The bet

I won that ‘top 20’ bet in a 5 mile race at the far corner of Ireland (near Mizen Head) in a race that - if I were honest – just about counted!!! It was a ‘local’ meet and the standard was below many of the more established races run in Cork. Despite being forearmed with this motivational spur, I was still nervous at the start. You never know who lines out for any race (for instance, that race was won by the guy who won the Limerick marathon this year in a time of 2h 36 mins) and maintaining a constant tempo throughout this run was going to be demanding such is the volume of hills along the route. Finally, for the first time in my running career, I had some expectant support on hand (my girlfriend and many drinking buddies from Crookhaven were out in force). So winning the bet in a village where I spend much of my summer was a delicious sensation and I bathed in the winner’s limelight for some days - such that it was for a 30 year old who came 15th!!!

Me giving out to my supporters on my way to victory... (15th)

In fact, I was so delirious; I let my ego write a new cheque for my body to cash shortly thereafter – to run a regulation distance marathon in ‘2 hours and something’ before Dec 31st 2011. For some time now, running a marathon has been on my bucket list, so why not ratchet up this running lark - if I’m going to run one seriously, why not give it everything I’ve got!

The bet in question is with my buddy Jer (the winner gets either (a) €100 or (b) a free night on the piss– it is Ireland after all) and with 3 other amigos in work (John, Seán, and Bryan) who are in for €20 a pop. So that’s it – I’m accepting no more bets and no other conditions. All I have to do now is run a marathon in under 3 hours. Hell, 2:59:59 would suffice – although that seems a bit tight.

Right, super, amm… right, super…

Oh dear.

Hello

I’ll begin with the beginning. I decided to get into running after an overly zealous session of 'smack-talk' with some friends in work 7 months ago - I bet them that I could finish in the top 20 in a road race in Ireland by the end of 2010 (the only condition - there had to be at least 50 persons in the race). I made this bet on Friday; I bought my first pair of running shoes on Saturday; and ran my first 4 mile race on Sunday. The result sheets show that Ms Emer Morrissey finished in "119th" place that day. For the record, my name was - and still is - Elmer, I’m male(!) and at the time, I was 29; and I was off to a good start. And so began a love affair with my ego writing checks my body would struggle to cash.