AS THE mother of a six-, three- and one-year-old the most tiring part of taking part in yesterday’s Flora Women’s Mini-Marathon was getting my young supporters ready to leave the house on time. From there on it was easy. Well, relatively easy.
This was my second year taking part and only my third time to run 10km. Standing in Fitzwilliam Square in the middle of crowds of women waiting for the off is, quite simply, fun. We had to be in our start areas 30 minutes before the race, so there was plenty of time to chat to those around you and hear their stories.
This year I registered in the “runner” category, which put me in the section just behind the elite runners. The first couple of kilometres were slow going as it was hard to navigate through the crowds. It was only after about 2km, on Shelbourne Road that I got some space.
The first 4km passed relatively easy. Watching the array of T-shirts, many home-made, helps the time pass quickly. Photographs of loved ones, either ill or passed away, are stapled onto people's backs in an effort to highlight a personal cause. This year I raised money for Crumlin children's hospital. (You can donate to: tinyurl.com/d5xda8t).
With the sun shining, the first water station, on Merrion Road, was very welcome. By the time we passed the halfway point on Nutley Lane everyone seemed to be feeling the heat and at UCD we kept to the left to benefit from the shade of the trees.
I was starting to struggle as we came into Donnybrook and glad to be on the home stretch to Stephen’s Green with just 2km to go. I found the final kilometre from Leeson Street much harder than I expected. The official times weren’t available at time of writing but I crossed the finish line at 55 minutes, a good improvement on last year and something to work on for next time.