It was somewhat unusual to be in Dublin on a Sunday night and not drinking Guinness but two or three pints of the dark stuff was probably not the best preparation for my second Dublin marathon the following day..
Known as the friendly marathon, the race starts from and finishes in the city centre which for me was a 2 mile walk from my hotel. More than enough exercise for my pre-race warm up.
The marathon is always the last Monday in October, being a public holiday in Ireland, and this year the weather was superb with sunshine and clear blue skies to greet the 11,000 runners at the start.
My aim was to enjoy the sights of Dublin and most importantly finish in under 5 hours as I had to catch the flight back to Norwich at 4pm, which did not give me a lot of leeway with the race starting at 9.15am.
The first 2 – 3 miles are great for sightseeing as the marathon route goes through the city centre passing Trinity College, over the River Liffey and along O’Connell Street past the General Post Office, the iconic symbol of the 1916 Easter Rising.
By Mile 4 we entered Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed urban park in Europe, and having stopped briefly to water the shrubbery I re-joined the race just behind a couple of leprechauns. Surely I couldn’t have been hallucinating already! Maybe they were runners in fancy dress.
The six mile run through the park was wonderful in the sunshine and I could have been tempted to stop for a picnic if only I had brought along sandwiches instead of energy gels. As I left the gates of the park behind I was passed by a two runners in striped prison uniform. At least I assumed they were other runners in fancy dress and not really “on the run”.
Just reaching the 10 mile mark I could hear in the distance the Rocky theme tune. On getting nearer I realised the music was from a CD player belonging to a couple of workmen who had taken time off work to lean on their shovels and watch “the mad eejits” run around Dublin.
The Rocky music was more of a boost than they could have realised.
I reached the half way mark in a slow but comfortable 2hrs 3mins and was still on schedule for catching the flight home.
From mile 13 onwards things started to blur and fortunately “the wall” at eighteen miles came and went without any problems thanks to energy gels , drinks and not too fast a pace.
The support of the Dublin crowds was encouraging and the 20 mile marker was reached in just over 3 hours.
Like most marathons this is where the hard work starts and I decided on a run/walk/run strategy to get me to the finish and safely to the airport rather than the first aid tent.. A couple of boiled sweets from onlookers never tasted as good and by mile 25 I was ready for the final effort to the finish line. Pride ensured I ran all the way from the 25 mile mark and coming round the last corner to see the finish line 200m ahead was a great feeling.
Enthusiastic crowds had lined the last half mile adding to the atmosphere and I was pleased with my finishing time of 4hrs 24min 39secs.
Forrest Gump would have continued running on out to the airport but I felt more like Forrest Gimp and after a quick change into the finishers Tee shirt I took a taxi.
Fortunately I arrived at Dublin airport in time for a pint of Guinness before the flight home. Not quite as atmospheric as a pint in a typical Dublin bar but very welcome all the same and avoided me breaking the habit of a lifetime by not having a pint of Guinness when in Dublin.
Maybe next year I will allow myself a little more time in the fair city to really appreciate the Dublin hospitality and the post race celebrations of “the friendly marathon”.