LAKES OF KILLARNEY MARATHON 2017

It was an amazing day as Athletes competed in the Lakes of Killarney Marathon and Half Marathon in May . Set against the backdrop of spectacular Killarney National Park where over 400 runners competed in the event. For me this was always going to be a training run for the big challenge at the end of the month THE RIDGE ULTRA. 




The course consisted of 3 laps through the Demesne of Killarney National Park, a stunningly beautiful setting.The first loop passed by rather quickly as i settled into my pace i was running with friends pat tina and adrian and as per usual at the start of all my races as soon as the buzzer goes i have to pee.So at this stage the lads were well ahead i could just about see pat in the distance ahead of the 3.45 pacers and was flying and i thought to myself i won't see him again for the day unless he laps me lol.
So after 2 or 3 more stops to pee yes i'm that guy none of the lads where in sight and i was actually long side the 4.30 pacer maybe even behind them.I decided to just find a nice pace and settle in so was comfortable at 8.20 mins miles and i slowly started to pass a few runners and before i knew it i was passing tina and adrian who were looking so strong tina would go on to PB by 30 minutes amazing so as for me  i settled into the 4 hour pacers maybe just ahead as the first lap finished.
The second lap i passed the 13.1 mile half way at 1.56 nice and steady and was on for a sub 4 just about but to be honest i felt great so i decided to push on at this stage and see what i had in me so i still hadn't seen my friend pat i was even told by valerie at one of the drink stations he was 10 mins ahead i thought holy hell he is on for a PB fair play to him,but as always in my marathons i always negative split and i was flying and decide to go for a 1.45 second half.
So as i start the 3 and final lap i was flying and felt so good all those months of training to get back my fitness was paying off then up ahead at mile 16 i saw pat walking he was suffering from bad cramps so as i climbed the hill to catch hIM i paused to have a chat see how he was and if i could help he said he was ok and he would later go on the finish in 4.04 amazing time, but i was a man on a mission so i pushed on as hard as i could and started to pass alot a fading runners and before i knew it i was done in 3 hours 45 mins  so the second half of the marathon i did in 1.49 which i was so happy with but the biggest thing i felt amazing after wards which boutwell for my big 120 mile ultra a few weeks away.Also just as u finished the race they had a tent with hot drinks and food which was so good thanks for all the volunteers this event was so well run and i will be back again