Going Back 2 Back in Clonakilty

If you’re going to run six marathons in six days, you might as well start with 2. The Clonakilty Back2Back Marathons gave me a good dose of reality. 

"I find it hard to do a lot of training what with the baby and all" I said as I was trying to find and excuse for the pains in my legs as we approached the 13 mile mark of the first marathon. 

"Stop complaining, I have 3 kids and still get out training, but I have to train late at night" says Patrick. 

"Well I only get out 6 days a week and I have 7 kids and a full time job!" says the woman running beside us in her Vibrams. All she was missing was the Wonder Woman outfit.

We had just hopped off the back of a trailer towed by a jeep on the first day of the event on February 15^th. It is the only race I have been to where there was a significant flood in the middle of the race that required a flat bottomed trailer attached to a truck and a smaller trailer attached to a jeep to ferry runners over the 250m long puddle. We had some hard rain in the weeks leading up to the race, which I knew I was escaping with a family trip/training week in Lanzarote a few days later, so my spirits were high.  

Although I struggled to get on to the trailer, I felt getting a rest even for a few minutes, was going to be great, right? Wrong. Getting off the trailer and getting going again was not a pleasant experience and we were only a quarter of the distance into the weekend’s mileage.

The Flat Bottomed Trailer (Complete with Flood!)

It is billed as an ‘inspiring’ marathon by the organisers and credit must go to the scenery, which gives a stunning backdrop to the pain and suffering as you work your way out of Clonakilty along the water, up towards Castlefreake, through some very rustic mileage and on toward Inchydoney before looping back to Clonakilty.

As I had learned from my days on geology field trips in college, beautiful scenery is often partnered with rugged terrain. The Clonakilty Back 2 Back marathon course is no exception. The Saturday race was won in 2.53, which shows how hilly it was (usually marathons are won in Ireland around 2.30).

Three MDS hopefuls began the day in good spirits with our backpacks on as we lined up at the start. Eoin filled his with leaflets, Patrick went with whatever was in the car and I had bought bags of rice and pasta to weigh myself down. I ran with 6kg in my pack, not safe in the knowledge that I was going to have another 2-3kgs in Morocco. Patrick’s bag went after only 5 miles when his pack exploded onto the road – the bag was fine, closing the zip helped and I enjoyed the short break!

Ronan, whom I met during the Art O’Neill, was also running, so again great to chat to him and get some ideas.

The approach for the first day was to take it easy, a good thing considering the very long hills at 14 and 20 miles. We ran/power walked up both hills, although Patrick was well out of sight from mile 16 onward. Eoin and I trudged our way round and finished in 4.45. Not bad considering the packs and the fact that we had another marathon to endure the following day. The McDonald’s Eoin insisted on after the race was a great bonus!



Patrick and I Hitting Castlefreake Woods

Sunday was a different kettle of fish – my quads were not best pleased with me as I struggled down the stairs to make porridge before setting off with Eoin back down to Clonakilty for Day 2. The lads ran with lighter packs and I ran with none as I had a pain in my lower back from my car key chaffing my skin as I ran the first day – valuable lesson for the MDS! Another lesson was not to wear ‘below the ankle’ socks, when my shoe decided to cut into my heel and I had to stop for bandaging after only 3 miles.

All was good until 17 miles in (or 43 miles in total) when my body went on strike and my legs gave up. I had to shuffle the following 9 miles – it was running downhill that killed me on the quads. Even the nice ladies at the aid station before the hill at mile 20 couldn’t cheer me up, despite their offer to take more and more jaffa cakes. “Sure you’re only skin and bone” one said. “Put a few in your pocket” said the other lady. Orangey goodness had little effect I’m afraid.



Eoin and I Almost Home on Day 2

I eventually got home in 4.30, alongside Eoin who blitzed the second half of the race, after I left him around mile 7. Patrick was already on his way back to Cork.

We decamped to the Quality Hotel with our medals of Michael Collins and JFK for a massage and some food. The student rubbing my leg commented that my IT Band was a bit tight – “as is the rest of my body” says I. I assumed with a visit to my own physio that it would loosen out before I hit the trails in Lanzarote three or four days later…I was wrong, very wrong.