The Marathon Snail

I finally made it to the start line of a marathon! I was so excited in the days coming up to the race, and even picking up my race pack and number gave me a buzz. It was very warm in the morning as we walked to the start line. Because it was Halloween, we saw a lot of weird and wonderful costumes – a guy in a full robot outfit, the Cowardly Lion, and of course Mankini Man who must be personally keeping Vaseline in business after his painful pursuits at both the Dublin half and full. I trained hard for this marathon, and although I was hoping to complete it in sub 4:26, my first goal was to have a good race – I’d pulled myself through enough training programs and injuries to get here only to ruin the race for the sake of a time. My two 20 mile runs had both gone well and I hadn’t felt much from my IT band for a good while, so it was looking positive. The first six miles were very uncomfortable – I still don’t know why. It could have been the weather, which was far too hot and humid ...

Sister Act: Hiking the Himalayas in an All-Women Group in Nepal

Sarah O’Regan braves the elements and the Himalayan heights and finds tranquillity in the company of women who are breaking the traditional mould Danu and Kumari, women hiking the Himalayas The Himalayan wind pushes me to the side of the footpath once again, and I tack, zigzagging like a sailboat in a headwind. A half-heard sound makes me turn, and on the steep mountainside below I see my companions frantically waving. While they are clearly shouting, I can’t hear them over the howling in my ears. I sit on a stone and rest, rocked by the gale. When they catch up, I learn that Kumari and her heavy pack have been blown over, and tumbled down the mountain some distance. A few metres to our right the ground disappears into a deadly ravine, but luckily no serious damage is done. Later, my guide Danu tells me she has never experienced winds like this in fifteen years of trekking. Small comfort this is to me; my left eyeball has been whipped repeatedly by some rebellious stray hairs that esca...

Marathon Sightseeing

"The best way to see a city is to run a marathon." This has to be one of the most misleading statements I have ever read. I came across it in an article for the Dublin City Marathon 2009 registration magazine, and I suspect the author has never run a marathon in his life. On the 11th April 2010 I ran the Paris Marathon with a target time of sub-4.30. The route starts on the Champs-Elysées heading away from the Arc de Triomphe, through the Place de la Concorde with the tall obelisque, and past the Louvre containing the Mona Lisa (which is surprisingly small, and not particularly attractive by today’s standards). At around miles 3 and 4 it passes through the Place de la Bastille, the symbolic location of the French Revolution. At mile 10 it enters the Bois de Vincennes and runs past the imposing Château de Vincennes, after which it doubles back on itself and heads back into the city, running alongside the Seine, again past the Bastille at mile 14, the Hôtel de Ville and the...