Tilting Against Cows Above the Irish Sea

A quick report tonight, with an invigorating 10K romp fresh in mind. We're on vacation in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I find out there is a set of runs at the famed “Giants Causeway” (wacky coastal rock formations) for Saturday, on the north coast of Ireland, just over an hour from Belfast city!

We rent a car and set out, getting lost in Belfast while my father-in-law announces his internal dialog about where I should drive. Thanks! We suss it out and soon we're on our way pushing north through the emerald green countryside on a sparkling fall day—brisk, but hardly cold. Perfect running weather!

Arriving in the quaint tourist village of Portballintrae, I find race director Lucy, a harried but friendly (shortish) gal. She'd told me earlier in the week the race was full, but upon noticing my email signature (cartoonist), I'm in! Maybe I'll do the design for the race shirt next year! Meanwhile, I squeak a race entry at the last minute. Thank you, Lucy!

The race finishes at Portballintrae village center, so we'll be bused downwind to the starting line. Runners load up on a few double decker buses for the short drive out to the start at a coastal trail. We exit the buses and take a charming walk, a good kilometer down a country lane through pastures to the start perched above the sea.

The 10K run begins on a small bit of flat, grassy ground next to a coastal trail, perched a couple hundred feet up a cliff above the ocean. I note there is scarce room for the 250 or so runners! To complicate things, Half Marathoners, Marathoners and Ultra runners already en route are on the trail. Did I mention it's generally a one-person-wide trail?! This could get interesting.

And of course it is, right away, as the field bolts from the start for a hill less than 100 meters away, said hill having room for but a single file. So, it's a dash, then a walk. Once over the hill and on the flat, I scramble by runners as I'm able, landing in a hole by the trail, right leg disappearing up to my knee, and going down. At least I fall on long grass, no problem, bounce right up and keep going.

It's a breathtakingly gorgeous day, and spectacular course. We scramble up and down hills on the muddy path above the ocean. Sometimes there are steps to climb. I continue to bolt past other runners when I can. To complicate things, there are plenty of Half Marathoners and Ultra runners who are either walking or running at a crawl, and I whoosh by them as cleanly as possible, often bushwacking through long grass and brambles.

Usually I don't get caught up in racing until the second half of a 10K, but this crazy course on a narrow path has me scrambling and jockeying for position from the get-go. And guess what, it's crazy fun! And I'm ready for it. I've been in Belfast for a few days, not running. So I guess you could say I tapered for the race! And, despite the hills and rough terrain, I've been training at Oaxaca's (Mexico) altitude in mountains, I'm used to keeping a rhythm on crazy terrain, so I can do it today.

Oh, did I mention the cow gates? Four or five times in the race, we run up 3 steps and jump over cow gates. It's fun! Who knew? I get into it. Sort of like a steeplechase. There is a ton of starting/stopping, climbing, rushing by slower runners, it's like a race where you make moves constantly. Man, I'm used to maybe 3 moves tops in a distance race. So I embrace it and focus on rhythm, and it works!

Throughout the run, I manage to keep passing other runners. Most are super slow, running the longer events, they are not in the 10K run group. But I can tell when I catch a 10K participant, they are going a heck of a lot faster. And, some of them fight me off. But today, I am in the groove – not one runner I pass is able to re-pass me!

This makes me bold, giddy, and I take off after one tough looking guy, blue shirt, tall dude. Then we hit the one water station on the course. It's clogged! Stand-abouts everywhere, get the hell offa the course! What a mess! I drink my water and realize there's nowhere to throw the cup out, so I retrace a few steps and hit the trash can. A bit of frustration, we've been implored to not litter. Maybe there shoulda been one more trashcan a few meters after the drink station (minor complaint)?

The blue shirt guy is now 30 meters up on me, and I can't dent his lead too much. Well, we hit a killer downhill. I'm like, WTF, let's go. I bolt down the hill and pull up on him. I'm exhausted, but still full of adrenaline. My altitude training helps me rhythm up. I roll by blue shirt dude. He doesn't fight and I eye the next guy, a good 40 meters up, white shirt, teen dude.

I catch him at the bottom of a hill, another kilometer on, but then he flies up the hill before I can pass. Go kid. Don't let the old guy getcha! We turn at the top and the finish is 50 meters on. Aw hell, no wonder white shirt teenage dude took off! I sprint those last few meters and forget to turn my watch off at the finish. What an exhilarating run! Total fun! I guess I was a couple seconds over 50 minutes, not bad for such a shit-kicking trail run. I'll look up the results when they are posted. I think I was top 15, we'll see.

OK, here I am three weeks later, finally the results were posted. I finished 12th out of 220 runners in 50:27, decent time considering the terrain, fences and scores of slow runners on the one-person-wide path!

I'll be back again for the Causeway Coast races if I can! What a blast!

Want to book a Oaxaca, Mexico running tour? Email Steve!