Limerick Through A Lens

Frazzled from not sleeping and bursting for a leak, I arrive at my city centre B+B to a pleasant woman who greets me in a lyrical accent such that makes me think the city could have no better name.

I’m here to capture the city on camera by photographing the marathons, the Riverfest,  and the night life. As it stands I’ve missed the start of the marathon and the start of the half-marathon. I hastily organise my camera and bag, punch O’Connell Street into Google maps, and look in horror at the estimation of it being 37 minutes walk to get there. It’s currently 1.50 so I estimate that I have about 15 minutes to get to the finish line to capture the half-marathon winners. Continue reading “Limerick Through A Lens”

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Great Limerick Run 2016: “Waste of a Good Day’s Drinking,” says local.

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The Great Limerick Run today saw 14,000 people take to the streets to undertake the various races of which it is comprised. It includes a full marathon, a half marathon, and a six mile race.

Every runner has their own unique reason to run: some run to win, some run because of peer pressure, some run to raise money for charity, and some run to motivate themselves to shed a few pounds so as to become a slimmer, sexier version of themselves.

There is great support along the route and some spectators observe the goings on while swilling a few cans of cider. I encountered two such supporters along the route who were roaring, encouragingly, “C’mon lads, dig deep, dig deep.” Impressed by this obvious enthusiasm, I asked the men what they thought of the race, to which the swift reply was, “Waste of a good day’s drinking!” This was followed by much guffawing, as if the fellow believed himself to have made a very good joke.

Negative commentaries aside, it is clear that the participants in the race were having a good time with some participants minding their children and catching up with friends while going the distance. It just goes to show that there are in fact enough hours in the day if one is simply good at multitasking, which clearly many Limerick women are.

The full marathon was won by  40 year old Martin Doody from Caherdavin, Co Limerick. The first woman home was Dublin’s Ciara Hickey, with Peter Somba winning the 6 mile race.

It is clear, however, that most participants couldn’t give a fudge about the winners and were merely out to have a good time.

Galway COW news, reporting live from Limerick.

Trees and ADHD

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It has been scientifically proven by leading experts in the field of Treeology that humans are, in fact, evolved from trees.

Dr Treesdum of the Scientific Institute of Treeology explained his theory at a recent conference in Treeburg. According to him, all character flaws are not in fact flaws, but are all rooted in how far evolved from trees that each individual is. To illustrate this, he states, “ADHD is not actually a medical condition that needs to be treated with highly toxic drugs,  but is actually a branch of evolutionary progress which, in times long past, was essential to mankind’s progression from trees in the depths of African jungles into people in the Northern Hemisphere.” He explains, “Some people, like trees, are forever rooted to the same spot and are excellent candidates for factory work, shop work, office work, or any other job that effectively requires that a person stay in the same place for extended periods of time.” He went on, “The roots of what we call ADHD may have actually been a genetic mutation which triggered trees to shed their roots and explore further in their environment. There can be no doubt that this evolution led to the discovery of America, Australia, and basically anywhere else on earth that isn’t Africa.”

When asked to elaborate further, he said, “While the ADHD gene caused trees, and subsequently people, to uproot themselves and explore other countries, it is now of a somewhat problematic nature since the furthest regions of the world are now overpopulated and it’s now more evolutionarily advantageous to carry the gene for being rooted to the spot, since most modern means of survival involve this kind of stationary existence.” He stressed, “ADHD is not a medical condition to be treated with drugs but one which needs to be understood as something which evolution, at one point, favoured.”

When asked where his crazy theory originated, he said, “When I began my studies in biology, I was startled by how visually similar the branches of nerves and lung tissue were to trees which had lost all of their leaves. They say trees are ‘the lungs of the earth’ and it’s hardly a coincidence, but we now know that the truth is so much more than this.”

He concluded by saying, “While the current state of the world is difficult for people with ADHD, such people should not lose hope, ” he continued, “ADHD will again become a crucial part of human evolution, and afflicted persons will no doubt be perfect candidates for space exploration.”