Great Limerick Run Half Marathon

Arrived in good time. It only took about an hour to drive from Galway to Limerick which left me plenty of time to park centrally, collect my race number, drop off the bag and run a couple of kms warm-up.

Conditions were very breezy. The sun had been out but it seemed to be more overcast as the half marathon was due to start. That was lucky for me but not so for the full marathoners who were out in the hotter conditions earlier on. Basically hotter than you would want but not too bad.

It was obvious that there were several good runners as I lined up at the start. The countdown was underway and the race started bang on time at 11:30am. I went straight into the lead group of about 6 or 7. There was a long steady climb after we had all rounded the first corner and it was time to settle into your running.

The first mile marker showed a split of 5:38 and I knew it was quicker than that so they were obviously way out. The group seemed to stay together for a couple of miles but after that it started to string out leaving me in the lead group of 4. That's how it remained for the next few miles. We all took a few turns running at the front but the reality was that I was having to work hard to stay in contention.

I kept telling myself I would give it one more mile but at about mile 5 I dropped off the back. At least I gave it a go. So I was left in 4th with the lead group of 3 slowly disappearing out of view. The course seemed pretty flat. There were some testing uphill drags and these were made much worse when you were running into the wind. I wasn't aware of how close the runners behind me were. This was made more difficult as we were running through the back of the marathon field which always has its moments...

At about halfway I just wanted the race to be over. It's so hard when you are racing by yourself and the concentration is very hard to maintain. I couldn't find any mile markers - I'm sure they were there but mentally I wasn't in the zone. I did spot the 10 mile marker which showed a time of 54:38. That was okay I suppose but I was still worried about hanging on to my position.

The last 3 and a bit miles were a real struggle. Lots of runner traffic at this stage and I was glad to make the final few turns down by the river as we headed back into the city centre for the finish. No sprint finish for me this time. I just plodded across the line and was happy to get the race completed. The time was 1:12:11 and I managed to hang on to 4th spot.

I can't really fault the organisation and set-up. Everything seemed to go to plan...apart from my own run. I didn't really get a chance to speak to many people at the end as I had to head back to Galway but I get the feeling a lot of people struggled out there. I was at least 2 minutes off the top 3 so in fairness 4th spot was the best I could have hoped for. That said, I'm a little disappointed with my time as I felt that sub 1:11 was possible but perhaps I gave up a little when it became apparent that the lead group were a little too hot for me.

The legs feel pretty good. It certainly doesn't feel like I've run a half so hopefully I recover okay. There is the start to the Galway 5km series on Tuesday so I may race then if I pull up okay. It looks live I'll live to fight another day.

I finished up with a 1km jog back to the car so all up 24.1km for the day and 70.2km for the week. Drinking beer and watching snooker now so happy. Judd going very nicely.