adidas Dublin Half Marathon

I ran in the adidas Dublin Half Marathon yesterday. It was such an enjoyable run! It was all in Phoenix Park, the start was at 10am (well, because of the Irish way it ended up being around 10:15am...), the temperature was 60 degrees, and sunny blue skies--absolutely perfect!

Despite this being a substantial race, sponsored by adidas, with a great goody-bag and dry-fit adidas running shirt for all the finishers, the start of the race was quite anti-climatic. There were about 3,000 runners packed in...but no announcer to get us hyped up, no music...no national anthem sung like in the States, and certainly no gun. We simply heard a horn and we were off! Miles 5-8 and 10-13 were uphill, but the training in the hills of Austin must really pay off, as my legs and mind weren't bothered too much. Everyone was in great spirits--at the beginning there were some guys behind me singing some jovial songs, which made me feel like I was in an Irish pub. Actually, I only signed up for this race two days before...I haven't run more than 10 miles since the end of July, so I decided I'd try to restrain my competitive urge and just enjoy the scenery during these 13.1 miles. I finished in 1:49 (8:19 min miles) and indeed this may have been the most pleasant race I've done. There weren't near as many people cheering us on as I've experienced in the US, and it was all in the park, so I was able to really escape into my thoughts (interesting ideas come to mind when those endorphins are pumping for 2 hours...)

Now, in the US, as soon as you cross the finish line there are typically water bottles, sports drinks, bananas, oranges, sports bars and the like available for the participants. However, after the race, we had to walk a mile back to the headquarters for "refreshments," which consisted of tea, coffee, brack (raisin-filled bread) already covered with butter, and chocolate-covered biscuits. I'm definitely in Europe.

This was a wonderful day, I am so thankful for the health and ability to have such experiences.

Oh, for you logistics people, I took the bus at 7am (wearing pants, jacket and gloves, still quite chilly) into the city centre, walked half a mile to the next bus that would get me to the park, then walked half a mile to the registration headquarters, then walked a mile to the starting line. By then I was ready to strip down into my sleeveless top for sure. After the race, I walked all this in the reverse...and made it home by 3pm and was ready for a quick nap before heading back to downtown for a theatre show. (see blog to be posted soon...) Yes, it was a fun-filled full day!