Cooley Coast Run - in the Company of Women!

Deirdre, Mary and Bernie - great company for the Cooley Coast Run.

My second race of the year, and I'm finally beginning to turn a corner!  

Set in the spectacular Cooley peninsula, with views of the majestic Mourne mountains, Carlingford Lough, King John's Castle and beautiful Slieve Foy, this certainly was one of my most enjoyable 10kms ever.  It now also ranks as my best 10km so far, as I set a PB of 49.32mins!

I was delighted to get in under 50mins, but I honestly know that my 10km PB would have been much lower had I actually focussed on this distance a number of years ago when I was a good deal fitter than I am today - however, a PB is a PB and I'm happy to have shaved a full 5minutes of the Boyne 10km, in only two weeks!

I ran Cooley in the company of women... my sister in law, Mary (who has taken to the roads with great gusto these past few months) and two of her friends, Bernie and Deirdre.  Each of us ran at our own pace and all were happy with the outcome - Bernie and Mary finishing in 60.01mins and Deirdre coming in at the 55min mark (she had run this race in 47mins only two years ago and is on a comeback trail!).

The run itself was delightful for the most part, with a kick in the tail towards the end.  We headed from Cooley's sports ground in the direction of Greenore for a few hundred metres, but then turned right off the main road as we rambled around the backways of beautiful Cooley for the first 6km.  Most of this section was either flat or downhill, with only a few minor inclines, so I found myself holding a good pace throughout.  It helped that the day was fine and all were in good humour and I knew that a sub 50 was certainly on.

Someone had mentioned a long climb towards the end of the race, so I tried to do two things:  1) run fast enough in the first half to allow for a major slow down towards the end while still coming in under 50, 2) keep enough in the tank for this 'long draw towards the end'!

The climb finally came when we were exiting the backroads and turned the corner onto the mainroad again, heading back towards the Cooley ground.  At this point Deirdre, Murty and all of the Carlingford clan were out to cheer us on and I took great heart from the encouragement.  I certainly slowed down on the incline - but knew I had enough in the tank not to die completely.  This last drag went on for a good bit and runners all round were struggling, but thankfully my training routes in Conamara have left me with a little of the mountain goat mentality and so I just ate up ground until I finally caught sight of the clock timer.  A two hundred metre dash ensured my sub 50 - the first time I've ever done this officially for a 10km.

There were great festivities around Cooley and Carlingford after the race - a great credit to the organisers.  I'll be back next year for sure.  As for the rest of this year; I finally feel as though I'm back in some kind of groove and may concentrate on bringing that 10km time down still further!