Garristown 10k Road Race 2026 Dublin Championships Sunday, 19th Apr 2026 @ 10:00am
10k road race
Today’s race was close to Ashbourne in north Co Dublin. Got up a 6:45 am for that requesite 3 hr gap post breakfast. Lovely sunny morning, meant that it was going to be a very enjoyable run along rural roads.
My last 10 km road race it turns out was 15 years ago. I remember it well because I got my “goto” tee shirt for a run, there. A faded mustardy coloured cotton top that just fits. That just shows how long my achilles has been an issue.
Got there around 9:20, parking was in a sloping farmer field just off the Main Street. There was a great buzz about the place, 600 in the 10k and another 250 in the 5k. Not knowing the course, when I met another Blackrock guy near the front at the start I asked about it. “It’s undulating with a hill near the end”. A typical course profile, so nothing too much to worry about.
From the start I just kept it steady. First km in just over 4 mins so just kept it going at that pace for the first halve to see how I felt. Overall the first halve seemed to go down hill, which meant that keeping the same pace coming back seemed a decent strategy. With 3 km left I tried to up the pace, but I was pretty much at my limit. With 2km left there appeared a chap who may have been in my age category, so I had to push it. I gradually caught him. At a long hill I was just able to keep pace, but with less than 500 m left I was fully tanked out. That 2 sec gap just refused to close so I just had to accept it, my lungs just didn’t have the capacity to help my legs.
After a few hand shakes with others finishing around me it was orange, apple, banana time, with a great spread laid out at the end.
The prizes were in terms of decades, I was fortunate enough to win the M60 category.
The race was also the Dublin 10km Champiopnships, so I was first M65 there The M50+ team got the silver medal.
Included with the bottle of whiskey was this .
Cows udder cream !!!
Why ???
Turns out, having just googled to see how much it is, it’s a wonder cream for aching muscles and bones. It the in thing in GAA circles. Wow. I’m sure I’ll never use it, but at 18 euro for the tube it seems a shame to throw it out. Get in touch if your interested.