Robert Quinn
I joined the club in January 2007 after a relative had challenged me to run the Connemara Half Marathon the following April. Weighing in at 16 stone (handy if you are a wrestler but not much use for a runner) I sought the advice of the Bray Runners gang to get me around the undulating Galway race. They obliged and three months later I shuffled around the course in 1 hour 52, finishing just outside the top 1000.
Following that I trained with the club when I could, and enjoyed plodding around a few races, until my times started improving. A year later I ran Connemara again, this time in 1.34, and inside the first 100.
Apart from the Connemara, there have been great trips to Ballycotton, Longford and Wexford. Races like the Raheney 5 that have stayed in the mind long after the lactic acid disappeared. The key highlight though, was standing on the start line of my first Dublin Marathon with thousands of others, waiting for the gun to go. I'll never forget that. However, I do want to forget my second marathon. You know you are in trouble when the guys in clown suits are overtaking you. But thats another story.
I'm looking forward to a good year in 2013 and the chance to lower a few of the PB's below.
5K: 19.13
10K: 40:17
5M: 31:58
10M: 67:52
Half M: 1.32.48
Marathon: 3:30