The Courtbrack 5 km (June 28th @ 8 pm)

The Courtbrack 5 km race is the new kid on the block in the Cork road racing scene. This new kid comes with all the right ideas with children taking part, a friendly upbeat atmosphere, a challenging course and of the course the essential cup of tea at the end. I was delighted to see the children taking part unfortunately we live in an era where schools insurance makes running in the yard a violation of the rules. Culturally, I think we can draw a straight line between our compensation culture and our childhood obesity rate. If we have to outlaw running at school to avoid bankrupting the school (through high insurance premiums) we should remember that kids spend a substantial amount of time at school and if the culture there says being active in a certain way is wrong why are we surprised by the rising inactivity and obesity rate in Irish children?

Anyway as usual I digress into a public health issue but never the less the Courtbrack 5 km allowed the children to run in the race and I thought it was brilliant, the kids went crazy at the start with all inhibitions released and the freedom to explore their running potential granted they soaked it up. Watching them finish the race was inspirational they knew it was tough but I got the impression from joking with them after that the alternative of sitting at the end waiting for there parents, Aunts, Uncles, brothers, sisters or friends to finish wasn't what they wanted. If anyone out in Courtbrack is reading keep the kids involved.

The Race

To finish the Courtbrack 5km with a fast time you needed a strategy. The course goes uphill for the first 2.8km.

The up hill sections were more of a drag and at times in the first half and I found myself slowly crawling at a pace of 5:05 per km. The course turned down after 2.8 km and if you want to accelerate this is your chance to catch up. This is exactly what I did. I didn’t have it all my own way at 3.7 km we went up another small slope. Rather than sit back and wait for the hill to turn down I attacked it.

At that point the cost benefit analysis was simple I had just under a mile to go. I felt I could take the hill and still have some energy left in reserve to push myself over the finish line. I came over the hill and my chest was raging. My lungs were stabbing me repeatedly and forcing my mind to think give up and go home. I couldn’t do that I was swept away in the excitement of finishing another race. My self talk kept saying push harder.....STOP WHEN YOU’RE DONE. 

I came across the line with a time of 21 minutes and 34 seconds. I was 38 seconds off my personal best on a hard course. In the big picture looking ahead to the Dublin Marathon 2018 I am making progress. I have lost 3 kg I'm getting faster in training.  Consistent refinement is now paramount with less 120 days to the Marathon start line.