Peter Stretching Before The Streets 2005 (Irish Times)

1. What running shoes do you train in?

Asics 2110. I’m on my 18th pair. I did a lap of the racecourse in bare-feet once back in my hippy days.

2. How many miles did you run last week?

62

3. What's your favourite racing distance?

26.2miles. I love every mile of it.

4. Where's you favourite place to train?

A four mile circuit in Ryehill, just outside Monivea. Quiet roads and two monster hills.

5. What's your favourite race or event each year?

Connemara does it for me. Tough race (both half and full), great organisation, spectacular part of the world, great buzz.

6. What annoys you most at races?

Short courses – especially at prestigious national events.

7. What race, that you haven't yet run, would you most like to take

part in?

An adventure race – mud, rivers, mountains, navigation. In my head I’m a great adventurer, the rest of me wimps out.

8. What was your best-ever running performance?

Edinburgh Marathon 2005 was second best. I was left in Mick Rice’s wake but still managed 2:51:32. Number one was breaking the 3hr barrier for the first time in Dublin in 2003.

9. What was your worst-ever running performance?

All Ireland Novice Cross Country Champ's in Killybegs in 2005. Unfit and out-of-breath, I watched helplessly as the field ran away from me. It was only 6k but felt like sixty!

10. What's the strangest thing that you've ever seen on a training

run?

James Lundon walking along the top of a dry stone wall to avoid dirtying his new runners in a puddle. A bemused farmer (and owner of said wall) watched on waiting for just-one-rock to get dislodged.

11. Favourite piece of running gear?

My gloves on a cold, dark winter morning.

12. Who would you most enjoy beating in a sprint for the line?

A certain Dublin athlete who once refused me a drink of water during a half-marathon. Of course I’d never hold a grudge…

13. What was the best bit of training advice you were ever given?

Sometimes you’ve got to forget all the ‘listen to your body’ advice and get out there to burn it up. Break through a mental barrier or two. (Advice received from somebody who goes by the nickname ‘fluffy’).

14. In ten years time will you still be running?

Hope so. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll still be a runner in ten hours time.

15. If for some reason you were told you could never run again, how

do you think you'd react?

I’d take up bog snorkelling.

16. Have you ever been bitten by a dog while running?

Once got a hole in a sock, but no skin was damaged.

17. Have you ever had to stop for an emergency 'Paula' during a

race?

Yep. I ducked into a field during the inaugural Headford 8k in 2005. People wondered why I wouldn’t shake hands with them after the race.

18. Favourite post-race food?

After the Edinburgh marathon Ray and I found an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant that served cold bottled beer. Heaven sent!

19. Most embarrassing ever running-related moment?

Hmmm … see question 17 … fast forward 12 months to 2006 … same problem … same field … same thing! How could that happen?

20. The greatest Irish Athlete of all time is/was?

Seb Locteau (ok he’s French but he’s an honorary Athenry Irishman). Anybody that overcomes chronic back-pain and goes on to complete an iron-man triathlon, mostly on sheer courage and determination, gets my vote.