Race Report - Victoria Marathon 2013 - DNS

My second ever DNS (Did Not Start). My first was last fall, I had bad case of the flu prior to the Bellingham Trail Marathon. 

One week. 

9 days prior. 

I was doing the last clinic session with my marathon clinic, doing some speed work around False Creek. Flat, flat False Creek. 

My legs had been tired all week and I really wasn't paying attention. As we went into another speed interval I clipped my toe and went chest first, sliding along the seawall. 

I don't recommend body surfing on concrete. Regardless, with badly bruised ribs, I had to drop out. 

I would've been more upset about missing the marathon if I hadn't already ran a good marathon in Dingle, and Squamish 50 before that. 

Fortunately my clinic members totally rocked the weekend and I was able to see most of them through at the finish line in Victoria! 

Race Report - Dingle Marathon - Ireland 2013

Chip Time - 3:27:52
Overall - 48/341 
Shoes - Brooks Pure Flow 2

I’m not sure where I came across the Dingle Marathon in my web-surfing travels. I think it was probably shortly before last year’s race (2012). This year was only its 5th in existence and with the scenic region and destination travel I’m sure it will grow quickly.  There are destination races all over the world that I want to run eventually but this one stuck in my head. It’s a small race, with only 350 marathoners, 1500 half marathoners and 60 ultras (50 mile).

As it turned out the holidays I booked from work this year fell perfectly when the marathon was scheduled (unintentionally, I swear!). Leah and I had been wanting to get back to Europe for years so when I mentioned it jokingly in passing it didn’t take us long to distill it into a reality.

The plan was to fly into Dublin, check out the city for a couple of days and then rent a car and drive across the country down to Dingle in Couny Kerry. We arrived in Ireland a week before the race so it gave me lots of time to acclimatize and get over any jet lag.

We stayed in a gorgeous small village “just over the hill” from Dingle, called Cloghane (clah-hayne), at the base of Mt. Brandon. The drive was about 30 minutes and we had to go over Connor Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland, which is (like nearly every other road in the region) a narrow, winding, single lane road. It’s a fairly long steep pass and I was nervously seeing signs for “Marathon in progress” …fortunately it was only the 50 mile Ultra runners that would see this stretch on their route.

Connor Pass