The 2020 edition of the Carlingford Half Marathon was one of the last events of the year not to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The race was run on a pleasant spring morning. It was cloudy but not overcast, and although there was a light northeasterly breeze, the conditions could hardly be described as windy. The date was Saturday 7 March 2020, and the place was Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland.
This was my second ketogenic half marathon. On 1 December 2018, after twenty-five years of running marathons on the traditional athlete’s diet, I switched to the ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. Because fat provides a significant percentage of the ketogenic runner’s fuel, glycogen is spared and carbo-loading is not required before a race. This even applies to a full marathon.
The course was mostly flat, with only a few challenging hills in the first four kilometres. After reaching an elevation of 61 m at the 4K mark, the course gradually descends back to sea level.
When I set off for Carlingford, I brought with me a packed ketogenic dinner to eat in my hotel room the evening before the race. Dinner consisted of a corned-beef sandwich (made with keto microwave bread, of course—almond flour, sesame seeds, butter, eggs, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum) and two croissants made with fat-head dough (mozzarella cheese, egg, almond flour, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum). This is more-or-less what I ate before the Wicklow Gaol Break Run (my first keto half marathon) and the Great Limerick Run (my first keto marathon) in 2019.
On the morning of the race, I drank 500 ml of still water in which I had dissolved one serving (7 g) of Dr Berg’s Electrolyte Powder (raspberry-&-lemon flavour).
When I left my hotel for the start of the race, I carried with me another 500 ml bottle of still water in which I had dissolved another serving of electrolytes and one serving (13 g) of Perfect Keto’s Exogenous Ketones (chocolate flavour). Those 500 ml of water would keep me hydrated for the entire race. The combination of raspberry-&-lemon-flavoured electrolytes and chocolate-flavoured ketones hardly makes for the most appetizing combination, but it does make for the perfect fuel for a half marathon.
The race started and finished at the Carlingford Sailing Club, on Ghan Road. This was about 600 m from my hotel in the village (McKevitt’s Village Hotel). There were over 900 starters, including participants in both the Half Marathon and the 10K race. This was a new record for the course.
The first four kilometres were the toughest part of the course and all uphill, so there was not much time to settle in before the hard work began. After passing through the village, we tackled the climb up Dundalk Road (R173).
The following 7-8K were almost all downhill, as the course gradually made it way back to sea level. The race took us through some very pleasant countryside, with little traffic and few spectators.
Around the 12-13K mark, my legs began to feel heavy. This was the most exposed part of the course, with Whitestown Beach and the Irish Sea on the right and open fields on the left. What little wind there was was now blowing in our faces and I was beginning to feel the effects of the climb up Dundalk Road and the punishing pace I was trying to sustain. For much of the first half of the race, I had been running in the company of Elaine McGuckin, who would go on to win the women’s race. But now she gradually pulled away from me and I thought that I might actually be in trouble.
The next four kilometres were the hardest of my personal race—and that’s including the challenging climb near the start. I had to dig deep just to keep my pace at a respectable level. Fortunately, the course turned to the northwest and moved inland, where we were sheltered from the wind. By the time we reached the main road back into Carlingford—Greenore Road (R176)—I had got my second wind and the crisis was over.
I actually managed to pick up the pace over the last couple of kilometres. I even caught and passed some runners who had overtaken me during my mini-crisis. The finish line was back at the Carlingford Sailing Club. In spite of my final sprint, I did not manage to catch Elaine McGuckin. She finished twenty-four seconds ahead of me. But I wasn’t complaining.
My finishing time of 1:23:49 was twenty-eight seconds slower than my last half marathon, but exactly the same as my last but one—another vindication of the ketogenic diet.
| Half Marathon | Location | Date | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Moy | Ballina, Co Mayo | 19 May 2018 | 13th | 01:24:18 |
| Waterford Viking | Waterford City | 30 June 2018 | 19th | 01:23:49 |
| Wicklow Goal Break | Wicklow Town | 24 March 2019 | 4th | 01:23:21 |
| Carlingford | Carlingford Town | 7 March 2020 | 16th | 01:23:49 |
I finished 16th overall, about half-a-minute behind the winner of the women’s race. I was 1st in the over-55s category, but there were no prizes for the veteran classes.
The next big test for the ketogenic diet will be the Galway Bay Marathon, which was postponed to 2 October 2021 due to the lockdowns.
Carlingford is a small town situated in Ireland’s smallest county, but it is steeped in history. The Cooley Peninsula in which it is located is the setting for Ireland’s national epic, Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). It is very popular with hill walkers.
After the race, I wandered about the village in search of a coffee shop where I could relax and unwind. I found just what I was looking for in Liberty Café on Tholsel Street, a small but cosy retreat that was already beginning to fill up with hungry runners. The hour I spent in this little corner of Heaven, nursing a cappuccino and reading a book, was a fitting reward for my morning efforts.
Carlingford’s principal attraction is King John’s Castle, the ruins of which stand on a bluff overlooking the harbour. The castle was built by Hugh de Lacy in the late 12th century. King John is alleged to have spent a few nights in the castle in 1210.
One of Carlingford’s most striking features is Sliabh Feá, the iconic hill also known as Carlingford Mountain. Rising to a height of 589 m, it is the tallest peak in the county. The sight of this dark hill brooding over the neighbouring village is one I will never forget. In the afternoon, I took a walk up its slopes and explored the popular trail that rings the summit. This is part of the Táin Way, a 40 km-long trail that encircles the Cooley Mountains.
In the evening I returned to McKevitt’s in the centre of the village for a proper sit-down dinner. Being a Saturday evening, it was quite busy, but that is the sort of atmosphere I like. As usual, remaining faithful to my diet was simply not on the menu. The ketogenic lifestyle is still a curiosity in Ireland. But that’s one of the best things about the ketogenic diet: it’s very forgiving. You come off it for a few days when you’re on holiday. Then, when you are back home, you do a fast and get back into ketosis as quickly as possible.
If hills and trails are not your thing, another popular walk that might interest you is the Carlingford-Greenore Greenway. This pedestrian and cycle path runs for about 7 km along the shores of Carlingford Lough between Carlingford and the neighbouring village of Omeath. I discovered that it makes for a very pleasant walk on a Sunday morning. The Café Rosa in Omeath was the perfect place for a coffee break before I headed back to Carlingford.
Given its small size, Carlingford Village itself has a surprisingly large number of attractions, which kept me busy for the few days of my holiday:
When I returned home to Dublin, little did I know that the remainder of my 2020 calendar was about to be gutted by the insane reaction to Covid-19. I would not be running the Brighton Marathon in April, or the Longford Half Marathon in August, or the Galway Bay Marathon in October. Now, as I write this in May 2021, things are beginning to open up again at last, and the rescheduled Galway Marathon is going ahead. Fingers crossed.
A big thank-you to the Parents and Friends of St Brigid’s Special School Dundalk for putting on a superb half marathon, and to the people of Carlingford for helping to make it a lot of fun. I look forward to my next visit to the Wee County.
