. They hung in there as long as they could. I was disappointed. Everything has changed for me but parkrun has stayed steady. I was close to giving up and going back to bed until I remembered Malahide still wasn’t off.

Next I took a risk. I had read that Malahide was better maintained and we could run on the grass. I fired up the car and let the windscreen thaw and started driving slowly to North Dublin. Just outside Ranelagh I had to pullover Google Maps had frozen. I didn’t know that Google technology gave up in the cold. I refreshed the Malahide Facebook page and seen the message below. I flicked over to Apple maps and continued to Malahide. The last time I was up in North Dublin was a disastorous Dublin Half Marathon Newbridge Demense. Read more about that here. This was totally different.

December 17th 2022 Visit

This wasn’t anywhere near as exciting as the previous. We went via the port tunnel and listened to Christmas music.

Course | December 10th 2022

I arrived at 9:27 am jumped out of the car and ran to the start line. Remember I didn’t know where I was going? I just followed the Lycra line to the start. We ran 3 laps around the golf course. This is not the normal course but the ice neccessitated a course change. We had to get up on the grass in parts. Some dare devils amongst us ran on through the iced parts and provided entertainment as they slipped and fell comically. The Marshals could not have been more clear standing right in front of the iced parts pointing left and right. All you had to do was take direction.

Course | December 17th 2022

The Run Director gave a rousing speech. Amongst the highlights included a reminder ‘There will be about 180 of you participating. Your all marshals look out there on the course for each other ‘. ‘I heard people say last week it was all about fun. It should be fun every week maybe this week isn’t a PB week that being said the first finisher last week ran a PB.’ All sensible advice. Then he finished with one of you fast people will need to help with scanning.’ Decide amongst yourself who it will be. I decided for everyone I’d volunteer.

You’re led down to the middle grass land by the pitch and putt course. You’ll chase across the field and onto the outskirts of the golf course for one short lap. The second lap involves a left turn and a journey south through some perfectly kept forest. The route is mostly flat with an impeccable surface. The finish is an incline up by the pitch and putt club and then a drop onto a straight for a fast finish.

Live a Little | December 10th 2022

I ran past a snow covered Golf course that looked like a winter wonderland. If you’re there in Winter take that in. Don’t forget the Avoca café. I went in and got my wife a Christmas present after parkrun. Have coffee and cake there as well you won’t regret that. I scored a parkrun bingo point. In the parkrun world of chrome extensions your times are record and matched to the bingo card 00:00 to 00:59. The idea is to fill the bingo card. I have not chalked a time in a while mostly because I have 8 spaces left but it was a nice bonus today to chalk this one off. I also met Mike the first Event Director in the Republic of Ireland. He was there enjoying a walk with his dog. Ten years on and he was still enjoying parkrun. I could see myself in his shoes in Tramore Valley someday but not yet for now I need to keep growing that teams strength. They’ve grown faster than I could have imagined. They’ve made friends in Ballincollig and Glen River parkrun. I’m looking forward to being like Mike watching it all go on, enjoying parkrun and not having to lift a finger.

Live a Little | December 17th 2022

On the south side of the park as you turn to run through the forest the sun will stream over the field take a second to enjoy. The wet glass glistened the morning I was there. I t felt great to be a live

Volunteers | December 10th 2022

The volunteers stood stead fast and encouraged us all the way. It may have been freezing cold but the volunteer welcome was warm and hearty. If you want to volunteer email malahide@parkrun.com. This team have a legacy that will inspire you.

Volunteers | December 17th 2022

I volunteered as a fast finisher barcode scanner. I had a good chat with a Cork man Sean. He asked “where I was from?” and then promptly followed with “You can’t ask where your from anymore” shrinking. And right on cue the political side blog has arrived. You can ask me where I’m from no problem. No the royal family shouldn’t ask where you’re really from? As we’re 100 years past the British Monarchy in the Republic of Ireland we can safely ignore all society related advice from them or you can buy that the Monarchy was appointed by god to rule you for eternity. I was a bit worried to meet this again in Ireland but reassured people have started to shake it off. I also sold PBs for €5 as volunteer. I made no money but I made some new friends.

Conclusion & Quote of the Week

“If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.” Alfred Nobel

It’s a good idea to visit Malahide. It will make your day.