The Sunday Column - Meeting my team mates

Saturday morning saw me pay a visit to the Spawell to meet up with the other members of Team CF Ireland.

Twas an interesting enough event. We heard the different stories as to how people got there. Many of these were tough going, no shock there, as we heard from one girl in our group who lost three siblings to Cystic Fibrosis and two guys, also doing the race, who have children with Cystic Fibrosis.

We also shared war stories about past experiences in distance running. A couple of the others are a tad worried about the prospect of doing their first marathon. I reassured them somewhat by pointing out that I'd done three to date and was still standing.

Martin Cahill, no not The General or one of his relations, is organising our group which will participate in the race. There are three Persons With Cystic Fibrosis (PWCF) in our group that will do the race, though none were present on Saturday. I was informed at the event that this is the preferred term and henceforth it's the one this blog will use.

On the kit side of things we hit a snag. While we had no problem getting tracksuits bottoms, a polo shirt, and fleece to fit me there was one problem. I'm comfortably the biggest member of the team (no shock, how many offensive linemen do marathons?) and getting a singlet for me is proving a challenge. It's be handy to have one to wear over my t-shirt come race day.

If we don't resolve the issue it could lead to the continuation of a bizarre little tradition that has occurred in every marathon I've done to date. In 2000, 2006, and 2007 at least one American has roared "Come on O'Neill's" at me as the sports gear manufacturer's logo was the most recognisable/only insignia on my t-shirt while racing.