From belly bashing to broken leg sprinting, the first Paddy Games were all about taking silly things very seriously, writes BARRY ROCHE
ONE WONDERS what Taoiseach Brian Cowen would have made of it. For a man fond of “going forward”, retro-running or running backwards might seem a step in the wrong direction but for those attending the Paddy Games in Cork at the weekend, it was, er, just one of several ways to go.
Okay, so the organisers may not have included a Silly Walks competition but there were plenty of other Pythonesque contests, from running blindfold to three-legged racing to running under hurdles to belly bashing, high jump pogo-ing and all in the name of fun. The brainchild of Cork solicitor, sumo wrestler and three-legged marathon runner, Colin Carroll, the inaugural Paddy Games attracted some 270 contestants from over 30 countries.
“Three years ago, I was chatting to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2,” said the enthusiastic Fermoy man. “I happened to be training for the three-legged marathon record, which I broke here in the Mardyke with my running partner, John Meade.
“Evans said: ‘You should compile everything you do into one athletic sports meet’, and I said ‘Paddy Games’, and thus the idea was born live on air on BBC Radio 2. Chris Evans is now our patron,” said Carroll, swivelling around to cheer on competitors in the retro-run 100m.
While the motto of the Paddy Games is “Taking Silly Very Seriously”, among the more serious contestants in the backwards running events was retro-runner, Gareth Doherty from Carndonagh in Co Donegal who has run a marathon backwards in 5 hours 30 minutes.
“I won the world championship gold in the 3km retro-running last week in Austria in 22 minutes – retro-running is a serious sport and they’re trying to get it into the Olympics for 2020,” said Gareth who duly won gold at the Paddy Games.
Among the many international competitors were Dutchmen Wouter Koeleman from Amsterdam and his friend Chris Jetten who lives in Brussels and whose visit to Cork yielded an unexpected success when he won bronze in the mobile phone throwing contest.
“I’m a sane person back in Holland where I have my own recruitment agency but we take life so seriously all the time, maybe we need something like this,” said Wouter as he prepared for the belly bashing where contestants use their tummies to bump each other out of a ring. Also participating in the belly bashing was the slender and lithe Odette Norman from Kinsale who found herself up against a much bulkier competitor in the final but still managed to give a good account of herself and win a silver medal.
“I won four bouts to get to the final but there are no weight divisions so I found myself up against a really big guy but it’s not just about bulk, you can win through trickery – it’s great fun.”
FRENCH COMPETITORS, Mark Locicero from Montpellier and Brice Gilliotte from Toulon, both resident in Ballincollig, were resplendent in their blue T-shirts, white shorts and red socks as they struck up a good rhythm in the three-legged race.
“I never participated in anything like this in France – I don’t think we have anything as fun as this – it’s pretty crazy,” said Mark who had already competed in the 400m retro-run and was also planning to compete pour la France in the blindfold dash.
English entrant and martial arts specialist, Mark Boniwell from London, had just surprised himself by winning the donkey vault long jump with a leap of 2.5 metres.
“No, strangely enough I haven’t done much training for any event,” he said with a smile before being drowned out by a chorus of “España, España, España” from three red and yellow-clad senoritas cheering on their compatriots in a three-legged race heat.
Richard McCurry from Galway adopted the same enthusiastic try-anything attitude which earned him four medals, including a gold in the stilt sprint and medals in cowpat spitting, mobile phone throwing and retro-running. “I had my feet taped to the stilts – there’s no rule against it – and it definitely helped. I came down from Galway specially for the games. I’m moving to Spain so I thought it would be a good way to start the whole Spanish experience,” he explained, rather cryptically.
Among the other winners were Dutchman Arjen Van Der Horst who literally got plastered to win the broken-leg sprint, while Cork-based Bernadette Stadler was suitably proud to win Austria’s first gold medal for her innovative bicycle tyre gymnastic routine.
Equally chuffed was Patricia Keane from Roscommon who did Ireland proud when, complete with red dress and black brogues, she jigged and jumped her way to victory in the Irish dancing hurdles competition in a style that would have thrilled even Michael Flatley.
"I never took lessons but I just kind of copied people, so I ran, did my haon, dó, trí,a jig and a reel and hornpipe, and then jumped the hurdle and then went on to the next one. That's the great thing about the Paddy Games – it gives people the chance to do these things they always secretly wanted to do but never got the chance, and now they can do it and all the other competitors cheer you on and encourage you. It's great."
