Castlehackett is a small rural community nestled between Headford and Tuam close to Knockma, which is associated with Queen Maeve.  The annual 8k run is a fundraiser for their primary school since 2015.  The school itself is the typical older type 3 or 4 teacher school and on the race day it was beautifully cleaned and decorated, with many of the pupils “helping out” to provide a great buzz in the hall before and after the race.

During the 5K race series, Rena had “suggested” that we would do Castlehackett, as she had done it previously and liked it.   Race day Sunday 7^th June was one of those really wet mornings, so the warm up was a run from the car to the school to get the numbers  and T-shirts and then a few stretches in a classroom before we headed to the start line.  Race tactics were simple we decided to run together as we were targeting about 40-41 minutes depending on the weather and either one to go ahead if they had anything left at the end.

There was a good crowd of about 200 gathering at the start line and as we assembled, the rain Gods decided to take a break.  The course was a rectangle of small country roads with no traffic and plenty of volunteers to guide and encourage us.   The first 5K flew along, no hills and we were pacing about 4.47/km.                                                                                              

As we turned for 6k, we were running into a breeze and I knew I was going to have to start working; mentally and physically to keep going.  I slowed my pace back to 5.0/km and let Rena go ahead.  This stretch was tough as there a drag, and coupled with the wind and tiredness, it seemed to go on forever although I think it was only 300 or 400m so I focussed on Rena and the runner between us to block out the negativity.  At the 7K mark, it was time to refocus and the finish line was beckoning to me, so time to push on and I got home in a time of 38-51, Rena was in about 8 sec ahead of that.  The finish line was well manned, plenty of water and fruit and a short jog back to the school hall for a fabulous spread with endless tea and coffee.  There was a lovely atmosphere in the hall, with no one in a hurry to go home and another reminder to me of the support and friendships found in the running tribe.

The best part was on Monday morning when one of the teachers from the school rang to say I had won my age category… running and aging is a gift !!!