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DCM - Roebuck Road Hill

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  • 03-09-2013 5:10pm
    #1
    BarneyJ
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭


    I am hearing differing reports about the Roebuck Road hill during the Dublin marathon.

    A lot of people are saying it's not that bad but others are saying it's a killer and I see it is often referred to as 'Heartbreak Hill' (which is worrying).

    I would be very interested to get peoples opinions on how it compares to the Khyber Road hill in the Phoenix Park.


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    #2
    Micilin Muc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,842 ✭✭✭Micilin Muc


    Hill aficionado here!

    The hill at Roebuck isn't bad. The problem is the preceding miles from Milltown. It's a long drag and it take a few seconds off your pace if you don't concentrate.

    Try run it on one of your training runs in the meantime.


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    #3
    RacoonQueen
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,364 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    Probably closer to the hill up towards the Wellington Monument than the Kyber...it's really not a bad hill

    Hard to compare it to any of the ones in the park to be honest, I think it's shorter than any of them...


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    #4
    average_runner
    Registered Users Posts: 12,845 ✭✭✭✭average_runner


    Its a sharp hill but then u have a big drop after it.

    Clonskeagh hill is the one I watch as a long drag


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    #5
    statss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,802 ✭✭✭statss


    To be honest I've ran this a couple of times in training runs and if it wasn't for boards I wouldn't even have considered it a hill / major issue. Fair enough I havent done it the latter stages of a marathon but honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The left turn right after it has a nice downhill section to recover if it takes a bit out of you.


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    #6
    emerald007
    Registered Users Posts: 667 ✭✭✭emerald007


    BarneyJ wrote: »
    I am hearing differing reports about the Roebuck Road hill during the Dublin marathon.

    If your based in dublin arrange a bit of a run over it? The hill at milltown town is shorter but as steep but you hit at 30km.


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    #7
    ger664
    Registered Users Posts: 2,398 ✭✭✭ger664


    After running up in Malin Head a couple of weeks ago. I would consider them merely speed bumps.


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    #8
    HelenAnne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,035 ✭✭✭HelenAnne


    ger664 wrote: »
    After running up in Malin Head a couple of weeks ago. I would consider them merely speed bumps.

    Sometimes (genuinely!) I even find speed bumps tough when I'm tiring in a race ...


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    #9
    dechol
    Registered Users Posts: 291 ✭✭dechol


    It is really nothing bad. So so short that its over before u can think about it.


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    #10
    clear thinking
    Registered Users Posts: 558 ✭✭✭clear thinking


    It depends how you are going. Just be wary not to overstride on the descent, as temptation would have you do, as you will certainly pay for that a mile or two later. Probably somewhere near the RDS.


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    #11
    PVincent
    Registered Users Posts: 444 ✭✭PVincent


    Take the uncertainty out of it by running the stretch from say Rathgar to Ballsbridge . In a training run any of these supposed hills are just slopes, but after 18miles(Milltown) and 20miles(Roebuck) the mere thought of them appearing can be a huge negative for some people. By running them a number of times in training, you can counteract that negativity , because you will know that they are only slopes. The big positive about Roebuck is that it tends to be a good place for the crowds so quite noisy there and it helps you. But as someone else has already said the bit that upsets the rhythmn is the downhill down the side of UCD. Too quick and your calves will explode. Again something that you can practice in training if you hit that sort of area at the end of a longer run. As a club we tend to run from the start all the way to say the Montrose hotel ( about 21miles) and anyone who has done that run finds it hugely beneficial in terms of understanding the route and also gaining positive psychology from those little areas on the course that can knock you. Good luck on the day


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    #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Welcome it as an opportunity. Use it to burn off those around you. Crush them with the apparent ease at which you bound up the hill.

    Maybe I've been overdoing the IMRA stuff this summer...

    Is Roebuck Road the one with the crowd around it? I didn't mind that, the enthusiasm of the crowd made up for any pain.


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    #13
    vinny1313
    Registered Users Posts: 95 ✭✭vinny1313


    In isolation I'd say it's not as hard a hill as the Khyber or even the most challenging hill in the DCM course (the one up from Chapelizod is). Of course in the grand scheme of things none of them are too bad. It's more about where it is in the course and Roebuck is at that point where it gets tough. If you're based in Dublin or nearby, why not incorporate it into a training run?


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    #14
    TFBubendorfer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,340 ✭✭✭TFBubendorfer


    Marathons tend to get tough at the 20 mile mark and in Dublin there happens to be a (small) hill at that point, which is why many runners think it's worse than it really is.


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    #15
    BarneyJ
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭BarneyJ


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Welcome it as an opportunity. Use it to burn off those around you. Crush them with the apparent ease at which you bound up the hill.

    Maybe I've been overdoing the IMRA stuff this summer...

    Is Roebuck Road the one with the crowd around it? I didn't mind that, the enthusiasm of the crowd made up for any pain.

    Ha ha, I wish. Replace the word 'bound' with 'shuffle' or 'stagger' and you'll be closer to the mark.


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    #16
    Peckham
    Registered Users Posts: 3,485 ✭✭✭Peckham


    I think the first reference I heard to this as "Heartbreak Hill" was last year (a marketing tactic maybe?). Before then it was just the point that you looked forward to as it marked the turning point for home and the end of any climbing.

    Personally I think the real intimidating hill on the course is the canal bridge at about 23.5 miles!


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    #17
    Rogue Runner
    Registered Users Posts: 164 ✭✭Rogue Runner


    Peckham wrote: »

    Personally I think the real intimidating hill on the course is the canal bridge at about 23.5 miles!

    I couldnt disagree with you there. My first marathon in '10 and the bridge was like scaling Everest


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    #18
    yaboya1
    Registered Users Posts: 4,610 ✭✭✭yaboya1


    Rogue Runner wrote: »
    I couldnt disagree with you there. My first marathon in '10 and the bridge was like scaling Everest

    My sentiments entirely!


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    #19
    ThePiedPiper
    Registered Users Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    I personally find that drag up through Clonskeagh and left onto Fosters Avenue an absolute killer. In four runnings of DCM, its always slowed me down. Bad pacing and over-optimistic goals were probably the main problems though. My current PB is 14 minutes faster than my Dublin course best, so I clearly have underperformed massively and have a bit of unfinished business with it....


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    #20
    Ososlo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,420 ✭✭✭Ososlo


    Would someone mind listing the hills or long tough drags and where they come on the course? There seems to be new ones being mentioned all the time:(

    Chapelizod
    Roebuck
    Fosters

    Is that all?
    Thanks!


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    #21
    Craptacular
    Registered Users Posts: 215 ✭✭Craptacular


    I had heard it called Heartbreak Hill too and was still expecting it about a mile after I'd passed it. Everyone's race is different but I wouldn't waste it worrying about that hill.


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    #22
    Micilin Muc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,842 ✭✭✭Micilin Muc


    Chapelizod
    Roebuck
    Fosters
    Bridges over the Grand Canal in Dolphin's Barn and Grand Canal Street


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    #23
    digger2d2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,957 ✭✭✭digger2d2


    Micilin Muc wrote: »
    Chapelizod
    Roebuck
    Fosters
    Bridges over the Grand Canal in Dolphin's Barn and Grand Canal Street

    Don't forget Milltown....;)


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    #24
    RacoonQueen
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,364 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    digger2d2 wrote: »
    Don't forget Milltown....;)

    And that realllly long drag up crumlin road.

    Need to stop reading this thread...


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    #25
    Ososlo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,420 ✭✭✭Ososlo


    Chapelizod
    Bridge over the Grand Canal in Dolphin's Barn
    Crumlin
    Milltown
    Roebuck
    Fosters
    Bridge over Grand Canal Street

    Final list? Hope so:(


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    #26
    pistol_75
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,682 ✭✭✭pistol_75


    Ososlo wrote: »
    Chapelizod
    Bridge over the Grand Canal in Dolphin's Barn
    Crumlin
    Milltown
    Roebuck
    Fosters
    Bridge over Grand Canal Street

    Final list? Hope so:(

    Fosters is downhill. Nice hill outside Rotunda as well ;-)


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    #27
    blockic
    Registered Users Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭blockic


    Ososlo wrote: »
    Chapelizod
    Bridge over the Grand Canal in Dolphin's Barn
    Crumlin
    Milltown
    Roebuck
    Fosters
    Bridge over Grand Canal Street

    Final list? Hope so:(

    They are only pulling your leg Ososlo.

    Don't overcomplicate and over worry about it.

    Just 2 to note:

    Chapleizod and Roebuck

    Chapleizod is so early and at MP it should not effect you.

    We know about Roebuck short but steep, over in a couple of seconds.

    The rest are insignificant, don't even consider them as you'll bound over the rest on the day.

    Grand Canal is a 5 second incline but if you are tiring it will feel like a minute. But it's not a hill.


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    #28
    RayCun
    Registered Users Posts: 15,704 ✭✭✭✭RayCun


    Crumlin isn't much of an incline, but it can be windy. And crowded. And a long, boring straight.
    Mile 2/3 is an incline, going from the Liffey up to the North Circular, but you wouldn't notice it, especially not so early in the race.

    If you were going for a walk, the only places you'd notice a hill are Chapelizod, Milltown, Roebuck, and parts of the drag through Clonskeagh.


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    #29
    tenreds
    Registered Users Posts: 166 ✭✭tenreds


    Has anyone got an elevation graph from Garmin that they can post here so we can compare with runs people have done,I don't know Dublin that well and won't get to run any of it before the marathon.


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    #30
    RayCun
    Registered Users Posts: 15,704 ✭✭✭✭RayCun


    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125993845

    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125594596


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    #31
    ultraman1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,742 ✭✭✭ultraman1


    i always thought the hill at roebuck resembles this


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