| Date added : | 29-Sep-2009 |
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Dingle Marathon-Ireland Well it was one of those weeks where everything was just hard work. However off to bed at midnight the night before the race. Rise and shine 2 hours later and into the car at 3 am and off to Dingle. I arrived in Dingle at 7am and parked in a car park in the centre of town. There was no one around so I decided to have 40 winks and set the alarm for 7.30am. I woke a few minutes later to see in front of me loads of people milling around and also the starting line for the race was right in front of my car, Result!! I got my act together and at 9am off we went. The weather this morning was just fantastic and the scenery was amazing. The first few miles of the race were tough enough with a good few hills. At this time it was getting quite hot as well. I came across a runner companion who I ran with for a few miles at the Clare burren marathon a few months earlier from Athlone, so we chatted for a while it helped pass a few miles. I also met another runner called Will who I met during the London marathon last year; he was aiming for a sub 3Hr today so I told him to get a move on as I was going to take it handy today. Halfway and all was well. I was very tired at \this stage although today I started the race\tired so I knew it was going to be a tough day at the office. More miles passed, more hills had to be challenged, but I plodded on and crossed the line in 3hr 35mins. The Dingle marathon was tough today not just because I was tired it is a tough marathon full stop! However Dingle itself is a little piece of heaven with very special scenery and people. The course is full on and at times quite lonely but beautiful. It reminded me of the two oceans marathon in Cape Town South Africa which is known as one of the most beautiful marathons in the world, so that's saying something. So for the inaugural Dingle marathon I have to say well done to all and a very well run day and race and im sure all going well I will be back again next year. J. xx |