19m10s. 62nd (11th M40) out of 288 finishers. Splits: 3:53, 3:52, 3:57, 3:44, 3:44; Average: 3:50.
Garmin data

I did two 5k training runs in the week before the race. I had done only one other training run in December. Not ideal, but that has been the story of 2011.

I headed down to the Phoenix Park at 10am as the race instructions said to collect the race number an hour before the 11am start. It turned out that I didn’t need to go that early but it let me do a good warm-up.

As I cycled past Farmleigh I saw the OPW flags. The direction they were blowing meant that the wind would be behind us for most of the course.

I collected my race number and souvenir technical t-shirt and then cycled the course, primarily to kill time. Then I parked my bike and changed into my running shoes. I kept my wind-proof cycling jacket on as the wind was quite cold. I then did a slow jog of one lap of the course. With the cycling jacket on, it warmed me up considerably.

Then I got into my race gear – long sleeved shirt with sleeveless Nike Pro base layer and my new Nike shorts (with zip pocket) and Skins half shorts under them – and jogged to the start line. Despite the wind along Furze Road, the start line was in a very sheltered area, with a forest blocking the wind.

The race started bang on time. I crossed the line about 5 seconds after the gun and took the first few hundred metres quite gently. I took the first corner very wide as it was quite tight (approximately 135 degrees!) and was comfortable as I passed the 1km mark at 3m53s.

Right after the 1km mark a very young boy was cheering us singing “Run faster, run faster, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” You had to smile.

Even at this early stage I felt that I was running at a pace that I wouldn’t be able to maintain for the remaining 3.5km. We then turned onto the footpath beside the still dug up Chesterfield Avenue.

Then we took the sharp right turn back onto Furze Road for the second lap and were welcomed by the strong wind.

The trees on the left of the road provided welcome shelter from the wind though it came back with a vengeance when we passed those trees at the end of Furze Road.

I surprised myself by picking up the pace for much of the second lap, passing about 7 or 8 people.
I was relieved to turn onto Furze Road for the final stretch. As I had a reasonable gap ahead of those behind me I didn’t really push it to the finish line.

I finished in 19m10s, only 15 seconds off my PB of 18m55s (and that was on a tough, hilly course). This course is perfect for a PB and I could probably break the PB if I trained properly and pushed myself a little.

The results list my time as 19m16s – there wasn’t chip timing and I didn’t start at the front.
It was cool to see myself finishing on the finish line video (go to 2m00s).

PS The reason I say that the first corner is 135 degrees is because the course was a right angled triangle shape. So, the internal angles total 360 degrees and one corner is 90 degrees, therefore the remaining two are a combined 270 degrees and approximately 135 degrees each.