It’s going to be a windy Dublin Marathon. What should I do?

We were sitting outside the Glendalough Green cafe last Sunday afternoon and the October sun was brilliantly illuminating the edges of the ancient valley just below. A day sent straight from distance running heaven, we philosophised, and just about perfect for the Dublin Marathon.

If only there was some way of guaranteeing such calm and blissfully clear conditions come the actual race day itself. Maybe then a lot more runners would be confident about making it to the start line in the first place. Of course it doesn’t work that way, and so a week on, and in the aftermath of Storms Austen and Boelo, much of the talk around this Sunday’s event concerns the weather forecast.

The “ah sure there’s always next year” mindset may already be some comfort to anyone having second thoughts about starting or finishing on Sunday, but who knows what the future might bring? The Glendalough Green, by way of a transient reminder, is set to close after this bank holiday weekend, a sad loss to Laragh village and passing bikers of all kinds – motor, electric, and old-fashioned push.

Such unpredictable weather conditions, incidentally, have nothing to do with the fact my first and almost certainly last Dublin Marathon was 25 years ago this weekend. Despite the many promises to someday make it back to the start line, life just keeps on getting in the way.

For the 22,500 runners who have signed up this year, the one certainty is that whatever the weather in Dublin come Sunday morning, it will be the same for everyone. According to the latest weather charts, it looks like being partly sunny and fair, though likely on the cool and windy side.

Nothing an extra layer of clothing while waiting on the start line shouldn’t address. Because once up and running, there’s no reason why anyone’s predicted finishing time should be significantly blown off course. Or as Noel Carroll, the co-founder of the event once mused, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only weak runners”.

The sort of figure-of-eight nature of the Dublin Marathon route also means the wind will keep changing direction, depending on which way the runners are headed. Still, no matter what way that wind is blowing, the most testing part of the course comes between miles 20 and 22, around Clonskeagh and Roebuck Roads, although from there it’s a straight downhill along Fosters Avenue, and then a more-or-less flat run to the finish.

Not that the hardiest of Dublin Marathon runners would ever let something as uncontrollable as the weather drag them down. I got a timely reminder of that earlier this week talking to Martin Kelly, who is one of the last of the eight Dublin Marathon “originals”, having started and finished all 44 marathons to date, beginning in 1980 – no matter what the weather conditions come actual race day.

All going to plan, Kelly will line up for the 45th time on Sunday morning, having joined the 2,100 runners who started the first Dublin Marathon on the October bank holiday Monday in 1980, and almost a third of which failed to finish. Kelly had just turned 18 at the time, and although confronted with various running obstacles in all the years since, none compared to the challenge he was presented with before this Sunday’s race.

Following a routine blood test at the end of last year, it was discovered Kelly would require surgery for a cancerous growth on his prostate, which he underwent on June 29th. That then meant 10 weeks of no running at all, although after easing himself back into training at the start of September, Kelly is headed with the starting line this year with a renewed sense of gratitude.

“We’ll see what Sunday brings,” he says, the weather being the last of his concerns, and rightly so. “Everybody was saying to me ‘what were the symptoms?’ but I had absolutely none. I did have a very on-the-ball GP, who happens to be running the marathon himself, and he referred me to a urologist, who’s also a pretty avid runner, And he just said, ‘look, we need to get this sorted’.

“I had it done by keyhole robotic surgery, and recovery was reasonably fast. You don’t want to push yourself too much, maybe have a bit of a relapse. But at no stage was I told medically that it wouldn’t be a good idea to run another marathon. So once those words aren’t uttered, you’re happy enough to stick with it. I also took comfort from the fact that it was discovered. because the last thing you want is to feel unwell in a few years’ time.

“I was also told it’s important to give yourself something else to focus on, and that there wasn’t any reason not to go to the start line, and see how you are feeling after a few miles.”

Kelly, who turned 64 last Tuesday, also ran and finished both “virtual marathon events” during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, which, like takeaway pints and Zoom parties, no one wants to speak about ever again.

“I say it every year, when I’m asked why I’m still doing it, and I just say, ‘because we can’. Plenty of people would love to be able to do, but I suppose it does take on an extra significance this year. I know I can do 17, 18 miles, then I’ll just take it from there.”

And his advice to runners starting their first Dublin Marathon on Sunday?

“Just take it handy in the early miles. There’s plenty of time to catch up. And to hydrate a little, and hydrate often. People do tend to get carried away, especially if it’s your first marathon, and the first two or three miles may be behind your time. But don’t panic, when you get into the Phoenix Park, there’s plenty of time to start getting yourself back on track.”

The seven other Dublin Marathon originals set to line up again on Sunday are Peadar Nugent (Galway), Donal Ward (Donegal), Séamus Cawley (Limerick), Séamus Dunne (Meath), Patrick Gowen (Dublin), Dominic Gallagher (Dublin), and Mick Carolan (Dublin).

Long may then run – in all weather conditions.