Urban Trail Event
23rd February 2013, Marlay Park
4.4km and 8.8km
Perhaps I was looking a bit too comfortable on the sideline when coach Greally drew up my race plan for 2013. “A variety of different events across the four provinces to be completed by the close of the year” he suggested. Bearing in mind that I class myself as the clichéd female of the MAMIL species, mature active mum in leggings, I was up for the challenge. “When do I start,” I asked, already thinking of the numerous goody bags, souvenir t-shirts and new shoes that I was going to need.
So to kick off the Sole Sister series I took on the Urban Trails 4.4km event on Saturday in Marlay Park along with 750 other competitors. An opportunity for pavement pounders like myself to let loose through the undergrowth for either the 4.4km or 8.8km options. Seeing the occasional handbag being deposited in the baggage area was a good sign that this was going to be a very mixed field. Phew!
“It’s great for newcomers” said Miriam Maher (25) from Muckalee, Co Kilkenny who is a PE teacher in Loreto Foxrock. “It’s not on the road and has two distances below 10km which is perfect for so many people.”
The course was reasonably flat with a mix of open fields, a short single file trail and a small river jump, well marked out with plenty of friendly marshals on hand. Even as a regular runner in the park I was surprised to find some little nooks and crannys I wasn’t aware of.
In true urban warrior style, Ciaran Johnson (47) caught two busses from Castleknock to take part in the longer distance which was his first event of this kind. “I started running about three years ago and this was brilliant. I totally enjoyed it and delighted that the new trail shoes paid off,” says the IT security specialist who is FIT magazine’s biggest fan, assuring me he has every issue since it started. Giving it up for team Deliotte was Shauna Bonner (25) along with 14 members of their 200 strong corporate running group. But the real crowd pleasers on the day were Nastro with his owner Maire Mahon (33) from Greystones and Bella with her owner Sebastien Mahony (32) from Bray. It was a first for both rescue dogs and Maire while Sebastien has previously represented Ireland in Cani Cross.
This was a nice tight race organized by OutFront Events with good WC facilities and a very social free grazing post race spread which included plenty of fresh fruit and fruit cake. With a total of 207 finishers in the 4.4km race, my performance on the day gained me 26th overall and 2nd female over 40. Chuffed!
