Stories, Articles and Race Reports
5 marathons in 5 days – Sixmilebridge, Ireland –July 2011
by Pat O'Keeffe from the Irish 100 Marathon Club
(Cut down version to only include our members)
ORGANISERS OF 5 MARATHONS IN 5 DAYS,
TOM ENRIGHT AND PAT O' KEEFFE.
It was 6.00pmon Wednesday 6th July 2011 in the quiet village of Sixmilebridge, Co Clare and the start of 5 Marathons in 5 Days, the idea of this event thought up by Tom Enright, a Cork man now living in Sixmilebridge and Quin village. The plan was to run 5 marathons over 5 days, 4 in Sixmilebridge and 1 in Quin with the option given to run as many as a person wanted.
Over the 5 days a total of 101 individual entries were received from a total of 55 different runners of all ages, majority being members of the new club formed in Ireland recently, Marathon Club Ireland which is open to any runner who has completed 1 marathon. 11 runners in total lined up on the first night with the plan of doing all 5 but unfortunately due to injuries 2 runners decided to live to fight another day and pulled out of the event leaving 9 brave souls who battled it out until Sunday afternoon through rain, wind and sunshine, yes we had sunshine, to make there goal of completing all 5 marathons. The event which was classed by someone as a “No frills event”, turned out to be a great success with plans already in place for a rerun next year. There has even been rumours of a 10 in 10. Below are a few words from our 9 runners who completed all 9 marathons. Well done to all!!!!!
TRAVISS WILCOX
DATE OF BIRTH. 12/8/66
From where? Dover, England
Occupation? Webmaster
Marathons to date including 5 in 5(89)
“Very friendly event with all the runners, organisers and helpers all being very supportive and helpful, recall the rain of Thursday, the heat of Saturday, enjoyment of having finished on Sunday! I personally struggled a little with shin problems, though they eased off as the days progressed, not the recommended recovery procedure, my doctor would have been horrified! When you do the same course over and over again you tend to look out for the little things each time around, the horse in the field about mile one, a sign post by the water stop about halfway, the railway bridge which meant you were nearly done!”
CONOR FLANAGAN
Date Of Birth .25/10/1967
From where? Galway
Occupation? Accountant
Marathons to date including 5 in 5 (70)
“Having done a few doubles and a treble last year I thought I would manage the 5 in 5 reasonably comfortably. I was wrong. It was a physical and mental challenge unlike any I had encountered before and I struggled from day 1. I made silly sun protection routine. It is a well established fact that Irish males tend to melt in any temperature higher that the early twenties, and the weather in Quin on day 4 saw plenty of meltdowns! I was unsure whether the sticky goo on the road surface was my liquefied calves on the patched tar melting. Day 5 was surprisingly one of my better days, the thought that this self inflicted torture was [slowly] coming to an end probably engendered a little extra effort from a weary body. I finished with a smile, my medals and a fabulous farmers tan! In summary a very well organised event with fantastic camaraderie amongst the runners. Will I be back next year, only if they do a 10 in 10.”
JERRY FORDE
Date Of Birth. 3/10/ 1950
From where? Cork
Occupation? I have no job, so I present a programme on Hospital radio in Cork 5 days a week.
Marathons to date including 5 in 5 (196)
“The weather wasn't too good the first two days but nothing could be done about that. Not too many cars on the course which was great. The course had everything like up and down hill, flat run and only one right turn on each lap. The course was well thought out and everyone was well looked after.. Nothing left to chance. A big thank you to all who helped out to make the 5 marathons 5 a great event.”
KEN BEGGS
Date Of Birth 14/02/1956
From where? Belfast -East Antrim Harriers
Marathons to date including 5 in 5 (91)
“This was my first back to back marathons Initially started as doing three out of five But as it got nearer it became 4 out of 5. And then when I had ran three w/o injury decided on the 5 out of 5. Enjoyed the looped course and meeting old friends. I certainly tired over the five days but was concerned that I didn't get an injury, so didn't push it too much. The furthest I had ran in a week this year was the first week in April when I ran the Glasgow to Edinburgh double marathon and I clocked a total weekly mileage of 60.7 miles. So it was a big consideration to make it 5 marathons in 5 days a total of 131 miles.”