This article is from page 87 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
ON SATURDAY last I took part in the mini-marathon staged along- side the Burren Marathon in Bally- vaughan. It was well organised and the large crowd enjoyed a great at- mosphere at the start line.
I was feeling good, and when actor Brendan Gleeson sent us on our way with a playful ‘Ready, steady, go!’, I took off like a bullet. Despite the hard uphill stretches at the start, I passed the 3-mile mark in 20:24, but I paid for my impetuousness later on and got steadily slower over the sec- ond half.
The wonderful scenery along the
route was wasted on me as I pushed close to the pain barrier, though the sound of a cuckoo turned my grim- ace to a smile at the 4-mile mark. At 5 miles I had an animated argument with the devil on my shoulder tell- ing me to stop and walk for a while. I knew if I gave in my race would be over, so I steeled myself to push on and keep going to the finish line.
Turns out, I was the first woman over the line in 45:02. My first ever win and a memory to treasure! Un- fortunately I couldn’t hang around basking in my success; I had to get straight home to blow up balloons for my son’s fourth birthday. A mother’s work is never done.
If I’m to achieve my goal of com- pleting The Clare 10k in under 42 minutes, I obviously still have lots of work to do. Pll have to focus particu- larly on speed and pacing, but with 4 weeks to go, I’m still fairly confi- elie
The fundraising for cystic fibrosis is gathering pace too. Don’t forget you can donate online at www.cfire- land.ie (see ‘Margaret Ryan Clare 10k’ under event menu), or contact me directly at 086 6067047.