Athlone ¾ Marathon, Sun 7th Oct 2012 11am

guysmiley wrote: »

Hi bazman

Trying to sign up this evening 29/2/12 and it seems the Run Ireland website is down for the last 2 hours and price going up tomorrow.

Hi guysmiley - did you get sorted? If not let me know and we'll sort something out ...

If your target in the marathon, then all races leading up to the marathon ideally should simply be preparation events. This is designed as a long preparation event where you can practice your fueling strategy and get an understanding of the importance of pacing over long distances.

Almost every training program will have your last long run 3 weeks before the main event. Our recommendation is to treat this as a training run, but with substantial benefits - fueling stations, pacers, post race massage, medal, technical t-shirt, transport from Athlone, magical surroundings - add all this up and it's a value event.

Common questions are 'Is this too close to Dublin marathon?' and 'what pace should I run?'. To the former, I'd say no as 3 weeks is more than ample recovery time. Make use of the post-race massage and commence your taper post race. Yes, you're legs will ache for a few days afterwards but the recovery process will kick in and make your legs stronger. To the latter question, everyone should have an idea of their own ability to recover so run a pace where you know you'll recover easily from. If you're a novice runner with low mileage, I'd say focus on completion over speed. If you're a seasoned runner, then run conservatively and finish strongly to give you confidence going into the marathon. The course has a few hills, one close to the finish - but so too has Dublin

TownBound wrote: »

Hi - just wondering if this is just for fast runners? Dublin will be my first marathon so I don't really know my pace but judging by half marathon time it should hopefully be about 4hr30mins. I notice the pacers only go up to 4 hours. Would like to do it just to take the boredom out of the 20 mile run...
Thanks

There are walkers every year participating in this event. The race will remain open for 6 hours at a minimum, so you're more than welcome to join the fun

Hey all
The price remains at €44 this week - until Friday 7th midnight so get in now to save €5.
I know some on this forum will argue that this is expensive, but considering all on offer it's a bargain race, technical t-shirt, medal, refreshment stations, free transport from Athlone, post-race massage, pacers

CCR wrote: »

Is it possible to get to this race by public transport? I'm travelling from Dublin so I could get a train to Athlone but the problem is getting from Athlone train station to start of race and back.
Thanks in advance.

Just to confirm - free bus transport is provided to/from Athlone bus/rail station.

We're still short a few faster pacers, particularly:
- 7:15 / mile pace (3hr marathon prep group)
- 8:20 / mile pace (3:30hr marathon prep group)

PM or email info@athlone3quarter.com if interested. There are some perks to the job

Prize fund also confirmed:

• 1st Male & Female: €300 + commissioned trophy + €100 bonus for course record
• 2nd Male & Female: €200
• 3rd Male & Female: €100
• First male and female finishers over 40, 50 and 60: €60 Amphibian King Voucher
• Second male and female finishers over 40, 50 and 60: €40 Amphibian King Voucher

woody1 wrote: »

is there a deadline on entries by the way, going for a long run tomorrow to see am i up to it..

Entries are limited to 1,000 and we expect to sell out, so it is best to get your entry in early if you want to run ...

Muppet Man wrote: »

Anyone know if there Are there any 3:45 marathon prep pacers? (5:20/km?)

Is there a hill profile available anywhere?

(sorry - on blackberry and haven't checked website)

Thx!
Muppet man.

It's an undulating course - particularly miles 4-8, and mile 18 is a difficult one close to the finish

Profile available here: http://www.athlone3quarter.com/race-info.php

Regarding pacers:
- Pace group @ 6:05/km (for those targeting sub-4 marathon)
- Pace group @ 5:20/km (for those targeting sub-3:30 marathon)
- Pace group @ 4:35/km (for those targeting sub-3 marathon)

Reason for pace groups being slighly slower than marathon pace is to ensure you conserve your 'A' game for marathon, but you could run with 5:20/km group for first 28 km easily and then back-off and relax for the last couple of hilly kms ...

woody1 wrote: »

so from looking at the website and the pacers, its assumed if you can run this race in 3 hours your looking at roughly 3.40 for dublin...
is it that much harder than the dublin marathon course..?? not doing dub marathon this year anyway but curious to know for whenever i do

You need to flip your question. The idea of the pacing is not to predict your marathon time. The idea of pacing is to recommend a pace for a target marathon time. So if you're planning a 3:45 marathon, we recommend running Athlone 3/4 Marathon in 3:00 hours. This conservative guidance is provided to ensure you don't run your best race in Athlone - the full marathon is the target for most.

Let's take Linda Byrne as an example. She finished Athlone 3/4 marathon in 2 hours, but this did not mean she was going to run a 2:30 marathon. She finished with an excellent 2:36 marathon. She obviously got her pacing in Athlone right to produce an Olympic A standard in Dublin. The pacing chart provided is just a little more conservative, particularly for less experienced runners.

Important thing for me is that you should run Athlone within your capabilities - at no stage should you feel like you're firing on all cylinders and you should finish the race feeling confident about Dublin. Legs will be tired on Monday, but not to the point of not being able to walk The recovery process will strengthen your legs for Dublin and 3 weeks is ample time to fully recover as long as you don't over do it post Athlone. The 3 weeks post Athlone should be taper time ...