SPORT: The Dublin City Marathon

As I sat down to write this I clicked onto the Dublin City Marathon web page. There’s a little countdown clock on the top right hand corner. It reads 3 days, 13 hours, 22 mins and 45 seconds. When the clock hits zero over 15,000 people will begin the marathon. 

If you’re a familiar with what we do here on The Recommended, you’ll know already that we are the positive review site and when I think about this event, it’s probably one the biggest, positive events held in this country and on this day, possibly the world.

How could it not be? Nearly every single person pounding out the miles on Dublin’s streets that day are doing so for one of the following positive reasons.

1. Raising money for a charity that is close to their heart
2. Raising awareness for a charity that is close their heart
3. Running in honour and remembrance of a loved one they’ve lost
4. Running purely as a partner to someone else who felt they couldn’t do it alone
5. Running to better their own health
6. Running to better their mental health
7. Running to simply run
8. Running because against all logical advice they were told they couldn’t do it, but you can bet your ass that they will to prove that advice wrong and give it the finger and a ‘told you so.’
9. Running as part of a group or team
10. Running to beat a personal record
11. Running to be part of something special
12. Running because they simply believed in themselves or someone believed in them

I’m sure there’s plenty more reasons why people do it. Non-runners look at the distance and the time it takes to get around the course and question the sanity of such a thing. Some people just downright can’t understand it.

I ran the Dublin City Marathon back in 2011 and after watching the little course video they have on the web-site which is filmed from the dashboard of a car the whole way round the course, I find myself now in 2015 not being able to understand how in the name of God I managed to do it.

For me the Dublin Marathon was the big one, the Everest, the impossible. It was the last of twenty three races I had done in under seven months, a challenge I had set myself to raise money for Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital. I had never run before I set this challenge just to put that into context. My legs were starting out from 0k and quietly we agreed we’d give it a go and see how we did. By race 22, the one before the marathon and with seven and half months of heavy training put in, my knees had pretty much packed up and weren’t really on board with completing what I had set out to achieve. This, as you’d imagine, wasn’t very sound of them at all – in fact they were pretty much being assholes…especially the left one.

After race twenty two my physio told me to stop pretty much moving full stop and with three weeks to go until the marathon and myself knowing I still had a lot more training to do, you can imagine my a) disappointment and b) fear receiving these instructions.

Before the marathon came around I managed a slow 8k run. My right knee was talking to me again at least but old lefty had pretty much sent me the divorce papers in the post and wasn’t answering my calls anymore. When the morning of the marathon came around it was feeling a good deal better but not 26.2 miles better.

At the starting line, surrounded by thousands of people, I was a mix of nerves, excitement and uncertainty. Questions rushed through my head over and over again as to whether I could finish this thing and if and when my knees would finally give out completely. I got the first clue to this around the 10.5 mile mark and the full answer coming just before the 13 mile mark. I had made it through the first half of the course okay but the second half turned into a completely different race for me. With both knees and every other part of my body screaming at me to stop, my pace dropped severely and every mile felt like it was never going to end. But…guess what? The miles did end and I crossed the finish line of the Dublin City Marathon. It may have been a lot later than I had planned and hoped for, but I did it.

Sorry if you’re doing your first marathon this year and what you’ve just read has made you say “ah shite” or something along those lines but it needed to be told because it leads me nicely back to the ‘how’ I did it and what makes the marathon so great and so positive.

The Dublin marathon is known as ‘the friendly marathon,’ probably because, well, the people are amazing. The people you start the race with all huddled together, all unsure of what lies ahead and are all amazing, supportive and friendly. They wish you well and the best of luck before you lose them in the crowd. The next random person you end up beside tells you their story of why they are there, why they are running, asking you the same and more well wishes and luck is passed back and forth. That was one ‘how’.

Another was the support of friends and family who dotted themselves around the course to cheer me on and when I passed them, then either jumped onto bikes or into cars and made their way to the next location so they could continue to shout for me.

Another ‘how’ was down to the people on the streets, the general public cheering on every single person that passed them, telling them to ‘keep going’ and that they were ‘doing great.’ At one point I got handed a small bag of jellies from a girl about ten years of age who was dishing them out with her mum and dad in front of their house. No one asked them to do this, they were just doing it. How cool is that?

There’s the occasional inspirational poster messages that may be for specific people but everyone benefits from them. There’s a wonderful example of one of these on the marathon website itself used as the backdrop to the site. It’s a little girl holding out a poster to runners passing by her that she has hand made with the message “touch here for power” beside a star she has drawn.

Then there’s the race organisation itself. The route is excellently marshalled and safe. There are plenty of water stations along the way and at a certain section you’ll be called out by name on a loud speaker by someone telling you to ‘keep it up’ or something along those lines and at that later stage of the race, hearing your name out loud like that gives you a boost.

Yes, it is a big, big challenge to take on. So don’t underestimate it or disrespect it. Accept it for what it is, 26.2 miles (42k) that you’re using only your legs to get you through.

But also remember all the positive stuff – the good you’re doing for the charity you’re running for, the 14,999+ other people that are all there with you on the day running shoulder to shoulder, the cheering crowds, the good will, the fun, the experience, the memories you’ll keep forever, the fact that once you cross that line you officially become a member of a pretty elite club of marathon runners (it’s something like only 2% or 3% of the world population I think if it’s even that high that have completed one) and, you’ll get a pretty kick ass medal to show off and have as a memento to be proud of for the rest of your days.

It’s a wonderful event to be part of as a runner and even as a non-runner. It’s great for Dublin City and an event we can all be proud of in my opinion. Long may it last with the number of participants growing each year because it’s one of the rare occasions that brings the whole city together and projects out to the world how great this city of ours can actually be.

For me personally, every year around this time I get serious marathon envy and wish I was taking part. For the last few years I’ve made it into the city or have stood at some point on the course to cheer people on and every single time I do it, I wish I was on the other side being cheered at rather than doing the cheering. I’m not sure what others have felt when they’ve completed it but for me, there’s always that little voice in the back of my mind that won’t let go of the idea of doing it again. I suppose time will tell if that little voice wins or if old lefty will eventually tell it to shut up for good and that it’s completely out of the question.

I’ve looked over this piece one last time before publishing it – the clock on the website now reads 3 days, 0 hours, 45 mins and 22 seconds … so, all that’s left to say is…best of luck to each and every single one of you taking it on.

Have fun.

Enjoy it.

And DON’T GIVE UP!

YOU CAN DO IT! Just believe.