There are three threads open for discussion of Dublin Marathon 2012. Over the next few months, lots of people are going to have questions about the marathon, particularly people running it for the first time. Those questions should go into one of the existing threads.

The thread in the Events section is for general discussion of the event. The route, the times people will run, arrangements on the day... all that kind of thing is discussed in the event thread.

If this is your first marathon you probably have a lot of questions about the training you should be doing. Ask those question in the Mentored Novices thread, and they will be answered by experienced marathon runners. Any questions about the preparations you should be making, about gels, Bodyglide, toenails, runners... if there's something you need to know and you don't know where to ask, ask in the Novices training thread.

There is also an 'Improvers' training thread, where people who have done one or a couple of marathons can discuss how to improve their times this year.

Finally, if you forget to enter on time and would like to buy someone else's number, or you get injured or don't train and would like to sell your number, you should post about your situations SOMEWHERE ELSE. Number swapping is not allowed in the Dublin marathon, and so is not allowed on this forum.

List of Pacers for DM 2012

3:00
Robert W
Abhainn
Pronator

3:15
liamo123
Surewhynot!
Ray Lanigan
TFBubendorfer

3:30
Wounded Knee
JackyBack
Grellan
Robinph

3:45
Menoscemo
CorkRunning
Paul D
Claralara

4:00
Oisin11178
RunningCoach
Ruthann S
Breffni Blue

4:15
Kandikane
Marthastew
digger2d2
ankers99

4:30
Ultraman1
Moneystealer1
Izoard
tHEvAGGABOND

5:00
Clareman07
Belcarra
Hot to trot

Following the success of the pacers over the past few years we have included them again this year. There will be pacers for the following times: 3.00, 3.15, 3.30, 3.45, 4.00, 4.15, 4.30 and 5.00. They will run the race at a steady pace throughout, and aim to finish a few seconds under each time band. To be paced by them during the race, just turn up at the start, look for the runners wearing backpacks with large flags, and stand behind the corresponding time. (Note that 3:45 will start at the front of Wave 2, 4:15 will start at the front of Wave 3. All others will start in their appropriate starting zone).

If you want to break 4 hours then run with the 4 hour pacers and stick with them. If you are fit enough to run a 4-hour marathon, you won't fall behind.

If, on the other hand, you are not fit enough to run a 4 hour marathon then starting at an even faster pace will only hurt you and result in an even slower time.

The marathon is not about running fast, it is about preserving energy. If you waste energy early on by running faster, you are only going to run into even bigger problems later on. Every minute run too fast in the first half will cost you at least 2 in the second.

The same applies for every other time target as well, obviously.