Free the (AXA) Raheny 5

I'm not a good flyer. I don't know whether to admire people who fly extensively and are impervious to the jeopardy of air turbulence, reverse thrust and the clandestine threat of the reinforced steel drinks trolley that they insist on wheeling out. I always feel I need to buy something from it to passify it, to appease the air gods. What is the Roman god of trolleys, anyway? 

So it was, last weekend, to be sure, as we took to the sky to Dublin to run the Raheny 5. The Irish National 5 mile Championships. A race that attracts 4000 competitors. A race that's got a reputation for fast times. A little bit of running tourism is what it was.

In fairness, our window of passage with Aer Lungburst was sandwiched between two low pressure systems, Eoywn and Herminia, so we had struck lucky. Cat had scouted out a small but perfectly serviced palatial next to Lansdowne Road on the south side of the City and I got a tad wet walking from the centre to the hotel.  I can add that I wasn't properly attired. We dumped the gear and the 3 of us ran four miles out along the dark, flat streets of the Suburbs for a shake-down before an evening meal in The Cow. From there we crossed the road and had a quick drink in the O'Shaugnessays. It was an early night. It was still raining outside. 

Come the morning we had a slap up breakfast and I helped myself to a pile of cheese to keep myself going until 3pm when the race was. We caught the Dart, the Dublin inner city train service to the centre. Wiping away the condensation with my sleeve, I sat peering out the window of the carriage. It was pouring. 

We had visions of spending an hour or two wandering around Dublin like the tourists we were, but the rain was so heavy, we repaired to cafe Nero. After coffee, I bit the bullet and took the gang to Primark to get a towel and umbrella. However, by this time the gear in my bag was already damp. After making a visit to Decathlon, where Ant made some purchases, we just hung around trying to keep warm. Shortly afterwards we grabbed a bus to Raheny on the north side, happy to be out of the rain again. 

We arrived very early and after picking up our numbers, we sat huddled in the corner of an old school hall trying to keep warm. As the crowd began to swell, folk were shaking the water off their winter jackets and dumping their wet bags all over the Hall. Behind us, on the low stage, was a wide assortment of housewares, such as sets of plastic plates, latte muggs and a toaster. I noticed the toaster was for the 1st F60. Crikey, I wondered if there was one for the 1st M60. If I was the lucky lad, would Michael O'Leary let me take it back across the Irish Sea without a 'extra baggage' surcharge? 

We changed into our vests and put our tracksuits back on and ventured out for a warm-up. The wind was dying down. Was it my imagination or was the rain receding also? By this time, with 15 minutes to go, the streets were jumping with all colour of Irish running vests. The Garda had closed the roads and there were plenty of supporters mulling around. 

We got back to the hall suitably warmed up and I jogged to the portaloos before the start, as there were no handy bushes to hide behind. Such were the queues, that I began to time the folk in front to see if I was going to miss the start, and I only just made it to the start, squeezing through the gates with around three or four hundred in front of me. Not ideal. Was this going to be another start like Dribblehead, where I spent ages trying to get past folk? The gun went and we began to shuffle forward. It was almost a full minute before I crossed the line, but after that I never looked back and it was full gas for 5 miles. I passed a rake of folk - always a mystery why they would be up front near the start. 

My pace was good and I felt fine. Both the wind and rain had dropped and we were cracking on. The course was mostly around the houses, with one stretch along the waterside. Difficult to anticipate the wind, but where I found it, I tucked in (as you do). 

There was a long drag a mile before the finish where I toiled, but overall it was a 32:18 for 5 miles, around 6.30 pace and 5th M60 place. I had a good dry boak at the end, much to the disgust of some of the unfortunates standing at the railings, but other than that, I was right as rain and up for a pint of the wet stuff. 

Cat did a quick 29 minutes for 15th, but both of us could have been quicker, as Ant pointed out, him being the trip team manager and all. 

We got the bus back and celebrated our runs with a set of dry clothes and a couple in the pints in the Flowing Tide on Abbey Street. The Dublin Publopedia website states that 'one barman takes no nonsense, and has been seen ejecting undesirables with considerable gusto and foulmouthed alacrity'. I don't know about that, but we were on our best behaviour. It was a slap up feed at the Old Spot on the evening. Top grub. 

We flew back the next day on Ryanhair. I didn't have anything from the trolley, cause as it came past, we were having some turbulence. Flying, eh? who needs it.