CONOR O’BRIEN CRUISES
Sharp as a razor. (Photo credit: Susan Parker Laste.)
Stablemate Conor “Justice” O’Brien gavelled 56 seconds off his PB at the Coillte 10K in Dundrum, Tipperary, registering a head-turning 34:01 and securing 16th spot overall.
As you’d expect on the Emerald Isle, the weather was wet and miserable, but that didn’t stop justice being served.
The Stable News unfortunately had to interrupt Ally “the Chin” Smith, who was engrossed in Andy Murray’s nail-biting second-round match with Tsitsipas at Wimbledon, to get the scoop from O’Brien:
Ally: How’s it going, Conor? I’m never off the clock when it comes to the News. I’ve even paused my hero in order to get this exclusive.
Conor: I’m honoured, ha-ha.
Ally: Give me all the juicy details, then. Just shy of a sub-34! Oof, that must hurt.
Conor: I have to admit, I lost a bit of sleep last night over those two seconds, as the goal was sub-34, but I’m still absolutely delighted with the result. A PB is a PB after all.
Ally: As you should be, my man, and it was a hefty PR—almost a minute quicker. Tell me more.
Conor: I lost concentration between 4-7km, as I needed a boot up the hole to wake me up. I was scared to kick on at the 8km mark in case I blew up, as I still don’t know my body in these race situations.
I ended up having too much juice (not that sh*te stuff Zane Robertson was using, by the way) in my legs at the end, with loads more to give.
Great learning experience though for my second-ever 10K, and those two seconds will be used as fuel for motivation in my next race.
Ally: Bloody brilliant, Conor. Now you know you’re capable of more, and to think you’ve only been running for just over a year! Shows there’s a talent lurking in there. Well done on a terrific performance. Right: I’m off to watch my man Murray give it to the Greek.
Conor: Thanks, Ally. Catch you next time.
The News caught up with The Stablemaster during his morning stroll along Belle Mare beach:
“Boy, oh boy, do we have something special with young Conor. An ex-rugby and GAA player who only started jogging to lose a bit of beef goes out and clocks 34’ in his sophomore 10K! The ability is there, and with work we can get him down to 31’ or maybe even 30’. Excellent stuff, Conor. Good man.
O’Brien will be taking his own brand of justice to Denmark for the Copenhagen Half-Marathon in September.
Stay tuned, folks!