Rock n Roll – Dublin Half Marathon

Getting to Dublin is a bit of a hassle, but it was well worth it.  We drove to Holyhead and took the ferry, and it was all a bit of an adventure.

All week I watched the weather forecasts, which predicted wind and rain, but on the day it was grey and cool to start with, improving to sunny intervals after an hour or so.  Great running conditions.

The event took place on Sunday 11 August. It started very early – 0800 in the middle of Dublin, next to Trinity College.  It was so early that there were few spectators for the first few miles, so having a band every mile was welcome. 

We ran a wiggly, fairly level route through the city before running up into and around the enormous Phoenix Park – it is meant to be the largest urban park in Europe.  There were hills in the park!  But I had decided to stick to the 2:15 pacers and although in the last kilometre or so I fell about 100 metres behind them, all my previous events and sheer bloody mindedness meant that I finished in 2:15:13, the best time that I have done in about 10 years.

There was much music and general celebration at the end, and a free beer if you could bother to queue.  All I wanted was a strong coffee and a shower!

Well done Val Kirby. Val’s completed 11 of her 12 races in the run up to her 70th birthday, raising money for Alzheimer’s Research. You can support her at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/val-kirby1