Mourne Way Marathon + Ultra
“I got that Feeling�
Barry Tinnelly / 16.06.2010
At the start line I saw a lot of new and familiar faces; people had travelled from America, Spain and all over Ireland and the UK to participate in this event.
My goal for the event was simple, just keep a steady pace the whole way, meet with my wife Paula and sister Pamela at each water station, as she would give me my provisions and I would be away again… no hanging about.
The race started well, and I got talking to a guy from Spain, Joseba, just as we where climbing out of Kilbroney Park. He had travelled from the Basque region of Spain to participate in the event.
We run together nearly all the way to Newcastle. It was great having company on the run to Newcastle, our pace was good and we talked plenty. Just coming into Newcastle Joseba slowed, I kept going into Donard Park, over the timing mat and out again. Paula was waiting on the hill with my provisions.
The climb out of Newcastle was tough, my legs felt heavy and I thought to myself, holy shit I’m not going to make it back. The climb was tough, out over the hill and down towards the dip in the mountain, then the Small Hill up to Donard Quarry, I knew when I got to the top I then had a good bit of down hill and nearly flat path, so it gave me time to get the legs going again. The pancakes and syrup from Paula were soon kicking in and I started to feel good.
My next goal was to get to Ott, I kept saying to myself, just keep going, walk the hills run the flat, keeping a steady pace. It seemed like no time till I was rounding the side of Fofanny Dam, and I knew at this stage I was sitting in 4th place. Eoin Keith, Don Travers and Peter Royale where in front of me. Paula and Pamela were keeping a check on the times of the runners in front so when I got to certain water stations, I knew how far they were ahead of me. It was good for me that I was gaining time on the 3rd place runner.
Over the timing mat at Ott and the 3rd place runner was just about 3-4 minutes in front. I have run from Ott back to Rostrevor lots of times, so knowing the terrain was a big help. I upped my pace going down the tarmac road and couldn’t believe how good I was feeling, it was like getting a second wind (40 miles into the race, NUTS). Going down the road I could see the 3rd placed runner just a head of me. He was walking across the bridge and didn’t seem to be making an effort to run.
I kept pushing on and onto the rough terrain that takes you from Spelga to the bottom of the Hen Track. At about 300-400 metres into the terrain I was upon him, I got past and knew I had to push hard to get distance between us. I thought he would have followed me, but he never reacted, so in my head I knew I just had to keep it steady.
By the time I got to the water station at the bottom of the Hen Track, I couldn’t see him at all.
I was opening up a good gap between us, on up the track, across the Rowan Tree River and tackled the small but steep climb up to the col between Rocky and Tornamrock. When I rounded the top, he was at the bottom, so I had at least 10 minutes on him.
The run from Leitrim Lodge to Rostrevor is mostly downhill and I thought maybe this guy is a good road/trail runner. Now that I was in 3rd place I did not want to get complacent and let it slip, so I got a couple of oranges and a bottle of water and ran, just keeping a steady pace but no way was I going to stop. It was tough. My father turned up at Batts Wall on his mountain bike and gave me encouragement or a bollocking (I didn’t know), I was just focused on getting to the finish line. But either way it was great to have the company, going down the trails for the last few miles.
Coming into Kilbroney was a fantastic feeling, I was in 3rd place, the sun was shining, music was playing, people were cheering and then over the speakers you hear your name being called out as the 3rd Ultra Marathon runner about to finish. It was a great feeling to cross the line with people congratulating you on your run.
I never thought I would be in that position or be as close to the top runners as I was, but sometimes you get a good day, you feel good and everything just falls into place. The song which was playing when I was coming over the finish line was the Black Eyed Peas, “I got a Feeling�.
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