Find out about Tollymore, Whitehead the parks and lots more over the jump!

Warmup
After proclaiming that those of us in Roundup Towers would have our work cut out for us over the holidays – we were surprised to see that we didn’t do as much racing as expected! Of course, all that means is that there’s some big races coming up which are going to have some serious Dub representation! Easter is a time of reflection, and it made me realise that you never truly appreciate what you have until it is gone – toilet paper is a good example. Enough talk of that, here’s the roundup:

Hill & Dales, Race 2: Tollymore
Race two of the series saw our resident goats (plus one) travel to Tollymore Forest Park. A beautiful, warm evening and a big crowd ensured that everyone was looking forward to a heck of a race! Whilst not an all-out fell race, Tollymore does still pack in 400m of climbing and a lot of trail running – which includes what the locals affectionately refer to as that “wee mountain out the back”. A 1km dash along the river, two peak climbs, various stiles and mountain trails. Phew – who was up for this one?

Nicely done, folks, some great running! Although, following a number of checks with OS maps, no one is any closer to finding out what that mountain’s official name actually is! Some cracking times, great to see Vicky wearing blue and going for it! We hear that in true James Trainor style, there was a deceptively deep stretch of bog to loose your shoe(s) in! As we can see, from the photos, the finish line is cruelly situated on top of a large grassy hill designed to break each runners spirit one final time:

Whitehead Easter Monday 5 Mile Race
As attention moves to Whitehead – that can only mean one thing – it is Easter Monday (and we’re all off!) This classic two-loop course, skirting along the coast line, but with some parts along the main road. With a half mile downhill to finish – which doesn’t make up for the near 400ft of elevation change! We had two Dub stalwarts leading the charge in our honour:

Fantastic running Roisin and Maureen – showing us all how it is done. Not content with just flying the fleg for us – both nabbed their respective age category wins (you can look up the categories if you want, a gentleman doesn’t reveal a woman’s age!) Some running folks – that was an intense sun on Monday morning, which as we all know, doesn’t make for the most ideal running conditions! I’m not sure I could run after indulging, but they look happy that it is over:

parkrun
Easter holibobs are here and before tucking into more chocolate than any of us really should be eating (let’s face it, an IV drip of chocolate wouldn’t go amiss would it?!) With the sun out in the East and an early mist clearing to reveal as glorious day as the morning progressed – it was, usually, cracking holiday and running weather! This good spell managed to attract almost 30 Dubs out and into the parks, as we can see:

Love seeing almost 30 of us out – magic running everyone – you’re all great! Enjoy those eggs after all this running! Let’s get your hat and tip it to Richard and Marcy who were second and third home respectively at the Ennisklillen event. Another two third places from Marie S at the Ormeau event and Kathy at the Sligo event. A stunning new all-time 5k personal best was set by the man, the myth and the legend – Mr Steven Todd at the Victoria event. Rob (Victoria), Dale (Victoria), Marie Mc (Queen’s), Julia (Queen’s), Roisin (Ormeau) and Danielle Mc (Ormeau) all bagged new course PBs too! Finally, Mike continues his tourism run in Scotland at the Greenock event. One photo from Victoria, but not of who you might think:

Warmdown
We have an eggstra special treat for anyone who comes to training this evening – all will be revealed very soon. Thanks to my little spies for feeding me some pictures and information this week – it helps the cogs turn and keep things going! More of the same in the future please! Did you know that if you rearrange the letters of POSTMEN – they get VERY ANGRY.

Live long and prosper.

Disclaimer: Every effort was taken to ensure the results above are correct (I went on a digital detox, try it – it is nice!) If you’d also like to make a complaint, then you’ll automatically volunteer yourself for writing duties