Mike Griffin

Yesterday was the Mayo Even Ages and Senior Corss Country in Geesala. There were four of us from the family running, Sadhbh had 1000m to run, Róise had 200m, Éabha had 3000m and I had 6000m.

We drove over from Castlebar and went through some pretty torrential rain showers. Once we got to Geesala though, it all cleared up and stayed dry until we were just leaving. Someone was looking down on us I think.

The girls did really well, Sadhbh was delighted that she not only didn’t finish last, but also passed out some people in the finish. Then she got to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with her friends eating sweets and chips! Her team finished in 4th place which was a great achievement

Róise’s team finished second, and she got 11th place individually.

Éabha had the race of the day though, finishing second for her team andcoming in fourth team by one point. The team that pipped them had two runners between the second and fourth Castlebar runners and it was nip and tuck between them all to the finish.

I had three laps for my race, with half of each of them on the beach. We ran along hard packed sand and luckily the wind was to our side, but it was still a strange surface to run on. I really enjoyed the race, even though I was on my own for most of it.

I did this race once before, two years ago and it’s not a day I’ll ever forget. It wasn’t because of the race, even though I can remember the course pretty well. After the race that time we went home via the Wild Nephin National Park and then went for food in Mulranny.

But as we were finishing up dinner, I got a phone call from the Hospice in Sligo to tell me that I should get there straight away. Dad had been in the hospice since July of that year, and he was slowly drifting away. That day he took a turn that he wouldn’t come out of. I raced home to drop everyone off and took off for Sligo to see him. He passed away the next day, after Pauline got home to see him.

So the race this year was poignant. After it, we went to the Wild Nephin National Park and then went for dinner in Mulranny. But this time, I didn’t get a phonecall. I didn’t have to drop everything and drive to Sligo. I didn’t have to spend the night with my Dad. I didn’t get to do any of that, and I won’t get to do it again.

I spent a lot of that summer going back and forth between Castlebar and Sligo, but not often enough. It’s never often enough after the fact, it’s so easy to say “I should have been there more”. But I did all I could, I helped as I could, I tried to pay back the love that Dad showed for me over so many years.

I hope I can give as much love to my kids as he did to me.

I miss you Dad ❤️