All posts in Marathon

Gary O`Hanlon ran his 4th marathon of the year today in Valencia, Spain finishing in 31st place in 2.18.15. This was only a minute off his PB from this year`s Dublin City Marathon (2.17.11), and completes a fine quartet of 2018 Marathons: Cork 2.21.09, Berlin 2.19.06, Dublin 2.17.11 and Valencia 2.18.15.

A great spot by Mark McDonald. Clonliffe’s Killian Lonergan, a great guy for pulling up the stats world wide made his marathon debut, but told no one, in last weekend’s New York City Marathon 2.59.33.

Maurice McCrohan: This blog will be like a joint HBO/Sky Atlantic production in favour of my two running groups, Clonliffe Harriers and TT racers. I will leave my third running group River Valley Park Run out as that would just really confuse.

The real countdown to New York started during my vantage point at the 800M from home cheering on the Dublin Marathon  .Shouting encouraging to my close running pals and training partners .I realised this is my next week!

Pre marathon week was a treading on egg shells, avoiding injury kind of thing. All was going well, until I stood barefoot on a three pin plug the day before travelling! There really is only so much pain a man can endure!

I ran a few miles to keep me sane, got a sports massage, and ate more than usual, but not too much more crap than usual. I did also drink soya milk lattes in reverence to my Sunday vegan training partners, Eimear and Kieran!

The St Lukes marathon fundraiser has led to even more well-wishers than usual. But like Harry Potter and the Muggles, I dealt with many strange questions from Non-runners (Ruggles?) who just don’t get us. . They ask question such as;

Ruggle: “Are you running the Marathon? YES.

Ruggle: How long is it??!!WTF!

Ruggle: What’s it like to hit the wall? That’s actually not a bad question?

Ruggle: If I start training from scratch now, could I run a marathon in 6 months? Yes, But, it might hurt a bit!

Ruggle: How much times do you run a week? When I answer the question they suddenly change the subject to Ryanair, crazy people you meet on the Luas and do use Air BNB?

So I set off with the family for NYC on Friday 2^nd November. Our hotel Radisson Martinique was in a great central midtown location. Security on the door 24/7 to deal with any “walks ins” issues.

I recalibrated my bearings on Saturday morning and found the route to the NYC Marathon Expo via breakfast at a classic diner Tick Tocks.The Expo was slick, commercial, but a tad expensive if you wanted the official race souvenirs. The Dublin marathon stand was unpersonned when I went past at 09.15am.They must have had a good night out?

Saturday afternoon was spent on a pilgrimage to the greatest Arsenal supporters bar in the world. The Blind Pig in east village. The difficulty on arrival was that its reputation precedes tithe bar was far too busy too comfortably watch the match against Liverpool.

My pre-race meal was the one bad meal we had in NYC.An inedible pasta in TGI Fridays (I am building here..!)

Further disaster struck that night. Pre-race porridge is part of my marathon routine. However, the Radisson did not start breakfast til 6.30am.

Was there a night porter, I asked? Not at 5am?

Do you have a microwave, I can access at that time? No sir!

So, in the city that never sleeps, I was stuck with the one hotel service that can’t get out of bed?

So, there I was at 5am evening a cold museli breakfast. No porridge. I was like Dumbo without the nose peg! How was I going to perform?

The logistics of NYC Marathon are such that you have to raise very early.50k runners have to get across to the Staten Island race HQ. I was at the Ferry terminal at 5.30am, four hours pre-race. The transfers ran very smoothly.the race village well lay out, But, we were fortunate weather wise. A cold wet day would be horrible there.

Another downside is there no room to warm up, so after 3 hours standing or lying around it is straight into it running up and across a spectacular bridge!

My fellow runner from TT Shane “the post man “ McCauley was on the orange start ,parallel to the blue elite start, Due to the lane stagger effect ,he  had  his 15 minutes of fame, as he was parallel to    the lead pack early on!

The crowds were amazing in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens during the first half of the race. My energy levels dropped at half way which I had reached at 1.35ish.It was not the day for heroics, So, I switched  my cheap Casio watch back to zero and ran 2^nd half as a timed run.

There was one more gruelling bridge at 16^th mile before you hit a wall of noise on 1^st Avenue.  We touched on the Bronx around 20 miles before a great buzz of music ad noise as we ran through Harlem.

I was out on my feet at 21miles. The eyes were delirious. .I thought I saw a sign saying Meath GAA on tour but, it was actually a Billboard for Mean Girls the Musical!

I parked at 22.5 miles as I spotted Kieran Murphy; He was all set for revenge for my blasting his good ear out 800 M home in Dublin. Kieran knew from my demeanour, not to kick a man when he was down. I broke the running ice and said, “just take a photo my time has gone! “

I trudged through a wall of noise in Central Park, going out the back by the minute. I crossed at 3, 32 Not one of my better days!

The running gods were still taunting me after. My baggage truck was the furthest away from the finish. I then had to get back to Columbus circle to meet the family, an hour over the scheduled rendezvous, with no we fi connection to contact them!

I was at 78^th trying to get to 58 Street. The long walk started until I started negotiating with various rickshaw drivers! I negotiated a cheap rate and eventually got to meet the family. By them Shane “the postman” MacAuley had delivered a 2.54 and was tucked up in bed in his Air BnB!

That was my second NYC. The long day and bridges make it a difficult course. But, the crowds make it one of the best experiences you will ever have.

We had a ball on the trip. We met Shane and motivator Kieran for dinner in an excellent Italian restaurant near Times Square. I had forgotten the pain mentally, if my legs had not physically! Onwards and upwards, I am in the lottery for Berlin 2019.As for Dublin, the competition at Male 055 Is not letting up at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the training year with the old and the new training colleagues. Running was a great stress reliever in a difficult year personally. My family are overwhelmed at the response to the St Lukes Oncology fundraiser.

We have raised 2,120 Euro to date for a great cause! The page closes on 12/11/2018.

The link is attached  if you still want to contribute   https://www.idonate.ie/MauriceMcCrohan

Cheers

Maurice “mo. McCrohan

Just like Strictly Come Dancing the results are in! We have now received confirmed results for both the Leinster Marathon Championships and Dublin Marathon Championships. Both Championships of course being incorporated, along with the National Championships, in the Dublin City Marathon.

Clonliffe athletes who have already enjoyed success in the National marathon have also been successful in the Leinster and Dublin Championships.

The men’s team of Gary O’Hanlon, Sergiu Ciobanu and David Flynn, who of course are national champions are also Leinster and Dublin champions with Gary 2^nd in Leinster and Sergiu 3^rd in both Leinster and Dublin.  In the Masters category Kieran Murphy won Leinster M55 gold and in the Master M70 Frank Behan won Leinster gold.  In the women’s Leinster Championships the Clonliffe Women’s M35 team of Sinead Hartnett, Aideen Brady and Mary Ketterer took Leinster silver with Sinead and Aideen taking individual silver and bronze.

Moving on then to the Dublin Marathon Championships again Kieran Murphy was 1^st M55 and Frank Behan 1^st M70. In the women’s championship Sinead Hartnett was 2^nd W35 with Aideen Brady 3^rd W35 and both combined with Mary Ketterer to win Dublin M35 team gold.

Finally on the marathon round up Maurice McCrohan ran 3 hours 32 minutes in the New York City marathon over the weekend (Maurice’s blog no doubt will follow soon).

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Maurice McCrohan: My running has reached the stage of   wanting to drink a cup from the Elixir of Age! That is a longing for the next age group milestone in order to remain competitive.  I enjoyed a comeback marathon in Dublin 2017,which gained me  age group qualification for New York 2018 and a return to the Big Apple,  some 11 years  on from a 3;01!.

I am a month away from a return to New York. The 3qtr Marathon was my final race .but is it a race? Is it a just a  LSR (long slow run) with bells on? The organisers and seemingly most entrants view this event as a final warm up for Dublin. The organisers suggest it is run with the reins on as they say! Hold a bit back!

Can a race ever not be a race? Can you hold back when the gun goes and you pass the first water station? When you pass a group do you push on? When you are overtaken by a GAA top, can you not resist the urge to take on these interlopers!

All this and more went through my head yesterday. The venue is very convenient .Less than an hour from home, just passed Enfield M4 (I have a mate who moved from Enfield London to Enfield Meath? How bizarre is that?) Parking is easy to find and you don’t get boxed in after! I arrived at RACE HQ to be met with a mad MC doing a one man sing, dance, information routine. Changing facilities, showers and copious amounts of Tayto Crisp sandwiches post-race. What more could a runner want? Well this runner with genetic high cholesterol probably should not want a feast of crisp sandwiches! But needs must after a 2.24 Run!

The runners are more relaxed than normal race events. This is not the main target for most if not all the participants. Three or four weeks before the main event, this is ideal preparation. There were pacer balloons for 3hour marathon .3, 30 and may be a 4hour group also.

I  set off behind the 3hour pacers.I know in my heart and my head my  sub 3  days are gone.So,old sensible head said hang back. That’s what I did. The only downside was I ran on my own .No group to hang in .So, mentally it was a good run. The course is picturesque through Meath country side. A little undulating, but no major hills.

As mentioned above, the crisps sandwiches,as well as the  tea and hot showers hit the mark. It’s a run, race, event that I recommend as part of the autuimn marathon schedule.

My running network has pulled me through some difficult times at home in the last year. From Clonliffe, Declan “who needs a coach”? Power, who called round to get me back jogging, Kieran Murphy who supported our family  when we were at Beaumont Hospital .Kieran  also for  hammering me on his infamous “Kieran surges”  up the Khyber pass on our so called long slow runs! Jeremy Chapman for wise counsel and support at the Hague Half.

Clonliffe sessions and Grand Prix races gave me focus. The Garda HQ Sunday group were a great incentive to get me out of bed on a Sunday.TT Racers group lunchtime group, most of whom I know more by tee shirt, running gait, and breathing pattern than name were as important twice a week.

I am running the New York Marathon on 4th November 2018 to raise funds for the Friends of St Luke’s Beaumont/Rathgar.I attach below the link to the fundraising page. My family will really appreciate any donations.

https://www.idonate.ie/MauriceMcCrohan

Cheers

Maurice “mo” McCrohan

The phenomenal world marathon record set last Sunday by Eliud Kipchog of 2.01.39 would not have been possible without the involvement of former Clonliffe Harrier Josphat Boit. Boit was one of the team of pacemakers put in place for the record attack, however, at 15km things were looking a little uncertain as two of the three pacemakers had gone leaving Boit as the sole pacemaker.  Undeterred, however, Boit stuck to the task taking Kipchog through 20 km in 57.56 and then to halfway in 61.06, a mere 6 seconds off the hoped for split.

All of ten years ago now Boit, who was a training partner of Alistair Cragg arrived in Dublin and joined Clonliffe Harriers. Throughout that summer of 2008 and indeed into 2009 he was the dominant athlete on the roads of Dublin winning road race after road race including notably the Dublin 10 mile in the Phoenix Park in 49.22.  An impressive time for ten miles in the best of venues but in Dublin’s hilly Phoenix Park was sheer class.

At the National senior track and field championships in 2008 he became the 3rd Clonliffe athlete to win the national 10,000 winning in Morton Stadium in 29.44.55.

Also that year at the Morton Memorial Meet (later to become the Morton Games) he won the 3 mile, as Clonliffe marked the 50th anniversary of the World Mile and Three Mile records set in Santry back in 1958.

The Kenyan athlete became a US citizen in 2012 boasts times in his armoury for 3000 of 7.43.30, 5000: 13.17.12 and 10,000 of 27.40.64. He moved up to the marathon and in 2014 recorded a time in Boston of 2.12.52.

(2008, National 10,000 Champion Josphat Boit, Clonliffe Harriers)