The inaugural running of the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon in West-Cork saw three Germans running and me doing my first road race after the injury. Expectations weren’t too high but the visit of friends from home made the race something special.

After all the cancellations in the last weeks lots of people were keen to race. The Waterford Half Marathon got cancelled as well and so a good number of runners showed up for the 10k, Half-Marathon and Marathon distances. Fabian, Hannes and I had a shot on the 10k.

The weather was cold but perfect for a run. A bit later than expected and unusual for my German friends (so used to on-point start times back home…) the race started with 25 minutes delay.

Hannes was our pace maker and after the usual start hectic we were cruising through Clonakilty. As we were running out of the city towards Inchidoney Island i lost the contact to the leading pack which was down to 2 irish runners, Hannes and Fabian. The boys were in sight but i could not catch them again. I decided to stay with my rhythm and i could see them all the time in front of me.

Shortly before Inchidoney Island the marathon route went on straight ahead and the 10k route made a sharp right turn. At this stage i could see that i had a huge gap to the next runner behind me. The 4 boys were still 80 meters up front and Fabian started to test the competition.

When i came to the next junction i thought i had to turn right towards Clonakilty. I asked the marshallls if i had to turn, but they were sending me straight on down the road. I was surprised as i thought to know the course.

After approximately 5 minutes Alan O’Shea, the leader and eventual winner of the Half Marathon, overtook me. Shortly after Alan passed me a car came up and told me that i was on the wrong course. I was angry as i saw that Fabian was on the way to pull ahead of the 10k lead pack. The driver told me to turn around. I never thought things like this happen. But they do.

So i turned around and ran back towards the junction. The race was over for the first 5 men. Fabian looked the strongest and i was angry because he could not execute.

As i crossed the finish line in Clonakilty everybody knew already about the incident. I met my friend Shane and he told me he “won” the race. He did not look happy and gave all his prices to charity. When Hannes and Fabian arrived a couple of minutes later we could only laugh about what had happenend out there. Welcome to Ireland!

I was just browsing the “Invited Runners (Overseas)” Entry List of this sunday’s 64th Fukuoka International Marathon.

One guy immediately caught my attention. It was Dmitry Safronov. A 29 year old russian marathoner.

Nothing really exiting so far. But what caught my special attention was his body height. For a top marathoner he sports incredible 190cm. That is exactly the same height i have to deal with.  But the next fact worried me. His body weight is stated as 70kg. That is really incredible and hard to believe for me – That’s a BMI of 19.4! My body weight usually bounces between 78kg and 81kg (BMI 22.2). Another 10kg lighter – how is that going to work?

The question could be answered pretty easy as his passport was issued in russia. Anyway – “Slim Dim” has a PB of 2:11:51 which gives him enough time to get showered and have (his usual small portion) food until he can shake hands with me as i cross the finish line. Kind of motivating to see him a bit earlier. Same height – same speed?

Maybe i should loose those 10kg. Maybe…

EDIT: Dmitry finished 2nd in a time of 2:10:12 (new PB) 

National Geographic is once again holding their annual Photo Contest. For the past months, they have been gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to rate them as well.

The picture shown above is called “Liquid Planet” taken by Freddy Cerdeira . Another picture from the Liquid Vision Series, which shows a different point of view of waves. An angle that people are not used to seeing.

ireland.com/weather states it: “3°C Very Cold – 19km Light Winds, NE”

Snow and ongoing cold temperatures between -10°C and 5°C is not the usual here in Ireland. Back roads are closed off with snow and people with slicky all year tires and BMW’s are wondering why there is no controlled movement on a snowy road – Hard luck folks!

Hard luck for me as well as i have to deal with the cancelation of the “2010 Jingle Bells 5K” in Phoenix Park this Saturday. The race is a classic in the racing calendar but unfortunately the organizers, Donore Harriers, state on their website… 

POSTPONEMENT OF JINGLE BELLS 2010

Due to the current weather and the likelihood that it will continue into the weekend, Donore Harriers have decided to postpone the 2010 Jingle Bells 5K until 11am, Saturday, 18th December.

We apologize for any inconvenience but the weather unfortunately is beyond our control and the safety of participants, spectators and park users is our priority.

We look forward to seeing you on the 18th of December.

Instead of getting the legs pumping at the 5K it looks like jogging and biking so. Hard luck!

Protesters filled the streets of Dublin to speak out against the government’s handling of the economy and austerity plans. 

The International Chiba Ekiden is an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race, or ekiden as it is known in Japan, is one of the prominent annual races of its kind. The competition is split into six legs which combine to make up the marathon distance of 42.195 km.

2010年　国際千葉駅伝　第2中継所

I needed to start somewhere. The Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Champs in Tymon Park were the ideal place to get back into racing after the injury.

For my first ever Cross Country race i did not expect to much. I am not a big fan of excuses so i wont start here with pointing out a very busy week in work with nearly no training 😉 Anyway – i wanted to run. I needed that kick in the ass and an eye-opener.

Crusaders had a team of 11 men lined up. The turnout for the Dublin Champs was overall good and the 8K course in Tymon Park was varied and challenging enough.

No surprise that the whole race was tough for me. With nearly no speedwork and no cross country specific training it was a hard run. I made the best out of it. Got stuck in and fought my way through the park. At the end i was delighted to had a pain free run. I did not check the time or the overall result. I just kept the positive feeling of beeing back…

Another positive side of the day was the overall win for Crusaders. Lots of delighted faces in the Cru and “Bonfires in Dublin 4″ as Pat “2:17:46” Hooper was joking at the award ceremony. First cross country title for the club in years!

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