HandS Travel

It was the PERFECT day for half a Connemarathon. We got up early to eat some more carbs and headed to the bus pick-up site at the cathedral. Henry came along with a spectator bus ticket, hoping to get on a bus with me but since it was only 8 am and our race didn’t start until noon, he had a lot of waiting to do. His ticket was only good from the towns of Oughterard or Clifden to the race finish at Maam Cross and we were in Galway but our race buses were thankfully going through Oughterard. Thankfully, the organizers let him get on the same bus as me so we headed out along the narrow, windy road to Oughterard where Henry would have to kill an hour and a half’s time until he got on the spectator bus to Maam Cross. I continued on another 40 minutes or so to the half marathon race start. The whole ride there was beautiful, with tall “hills” with sheep grazing on them, a small stream running along the road, stone fencing, and a large lake at the race start. There was virtually nothing in the town but beautiful views, a couple houses, porta-potties, a few trucks to transport our plastic bags to the race finish, and lots of people.

Connemarathon-Galway206 pictures

Since we arrived at about 10 am at the race start in a little town called Leenane and then had to wait 2 hours, I made a friend. She is another graduate student studying immunology and global health in Ireland. She is originally from Atlanta. We hung out until the beginning of the race and once it started, it was about 70 degrees and sunny! I wasn’t too sure where to stand at the start line because the road was narrow and there were so many people you couldn’t really move around (total of 3000 participants in the whole race). I decided to stand by what I thought was a racing group with matching blue t-shirts on. Later on, Henry informed me that they were a military group. That made sense because I ended up running with them most of the way.

When they shot the gun, I soon found out that I should have started up farther as I had to cut through slow person after slow person. I was running on the side of the road just trying to get around people. And, we were going up a hill but not as long and never-ending as another waiting for me! After getting out of the mob and into a comfortable running pace, I checked my Ipod to see how fast I was going. I was running about 8:15 minute miles when I usually run 8:30. I thought I should slow down as my side started to hurt but kept running through it. Running through windy roads and up and down small hills, I became relaxed and thought, “Wow! This isn’t too bad!”

We came to the first water station at 3/13 miles and I was still doing okay. A few emergency vehicles and bikes passed us from time to time. I then came to a straight-away and a guy came up beside me and asked me where I was from and I said the US, Nebraska. But, before I could answer I had to say “what?” at least 4 times because his Irish accent was more than hard to understand, plus we were both short of breath. He said, “Oh, I thought your shirt looked like it was from Ireland!” Nope, it’s a NE State Track t-shirt, dude. I asked him if he had run a ½ marathon before and he said no. I indicated that I ran one before with my sister. Then he started to tell me how this dry, desolate, hilly area in western Ireland used to be the main source of potatoes for the island but around 1850 a disease took over the crop which resulted in mass starvation and 20-25% of the population left and emigrated. By this time, I just wanted to run and he was slowing me down so I tried to say nicely “see ya later!” and continued on.

Unlike most races, this run had virtually no spectators along the whole race, only a few at the start and another few at the town of Maam West. We also weren’t allowed to listen to our Ipods for safety reasons although we saw a few with them on. Around this town, I saw one of the military members stop along the side of the road a minute later, puking! Her fellow soldiers kept telling her to keep up but finally left her and friend. Before the next water station, I decided I would take on of my energy gels to give me boost. I was still averaging about 8:20 miles and thought to just keep trucking. I kept hearing people talking about the horrible hill close to the end, almost 2 miles long. I hadn’t trained on many hills so this would be a challenge.

As I turned a corner running slightly downhill, I see part of THE hill to my left around mile 9/13, a never-ending hill. Problem was that I couldn’t see the end of it. I took a little of my second energy gel, thinking I would need it. I was also sweating pretty good by this time, rolling up my t-shirt sleeves. As the incline started to kick my butt, another guy catches up to me and I must have been coughing or something because he asked me if I was okay and I said yes but that this hill was going to suck. We ran up it together for awhile and then he left me in the dust.

I knew that I would have to stop and walk at some point but kept trying to run farther until I couldn’t anymore. I noticed an ambulance about 200 meters in front of me and decided to run as far as I could toward it and then walk next to it, thinking that if I collapse, I won’t have far to crawl! I stopped and walked for about 50 meters when two girls asked me if I was okay and needed water. I sort of laughed and said no. They then told me that the top of the hill was there, as they pointed, and that it was all downhill from there. Yipee! The good news propelled my body into a run once again, feeling much better as I reached the top and coasted down.

By this time, I knew I would finish in less than two hours and could see another huge lake to my left and the small town where we would finish. What I would not be able to see is the actual finish line. My Ipod told me I had about .5 miles left, so I tried to speed it up but soon found out at 13.3 miles that I still had another 200 meters or so and was dying. About 100 meters away, I heard Henry calling out my name! I ran a few steps to my right trying to give him a high five but he told me to keep running as there were people behind me. I immediately got a boost and tried to keep coasting until the end. I finally hit the finish line, seeing 1:54.44 as I passed, and right away wanted to know where the water was, asking everyone! They kept saying, up there, up there. Henry found me and we found water and those were the only two things I wanted!

He gave me a hug and told me about his bus ride and how he had walked the two miles to the top of THE hill while waiting for the race to finish. He also saw the male marathon winner who set a race record passing over the hill many minutes before. He had taken pictures of the scenery, other runners, and even got a few of me. We grabbed my medal, t-shirt, some food and water and hopped on the next bus back to Galway. I felt a little sick but overall, was really pleased with my time and just relaxing with Henry! I also looked forward to the Guinness beer I would have that evening and the amazing Irish music we would hear at the bar. What a fabulous trip!