Brunton optimistic after great marathon time 

TRAINING Mountnugent runner attributes success to coach

Ben Brunton is confident that his best marathon running is yet to come. On first hearing that may sound outlandish for a man who has posted a time of just 2hr 28mins 35 secs and finishing a remarkable 29th. By this reporter’s reckoning it ranks amongst the fastest marathon runs recorded by a Cavan man.

Understandably the world class Catherina McKiernan remains Cavan’s fastest person (2hr 22min).

However, Ben’s assertion that he can run better is grounded in reality. Hopefully readers are sitting down when they take this in: it was Ben’s first ever marathon.

“That was my first marathon - it’s actually the first ever time I’ve ran 42k, I didn’t even run it in training when I was building up to Dublin.

“I was hoping for around 2hr:30min, so I was a wee bit quicker, but throughout the race I was a wee bit cautious because I was aware the wheels could come off very quickly. Because it was new to me I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Ben who also holds down a full time teaching job in Virginia College.

Reflecting on the race Ben’s assessment is balanced - he gives himself credit for running well, but suspects he could run better.

“Any race you do, no matter what the distance is you always look back and think - did I hurt enough at all? There’s definitely more there,” says Ben who runs for St Brigid’s Athletics Club in Ballinacree.

“But I actually think I executed the Dublin race well enough - probably as well as I could have. The first half is quite hilly, so I sat in a good while there, and with the marathon you have to be extra cautious.

“The weather on the day wasn’t great - it was raining quite heavily as I got to the last four or five miles - that probably affected the time a wee bit.

“There definitely is areas at the end where I could have pushed on a wee bit. There’s a minute at least, hopefully quicker in me.”

At 24 Ben is still very young for long distance running.

“The runners who finished ahead of me were in their 30s and 40s, when I look at it there, and I’m hoping that my best running will come when I’m into that bracket,” he says.

There’s a theory that running long distances regularly can kill a runner’s speed. Ben is wary of that risk.

“I probably am young to do a marathon, but I feel that’s probably where I’ll run best, so I just gave it a go to see how I’d get on and then I’ll probably go back to maybe half marathons, 10 miles now, rather than sticking to marathons the whole time,” says the Mountnugent man, who still plays football for his GAA club as often as his running regime permits.

Every long distance runner has to overcome the endurance battle with their body yelling to stop and their brain urging them forward. He admits to having doubts in Dublin.

“In the marathon I hit a stage around half way, ‘Oh I’ll never be able to do this - I’m in a bad place here. But you ride that wave and go over it and say: Go again.”

“It’s something you learn over the years. There’s a phrase: you get comfortable being uncomfortable - that’s the biggest phrase runners use. Running like that is either for you or it’s not for you. If you like being in that pain or discomfort then running is going to be your game.

“That’s probably what I love most about running: it’s tough, it’s hardship - you know all about pain if you do running - it’s mental resilience.”

In such moments Ben reverts back to the advice of his coach Sean Tobin from ‘Bounce Running’ in helping to “ride that wave” by trying to keep your body loose.

“Make sure you don’t really tighten up around your shoulders and your breathing doesn’t get too heavy - that’s probably the best thing to do - to feel loose and ride with it.”

Ben also had his three brothers - Jack, Ned and Charlie supporting both himself and his mother, who also ran the Dublin course.

“When you’re in the marathon and you meet them on the side of the road, that gives you a big lift as well,” he says.

Ben credits coach Sean as a key factor in him slashing his times since he started running under his guidance in 2018.

“When I started off with him I was a novice enough with running and he’s just brought me to places I’d thought I’d never go. He’s amazing.

“Only for him I wouldn’t be getting the times I’m running today. I came in with PBs of 17 minutes for 5K and he brought me down to 14:58.”

Achievement

Ben is more accustomed running anything from 1,500m to 10ks. His greatest achievement up to this point was at 5k.

“Probably in 2021 I made the national 5k final. That was on RTÉ as well and I ran a PB that day of 14 min 58secs. There were two lads in the race who ere going for Olympic qualification that day, so to be on TV to run a PB and be in a race with those kind of people, I’d say that’s probably my stand out moment so far. It’s something I’d like to get back to as well.”

Ben teaches Biology and Maths at Virginia College, and credits his job with helping him indulge his passion for running.

“Once I finish up in the evenings I run, and I run before school as well, so the teaching life is great for me, it blends in well and my weekends I have off so I can train then. It was nice after the marathon I was on mid-term, so I could rest and recover that week.”

Ben suffered a stress fracture in his right foot two years ago which set him back when he was a student in Maynooth. He was in a boot for eight weeks.

“I’m still recovering from that and building back up. I’d like to lower my PBs across all ranges from 5k to 10k.

“No matter what distance it is, you’d always look to put on that Irish singlet, whether it be European Cross country or a track race or even a half marathon debut in an Irish vest would be nice for me - Larne Half Marathon is a good one up North. Something like that would be my biggest aim.”

For that he will have to run the half marathon in roughly 1 hr 7 mins.

Although Ben’s plans aren’t fixed for the coming year he has applied for the Dublin Marathon just to keep the option open. His incredible debut time has opened a lot of doors for other marathons around the world, and so he is eyeing up a faster, flatter marathons, such as Berlin in 2024.

“In Berlin especially, if conditions were good I’d be hoping I could go 2hrs 26 maybe.”