S’all about Errigle, PAT, Wexford and parkrun and it’s all over the jump!

Warmup
After the stampede of results and craic last week, we took a step down this week – I think we can all agree that we needed a bit of a break. That doesn’t mean we sat on our hands – oh no, we couldn’t do that – but find out more in a moment. Over the weekend I spent ages trying to cross a busy road, when a passer-by said to me “You know there’s a pelican crossing just up the road?” “Thanks” I replied, “He’s probably having better luck than me!” So then, what’s first?!

An Errigal of Dubs
Oh, I have waited so long to do this… I present to you, below, an Errigle of Dubs on Errigal!

Peter’s Alternative Triathalon (PAT) 10k
I’ll be honest here, I have no idea who Peter is, nor do I know how an alternative to a triathlon is a10k, but let’s go with the flow. Running along the coast, from Carrickfergus back to Newtownabbey – while the course trends downwards, it is mostly flat along the coast – what’s not to like! There was even some sun out for the occasion. Let’s see how our sole Dub faired:

Oh yeah – back of the net! Great running Andrew – picking up some silverware and a suntan! Then we add a 10k PB – and that’s just the icing on the cake! Impressive stuff Andrew – and in a sneaky wee race too, this one almost went under the radar. In the meantime, check out that bling:

Wexford Half Marathon
For the second year running we had some Dub representation in Wexico (thanks for that one Noel). The half marathon course is billed as a “PB course” on the official literature – is deceptively hilly. With the sun beaming down and amid humid conditions, this proved to be a challenging event for everyone taking part. One Dubber was there:

Fantastic running Anne Marie – you’re getting around the tour of half marathons this year! Not the easiest of 13.1 mile courses that you could have chosen – so kudos on that! If anyone’s keeping count, this is Anne Marie’s second half marathon of a trilogy -look out for a final chapter coming very, very soon! In the meantime, enjoy a photo that I was told I had to post on the roundup:

Stirling Half Marathon
No, this isn’t the currency, instead it is a city in central Scotland a little north between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Beginning a stone’s throw away from the iconic Stirling Castle, weaving its way through the city, before sweeping out towards the Ochil Hills – taking with it some scenic views before finishing on King’s Park Road beside the golf club. One Dubber was there, along with an old Friend of the Dubs:

Great running from our “Dub Duo” (trademark pending), who bother posted cracking times under the magic two-hour mark for a marathon. A course with a few long stretches but made all the better as it was lovely and scenic. While the goodie bag produced a rather fetching technical t-shirt – a lack of the much-vaunted banana was a bit of a let-down (the pain was eased with a little prosecco). A race that comes highly recommended, as you can see from the smiles:

parkun
With the sun shining and the heat building this was a cracking weekend to head to the park and go for a run! The must have been something in the air this week – as you’ll see, because we absolutely smashed the parkrun events we attended this week. What do you mean you don’t believe me!? Take a look for yourself:

Mega job by the blue topped Dubs -impressive work for early Saturday morning! Grab your hat because we got to get it tipped! We had two of our ladies taking the top step of the podium Collette at Queen’s and Bernie at Colin Glen, with Natalie second at Ormeau! Let’s not forget our guys with Jimbo second home at Falcarragh and James D third home at the Derry City event! We also had some new course PBs set by Marie Mc (at Queen’s), Natalie and Danielle (at Ormeau), Alastair (at Storomont), Bernie (at Colin Glen) and James S and Ronan (at Falcarragh). As if Jimbo didn’t get mentioned enough this week – he also nabbed a newbie PB title at the Falcarragh event! Thankfully, I can shut up as we have some photos:

Warmdown
My thanks to everyone for their help this week – could not have gotten there without you all. This weekend coming, we have the big local event – the Belfast Marathon! This year we have FOUR teams taking part and we’ll be at our usual supporting station by Ormeau Bridge – so please come along and show your support to all the runners taking part. I found out first-hand what the first sign of madness last week – Suggs walking up your driveway!

Live long and prosper.

Disclaimer: Every effort was taken to ensure the results above are correct (I left my brain up Errigal!) If you’d like to make a complaint, then you’ll automatically volunteer yourself for writing duties next week 🙂