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Pat Walsh Running, Midleton (2026)

16/10/2026

* Survival *

I am a runner but I want to stay running through the winter. How do I do it?

We all need motivation, a plan, encouragement to keep us going. No one is a Duracell bunny the whole time. There will be dips and stress periods where it is a struggle to go outside the front door but we must persevere.

What is your motivation?
Have you a Winter or Spring race in mind that will force you out. I use the word force but once we enter a race then we feel the need to properly prepare ourselves to give it a go.
A race entry might seem expensive but taken against the mental and physical benefits of training and achieving over the next few months then it is small change. A round of drinks or a meal in a good restaurant would be a lot dearer with no benefits.
Do you run to get out of the house and have a little me time? That is good
Do you run as a health prescription to keep the weight down and to help offset long term issues that could arise. Fair play

A plan
I will run 3 times a week.
I will run 20 miles a week.
I will do a parkrun each week.
I will run once, do strength training and do an aerobic session in the gym.
I will make my life fit around getting out for a run.
I will get out and enjoy it.

It actually doesn’t matter once you set a realistic plan for yourself and follow it through.

Encouragement
I cannot stress this one enough. We all need help. Find a running buddy, make yourself accountable to someone else. This will drag you out when you don’t feel like it.
I have repeatedly stated on this page how toxic social media is, but an odd post for your friends only, about a run or something noteworthy achieved and give yourself the boost of a bit of love and praise. Genuine people love seeing genuine people just doing something. That sounds basic and simplistic but it is true. I love seeing my friends do well. Why wouldn’t I? They are my friends.
Treat yourself to a cuppa afterwards. Share the joy. I ran with you, didn’t we do well. Positivity brings more rewards than negative. Highlight the can do, rather than the doubts.
When possible find somewhere scenic to run it might encourage you to return.

As an aside a good pair of leggings, a breathable running jacket, a pair of gloves and a nice hat can be of great use. The Summer was great so they maybe buried somewhere deep and quite smelly but in the fresh air no one will notice. .

"I don't know when the end of the journey will come, but I know that sure as hell I'm going to enjoy every path along the way" Ciara Mageean.

10/10/2026

* World Mental Health Day 10th October *

This is a huge issue at the moment and something close to my heart. I have no qualifications and I do have my own spells of doubt. It is only by talking and acknowledging the issue that we have any chance of helping.

Just run

I know that is so simplistic and maybe underestimating the problem but it works for me. I don’t do personal in this forum but the last few years haven’t been the easiest. The running community is the finest you could meet. There are people there better than the finest psychiatrists you could find anywhere. Solid people with a smile, a welcome, a hug. They won’t knock on your door, you must go to find them.

I ran today at parkrun. I did the course check on my bike in advance and met the buzzards circling, the kingfisher at the weir, the cat out for a morning stroll and yes there was people as well.
The run was good. Hi, how are you, good to see you, are you slowing up a bit, the usual from the gang. I chatted with people from Waterford, Norries, A German lady living in Cobh and a married couple from Carrigtwohill who volunteered to help. It takes everyone to make an event. It is only by dragging yourself from the bed and going that you can get the embrace of love that comes from the run.

Highlight was running with my offshore friend R who got a PB today. One of the moments of my year was the Bere Island parkrun so to help a island native achieve in the Midleton run was a sense of payback… she will kill me. But then who will run with her?

Is that all about me… NO. It is to encourage everyone to go out and take part. The world is brighter outside the four walls. The world is full of beautiful people if you go out to find them.

Mental health is a huge issue.

Just be kind, be nice, avoid negative people. Social media can be toxic so be careful. Don’t get drawn into the abyss and caught up in the sh*te. Be yourself, read a good book, watch a great film, say hello to someone, message someone to meet for a cuppa, volunteer to help at some event, just get off the couch.

Please don’t think I am over simplifying this or making it out I have the answers. I DON”T. I am just highlighting that it exists and I want to help.

09/10/2026

* October *

We enter October and the Summer is behind us. The best of the year may be past but there is still life in what is left. Many runners are turning their focus towards Dublin or one of the many marathons that populate the Autumn. For others it is a case of finding the motivation to keep running as the days grow shorter. Patrick Kavanagh always had a good line in poetry and his ‘October’ poem is no exception.

‘O leafy yellowness you create for me,
A world that was and now is poised above time,
I do not need to puzzle out Eternity’

It can be a beautiful time of the year to run as the cooler weather is much nicer after the heat we had this Summer. No danger of heat exhaustion or dehydration. The colours in the trees and hedges, the birdsong from the brambles. I do miss those long runs this time of year when I was training for marathons. Fantastic early Saturday morning runs were the highlight of many a week. Now my early Saturdays are course check on my bike for the parkrun. But I love it.

Kavanagh also used the poem to compare October to the current phase of his life. The best might be behind but who knows what lies ahead. I can empathise with that as while I would love to run another marathon I know that my body wouldn’t take the training program required. I cut my cloth to suit and have found peace and acceptance in shorter runs. It takes a change of mentality but it is better to be running short runs that pushing the body until it is crocked. NCT – Fail isn’t much good as a medical diagnosis.

‘It is October over all my life’

I would encourage everyone to just keep going. Don’t be drawn into something that could do damage to you or make you lose the love of running. Saying NO can be a sign of maturity. It actually only took me 60 years to discover that. Who knows what lies ahead next week, next year but I do intend making the best of it. Just attending and taking part, mixing with like minded runners, swapping stories and having fun. Birth-cert age is one number, mental attitude has a different measuring tool. There will be good winter wheat in my life. There are other challenges to be conquered. Life is what you make of it, don't waste it.

‘It is October over all my life and the light is staring
As it caught me once in a plantation by the fox coverts.
A man is ploughing the ground for winter wheat’

27/09/2026

* In praise *

I didn’t get around to my usual Friday post this week as I was busy galavanting around Malaga on a late Summer break just to ensure the body was ready for Autumn.
The weather was beautiful and miles were walked in every direction.
Good to be able to go on holiday, have the health to move around and enjoy it. I tried a run early one morning but it was hot so it turned into a slow jog with stops for pictures.

I’m writing this post Sunday evening in a bad week for mixing politics and sport. I don’t have the answers and I always feel for those caught in a situation like this. Please no comments about this as I will delete them.
It is ironic that I use facebook to post my ramblings while the whole world of social media is turning into a toxic cesspit. Would it hurt anyone to just be nice to people.

Isn’t it lovely to be able to just run somewhere nice and actually forget about the world for a while.
Isn’t it great to get up in the morning with the health to be able to move regardless of pace.
Isn’t it marvelous to check the death notices and your name isn’t there.

We passed the Autumnal equinox this week and it can only mean we are heading for cooler weather. We had a fantastic Summer and we need the motivation to keep going, keep running, keep moving, get out and take part. I was home in time for Saturday parkrun and a great morning for running with temperatures a little lower, I sweated the b**r out of me. Run, meet people, have a coffee. Keep it simple.

Three pics attached: A Day in the Life.
The sun rises, the sun sets and I bore the arse off Pablo Picasso. He knows very little about running and I know nothing about art :D

*

19/09/2026

* Running *

' That is no country for old men '

I realised this week I have been posting under the PWR banner and writing weekly posts for 11 years. Is this enough pain and suffering to inflict on the general running population about slow running?

When do we become irrelevant, repetitive or just boring and I don’t want to do that. I used to be writing at this time of year when I was training for Dublin Marathon about strategies and tips to help performance. I was in that zone and had some perspective.

That life is gone, the ship has sailed and now my life is a few easy runs and parkrun family on Saturday mornings. It is good to be still moving and I do miss those long 20 mile runs early on a Saturday when everything seemed a possibility.

I am still a runner but a greatly modified version of a previous self. But I am still a runner. Beautiful run this morning in Midleton and just met so many nice people. There was visitors from Scotland, Bere Island and a few Norries from Cork. Actually the less you run the more time you have to engage, mix, talk, learn about all the people who present themselves at a start line. Maybe a late career as a running journalist talking about butterflies and blackberries is my calling.

Story…
Last week as I walking in Midleton town a car beeped at me to call me over. It was my friend Billy ( who has been previously mentioned in my posts as a daily 5k man ) .

He had a book for me about the life of Emil Zatopek. 1952 Olympic champion in 5k, 10k and Marathon. A remarkable life and the story is fascinating account of adversity and resilience. If it was good enough for Billy it was good enough for me. He said to me he found it useful for training tips and he thought I might get something from it to help me.

Just as I’m easing into a life of old age and easy running this tale of heroic achievement drops into my lap. Will it inspire me or finish me? My friend Billy is 88 and I’m 63. We are both runners but am I a journalist or a bluffer?

' Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.' Yeats.

05/09/2026

* Glengarriff parkrun report *

On the quest to do all 11 parkruns in Cork this year I am pleased to report ‘Mission Accomplished’. Glengarriff today was the last one on the list and to be honest we saved a peach of a parkrun until last.

Stunning route and if it seems I swallowed a Bord Failte manual then I do apologise. A one loop circuit through the nature reserve on a combination of concrete roads and woodland trails. Running in the dappled shade of the ancient forest and alongside streams that have rocks carved smooth by the last ice-age makes you appreciate the beauty of nature. Few little ups and downs but nothing too serious if you want a good run but I would advise slowing down and taking in all the nature that surrounds you.

The locals who volunteered are not quite as old as the forest but they have the beautiful West Cork way of making you feel welcome. Run Director Cathal Lavin and his team had the usual collection of nationalities at the start line that you wondered was it a parkrun or a meeting of the United Nations. Summer time and visitors from everywhere.

And before you ask of course there were runners from Kerry. You could go to a marathon at Tierra Del Fuego at the Southern Tip of South America and there will be someone from Kerry there. It was lovely to meet the group from Tralee parkrun who had got a temporary 24hr visa to leave the County.

Sometime I may get around to talking about all the parkruns but today was Glengarriff and thanks to Stephen O’Sullivan who led the group in an enthusiastic and energetic aerobic warm-up pre the run. Lovely ice breaker and many laughs but not much appreciated by our four legged friends who were bursting for the off.

It is a really beautiful part of the country and a quick stop for a coffee and nibble which was enjoyed with a splendid view of Glengarriff Harbour. Life is for getting out there and it really doesn’t get much better than this. 1hr 45min each way in the car to do a 5k run can be equally described as insanity or heaven. Take your pick.

Thanks of course to Danielle and Heike for the company, laughs and your insightful analysis. Why do most parkruns end with a coffee and a sausage roll for me? What does it say about me and could I rank all the parkruns in preferential order based on the quality of the local sausage roll.

Sin Scéal Eile……

Glengarriff parkrun

04/09/2026

* Does it get any easier? *

How many times have we been asked that question by fellow runners, or maybe you have mentally thought it for yourself.

We run hard, we push ourselves, we are wrecked at the finish and maybe we didn’t achieve what we hoped for. What was all the training for? Why doesn’t it get easier as time goes on?

The answer lies in our own hopes and expectations.
Did we aim too high with no thought for our physical limitations and our ability to find time to train.
Did we not rest enough between training sessions (or is the case with so many busy people, that just don’t have the time to rest and recover).
Did we look at our birth cert.

If training hard is what we do to improve, then sleep, rest and proper nutrition are equally important to ensuring that the training gains materialize in a race. There is no professional reading this, only ordinary runners doing the best they can.

Do we let others push us towards unrealistic targets or maybe feel we could match or improve the times of friends but maybe without the same amount of training.

I love the expression (NO) that some people use so glibly to say ‘you would be well able to do that’ without any knowledge of what the other person is capable of actually achieving.

It can get easier if you find peace with where you are at any stage of your running life. Run hard and then accept that, as the here and now. You will find that your performance will improve if you relax and take the outcome rather than set a goal to be disappointed with.

Our bodies are fantastic and allow us to get out there and run. Finishing a run and the temporary tiredness, followed by the euphoria of chatting to other runners and proving I can still do this time and time again is maybe acceptance that this is getting easier. If it is that bad why do we enter the next race.

You run for the physical, mental and social benefits that running brings. It challenges your mind and body. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy so don’t ask.

“Smile As you find a rhythm
Working you,
slow mile by mile,
Into your proper haunt.” Seamus Heaney

Lecture and pontificating over. Have a lovely run this weekend.

23/08/2026

* Castlehaven parkrun report *

We had a lovely visit yesterday to this most quaint and beautiful parkrun. A nice jog on a woodland trail but book-ended by some unique performances.

Our Race Director Alun gave a welcome and informational speech prior to the run that would be more worthy of a Broadway stage performance than a mere intro to a parkrun and after the run we were treated to Cork and St Finbarrs AC man Dan Kennedy serenading us with his “Jogging Song’. I can honestly say I have never ever been treated to singalong straight after a run while some were still finishing. I hereby bequeath a Tony Award for acting and a Grammy for singing to them both.

The run itself is stunning through Rineen Woods and parts of the trail are alongside the estuary of Castlehaven Harbour. Do not have any notion of running a pb on this course, trust me it is not designed for that. Instead, take a more sedate pace and enjoy the undulating (hills) 2 lap course that finishes with an uphill path followed by a series of steps that had more in common with mountain climbing than running.

During the Summer season it gets visitors from all parts of the world. Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Germany all got a shout out while we even had people from Tipperary wherever that is. Including the very welcoming locals it made for a unique an eclectic mix that was charming. Fact: they actually allow people to run in Kerry Jerseys ( if they are brave enough 😃 ).

Thanks to all involved who volunteered to make this run possible. It was the 479th parkrun there and who knows maybe a return trip for the big 500 may be on the cards. I would recommend this run to anyone but please go there to relax, soak up your surroundings and enjoy the run. Our Number 10 on the mission to do all Cork parkruns in 2026.

Castlehaven parkrun

22/08/2026

* Castlehaven parkrun *

The inimitable Dan Kennedy entertaining the crowd after the parkrun this morning in beautiful West Cork

Full report to follow tomorrow

Castlehaven parkrun

21/08/2026

* The Bear and the Wolf *

Oh, someday girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go, and we'll walk in the sun
But 'til then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run….. Springsteen

What a fantastic Summer we have had and while all hope isn’t lost yet for the rest of August and September we have to admit the evenings are drawing in. It was fantastic to be able to pull on shorts, t-shirt, running shoes and out the door. No need to worry about cold or rain. I went for a cycle one day and it took me 20 minutes to get the bike out of the shed, pump the tyres, oil the chain, test the brakes and the gears and then find my helmet and glasses. I would have a few Kms done at that stage running.

I do honestly think it is hard-wired genetically into our DNA to just run. Nothing mad fast, but enough to be moving and stay ahead of the bears and the wolves that chased us when we put our nose outside of the cave a few thousand years ago. We were running then and we evolved and graduated to running around a field or a mountain trying to mind goats and sheep. We have always ran. Nowadays the beauty is that we have a choice for our health and mental sanity. We are blessed to be able to do it.

There is no mention of triathlons or kite-surfing in the annals of ancient Ireland and no sport except for Cú Chulainn hitting a ball around the place with an old stick. People either walked or ran. The bicycle is less than 200 years old and you only swam back then when you fell out of a boat. We were born to run. There were running events in the Greek Olympics 2500 years ago. Some, like Mark English must have had very fast ancestors but I think I’m more related to Fred Flintstone. My instinct and breeding is to be in the middle of the field, the safest place to be in the history of human evolution.

Of course it is important to do different things and try our hand at every type of exercise. But when all is said and done you can’t beat an easy run, with good company in a peaceful scenic location and the sun shining down on us. It was also nice to be able to go for a coffee afterwards without the fear of hypothermia from wet gear and a biting cold wind. I know the farmers are worried about the lack of rain but as my lawnmower is enjoying a restful summer then I’m not complaining.

I met some lovely people while I travelled around this Summer and those beautiful memories can help shorten whatever winter lies ahead. Running is a great way of socially mixing, strangers in a race become buddies as the miles go on, and many a kind word is exchanged at the finish line.

Thanks to all for saying hello and your very kind comments about my posts. They are welcomed and valued. I write about what I see and feel as I run. Keep getting out to run and socialize, it is part of your nature and no fear nowadays of the bears and the wolves.

'I write to see and the seeing is through language'.. McGahern

Please don’t ever take me seriously.

Pat Walsh Running

16/10/2026

10/10/2026

09/10/2026

27/09/2026

19/09/2026

05/09/2026

04/09/2026

23/08/2026

22/08/2026

21/08/2026

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