We've been longlisted

Stig for CF Ireland has been longlisted for the Irish Blog Awards. Thanks to Damien for continuing to organise these awards.

This is the third year we've made it to the long list stage. This blog has been nominated in the Best Specialist Blog category and faces stiff competition, not least of which comes from Piaras and Colm, if it is to make the shortlist for the first time ever. Thanks to everyone who has read and contributed to this blog including: Sinead and Blair who provided guest posts this year, Coilin Duffy and Ciaran Ruane who helped provide content including live blog coverage of the New York City marathon, John Healy who was our webmaster, and everyone that played a part in the numerous videos we made this year.

We'll let you know if the third time is the charm as soon as the nominations for the shortlist are out.

EDIT: Apparently the list published is not the long list as such so we'll have to wait and see if this blog post title is correct.

FURTHER EDIT: It turns out that while we don't know if it's longlisted, this is still formally considered a nomination so I've edited to included the above pic.

The final total: €4,750

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The final total of €4,750 raised is three times our previous best effort.You are all amazing and as a mark of gratitude here's the highlights from the big one. Ladies and gentlemen, video coverage of my participation in the New York City marathon with commentary by Cóilín Duffy.



Thanks to everyone who supported us in any way. I'd like to extend a personal thanks to John Craddock for his efforts in Dublin and to Cóilín for taking time out of his busy schedule to record the commentary for that video.

Like the video says, we'll have a new challenge in August 2009 and we'll be announcing details in March.

Race photos now online

They're finally here, the photos from the big race. The pics here are just a taster of the full selection photos which are here.

We've decided to name the 8th of January as the final date for donations. If you want to support us you still can by going to our MyCharity page but remember time is running out.

We'll have our final video online shortly before the deadline, and hopefully this will include some actual race video coverage.

A big thank you

It's just over 2 weeks since the race and I'm pretty much recovered. We haven't got the bulk of the photos yet but thanks to John Sheridan we can show you two from near the end.

Seeing as I'm thanking John for the pics I might as well take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped the campaign.

First off Comit Marketing deserve a particularly heavy dose of praise. The guys in there helped us secure a lot of the prizes for the draw and showed interest throughout the campaign. Likewise Heneghan PR were a great help in securing prizes for the draw and supporting the cause and we are very grateful to them.

Damovo, Strencom, Cable & Wireless, Motorola, the ESB (in particular Gerry McGough), Tipperary GAA and Dublin GAA (in particular John Costello) were all a great help in either donating or securing prizes for the draw and we are delighted they were able to support us. Thanks also to Paddy Power (in particular Michelle Daly) for providing odds on the race.

Running this campaign took a lot more than just one person. John Craddock made an immense contribution. On top of doing the Dublin marathon, John was also my training partner and the man that drove me to the Dublin 10 mile and half marathon races.

Ciaran Ruane, Fergal Casey and Cóilín Duffy all gave a great deal of support in help in our promotional effort. The trio, along with John, helped make so many of our videos possible. In that same respect, a big thanks to Lee Daly, Greg Bowler, Cian Ginty, Mary Dobbs, Gareth Murphy and Niall McClave for appearing in our videos.

Greg, John Sheridan, Kate Fitzgerald, and the whole DCU debating posse deserve a big heap of praise for their backing throughout the campaign. The DCU Saints also gave tremendous support all season long and that was a big help.

On the UCD side Sir Keith Thompson, who did the Great North Run, Eve Rowan, who is always there to support me, and a shedload of other people deserve a whole heap of praise. Nearish to UCD, Eoin Kennedy in Slattery Communications offered great encouragement over the last few months.

Martin Cahill, Grainne Kennedy, and all the guys in the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland helped a great deal both pre and post race.

Last but not least I want to thank everyone who has supported this cause in any way. Be you well wishers, people that bought tickets for the draw, or anyone else that donated, your help is thoroughly appreciated.

Oh and it's not over...you can still donate through our MyCharity.ie page. We'll keep taking donations for about another month before formally announcing our total either in late December or early 2009.

Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever...pain however lasts a fair while before healing

Snipers overhead, helicopters circling and thousands of people ready to charge across a bridge. Just a regular day in the city.

At 5.30am on Sunday, local time, myself and David got out of bed to get ready for a very long day. Our bus left for Staten Island an hour later and en route I sent a quote from Keanu Reeves in The Replacements to some friends, it's the title above minus the little bit I put at the end.

We had to hang about for 3 hours on Staten, fighting off the cold and nerves with coffee, bagels and Gatorade. We gathered into our coral, at the back of the third and final wave of runners as the snipers above looked down. This isn't Dublin anymore. We wished each other well and I gave some final words of encouragement to the rookies around me.

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body," I quipped. If this is the case then I had plenty of pain to expunge. It would later turn out that these words actually helped one of the runners, so that was a pleasant surprise.

David, who I was sharing a room with, took off running with two of the other lads from our group. I stuck to my plan of walking the first mile. As a result, with less than 800 yards of the race underway, there was widespread panic in Paddy Power's headquarters.

Okay I have nothing to back that up but at this stage I was just fifth from the back of the field. If I finished last then the odds of 200/1 on my picking up the wooden spoon would have proven quite generous. Ne'er the less I stuck to the plan. Walk the first, run the second. Walk the odds, run the evens.

The bridge from Staten was over a mile and a half long. With no crowds allowed and with my fear of heights this wasn't a pleasant experience.

As it ended and I approached the 2 mile mark I realised that sure enough, there was no marker at the 1 mile point and all I had done was walk so far. New tactic, walk the evens, run the odds.

I was off and running, blowing kisses at construction workers as I entered Brooklyn. The crowd had a huge impact as I tore through the next mile. On and off, run and walk, I kept it up. The people roared me on and I responded vocally and with my feet. The race was truly on.

It was after all a race, pride was at stake. Craddock had set a time to beat and I already felt behind. The people of New York proved a huge difference maker. There were even a few Obama supporters out and I yelled "Yes we can" at them every time, which you can imagine garnered a positive response.

Run and walk, on and off, it continued and as I saw the clocks I adjusted for my wave's start and knew the pendulum had swung. Around 7 miles my left foot felt a little sore in the shoe but the pain eased quickly.

Bands and well wishers lined the way, including one group that held up a sign offering free High Fives. Well I couldn't turn that down. Booya.

By halfway I knew I was near by personal best for the half marathon and well ahead of John's time. I had to dial it down it gear now. Running was proving tough and I needed a break, over the next three miles through Queens I knew I had lost some of my advantage.

It was time for a miracle mile. I knew that to make up the lost ground I'd need one more running mile and it was only going to come sooner not later. On the 17th I charged, down the bridge, around the corner and into Manhattan.

"Lets hear some love for the Irish" I yelled at the mob with tricolours that awaited, the responded well. As I rounded onto First Avenue I saw Martin, our organiser, fiddling with his hair. I shouted at him to sort it out though he would later claim it was time to keep warm.

I knew what to expect from the avenues in Manhattan. The previous day was the 2.5 mile long International Friendship Run. Despite sounding like an event the Care Bears would run in, it did serve the useful purpose of showing me how undulating the avenues on the island.

That was playtime, this was business time, I kept powering through until the mile marker when I slowed to a walk again. A new plan, walk the uphills and flats, run the downhills. On one of the downhills there was a guy around Craddock's size with a different banner.

'Free Hugs' it read.

Oh what a foolish boy. One patented Emmet Ryan Bearhug later and he weakly uttered "Thanks".

As I tired on First Ave I opted to hold off on any more running until the Bronx. Once there I continued the plan of running the downhills. There was less than a mile on this borough, the only part of the course in the mainland US, before returning to Manhattan.

Harlem greeted my arrival with tremendous cheers, I pressed on towards Midtown. No longer able to run the downhills it was merely a matter of protecting the lead I had.

Approaching 23 miles I was nearly crying tears of joy. I welled up thinking of the people I do this for. I have two very dear friends with Cystic Fibrosis that are my inspiration when races get tough and questions are asked. This race had been relatively easy so far but I had to hold myself together.

It wasn't over yet, there was business to be done. I began the long way round central park singing along to my iPod. Abide With Me was swiftly followed by Flower of Scotland. I really don't care what the locals thought of my singing but I know it caught some runners off guard. Scotland the Brave was next as I rounded the corner into the Park.

My vocal performance ended just after 24 miles, to the mercy of all no doubt. As I exited the park there was just over one mile to go, but there were still two very important persons to greet. Greg and John both received high fives from me as I marched towards the final turn before the return into the park.

As I re-entered Central Park I punched the air, there was fire in my belly and the crowd loved it. Hell they loved all 40,000 of us. They were like one giant embodiment of the Battle Hymn of the Republic (which oddly isn't on my iPod) all day long.

The finish approached and it was time to truly milk it. Once again I started blowing kisses to all and sundry in the crowd before raising my hands to the heavens, like some South American footballer, as I crossed the finish line.

The poor woman that bestowed me with my finishers medal probably wasn't expecting that hug either. Ah well. And so it was over. The wall never hit and no harm done save for the usual stiffness.

You already know the rest, I hammered my PB and beat Craddock by 12 minutes...

Oh like it was going to end that easy!

Every year the race report entry brings the pain and we aren't going to disappoint you now. Remember that pain in my foot I mentioned early? Yes that was a tease to a later part in the tale.

It turns out pulling off a Compeed is a bad idea. So much so that when I pulled one off the dark red blister the day after the race (it was very beefy, nearly black) that it took a lot of skin with it and gave me the heebie jeebies.

The wound is (it's still there) 2 inches long and 1 inch wide and is right on the arch of the foot. By Monday evening the pain was so bad that standing was agonising and walking was the opposite of pleasant. With infection looking likely and no improvement whatsoever, I went to the hospital on Tuesday morning.

"Oh that looks bad. You're going to be in agony," said the first doctor. Well thank you ma'am, I know I've been stored in the cardiac ward for some reason but that doesn't mean you have to induce a coronary through fear just to make me feel at home.

On the upside there was no infection. The dude in the bed beside me meanwhile had what sounded an awful lot like an actual heart attack while queuing up to vote. He was a determined chap and refused to go to hospital for 90 minutes until he got to cast his vote for Obama.

"That's huge, and very beefy. You will be in agony sir," how about that for a second opinion that I never even asked for. At least the third doctor had a look of total disinterest in her face and didn't say a word.

She probably wasn't a doctor though. Her tells were that she wasn't faking an interested look, which coupled with her looking fairly young meant the best bet is that she still had a couple of years to go in Med School. By graduation she'll learn to fake attentiveness.

So I was patched up and sent on my merry way without anything to ease the pain. They told me to take some Tylenol for that, and I knew I'd need it as my foot was killing me. I needed to move hotels first however so I hailed a cab and head for the Chelsea Star on 30th St.

I open the door, a heavy bag in either hand and a throbbing pain in my foot, and all the colour leaves my face. There was a flight of stairs to climb.

The End.

The final pre-race update - All the info you need to stay in touch on Sunday

There's just 13 hours until the start of the 2008 ING New York City Marathon. First off, we're aware that there's problems with the audio interview file, we are working on it and hope to have it fixed by 1pm tomorrow. (edit - Interview now available - Cóilín)

Next up the race updates will begin around 4pm Sunday Irish time. There'll be five or six in total, ending around 11pm. Don't be disturbed and go ripping up your betting slips if my time initially seems to slow, the race chip on my shoe is what counts and not the clock on the course. This is because I'll start way back and the race will be on between 10 and 30 minutes when I get started.

Keep an eye out for the updates as the splits will give you a good time of how my race is progressing.

Finally I'd just like to give a brief mention to the International Friendship Run, a 2.5 mile event I walked today. It was great buzz and it was cool to hit the streets with my fellow foreigners. Make no mistake though, today was playtime. On Sunday moring, it's business time.

The Big Interview

Technical problem with Interview now rectified and available for download.

With less than 48 hours to go until the start of the 2008 ING New York City Marathon, STIG for CF Ireland brings you this exclusive interview, as sports journalist extraordinaire Cóilín Duffy speaks with Emmet Ryan.

To listen to this controversial one-on-one, just click on the link below.

The Big Interview

Remember to tune into this blog from 4pm on Sunday Irish time, 11am Eastern time, to catch regular updates of my progress in the race.

Dublin Marathon highlights

A confident and assured John Craddock took to the streets of Dublin on Monday morning, and our cameras were there to capture all the action.



Congratulations to John, he avoided the personal worst and completed the full 26.2 miles. John's formal chip time was 6 hours 44 minutes and 30 seconds, which is based on when he crossed the start line. This will be my secondary target in New York, after my existing PB of 6 hours 49 minutes.

If you want to show your support for John's efforts you can do so at our MyCharity.ie page. We'll have further updates throughout the week leading up to part two of this year's campaign, the New York City Marathon.

Dublin City Marathon - Update 3 - The final update

It's Emmet here again, John finished the Dublin City Marathon in 6 hours 48 minutes and about 32 seconds (we aren't quite sure how many were on the clock when he crossed the line). When his chip time is calculated that'll drop around 5 minutes. Even we that reduction however we can say this, for pretty much the first time ever we have a race on. John's final time will be a few minutes inside my PB meaning that the Transatlantic race is on. We'll have more on that later in the week.

While I was out and about I ran into Cormac Toomey, former Sports Editor of the University Observer, around the corner from my house. He was on course to break 4 hours at that stage. Later on I ran into Barry Alistair again, I believe it's his first time doing the distance, and he was on course for around a 5 hour time. Well done to both lads.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the effort of a Limerick man with one leg amputated who shattered the world record for completing a marathon on crutches. Other notable finishers were the pint of Guinness and a toucan. At the 17 mile mark there was a solid 6 minute gap between them, with the toucan leading. If what might be considered a fix the two crossed the line together a couple of hours later.

Congratulations to John and all the other finishers today and thanks to everyone who came out to support them.

We'll have video highlights of the day and the marathon expo up either later on tonight or early enough tomorrow.

Dublin City Marathon - Update 2

Emmet is out on the course showing John how it's done so it's left to his flatmate, Ciaran, to give you the latest update on today's race.

It's now 4 hours and 13 minutes after the race started (or thereabouts) and John has reached the 17-mile mark, only a couple of miles from where I'm writing this post. This keeps John ahead of schedule for beating his Personal Worst time but unfortunately the race win has escaped his grasp with Andriy Naumov crossing the finish line about 2 hours ago. John assures me that he would have been in contention for the win if he didn't have to save a drowning child at O'Connell St. Bridge.

Dublin City Marathon - Update 1

John started the Dublin City Marathon around 40 minutes ago. He seemed in good form at the start and was happy with the weather conditions.

It's already been an active enough morning for me. While waiting for John to reach my vantage point at Merrion Square I saw fellow UCD fan Bryan Casey and IrishDev's Barry Alistair, both of whom are running the race this year. Earlier in the day, before the race start, I ran into Linda Stanley. Linda was involved in DCU FM and made the foolhardy but welcome decision of greenlighting my old business show 'Adam Smith Should Know Better' many years ago.

There's 11,900 runners, walkers and wheelchair competitors out on the course. If you're anywhere near the race today be sure to go out and offer you support. We'll have further updates later in the day.

The Sunday Column - Part one of the campaign is just hours away

Monday morning will see John Craddock take to the streets of Dublin in part one of STIG for CF Ireland 2008.

John's done plenty of these before so he knows what he's doing and despite his own protestations he has done a reasonable bit of training for this race. A personal worst will be mocked if it occurs, the pressure's on.

We'll have updates during the day when possible, though this will likely be just one highly useless one just after the start. My flatmate however might be able to deliver more useful updates later in the day with more relevant information.

Late tomorrow night we'll have a video of John's race highlights, including pre-race experiences at the registration Expo. Stay tuned to this blog for further updates.

Oh and seeing as it's been at least three days since the last shameless plug for the charity element of this, you can donate to the campaign to show your support for John and me at our MyCharity page. As always we're grateful to everyone that's supported us to date.

Welcome Irish Times readers

Some of you today will be visiting this blog for the first time after reading about my escapades in this article from today's health supplement of the Irish Times. Welcome to STIG for CF Ireland's blog...let's get you up to speed.

As you'll be aware from the piece I'm doing the New York City Marathon on 2 November in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland. On top of this my good friend and training partner John Craddock will be competing in the Dublin City Marathon on 27 October, which is this Monday, as part of our campaign.

Here's a montage charting our preparation that regular visitors to this blog will be familiar with.


There's plenty of info in the posts below about other activities we're doing as part of the build up and other ways in which you can get involved in the campaign.

If you would like to donate check out our MyCharity page and thanks for your support.

The Sunday Column - News update

There's been a few developments in the campaign lately so this week's column is dedicated to bring you all up to speed on these, along with other musings.

John Craddock will formally kick off this year's campaign on Monday week, that's the 27th, when he takes part in the Dublin marathon. We're both in tapering mode which means no booze or training until after our races. I may even consider giving up caffeine, maybe.

Before all that I've a feature appearing in Tuesday's Irish Times related to the event. It'll be in the Health supplement and focuses on the unique physical challenges facing a man of my build that opts to do a marathon. Keep an eye out for it.

We've received plenty of reaction to this post where we're looking for you all to suggest songs for my iPod playlist. Keep recommending tunes please. Every song you suggest will be played so long as we can find it.

Healthwise, the cold is setting in. I still feel grand for the most part and am piling in vitamin C and soup. I am getting a tad stressed about this whole matter so my apologies if you run into me and I seem a bit on edge about it.

You can never beat a bit of cross-promotion

The pic above was taken just before the recent Eircom League game between UCD and Drogheda Utd, which UCD won 1-0. We used the event for two purposes. Firstly to present Alan Mahon (who is pictured with me) with an award to mark his passing the 250 league appearance mark for UCD.

The ulterior motive was of course to promote the hell out of this campaign. UCD's next home game is against Bohemians on Hallowe'en. By that stage I'll already be in the air for New York but John will be there, where he'll likely still be hobbling a bit after doing the Dublin City Marathon the previous Monday.

At that Bohemians game we'll be selling the last ever regular edition of STIG. Due to constraints on the producers we simply won't have time to make it regularly from now on, however there will still be occasional issues released. All funds, not just profits we mean all funds, from the sale of that issue will go towards the campaign. It's a great way for the league's longest running and most prolific fanzine to bow out of regular publication.

Breaking News - John Craddock signs onto the STIG team

After frantic negotiations that required emergency legislation from both houses of the Oireachtas, STIG for CF Ireland can announce a major breakthrough. Veteran marathon runner John Craddock has signed on to the STIG for CF Ireland team for 2008. Check the video below for details:



John has acted as Emmet's coach and training partner to date in this year's campaign. He will now also compete in the 2008 Dublin City Marathon on 27 October, giving STIG for CF Ireland a competitive presence on two continents within the space of a week.

If you want to show your support for John and Emmet and donate to STIG for CF Ireland you can do so at our MyCharity page.

The Sunday Column - Draw results announced

The 2008 STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw was held on Sunday and no expense was spared...actually scratch that, no expense was incurred in our staging of the event. Check the video below to find out who won.



Congratulations to all the winners. We have a major announcement coming midweek so keep an eye out for another video in the next few days.

If you missed out on the prize draw and still want to donate you can do at our MyCharity page.

Guest post by Blair Hurley

I'm delighted to present the first ever guest post on this blog. Fellow blogger Blair Hurley, is a creative writing student and author of Creative Writing Corner which is one of my favourite blogs.

I've previously guest posted on her blog and it's great to have her deliver some of her insights into writing to the readers of STIG for CF Ireland. Enjoy.

Fighting Information Overload
Writers today face unique challenges. The internet and television has surrounded us with wave upon wave of information and content, so that we frequently feel swamped and overstimulated. This overstimulation leaves us desensitized to beautiful writing or a poignant story. It's the job of writers, though, to bring us back to a state of sensitivity and appreciation for things, to make the world beautiful again instead merely a blur. So here are a few tips for fighting information overload and making distinct details in your writing seem special again.

When you write, just write. We've all become powerful multi-taskers these days, with our ability to switch instantly from email to websurfing to chatting with friends to a document. The truth of the matter is, though, that these tasks will inevitably bleed into one another. The chatspeak you use with a friend isn't the best frame of mind for writing creatively; nor is internet surfing or even reading serious journalistic articles online such as the New York Times. When you write creatively, don't multi-task. Hone in on your subject and give it all of your attention. Not only will your writing improve, you'll probably feel glad afterwards to have gotten a little break for your brain. Changing mental tv channels so rapidly can be exhausting.

Take notes on your story to identify key points. Before you begin writing, you can make key points stand out by identifying them beforehand. Take a few minutes to think about the most important parts of your writing and what you want to highlight. Imagine a few details standing like lighthouses in your mind, shedding illumination on the rest of the work. Write down those few important details in note form, then write around them. If you think about it this way and organize accordingly, your writing will naturally bring those details to the fore.

Appreciate and notice. Nabokov thought that the most important ingredient for leading a conscious life was in noticing details. His novels are masterworks of detail, begging for multiple readings just so all of the intricacy can be truly appreciated. The best way to create this intricacy in your own writing is to appreciate detail in your daily life. Stop for a moment to smell the roses, and remember what they smell like. Take in the colours, shapes, and smells of things. If your memory falters, keep a notebook and get it all down. The greatest problem with information overload is that our brains tend to do triage. They keep the broad sweeps of things and lose the details. Combat this tendency we all have by paying attention to the little things. Your writing -- and your consciousness -- will be enriched and stimulated as a result.

Blair Hurley is a student of Creative Writing and the author of Creative Writing Corner (www.writerlylife.com).

Keep an eye out for more guest posts from authoers of some of the other interesting blogs I've come across in the coming days and weeks.

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.

See, montages do work

Going into training this year my personal best for the half-marathon was 3 hours 15 minutes and 54 seconds. My hopes of bettering this time were hindered by our success in the American Football season which saw preparations put back until mid-July.

Then this happened...



Well the results for the half marathon have formally come in and I cut that time to 2 hours 56 minutes and 26 seconds, over 19 minutes faster than my previous best. Booya!

The Sunday Column - 2 PBs down, 1 to go

Yesterday was the Adidas Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park. John Craddock and I lined up with a rather large field for the 13.1 mile course.

My tactics were similar to 10 miler a month earlier, run the odd numbered miles and walk the even ones. This time though to make the time go quicker I brought along my iPod, in my new little holder for it on my arm.

I had actually paced out the playlist so that I knew where I should be by the end of certain songs. Creativity somewhat took over around 5 miles in as some songs simply had to be included even if they broke the routine.

A simple tip for any running playlist: AC/DC, lots of AC/DC. Aside from that there was a shedload of Jim Steinmann penned tunes, assorted other power ballads, three variations on the Rocky theme, and Can't smile without You by Barry Manilow. Yeah, yeah we all have at least one song in these list worthy of mockery.

Anyhoo back to the race (which began with 'Start me up' by the Rolling Stones), and thanks to my system I knew I was flying on my running miles and not too shabby on my walking ones. I had a minor panic towards the end of the fifth mile (the last one under the system) when 'Song 2' by Blur ended and I was nowhere near the mile marker. I then realised that I still had the whole of Blondie's 'Call me' to go to remain on schedule and I reached it well before the end of that.

I pushed through and was still perfectly refreshed through seven miles, around the point where the fast people finally disappear from the course and stop running into the backs of us normal racers. I'm just going to say this: Races like these with just the fast people are only paper-scissors, to play the game you need the Rock.

Unforgiveable puns aside I quickly worked out that I had a problem ahead. Military Hill, or whatever its called, is the worst uphill part in the course. It's also the guts of a mile. On the first lap I walked it but I was scheduled to run it on the second lap in the eleventh mile. This would be tough.

It didn't start well. I was breathing heavily and my legs weren't in a running mood. Halfway up the hill the help I needed arrived. 'Promontory' from Last of the Mohicans. As in this:



This was some seriously motivational music! Got through the mile, well almost. The stewards were cleaning up the course and one of them asked me if I knew the rest of the way in, this lead me to believe that they were picking up course markers and putting them in their van. I said yes and asked him where the mile marker was, he said it was around the corner. When I didn't see it I assumed they'd annoyingly yoinked it (I'll explain why I assumed they'd do something so unhelpful later on) but in fact it was 2 corners away so I walked an eighth of that mile.

While walking the twelfth these two ladies approached me and one asked "Are you Emmet?" I said yes, vaguely recognising her face. "You gave us great tips last year, we wouldn't have finished it otherwise." That was really, really nice of them I thought.

In case you're wondering all I said was that walkers should run the first 50 yards or so of every mile to freshen up their muscles. I don't know if it's a physiological or psychological effect but all I know is that it works.

Meatloaf's 'Anything for Love' (thank you Jim Steinmann, thank you!) was in full swing as I hit the last mile. Man this hurt. I pushed on for the first half mile, had to stop and walk for a while, then pressed on again for the final quarter mile. As I approached the bend I could see the clock, I had a new target. I utterly needless sprinted around the final bend to guarantee success.

You see before the race my hope was a time around 3hours and 3 or 4 minutes, which would be about a minute a mile under my previous best. I figured breaking the 3 hour barrier was a little beyond my reach at this stage but lo and behold there it was, 2 hours 58 minutes on the clock. I raced around just to be safe but this 10 seconds of sprinting was wholly a case of showboating.

I crossed the line around 2 hours 58 and 40 seconds, again this will likely come down by around a minute when the chip is calculated (this discounts the time spent waiting to get to the start line). Essentially it means I beat my personal best by at least 17 minutes which is well ahead of my target.

That puts me in good stead to make a serious challenge at my PB in the marathon proper in November. The big difference between that best and my previous bests at this distance and over 10 miles, is that I set this all the way back in 2000. A time when I was a much lighter man. Still I'm confident now, whereas before I was only hopeful.

Before I go I have to say something about the organisation of the race and it's not positive. When you pay a fee to enter one of these things you expect a reasonable level of organisation. After the problems last year I wasn't exactly brimming with confidence.

Sure enough the stewarding was far from ideal this time. There were a few problems with directions aside from the bit I mentioned earlier but the most irritating bit came at the end. When I finished they had run out of goodie bags.

This is kind of important as after three hours on the road a body is crying out for something. The goodie bags come in handy in this regard as they're loaded with sugar. The last thing I expected was that they'd run out, I've stewarded at distance races before and they usually overstock to ensure this doesn't happen.

Ah well, rant over. I wouldn't let that ruin my day. I'm delighted with the time and confident I can build on this in the weeks ahead.



Just a reminder our Mycharity.ie page is up and running. You can donate there and help us reach our target for 2008.

Keep an eye out this coming week for the first Guest Post this year...actually come to think of it, it's the first ever, on the STIG for CF Ireland blog.

MyCharity.ie page now up and running

We may be a day later than planned in announcing this but we are delighted to formally reveal the first of our two big bits of news this month.

STIG for CF Ireland's official MyCharity.ie page is now up and running. This is an easy way for you to donate to the cause online and for you to see how we are progressing towards our target amount.

This is the first year we've set up a web donation page but better late than never. The page can be found here and all support is greatly appreciated.

Two big announcements on the way & details of the draw...help us find a venue

The STIG for CF Ireland 2008 campaign will be making two big announcements in the next couple of weeks, the first of which is coming on Thursday. All will be revealed soon but as a hint the first one will be internet related. Yeah that's all I'm giving away for now.

In news that we can announce now, sales for the STIG for CF Ireland prize draw have now formally ceased. Thanks to everyone that bought tickets.

We plan on holding the draw on either Wednesday the 17th or Thursday the 18th of this month. We're currently looking for a venue in or near Dublin city centre, preferably a pub where we can get an area put aside. If anyone has any recommendations on somewhere that's good for that sort of thing please leave a comment.

Lights, camera, action

I'm still very much in the whole formative stages of this video-making malarkey but I've noticed some interesting developments with the videos that I have posted online.

The coffee spill video, which has now surpassed the 2,000 view mark, and one of my videos of The Dude, which is approaching the same mark, are far cruder than most of my more recent work. One of these has actually managed to get quite a few views quickly, namely the video below of Dell launching its new line of laptops



The developments are thanks in large part to the help of other video users. Cóilín has given me tips on how to make better use of Movie Maker while Laura Jane Rich has introduced me to some other programmes which should help improve the presentation of the videos.

These moves are in part to support my new site, the URL for which has been bought but is yet to go live, and of course to improve the videos I'm presenting here as part of the STIG for CF Ireland campaign.

To date last year's Powerade parody is the most popular campaign video to date, while the montage has done respectably so far. The next video should be up before I fly to San Francisco on the 8th of September so keep your eyes peeled for that.

The Sunday Column - One personal best down, two to go.

Booya! Far from perfect but lobbing 5 minutes off my personal best will do nicely.

I went into the Frank Duffy 10-mile road race in the Phoenix Park with a headband and a lifetime best of just over 2 hours 15 minutes. So looking like a cross between Rocky while training and Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro, I lined up wearing John’s number.

I had missed registration during the week but luckily John had spotted the earlier than usual deadline and registered himself so he could lend me it if necessary. So off Emmet ‘John Craddock’ Ryan went, a man with a plan.

Like all good strategies it was simple. Run all the odd numbered miles, walk all the even ones except the last which I would also run.

I got off with ease and approaching the mile marker I considered changing tactics. I was feeling very comfortable but no, no I wouldn’t change horses mid-stream. Hannibal loves it when a plan comes together so who am I to argue.

So I walked the second mile, ran the third which was uphill. Ouch, need to plan better. Walk the fourth and I am cruising. Four and a half miles in the most wonderful thing happened. We turned onto the second lap, free from all those sodding elite athletes that keep breezing by my back as they lapped me. Pesky fast people.

At this stage I was selecting targets, using other racers as markers to watch my pace on my on and off miles. As I slowed to walk they would overtake me for a few minutes but when I started to run I soon overtook them. It worked well and as I turned onto the eighth mile I started to bear down on the sole one still ahead. I left her in my wake shortly after the last water station.

With the rain beating down I forced myself forward. The nine mile mark, I break from the plan. I need to cease running for a while. Half a mile later I kick again.

The final bend and I’m breezing past runner, I’m still fresh enough. I see the clock and cross the line with 2 hours 10 minutes on the clock. When the chip is calculated that’ll knock anything from on to six minutes off that time.

A new PB and unlike the last one I still had something in the tank. It’s far from perfect but you’ll hear no complaints from here.

Next up is the half marathon, again in the Phoenix Park, next month. My PB there is just under 3 hours 16 minutes. Then there's the you-know-what in November. One down, two to go.

The Sunday Column - We have a winner

Congratulations to Bob Corr who has won tickets to the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals this Saturday in Croke Park. My apologies to Bob for mispronouncing his surname in the video, I read his name as Carr on the list of tickets sold.

If you didn't win fear not for everyone who participated in this draw will be entered into the main draw for the big prizes next month.

Tickets are still available by contacting me at emmetryan@gmail.com

Remember all the money raised goes towards the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland as part of our 2008 which climaxes this November when I run the New York City Marathon.

Last chance to win Premium tickets to the All Ireland Quarter Finals

The early entry deadline for the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw is this Saturday night. Anyone who hasn't reserved a ticket before this date will miss out on a chance to win 2 Premium tickets to an All Ireland Football Quarter Finals double header in Croke Park on Saturday the 9th of August.

The winner will be announced through a video which we will post in the next edition of The Sunday Column. This means it will likely go up on Monday the 4th seeing as my internet connectivity as of late hasn't been smashing.

We will still be selling tickets after this Saturday and everyone who buys a ticket will get a shot at the big prizes which are listed here.

Tickets cost €25 and can be bought by emailing emmetryan@gmail.com

Check out my guest post at Creative Writing Corner

I recently guest posted on teen writing at Blair Hurley's Creative Writing Corner blog. In the post I take a look at the impact the internet is having on the writing habits of teenagers, referencing a recent Pew study that found the positives largely outweighed the negatives.

I found Blair's blog around 9 months ago and have been regularly following it ever since. She's a very talented young writer that is currently studying in Princeton and her blog is well worth checking out.

Keep an eye out here on STIG for CF Ireland for a guest post from Blair in the near future.

The Sunday Column - Back on the road

Around 5pm on Sunday the American Football season ended for the DCU Saints. For me this was the end of one regimen and the beginning of another. At around 7.30 this morning it was go time. The pads were put away for the summer and out came the runners, shorts and t-shirt.

As with any programme I’ve got to begin lightly but there is the added pressure that as I’m behind I’ll need to ramp it up a bit to be ready for the half-marathon in September. This morning was only a half hour jog around Ranelagh and into Rathmines. Tomorrow will likely be similar but soon, very soon it’ll be longer. It’ll be harder and it’ll be faster.

It will also likely not feature any knocks to my noggin, at least none that are deliberate. I gave a few of the lads a bit of a scare yesterday when I spoke rather butchly about the dents in my forehead following the Cork game on Sunday and how they likely explained the killer headache I had. They dents were a result of the force of impact and not due to the helmet’s tightness, I knew it was too loose to be anything other than hits. I’m sure the other guy looks worse though.

Having thought nothing of it myself (I’m well used to getting knocks to the head at this stage, it comes with the territory) I had gone about my day normally, after all I had work to do.

After a bit of coaxing I eventually agreed to go to see my GP about it to make sure I hadn’t got a concussion or anything else. My regular doc wasn’t in so I saw the other one in the clinic who isn’t used to my regular visits about my litany of injuries. As a result she was taken aback about my unconcerned attitude towards the aforementioned dents. It turned out that I was grand and hadn’t suffered any damage.

The visit did at least give me the opportunity to share war stories with Lucy, my GP’s receptionist, about various knocks we’d both received on the playing field. She used to play hockey and had taken some nasty hits from a hockey ball a few times, and trust me those things are like rocks.

Neither of us however could claim an injury as unfortunately amusing as Anna who used to be in Commerce International with me. She got hit in the face with a hockey ball shortly before our exams in second year. The result was extensive bruising that covered around both eyes and her nose. Those of us who didn’t know she played hockey immediately thought she had been beaten up and she had to repeatedly tell people that she was not the victim of an attack.

Well that was all a bit of a tangent. Anyway as I was saying the real training is underway. I’ll keep you all informed of the early progress over the coming weeks.

Getting in shape and giving away prizes

As the video shows I've a bit of catching up to do if I want to be in shape come November 2nd.

A much closer date to keep in your diaries is the 2nd of August. That's the day we announce who has won 2 tickets to the All Ireland Football Quarter Finals. The tickets are for the Premium section of the ground and are for a double-header on the 9th of August.

The big match tickets are part of the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw. Only 200 tickets are being sold in all at €25 each.

On top of the GAA tickets we're giving away a €250 voucher for Brown Thomas, a €200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu, a signed Dublin Gaelic Football jersey, a signed Tipperary hurling jersey and a Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 red handset.

The main draw will take place in September but any tickets bought before the 2nd of August will also be entered into the draw for the Premium ticekts, giving you a chance to win on the double.

All the money raised will go towards our 2008 STIG for CF Ireland campaign.

Win vouchers for Brown Thomas and Nue Blue Eriu

We've added two more prizes to the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw. Ladies, you're going to like these. Strencom have donated a €250 voucher for Brown Thomas while Damovo have provided us with a €200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu.

These are on top of the other prizes we've already told you about. We're also giving away:
A Dublin jersey signed by the entire Senior Football Championship panel
A Tipperary jersey signed by the entire Senior Hurling Championship panel
2 Premium tickets to an All Ireland Football Quarter Finals Double Header (courtesy of Cable & Wireless)
A MOTOKRZR K1 red mobile handset (courtesy of Motorola)

Just to remind you we've now add these to the draw:
€250 voucher for Brown Thomas (courtesy of Strencom)
€200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu (courtesy of Damovo)

We're only selling 200 tickets, at a cost of €25 each, giving entrants great odds of winning one of these prizes.

Buy now
To purchase tickets for the draw please email emmetryan@gmail.com

1,000 YouTube views and counting

My recent experiment of mixing coffee and laptops has now broken the 1,000 view barrier on YouTube. It’s the first video I’ve posted on the video sharing site to reach this milestone and while it’s still a few million views behind Sophie’s dancing vid, I’m still pleased with its success to date.

I’ll be posting new vids for the campaign on at least a monthly basis between now and the race and I’d be shocked if any of them match the success of the coffee spill.

These shorts are far from a solo effort and we’re already brainstorming on the next few vids. If any of you guys have any ideas that could be interesting or funny then we’re all ears.

No sleep till Brooklyn...

...well actually not until Manhattan, that's where the finish line is.

As revealed in the video, I'll be heading to New York this year as part of team CF Ireland to represent STIG and hopefully raise a shed load of money along the way. The New York City Marathon, 37,000 punters taking to the streets and pounding out 26 miles and 385 yards.

This is the big one folks, one of the World Marathon Majors and the mugs have decided to let us take part. Better make the most of it then. STIG for CF Ireland has raised the guts of €3,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland over the past two years but in 2008 we plan on hammering that figure.

On top of the usual sort of fund raising activities we do, such as looking for donations (see the side bar to your right) we will be holding a prize draw which features prizes donated from lovely firms such as Cable & Wireless, Damovo, Motorola and Strencom. Only 200 tickets will be made available so check it out quickly to see if you fancy a chance at winning some of the fan-dabi-dozy prizes on offer while also helping to raise money for the cause.

This blog will be updated regularly with a new column each Sunday as well as with other posts on a frequent basis. The posts will include updates on the campaign, interesting things relating to the race, the cause we're doing this for, STIG, and stuff I find that's just plain interesting.

There will also be occasional guest posts from other bloggers on a variety of interesting topics. Plus at least once a month we'll have a video update, like the one above.

STIG for CF Ireland is a team effort and John Craddock, who ran/walked (a mixture of both really) in the first two campaigns will be acting as training partner and coach for this year's event.

This post marks the formal launch of the 2008 campaign so I, and the rest of the STIG team, look forward to keeping you updated on our efforts over the next few months.

Getting ready to go Big Time

First off welcome to any readers of Damien's blog who stumbled upon STIG for CF Ireland through his fluffy links.

It's nearly time for us to kick off the 2008 campaign. The coming weeks will see the formal launch take place with details of our fund-raising initiatives for this year.

In 2008 we're really taking things up a level and there's going to be more ways for you to interact with STIG for CF Ireland. All we can confirm for now is that we will not be participating in the Dublin City Marathon as in previous years. STIG for CF Ireland is going Big Time.



Our new campaign will include videos that we hope you will find to be much more entertaining than last year's offerings or indeed the Peter Gabriel one that I just slotted in there.

Please pop back in this June when details of our events for 2008 will be revealed.

Greens call for CF action welcome but is it confidence inspiring?

I'm on the Green Party's mailing list and received an email earlier today with comments from Senator Deirdre De Burca calling for the Pollock reports recommendations to be treated with urgency.

In the release De Burca says "Ireland has the highest incidence of Cystic Fibrosis in Europe and yet reports show that Cystic Fibrosis care is consistently below standard. The Pollock report, commissioned and published by the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland in 2005, compared existing hospital services to acceptable international standards. It found that current staffing was seriously inadequate and that in many locations, the physical facilities for patients with Cystic Fibrosis were well below accepted standards. The lack of segregation and isolation facilities for both outpatients and inpatients exposed sufferers to cross infection with virulent organisms such as MRSA and hepatitis C. This situation simply cannot continue."

She went on to say "The issues of secure funding, acceptable levels of specialist staffing and the provision of suitable segregation and isolation facilities must be top priority. I will be raising this issue as part of an Adjournment Debate early in this term of Seanad Éireann. I will be calling on the Minister for Health Mary Harney to commit to implementing the recommendations of the Pollock Report without delay."

This is all very noble but isn't the Senator's party in Government? Don't they have the power to give the Department of Health a kick up the behind and get things moving? The wording of the release reads awfully like something an opposition politician would say which isn't where the Greens need to be.

I don't doubt De Burca's sentiments for a moment and indeed heartily welcome her views but the time for talk from Government politicians on the matter is over. Attention Green Party, you guys won last May. Sure you're the smaller party but this is a buzz topic at the moment in health so rather than sound like a party on the outside looking in, do something about it.

The Greens have had to deal with more than their fair share of flak since entering office and I for one don't wish to add to it as I believe they have handled themselves well. Hopefully representatives like De Burca will be able to exert some influence from this position now and her call on the Minister will be listened to. For now we'll have to wait and see, in the meantime a lot of people are counting on this being more than just hot air.

The crux of the problem

Last night's Primetime had a special focus on the failure to install isolation units in Irish hospitals for Cystic Fibrosis patients. Patients in Northern Ireland have a life expectancy 10 years longer than those in the south and this programme explored the reasons why, which mostly are a result of failures in the health service.

The episode is available online here and I genuinely hope you all give it a look. If there's been an episode since by the time you get to look at it then check out the programme dated 15 January.

I'm not a terribly emotive guy but I was ready to punch the screen when the HSE rep kept dodging the issue of when they would actually get the isolation units built.