Doherty 8th in 100K European Championships 2013.

Dan Doherty & Keith Whyte, Seregno 2012.

Dan Doherty finished an excellent 8th in the European 100k championships in Belves, France on Sunday 28th April. Dan’s time of 7.05.58 was less than a minute outside the Irish record for the distance. Dan paced himself well and finished strongly, picking off a number of competitors in the closing stages. This displays incredible consistency as he recently recorded a time of 7.05.23 when winning the Self Transcendence (Anglo Celtic Plate)100k in Scotland. Dan will now turn his attention to the World and European 24H championships to be held in the Netherlands in May.

Ireland’s other competitor Keith Whyte unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury at 80k. Keith was also performing strongly up to this point and was disappointed not to post a result. He also demonstrated good form recently when he won the Connemara Ultra.

Special mention must also go to John Collins, Kevin Belton and Jeff Fitsimons. The support crew travelled the 100k course on bikes to provide hydration, nutrition and encouragement to the runners.

IAU 100k European Championships 2013

Keith Whyte and Dan Doherty have been selected to compete in the IAU 100K European Championships in Belves, France on April 27th. Dan prepared for this event by recently winning the Self Transcendence 100K (Anglo Celtic Plate) in cold conditions in Perth Scotland.

His winning time of 7.05.23 was a new PB and just short of the Irish record. Keith Whyte had previously won the Anglo Celtic Plate in 2012 hot conditions in a time of 7.16.42.  

Keith Whyte also prepared in style by winning the Connemara Ultra Marathon in a time of 4.25.52 in less than ideal conditions having to run the last 13 miles into a headwind.

The race in Belves will be held on a 100K loop so a strong support team is required. John Collins, Kevin Belton and Jeff Fitzsimons will travel to ensure all requirements are met.

Strong Irish Team for World 100k, 2012.

Pictured: Dan Doherty, Irish 100km Team Captain

Ireland will send a very strong team to the European & World 100km Championships in Italy on 22nd April.

The men's team will be captained by Daniel Doherty, who finished 14th in the 2011 World Championships.

Doherty, along with Irish 50km Champion John Byrne and Irish 100km record holder Thomas Maguire make up a trio of Irish runners with sub-7:10hr PBs.

The team, which also includes Keith Whyte (sub 7:30hrs), Michael Collins (World veteran bronze medallist) and John O'Regan (Irish 24-Hour Champion) will be among the favourites to medal in Europe. The cumulative time of the top three finishers for each nation decides the outccome of the team competiion.

In addition to the team, Jim McCormick will represent Ireland as an individual and should be among the top contenders in the vets competition (which is run concurrently).

In the women's race, Ireland will be represented by Helen Lavin, who has recently posted some very good ultra performances in the USA.

IRISH MEN'S TEAM
John Byrne
Michael Collins
Daniel Doherty
Thomas Maguire
John O'Regan
Keith Whyte
Jim McCormick*

IRISH WOMEN'S TEAM
Helen Lavin*

*Individuals

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.

World Trail Championships (course recce)

Tony ascending Diamond Hill during course recce.

Descending Diamond Hill with Kylemore Abbey in the background.

As part of the race preparation I went to Galway with Tony Brennan to meet with Keith Whyte, Barry Murray and Richard Donovan to do a recce of the WTC course and get a feel for what to expect.  The race starts Kylemore Abbey and follows the road into Letterfrack before the serious climbing starts.  The ascent of Diamond Hill which happens within the first 10K is fairly severe but the pain numbing views are spectacular.  I've ran trails all over the world and this has to be one of the most impressive courses I've ever been on.  

The short recce was enough to get a feel for what to expect and I finished the day looking forward to race day and have a fair idea of my race day plan.

Anglo Celtic Plate 2011. My Race.

With Scotland's finest, Debbie Consani.

You can learn a lot from races that don't go as planned if you take the time to analyse them and then make the corrections.

Support Crew Tent.

Going into the Anglo Celtic Plate I was in my best shape of recent times and was fully prepared and expecting to finish in under 7hrs 45min which was an estimation based on recent race results and long distance training runs.

The course was as good as it gets being relatively flat and consisted of 42 x 2381 laps which might sound daunting but in a race it's 42 times that you pass your support crew, 42 times that you have access to food & fluid, 42 times to check your pacing and position but more importantly it's 42 times to pass the friendly faces and if things go wrong you're never far from help. 

Before any race I come up with a mental plan and try to visulise whats ahead and for this one becuase of it's numerical similarity with the 42K in a Marathon I turned it into a marathon and thought of each lap as a Kilometre even though I wouldn't be counting them down.

Waiting to start.

The weather on the day was almost perfect and I felt very confident and proud lining up beside my team mates at the startline and when the race started I settled almost immediately into my pace and gradually found my position behind the lead pack.  It felt quite comfortable and effortless and as I made my way around the first lap I picked out some markers that I would use to check my pacing as the race went on.  Less than halfway around the loop the course went alongside the river Tay and each time I passed I looked into the water in the hope of seeing a Salmon jump and that was something I looked forward to on each and every lap.

All alone on the banks of the River Tay.

Before completing the first lap I felt the need to use the toilet and tried to decide whether to stop or try wait a bit longer. Seeing as it was going to be a long day I stopped rather than prolong the agony and that was the start of it!  Almost every lap I had to stop and looking at the drops in my heart rate I must have stopped close to 25 times.  Each stop cost me between 30-90 seconds and even though I wasn't drinking much I made the decision to reduce my fluid intake.  This helped ever so slightly but the problem was still there and the reduced fluid intake can lead to other problems which it did.

Checking my pace with Tony Brennan

I went through the Marathon split in 3hr08 and then through the 50K split in 3hr49 but shortly after that my hand went into a spasm and I knew I was becoming dehydrated and suffering from loss of electrolytes even though I was still needing toilet stops.  I started drinking again but switched from a carbohydrate drink to an electrolyte drink which is easier on the stomach and because it was electrolyes I needed as my energy levels were still ok.  My right hip then started to tighten up which again I put down to the electrolyes and this required the occasional stop for an assisted stretch with the support crew.

Even before the race finished I was a bit disappointed and I didn't cheer up any bit more after crossing the finish line. Apart from the extra stops I was still running at my planned pace which I worked out by subtracting the stoppage time from lap time so I know I should have finished much faster and at least finished in under 8hrs but thats how it goes.

The mistake wasn't made on race day because I drank very little before the race and ran the first 70 minutes without any fluids.  I had estimated my fluid intake to be somewhere between 3 -4L but I only drank approx 2L.

The finish.
Daniel Doherty, Richard Donovan & Thomas Maguire.

Did I drink too much in the days before the race? I don't think so but then again I don't know!  I keep a record of everything else but fluid intake is routine and maybe I need to start watching that in advance of races anyway.  It has been suggested by a fellow Ultra Runner (Jim McCormick) that maybe I had a kidney infection but it didn't feel like I did but then again I don't know what a kidney infection feels like.

Donadea 50K and other stuff.

John O'Regan & Jim McCormick

Training has gone very well over the past few weeks and included one long training run of 55K which I used as race prep for the Anglo Celtic Plate and practiced my pacing and fueling while keeping a close eye on my Heart Rate.

 Had planned on peaking this week with a 60K run at same pace (4:37 per K) but instead I ran the Donadea 50K at a slightly faster pace to make up for the shorter distance.  Based on previous training runs my race plan was to finish the 50K in 3hrs40 mins (4:24 per K / 7:04 per mile) which was based on my Heart Rate and if it went to plan I should manage to keep it under 150 bpm.

This was the first running of the Donadea 50K and had a limited number of competitors all running on invite and among the entrants was my Team Mate for the Anglo Celtic Plate Keith Whyte and Jim McCormick a training partner from Belfast and close friend of Marty Rea.  Jim was also using this race as a long training run so we decided to run it together and use it as an opportunity to catch up on what we were both up to and swap war stories.
We started off at a decent pace to break away from the crowd which was decided on the walk to the start line as  we noticed the track was a bit too narrow for a group of 25 and would be a bit like a cross country race start.  We were cautious not to get outside our comfort zone although we soon realised that after 2K we were a bit too close to Keith Whyte and that meant our pace was a bit too fast.  We had a quick chat with Keith and politely told him we were dropping back.

Long story short,  Keith Whyte went on to finish in 1st place quite comfortably in 3hrs26:27 with Jim and I finishing 3rd in 3hr41:30 having ran an almost perfect race.  We went through the Marathon split in 3hrs04:30 as planned but then I made a toilet stop in the 2nd last lap and I reckon thats what cost us the additional few seconds.  We could have pushed a bit harder to make up the time but for what?  It was a training run and I know from experience that a sprint finish could have made all the difference to my recovery and it's a bit too close to my goal race to let my ego decide what I do.

Aisling, my daughter & support crew.

During the race I wore Skins A400 running tights and my Le Cheile running club singlet.  My daughter Aisling was there as support crew and kept us supplied with Powerbar Energize which was mixed and contained in 250ml bottles.

Crossing the Finish Line in 3rd place with Jim McCormick

With Keith Whyte at the finish.

In other news John Byrne finished 2nd in the Bramley 20 miler with a very impressive time of 1hr52:19 as part of his prep for the ACP and when you consider that along with Daniel Doherty's recent 50K result I think we have a strong team for this year's ACP.

Irish Team for Anglo Celtic Plate

Keith Whyte winning the 2010 Cliffs of Moher Half-Marathon

The Irish men's team for the Anglo Celtic Plate (Home Nations) 100km has been announced. The event will take place in Perth, Scotland on 27 March 2011.

Keith Whyte and Daniel Doherty will make their debut for Ireland in the competition.

Doherty took up running only two years ago and runs with Basingstoke and Mid Hants AC in the UK. His progress has been remarkable, most recently finishing second in the Gloucester 50km in 3:09:05 despite suffering a chest infection.

Whyte, who hails from Ennis, has been equally impressive. He took up running three years ago and set a marathon PB of 2:38 in October's Dublin City Marathon. However, his true talent may lie beyond the marathon distance where his 180km - 200km training weeks should also stand him in good stead. 

The team will be captained by Irish record holder Thomas Maguire whose PB of 7:05:06 earned him 12th place in the 2006 World 100km Championships. Maguire also holds the 24 Hour Irish Record, covering a distance of 248.392km to be ranked in the top six in the world in 2009.

John Byrne, a 2:32 marathoner, made his debut at the 100km distance in 2010 and there are high expectations of the Mayo AC athlete's 100km ultramarathon potential.

John O'Regan, primarily a 24-hour+ runner, will complete the team and is anticipated to put in a very strong performance over the shorter distance of 100km in Scotland.

TEAM

John Byrne
Daniel Doherty
Thomas Maguire (captain)
John O'Regan
Keith Whyte

DETAILS

Date: Sunday 27 March 2011
Times: 7am - 100k & 10am - 50k
Venue: Bells Sports Centre, Perth
For event details click here.