The Adidas Dublin Marathon 2007

by Craig Wadeson

On 31^st October 2007 three members of Basingstoke and Mid Hants AC crossed the finishing line of the Adidas Dublin Marathon 2007, seeing the completion of what was a lifetime ambition for myself and my wife Carol, this being our first ever marathon event, and the latest in a series of five marathons for the irrepressible Terri Craig.

Slightly undulating, scenic, well supported, and challenging (well it is 26.2 miles!!) this was a perfect introduction to marathon running.  The organization was impeccable and, with a field of 11,000 which quickly spread out after the start, had none of the barging associated with the likes of FLM.

A restless night and a breakfast of Weetabix preceded a chilly 2km walk from our hotel (the Travelodge in Rathmines) to the baggage area.  The usual queuing for the portaloos killed a little time before filtering through to the start where many new friends were made in the minutes before the gun.  The Irish fellow on the PA system was an instant hit and kept us all amused and built our morale no end.  A quick ‘good luck’ between ourselves and we were off.  A nice steady start (good advice you lot) and I for one was desperate for a pee before I’d gone even a mile.  I joined a group of fellow runners standing against an opportune looking wall at the side of some poor unfortunates’ house; there was a sign above our heads that said ‘no dumping’!  How ironic!!

Back together again we proceeded out of Dublin City Centre past much Georgian splendour into Phoenix Park, an extremely picturesque part of the run with many large trees which afforded many more opportunities for male (and female, Carol and Terri!!) runners to rebalance their overly hydrated bodies.  The abundance of American runners ‘whooping’ and ‘hell yeah’ing’ who were alongside us kept us all amused and, curiously, made us run a little faster!

Out into the South of the city and over the River Liffey for the first time we ran through many less well off areas, but for all that they were no less supported.  The number of people offering orange segments, sweets, drinks and just a good old ‘well done’ was staggering.  All the kids wanting a ‘high five’ (the Yanks were very obliging here) and some bizarre old people banging every pot and pan they could find.  At 14 miles the ‘three amigos’ started to drift apart as Carol was suffering from cramp (she ran the race with a virus), Terri (the clever fox) was playing a steady game of ‘the tortoise and the hare’, and I, sensing a sub 4h 30m finish, thought I was clever and started pushing up through the field.  At 21 miles as we re-entered the city centre from the South, I discovered what that sole pleasure of the marathon runner ‘the wall’ is, and I couldn’t recommend it.  I started searching the floor for a gel sachet and found one of many that had been discarded.  In the couple of minutes that it took for it to raise my energy levels first Terri, then Carol came cruising past me.  Great strategy Craig!  Oh well.

The last five miles I would like to tell you about but frankly, I don’t remember much about it!  Just little things like seeing many people walking, some with cramp, others on oxygen at the ambulance points.  The one thing that did stick in my mind though was the woman competitor who saw her husband at 24 miles, ran over to him and just collapsed, sobbing, into his arms.  How she found the strength to carry on I’ll never know.  Literally, I’ll never know (you didn’t expect me to say I stopped and inspired her did you? I had problems of my own)!

Back over one of the main bridges on the Liffey and we were back in the City Centre and on to the finish and the welcome sight of my lovely wife Carol standing on the other side of the line.  That was all I needed for a cheeky sprint finish which must have improved my time by all of five seconds (though I didn’t have to have my finishing photo taken between the bloke wearing a dress and the woman in the pumpkin costume).

Being occasional runners before joining this club, we cannot say how much we have improved, and enjoyed, our running in the last year or so.  We would like to thank every one of our fellow members who have supported the three of us throughout our training, even accompanying us on 18 milers with a hangover Cliff Cheesman, and especially to all those who sent us encouraging emails and text messages before and after the race.  You know who you are.

I for one have been bitten by the marathon bug and can’t wait for the next one.  After all, I’ve got a ‘PB’ to beat!!