“He didn’t get the ride,” I hear a gray haired man opposite me say as I sit down in a tea shop on my arrival in a rainy Ennis. For a split second I wonder what kind of kinky den of iniquity I’m after arriving in. (Photos on Facebook here: #1, #2) Continue reading “One Day In Ennis”
As the bus pulls up in Ballina, Co Mayo, the first thing I see is an abandoned looking building that has an old style bike and till in the window and so when off the bus I back track and then spot a sign for The Four Maols Dolmen which is just a little way up the road. (Photos on Facebook: #1, #2) Continue reading “One Day In Ballina”
Arriving in Cork with what appears to me to be a clear cut case of the Black Death, I expect I’ll spread it to all of the Cork natives, wiping at least half of them off the face of the planet. (All photos on Facebook here: #1, #2) Continue reading “One Day In Cork”
At 10am, I get off the bus in Tipperary town; it is cold. (All photos are on the Facebook page, Galway COW) In spite of putting on an extra layer this morning I can feel the icy morning air penetrating through to my core and I straightaway regret not packing gloves. Continue reading “One Day In Tipperary”
Arriving in Athlone at 7.30AM, after a sleepless night, I’m greeted by a gloomy, wet darkness and a light mist. (All photos are on Galway COW Facebook page here) The whole town is silent bar the sound of my Converse high tops slapping off the pavement. These are my super hero shoes, I always wear them when I am intent on getting stuff done, which is probably why they are so clean and new looking in spite of having had them for about two years. Continue reading “One Day In Athlone”
I jumped on the train to Limerick and just then realised I’d forgotten to charge my phone or bring my phone charger, and here’s what happened: I was bored out of my mind. (All photos from the day are on Facebook here).
After two hours of staring out the window about the only thing I registered throughout the whole 2 hour trip from Galway was a young woman getting on, pushing a buggy, in what appeared to be Mickey Mouse pyjamas.
Like a wild animal that wakes up hungry and must chase down its breakfast, I head to the starting line of the Dublin Marathon. I’ve been on a zero-carb diet for three months and made the discovery on a training marathon, that my fastest, easiest marathon distance was when I hadn’t eaten for about 20 hours. Continue reading “Running On Empty At The Dublin Marathon 2018”
‘That is, like, the most amazing bum I have ever seen,’ I think to myself as I am running the first few miles of the Great Limerick Run. ‘How in the name of God am I going to run behind that for the next three hours?’ I worry.
It’s truly so hypnotic that I can’t help but be distracted by it. I find myself craning my head downwards to look at it and I worry it’s going to ruin my posture and leave me with a sore neck at the end of the day. Continue reading “The Great Limerick Bum 2018”
I have been a patient of Dr Google’s for a long time. I fondly recall the first time I consulted him. I was around 21 and typed in my numerous symptoms.
Dr Google sprayed a long and impressive list of illnesses at me, among which were typhoid, brain cancer, pneumonia, sleeping sickness, malaria, kidney failure, and HIV to name just a few.
“Well, at least you finished,” was a sympathetic response I got from several runners when I told them I did the Connemarathon last Sunday in 5hours 20mins. Most of these people had done sub 4 hours.
To this sympathetic tone and sincere look of pity, I felt the need to defend my manhood.
“I was wearing these barefoot shoes, see,” said I, showing them my VFFs as proof, “I’m doing Limerick in two weeks in ‘normal’ shoes and expect I’ll do sub 4 hours.”
Continue reading “Losing With Style At The Connemara Marathon 2018”
