That time of the year again! - The Braveheart 5k Friday 16th June

Yes, it’s that time of the year again!

That time of the year when you are free to paint half your face blue, grow your hair as long as you want and put on your worst Scottish accent as you ride your horse up and down in front of hundreds of men and women shouting Alba go bra!!!

Why can you do this? Because it’s the annual Trim Braveheart 5k.

When it comes to 5k races very few can claim to be as historic, picturesque and as enjoyable as the Trim Braveheart 5k. I mean where else do you begin a race by running towards a 14^th century abbey known locally as the Yellow Steeple, loop around all the way back to a 13^th century Dominican Friary before returning along the riverside path of the fabled River Boyne before finishing up overlooking Trim Castle; Ireland’s largest Norman castle! Indeed, so picturesque is the Braveheart 5k route that it is perhaps the only run in Ireland that you could post a slow time and still feel satisfied, such are the sites on offer!

Of course, you don’t want to post a slow time, you want to beat last year’s one or set a course PB so you can conquer it next year! Just like Mel Gibson did when as William Wallace he walked the course back while filming here for the movie 1995 Academy Award Winning ‘Braveheart’. And it is due to the filming of scenes from the movie that took place throughout the summer of 1994 that the Braveheart 5k came into being. Thankfully unlike poor William Wallace, who after being pelted with cabbage and raw vegetables from half the town of Trim, was carted off to be hung, drawn and quartered, finishers at this year’s Braveheart 5k can look forward to some music and summer fruit at the finish as they reflect on a tough run ran well.

Over the next few weeks in the run up to Braveheart, Marathonoloy will provide a weekly guide to what to expect from the race and what you can be doing to get ready for it.

To begin I would suggest any of one of the following:

1.       Book it and get your summer of short races and sunshine fitness under way.

2.       Book it now as I got a sneak preview of the t-shirts for the first 400 entries and they look great!

3.       If like me you haven’t been out enough over the last few weeks, start getting back into the habit of running so that come race day you won’t be found wanting.

4.       Or for those who have never ran before or who think 5k is a distance far out of reach, come along any Tuesday or Thursday to the Porchfield’s in Trim at 7.00 pm where for €60 you will get club registration with Trim A.C., registration with Athletics Ireland, entry into the Braveheart 5k and most importantly the excellent coaching and encouragement of Trim A.C. members Don Mahon and Sean O’Connor who are organising a ‘Jog Run’ and a ‘Walk Jog’. (For further info call Don, 086- 2650285) 

Because remember, ‘they make take our lives but they will never take our freedom!!!’