Another year – Another Raheny 5.
I don’t think there is another road race which I ran more often than the 5 Miles through Raheny. And without a doubt the Raheny 5 is worth every visit. Irish road racing in perfection.
To hype me up for the race I was listening yet another time to the brilliant Competitor podcast with the legendary Eamonn Coghlan. If you haven’t listen to it – go and grab it. What a gent!
The Sun was up and it was cold. No rain in sight and no wind. Perfect for running!
Raheny town was busy as always when the races are on. With junior and walk races combined with the main event there is a good crowd and a nice atmosphere around the place. I warmed up in St.Anne’s Park and made it exactly on time for the start. I wanted to run a controlled race this time.
Usually I do not use a watch but changed that this time. The Garmin was set for 1K split times and it worked pretty well. I settled in with my pace and it worked out very well. The big advantage was that I knew the course. Raheny is tricky as it starts of nicely and then has a long uphill stretch followed by a long downhill stretch towards the Howth road. Cruise control was on as I was hitting the miles in exactly the pace I wanted to. The race flew by and I was holding back as I knew that the hill back up to the finish is the “make or break” point of the race. This time I had enough left to “make it”.
“You’ll never be happy with a race…” Darren was saying after the run. And sure, there is always more to aim for, especially in running. I’m happy with the race as I was running controlled and not on another suicide mission. 27:56 was on the clock. Time for the after race Pizza at “Steps of Rome”.
Rosso di sera bel tempo si spera. Nog 70 dagen te rotterdam…
