Questions & Answers

Niall O'Crualaoich

Shewer, shewer, shewer, we'd a man on there from the Cork area...After some futile attempts at trying to meet past competitors of the MDS from all over the country, I found just the man in Cork - Niall O'Crualaoich.

Niall is a bit of an endurance freak - he completed the 2009 MDS, which had it's first day washed out and they increased the mileage, he's swam the channel in nothing but speedos and some vaseline and is a veteran of more than one Ironman. When I asked him about the requirements in terms of physical competency to run the MDS, he said "you could do it now as you are, but you'd be f*cked by the end of it". Fair enough.

I had a list of questions for him, all of which were answered reassuringly for me:

Q: What about the heat?

A: It's not as bad as you think. Remember the Cork marathon in 2007? A guy I know did the MDS and then the Cork marathon that same year and said he suffered the heat more in Cork. But it is hot and you'll want to manage the water well.

Q: Is the 50 mile stage as bad as it sounds?

A: It's more than 50. Most people run to around the 40 mile mark and then eat and sleep for a bit before finishing, depends on how you feel. You might be tired afterward.

Q: How did you manage your feet?

A: Well the glue I used to attach the gaitors to my runners failed and so sand got into my socks and I got some blisters. I'd advise you to bring some extra glue.

And my list of questions continued until I felt much better about the whole experience. We left it saying that the best thing for me is to get in to the race and after that we'd meet and talk about training, gear, equipment etc.

So now just to get the entry and we're off...