IAU 24-hr World & European Championships 2012

24-hr World & European Championships 2010.

This is the one I've been waiting for and can now confirm that I've been selected to represent Ireland in the 24-hr World & European Championships 2012 which is less than 3 weeks away.  My year was planned around this race and even though confirmation of selection only happened recently I had trained as if I was doing it.  All races have led to this point and my peak and taper was planned around the race date.

The following appeared on the Athletics Ireland Website.

The World and European 24 Hour Championships takes place in Katowice, Poland on 8/9 September.  Ireland will have teams participating in both men’s and women’s events.  The men’s team will consist of John O’Regan and Eddie Gallen.  John is the reigning national champion having won the title at the Energia 24 Hour race in Bangor, Co Down on July 6/7.  Eddie finished third in this race and was runner up to John in 2011 also.

The women’s team will comprise of Deirdre Finn and Ruthann Sheahan.  Deirdre was the national 24 hour champion in 2011 and also included the Bangor 24 Hour race as part of her preparations for Katowice.  The weather conditions were very wet on that occasion so the team will be anticipating a different challenge in Poland.

Each of the team will have a support person in attendance to assist with refuelling and race strategy in what promises to be a gruelling competition.

The year in review 2011

Yet another busy year with my training distance slightly up on 2010 but because I also had less rest days my average run distance is down.  When compared with last year's figures I estimate that I should have covered at least 600K (372 Miles) more and it seems that the shorter races were at the expense of more important longer runs as they usually fall on the same day.  For 2012 I'll be a bit more selective and not race as often unless of course it fits in with my plan or I can afford the time.

Anglo Celtic Plate 2011

The year started with an early call from Ultra Running Ireland asking if I'd run on the Irish Team for the 100K Anglo Celtic Plate to be held in Scotland in March.  A great start and I followed this with another 2 appearances on the Irish Team with the Trail World Championships on home soil in Connemara and the  100K World & European Championships (&Masters) in Winschoten, Holland.

Trail World Championships 2011

100K World & European Championships.

The 24-hr World & European Championships to be held in Brugg Switzerland was cancelled and attempts to find an alternative venue were unsuccessful and the race was officially cancelled in March.  This was to be my goal race for 2011 and although disappointed I was consoled with the other opportunities to run on the Team.

Rather than waste my event specific endurance training I then decided to to take part in the Energia Belfast 24-hr Race which was also the Irish Championships but because it was only 2 weeks after the Trail World Championships I wasn't fully committed and my training became trail specific.  An early fall in the Trail World Championships slowed my pace significantly and I finished the Race knowing I wouldn't need much recovery for the 24-hr Race and I was right as I went on to win the 24-hr Race and the Irish Title.

Energia Belfast 24-hr Race & Irish Championship

2011 also saw the release of the 'Running Man', a documentary by Caroline Brennan and Giant Leap Production which followed my preparation and build up to the 24-hr World & European Championships in 2010.  And in September there was a big screen Premier of 'Defining Moment', a feature length documentary following my participation in the Spartathlon and telling the story of how I came to be there.

On Location in the French Alps.

Stats:

Total Distance = 5500K (3250 Miles)

Rest Days = 69

Running Related injuries= 0

International Appearances = 3

Personal Bests = 5
Races = 15 which included:

1. Donadea 50K

2. Anglo Celtic Plate 100K

3. Trail World Championships 81K

4. Energia Belfast 24-hr Race & Irish Championships

5. 100K World & European (& Masters) Championships.

6. National Novices Cross Country, running on Kildare Team.

As well as the above I raced a few shorter distances on road and cross country representing Club & County.

Other Stuff:

• Profiled in Irish Runner.
• Profiled in Runner's World.
• Contributed to Feature in Runner's World
• Irish 24-hr Running Champion.
• Running Man Documentary
• Defining Moment, Feature Length Documentary
• Raced or Ran in France / Switzerland / Holland / England / Scotland / Gran Canaria. 
• Outsider People of Year List 2011.

My thanks to:

• My Family for their continued support.
• The Great Outdoors.
• Salomon Running.
• Saucony.
• Le Cheile Athletic Club.
• Ultra Running Ireland and my Team Mates & Support Crews
• Martin McCann & Lateral Vision Productions.
• John Belton and Staff at No17 Personal Training.
• Peter Matthews, Sports Massage Therapist.
• Caroline Brennan, Giant Leap Productions.

IAU & WMA 100K World & European Championships.

I didn't get what I went for but I'm happy with what I got.  I'm not on form for writing a race report at the moment so I've attached a few photos and will hopefully have my race report in a few days.

Athlete Village Winschoten.

The Athlete Parade.

Pre Race Massage

Team Ireland

Food station.

The Running Man

A video documentary by Giant Leap Productions.  This is the Story of  extreme athlete, John O'Regan and his endeavour at representing Ireland at the World 24 hour Marathon in Brive, in France.  The documentary also features athletic greats such as Richard Donovan, Eddie Gallen, Eoin Keith, Thomas Maguire and Tony Mangan.


The Running Man from Near TV on Vimeo.

Irish Team for Trail Championships

Ireland's Keith Whyte, John Byrne, John O'Regan, Thomas Maguire and Daniel Doherty

Ireland have entered a strong men's team for the IAU Trail World Championships in Connemara.

The team is captained by John Byrne, who was first Irish finisher at the Anglo Celtic Plate 100km when finishing third in 7:09:33.

Thomas Maguire, the Irish 100km (7:05:06) and 24 Hour (248.392km) record holder is additionally on the six-person team.

UK-based duo Daniel Doherty, who has a PB of 7:19:29 for 100km, and Barry Murray, who has posted very strong peformances in UK trail races, are also in the squad.

Keith Whyte, another sub-7:30 hrs 100km runner and who recently won the Kildare Marathon, runs in his first world championships.

Paul Tierney, winner of the Wicklow Way Ultra and the new record holder for the Wicklow Way, makes his debut for Ireland.

In addition to the team, trail running legend Eoin Keith will represent Ireland as an individual. Keith is making a comeback after injury and finished 11th in the 2009 Trail World Championships.

John O'Regan, a 24-Hour international athlete, is also entered as an individual.

The squad, which has a representative from all four Irish provinces, will be managed by Tony Brennan and John Collins.

100K World & European Championships. The Plan.

MV Princess Danae / The Athlete's Village

I'm expecting this race to be quite tough as the transition from The Spartathlon to now was too short to incorporate some necessary speedwork into my training plan. Experience gained from previous races have taught me that sometimes it's best to approach the start line slightly under trained or under prepared rather than carrying an injury or feeling ill. I did however include short Tempo runs of 10K or less which were run a decent pace and I've worked on maintaining my endurance with regular and consistent runs of 20-30K.

The course invokes a 5K run into a 5K loop to be completed19 times. My plan is to run slightly faster than 5min per K or less than 145bpm (heart rate) which will have me completing each lap in 24-25 mins. Running a consistent pace serves a few purposes including the support crew knowing when to expect me and being able to plan the food and fluid intake. Based on this pace I will be completing 10K in under 50 mins. As always, the bulk of my nutrition will be Powerbar products as this allows me to simply track my carbohydrate intake. The food plan we have devised is quite simple goes a little something like this:

Loop 1: Powerbar energize * 200ml
Loop 2: Powerbar energize * 200ml
Loop 3: Powerbar gel + 200ml Nuun electrolyte.
And repeat.

I will also have Fig Rolls and Powerbar bars available as well as an extra 500ml bottle of Nuun made up just in case I need extra fluids. Nuun just contains electrolytes and it's a better drink than water during a race as it replaces the electrolytes lost during exercise and prevents cramping. Powerade will be available from the race organisers and i'll probably take that every so often for a change of taste. Having a variety of flavours available can make the fuelling a lot easier and even a different flavour of the same product will do the trick.