Only a few races this week – but lots of Dubs running – all over the jump!

Warmup
You’re all too kind to old people this week – two races to cover plus the parkrun. I won’t complain though, the busy summer, RSI potential months are still to come! I see on other mediums that there’s lots of training underway for the various marathons over the next few months. Let me tell you my three favourite things: eating my family and not using commas. Right then, shorter than usual this week:

Donard Commedagh
This week, a two-mountain adventure for our goats. Four checkpoints with a free-for-all route between (go nuts basically). A scramble up the back side of Donard (oh, matron), then on via the saddle to Slieve Commedagh – careful not to fall off the cliff – with a ripping run down through the forest. Let’s see who was mist-ified:

Jeepers this one required an above average sense of direction (and that was before contending with the fog)! It was a clear day at the bottom and it was a good Dub day with some running on show. With 90 runners taking part – this was a serious race and the cliff was absolutely no joke. A top day all round, see if you can spot anyone in the mist:

Titanic Quarter 10k
Sunday morning had ideal conditions – but we all know that the Titanic Quarter is very exposed even when it is calm. That made Sunday’s popular 10k race around the flat course all the more interesting. With a sell out crowd taking to the line, with the sun shining – let’s see which Dubs decided to race:

A great performance and time folks – some solid training there for some bigger races that you’ve both got coming up. Sunday morning races are good because you get the opportunity to go some for the big Sunday roast and no feel any guilt in tucking into seconds and / or a dessert. Impressive running and presenting well in their Dub tops – with Danielle smashing her 10k distance personal best at the same time!

Alloa Half Marathon
Wikipedia tells me that Alloa is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland! I think that the official course descrption sums this one up well: a fast, scenic course with long flat stretches along the foot of the Ochil Hills. The course gently undulates elsewhere with a character-building hill at the 11-mile mark. Say no more, but say hello to what I hope are two familiar faces:

Fantastic running girls – great to see you both racing side-by-side and in the sun in Scotland at the weekend. For anyone that doesn’t remember, Jenny used to run with us before moving back home (and we still miss her) and is currently training towards running the London marathon and raising vital funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK and you can help support her! Let’s have a look at how fresh they both looked after 13.1 miles:

parkrun
With the clocks set to change, there was a chance to get in one last parkrun of the ‘winter’ – depending on your definition of winter anyway! A bit of a dreary morning, with everyone holding out hope that the forecast was accurate, and it was going to improve. With a threat of rain in the air – but a fresh morning, the blue top made their way to a park close to where they are and went for a little 5k run:

What a great morning’s running – with twenty Dubs choosing parkrun this week! If you have a hat – you know what to do. We had some podium finishers this weekend: the top step was taken by Catherine (at Orangefield) and Roisin (at Stranmillis College). While the second step was occupied by John C (at Orangefield) and Nessa (at Stranmillis College). We had a lot of cracking new course PBs set by Marie Mc (at Queen’s), Rob and Anne Marie (at Ormeau), John C and Ronan O (at Orangefield), Martin (at Stranmillis College) and Marie S (at Killkenny). Finally, some tourism was the order of the day with Brona (at Edinburgh) and Paul C (at South Manchester), while Mike S continued his streak of not repeating a single parkrun course completing the Orangefield event. We have one photo this week:

Warmdown
We bring the curtain down on another week here at Roundup Towers. We’re moving on to the summer routes now – so anyone who’s joined us over the winter, this is where we reward you for sticking with us on our road routes over the winter. You’re in for a treat. Bad news folks – my dad last his job at the cemetery last week because he buried someone in the wrong plot – it was a grave mistake!

Live long and prosper.

Disclaimer: Every effort was taken to ensure the results above are correct (pretty sure we’ve missed something this week). If you’d also like to make a complaint, then you’ll automatically volunteer yourself for writing duties