Dublin Marathon 2016 – Richie Mills
I was standing outside a portaloo when my wave started. I was actually facing the wrong way and hadn’t even realised as I was waiting for a friend to relieve some last minute nerves. She emerged and we turned to find the entire street empty. We jogged up to the start line, had a quick hug and wished each other luck and set off on our first marathon.
It was a bit surreal turning onto Leeson St with the large crowd having only us to cheer, felt kind of special!! I had planned to stick with the 4hr pacers but they were well out of sight. I was a little annoyed but in hindsight it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. No pacers and no crowds meant I could settle into my own pace and get into a nice rhythm. First km went by quick, 5.18, way too quick, I backed off, it was going to be a long day, slow and steady! My friend decided to go on and we wished each other luck again.
It was great running through town, big smile, 5.40 for the next km, perfect. Being at the back meant all the slow people were infront of me and picking off the back markers, even at this early stage was very satisfying. I spotted a Pulser up ahead and slowly reeled her in. Eithne (Ironman) Connolly was settled into her own steady pace but my presence and excited chatter was not helping her heartrate. I was politely asked to feck off so I headed off up the road with a little chuckle.
My pace was good as I hit the quays but my heartrate was too high, I couldn’t get it below 165 and heading onto the uphill stretch in Stoneybatter certainly wasn’t helping. It was 175 by the time I reached the NCR, I eased off and tried to relax and had it down to 155 as I headed into the park.
The park is familiar territory, I grew up locally and still lived in the area, so it was a regular training ground and I had done my entire marathon training there. It was great getting to run up the middle of the road for a change and keeping an eye on the crowd for friends and family distracted from the long straight road. My family were at the Castleknock gate. Full on banner, each had their own sign too, it was brilliant. I stopped to give my nieces and nephews a quick hug and gave my heartrate strap to my sister as it had been slipping down around my belly and annoying me for a while. I made a note to self to put on more weight for future events to stop it happening again!!
10km done, quarter of the way there, it was amazing and slightly emotional running through my home village of Castleknock. I met more friends and old neighbours and felt on a high heading back towards the park and Chapelizod.
My foot had been giving me trouble for the last few months and becomes pretty painful after about an hours running. I’d only done 2 runs over 10km during training as I tried to protect it, but the adrenaline and couple of paracetamol and ibuprofen meant that it wasn’t until Inchicore before I felt the first twinge in my foot. I hadn’t been sure when I started whether I’d finish the race and had given myself a target of getting to halfway, but as I passed the 12 mile mark on the SCR I knew that if I had to crawl the last 10 miles I was going to finish it.
Dolphins Barn was incredible, just as Matt Bird had promised and I had a huge smile on my face as I headed towards Crumlin and the halfway banner. By now the foot was getting worse and the lack of miles in training was starting to catch up with me. I walked from the feed station to the halfway line and decided on a plan for the second half of the race. I was allowed to walk for a minute every time I reached a mile marker. 13 miles to go, so 12 walks and I’d be home.
The miles got steadily harder and the markers just wouldn’t come quick enough, the walk at each marker was a slight relief but getting running again took more and more effort. The crowds were amazing and the generosity is beyond belief. There were so many people handing out jellies and food. I grabbed a hand full at one stage but the jellies were awful and I threw them away when I got out of sight. I nabbed a banana then which went down a lot better.
I had spent the first half of the race looking around, trying to take it all in and enjoy the experience but as the miles ticked by I became less conscious of my surroundings and just focused on the few meters in front of me and the next mile marker. I was thrilled to see Dazz (never thought I’d say that!) somewhere around Bushy Park and even more thrilled to see the bottle of coke he was holding. His words of encouragement were as welcome as the drink.
At this stage I was through 17 miles, only 9 to go, psychologically that was huge, single figure miles to go. I usually work in km but the satisfaction of only having single digits to work with kept me going. The feed station on Orwell was much needed and I felt much better coming down into Milltown and the 20 mile mark. I kept hearing in the build-up that the marathon has 2 halves. The first 20 miles and the last 6 miles, but I was just thinking that it was 10km to go, my standard training run, the one I had done 10’s of times. I was on the home stretch.
The crowds in Milltown were great and it was super to see Rachael and Fiadhna. I stopped for a quick chat and a welcome break and then spotted an old work colleague on the other side of the road and went over to say hello. He hadn’t a clue who I was and he looked kind of relieved as the sweaty, hairy, probably rambling mess headed off up the hill towards home.
I spotted another Pulse top as I reached the top of the hill, Quainers, who despite starting the race in the wave behind me was somehow in front?? My chats on the side of the road were probably holding me up more than I thought!! We talked briefly as I passed but I think we were both too tired to talk and she ushered me up the road.
Clonskeagh to UCD can only be described as a Bitch!! I think I walked a good chunk of it but I was too tired to really care. My memory of this stage of the race is very hazy, my legs were like lead and I thought the hill would never end. I had heard previous finishers talk about heartbreak hill and I presumed this was it!! It was a bit of a shock then to turn a corner and see a big banner proclaiming “Heartbreak Hill”. The crowds were huge there and really loud and I was determined to run all the way up it. Near the top I spotted Ray D’Arcy and I ran over and shouted “high five Ray”, he duly obliged and I smiled for the first time in about an hour and half.
The 23 mile marker on the Stillorgan Road was another huge milestone. 5km to go and nearly all downhill. I knew the worst was over, the walks were of little relief to the foot at this stage and I decided I would try and run the rest of the way home. Seeing Leon on the flyover gave me a big lift and it felt great going on to the downhill of Nutley Lane.
Another Pulse top loomed in the distance and I slowly caught up. Niall Byrne, I thought maybe we could finish the last 3 km together but he wasn’t in a great place and told me to go on. This was the 3rd Pulser to tell me to run on, if I wasn’t so exhausted I think I would have been developing a complex!!
My run the rest of the way plan failed at the 25 mile marker, my legs were dead and I succumbed to a walk. Just over a mile to go, less than 2km, not even 10mins on a good day, I forced myself to run again.
In big races I like to think back over whole experience as I near the end. How far I’ve come and the sense of accomplishment and pride you feel in setting a difficult goal and achieving itl. But as I crossed the canal onto Mount St my mind was too exhausted to think of anything other than, left foot, right foot…
The finish line was a relief, I think I was too tired to really take any of it in and feel any real sense of satisfaction. I just craved a seat and a pint. I grabbed my bag and hobbled to O’Donoghues as quick as I could manage. Seeing all the Pulse finishers was awesome, nearly as good as the seat and pint of Guinness (thanks Cathy). It was then sitting amongst everyone that the realisation kicked in and the pride surfaced. I’m not one for hanging onto medals, but to have a marathon medal in the centenary year of 1916 is special, I’ll definitely be keeping this one!
