connemarathon

goofygirl

anyone else gearing up/tapering down for the connemarathon?

SUNGOD

hi goofygirl
yeah im tapering down for connemara ,just back running after a week off injured so trying to train and nurse myself thrugh the next ten days . thankfully i had all my long runs and heavy training done and only got injured when i was starting to taper .its not ideal but what harm its so close now i just have to get on with it.
i take it your looking forward to connemara ? its my first marathon so cant wait. how about you?

goofygirl

oh i'm just going for the half and yup, first timer

911sc

yop, doing the marathon.
Currently taking it very easy on the running not really by choice b'cos of ITBS...so swimming and cross-training instead.

LDB

I'm doing the 1/2 ... first one too
I've done a fair bit of training and I'm hoping that its enough!
i guess I'll find out next weekend

911sc

Data from 2007 Connemarathon - Number of finishers
Ultra 87
Full 385
Half 2185
Total Finishers 2657

If i am not mistake, 2007 entries were limited at 3000, so 88% finishes overall, which is very good IMO... though majority ran only :rolleyes: the half.

I would i have thought they'll be more full marathon runners...

ozchick

Was out there over Easter and its amazing country! Would love to do the half one day. LBD..your first half? They are very emotional! My first was in a country town and an amazing and emotional experience. I caught my foot in a blackberry cane coming up to a bridge at 6km and went down on all fours and couldn't move for about 2 mins! I thought my race was over, but my running partner encouraged me (we had trained for 4 months for it and driven 2 hours to run it) and finished in 2 hours with blood pouring down my knees and a smile on my face. Have a great one.

The vids on the site are really inspiring. Good luck all:)

Manone

Looking forward to this.

Looking at the profile of the course there is a nice hill between mile 9 and 10 which should provice a nice little test.

Forced to reduce mileage over inflammed nerve, fingers crossed it will settle down over the next few days and I can do a few shorter stints.

macinalli

Manone wrote: »

Looking at the profile of the course there is a nice hill between mile 9 and 10 which should provice a nice little test.

That 'nice hill' is a complete pig and for those running the full comes at mile 23! Will be a test alright...

hunnymonster

....or mile 36 for those doing the ultra.

I didn't actually think it was as bad as predicted. The worst thing was being able to see the top a couple of miles away from the bottom. Odds are stacked heavily against two consecutive dry race days in connemara so maybe clousdcover will save you from the "view" this year

Abhainn

Folks wrap up well on Sunday. Looks like temp's will be 7-10C with showers some wintry.
North west breeze will be grand for the half marathon runners as wind will be on your backs. Won't be so great for any full marathon competitors though including moi, or worse still those hardy ultra machines.
Fingers crossed winds may die down.

brianon

Abhainn wrote: »

Folks wrap up well on Sunday. Looks like temp's will be 7-10C with showers some wintry.
North west breeze will be grand for the half marathon runners as wind will be on your backs. Won't be so great for any full marathon competitors though including moi, or worse still those hardy ultra machines.
Fingers crossed winds may die down.

Cheers for the forecase there.

Tapering down myself although injury, laziness & 'stuff' has meant its been a longer taper than maybe it should have been. Anyway, here now and pretty much all set.

Really looking forward to it

Anyone got any secret last week nutrition plans ?
Or even...what/when you gonna drink day before/of/during marathon ?

911sc

brianon wrote: »

what/when you gonna drink day before/of/during marathon ?

loads of beer on Saturday night:rolleyes: then a curry take-away before going to bed at 4am. Been told there is a party in the Gateway Hotel

911sc

On a more serious note.....

Usual large serving of porridge in the morning + coffee + banana on Sunday (no change)

Pasta/bread/brocoli/bean this week.
Few snikers during the day.
Home made fruit juices.

On race day, i 'll add diarolyte to my 2l water ( i carry my own supply of water in a CamelBak) + energy gel.
Not sure i'll make any difference to my pace, but at least i'll add some comfort

I actually try not to change too much to my diet as otherwise the unexpected could happen.

Enjoy the race...

And to the few pessimistics above., it is going to be the best day of the year in Connemara: sun, 20degrees, no wind.
The weather man always gets it wrong!

hunnymonster

It appears the water in Roundstone has some problems this year.

CullenA

yeh on the wind down too before sunday. First marathon, not sure why we picked Connemara. Looking forward to it there are 2 of us doing the full and 11 doing the half for St Francis Hospice in Raheny. Looking forward to the party afterwards. Best of luck.

gaf1983

I really can't wait for it at this stage. Though I'm a bit worried about this line from Met Eireann's three day forecast:

"It will be cold enough for some of the showers on Sunday to turn quite wintry."

Wrap up well then, I guess.

CullenA

hey there. a tip a friend of mine gave was to wear black plastic bag at the start line with an old sweatshirt on underneath and after the first mile or two when you are warmed up enough you can chuck them away en route (responsibly of course).

am currently trying to clear a crappy headcold at the moment so last few short runs have been shelved, drinking not so yummy chinese tea and steaming with olbas oil....

best of luck on sunday, lets pray for a mild day.

911sc

CullenA wrote: »

hey there. a tip a friend of mine gave was to wear black plastic bag at the start line with an old sweatshirt on underneath and after the first mile or two when you are warmed up enough you can chuck them away en route (responsibly of course).

well, wait until mile3 (first water station)....
Runners can drop clothes at any water station (every 3 miles). These will be given to charity (wonder who is going to wash them though:)). Plastics will be recycled.


From the Race Director:
We must keep Connemara Clean!Please please please, make our volenteers' jobs easier by discarding your bottles at the mile markers (and not in ditches, bogs, streams, rivers, lakes, mountains and just about anywhere else you can get a bottle - our Race Director was up to his knees for days after the event recovering empty bottles from the furthest flung places. He says he didn’t mind but we think his energy could have been better used on other matters after the event.). The empty bottles will be recycled.

hunnymonster

I'll borrow Ray's line from the race briefing last year
"This is Connemara, it is entirely possible if not probable that you will encounter all four seasons out there today"
the weather can turn amazingly fast in Connemara so dress appropriately for your speed, experience and all possible conditions.

gaf1983

Finished! Great event, really well organised, that hill after Maam Cross is called the Hell of the West for a reason. Think I'll put the feet up for a couple of days after that.

m83

i found the half in connemara waaaaay harder than the full in dublin!

brianon

Finished the full

Great day. Savge weather. Other than a couple of hail stone showers (one in particular was sore) the weather was great. Even the wind seemed to be helping for the most part.

The last hill alright was a killer !

Manone

Great half.
One gripe, poor orgainisation at the end with the traffic and a very slow over the bridge and the first hill (suppose that is 2). Would reconsider the start for next year.

Ran a PB and would have been quicker if not for the start.

Dispite my gripes above great event and great atmosphere. Fellow competitors great craic. Will be attending next year provided the wind is blowing down the course again.

Any idea when results are out?

brianon

Manone wrote: »

Great half.
One gripe, poor orgainisation at the end with the traffic and a very slow over the bridge and the first hill (suppose that is 2). Would reconsider the start for next year.

Ran a PB and would have been quicker if not for the start.

Dispite my gripes above great event and great atmosphere. Fellow competitors great craic. Will be attending next year provided the wind is blowing down the course again.

Any idea when results are out?

Actually yeah. The full start was grand. No bottleneck but at the end it took almost five minutes to just get some water.

seanom78

Ran the Connemara half yesterdat at my lovely lesuirely 10.5 min/miles pace all the way through. weather was brill, I got burned and I actually have a tan on my face today . Really enjoyed this as Ive only been running since start of Feb and it was my first race.

The organisation over all was pretty good but I agree with the above.
1. serious bottleneck at the start - was walking for at least 2 mins.
2. bad queues straight after the race, I badly needed a drink but there was no water until you got into the tent!! that was bad.

Anyway great buzz up there and the fellow runners were great.
Ill be back next yr but I'll only do the half again. I think I'd say away from the full. I dont think i could handle that beast of a hill after 22 miles

hunnymonster

Does anyone know who won the various races? I imagine Helena Crossan and Jez Bragg were favourites in the ultra?

gaf1983

hunnymonster wrote: »

Does anyone know who won the various races? I imagine Helena Crossan and Jez Bragg were favourites in the ultra?

Well they both won their races anyway:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/maams-the-word-at-connemarathon-1340387.html

I didn't mind the queue at the end - there were plenty of kids squeezing through the queue giving bottles of water - although in future years it might be an idea to get someone you know to have a jacket/jumper on hand for you at the finishing line as it did get fairly cold in the queue.

seanom78

Results( Ultra)

In a world-class record time of four hours and 40mins, Helina Crossin won the women's ultra-marathon. The men's ultra-marathon was won by UK based Jez Bragg in a record fours hours and 17 minutes.

hunnymonster

Thanks, I never thought of checking the Indo. So much for the "paper of record" that I did check Well done to both Helena and Jez.

Euchrid

Connemara provisional results are now up...

http://www.connemarathon.com/results

911sc

hunnymonster wrote: »

Well done to both Helena and Jez.

and what's about the rest of us:rolleyes:

Was a cracking day.. Weather forecast was bang on.. Though i would bet the wind was more the 13mph for first 13 miles of the full.

I need to do more hill works for the next one!!

Slogger Jogger

Something worked for me for Conn. Certainly I was lucky with the training and updating the daily drudge helped. Getting comments back from fellow runners helped too - thanks guys (amadeus, Abhainn, 911 etc). For once the value of a consistent training regime repaid itself. My last full training week I rang a km pace of 4.39. No coincidence probably but I ran Conn yesterday and did a marathon PB of 3.17 which worked out at a pace of 4.38 despite the elements and organisational challenges. I still can't quite believe it :):)
I've tried to post a balanced account of pros and quibbles at runireland.com. Theres a lot they could improve on but Conn is unique and absolutely tremendous.

hunnymonster

well done 911sc and sloggerjogger.

--amadeus--

A HUGE well done to all of you, sounds like you were pretty lucky with the weather and that you all had good runs.

Have you all picked your next races yet?

gaf1983

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Have you all picked your next races yet?

Gonna do the Cork City with two other guys as part of a 3 person relay. I think there could be a 15 mile race in West Cork next month that I'd be up for too. Gonna aim for either the Dublin or Berlin full in autumn.

Does anybody know about the Clare Burren Marathon challenge on in May? It seems to be organised by a walking club - does anybody know if you can run it, or would it be over that rocky stuff they have up in the Burren?

glennhysen

Well done to the organisers and to all those who took part. The weather was weird (sunburn and hailstones!) but I think it added to an incredible day. I ran the half and finished it in 1hr 48mins which was 10 mins quicker than last year so needless to say I was really happy with it.

We stayed in the gateway hotel for the weekend and it was great to talk to all the different runners and also go out for a few well deserved pints on Sunday night!

Deliaquad

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Something worked for me for Conn. Certainly I was lucky with the training and updating the daily drudge helped.

...

did a marathon PB of 3.17

Well done on a great run and time. Your training updates on the daily drudge thread were great to read, never missing a long Sunday run etc., shows the correlation between a good training program and a good time.

Congrats to all who ran Conn.

-DQ

Abhainn

Well done SJ & 911sc also.
SJ 3:17 great time. Fair play
Was getting excited up to mile 21 as a PB in a time sub 3:13 was on. In the end I managed 3:22. Last 4 miles were a big struggle. More than gutted.

Really enjoyed the first 13 miles in the fantastic surroundings.
Went through Lennane just 5 mins after the half start and encountered my worst fear - trying to work my way thru the multitutes. This was done and the next 4 / 5 miles breezed by. I think the big effort after Lennane and all the other hills thrown in were a bit much for the legs at the pace I set myself. My quads are still killing me today and that's after hills in my training.

I just want to get out there racing again now.

Berlin in Sept is my main goal for 2008.
A few 10k's and halves are planned, don't know exactly which ones yet. Also a few tri's have been booked
Onwards we go.

--amadeus--

I'll back up what DQ said - it's good to see people getting the benefit of the training. And 3:22 is hardly a shabby time!

Sounds like Berlin is getting a bit of a Boards invasion this year.

hunnymonster

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Sounds like Berlin is getting a bit of a Boards invasion this year.

Stop it, you are all torturing me!

goofygirl

wow! that was the first half marathon i'd ever run and i am still on such a HIGH! took it at a very handy pace - finished in 2.09, deffo gonna up the tempo next time. yes oh yes there will be a next time i've got the bug...

also have my sights on dublin for the biggie

aburke

This Connemarathon man will be in Berlin too!

hunnymonster

stop it stop it stop it. No more talk of Berlin unless you lot can come up with a 4 week ironman training plan!

Slogger Jogger

Thanks guys and well done to all.

While I was delighted with a 3.17 PB, I nearly didn't make it as I cramped up twice in the last mile! Just when you think things are over the body can almost betray you. Luckily I shook it off and kept a steady pace towards the end.

Next marathons for me are Cork and Longford.

I emailed the link for the Burren marathon and they said 'yes' it could be run...
Next day out for me will be a jog along the Wicklow Way trail next Saturday. I say jog rather than race as I don't think I could try to race 6 days after Conn!
2 weeks on I've signed up for the 3 Peaks race in Yorkshire. While its not a marathon in distance it more than makes up for it in ascents and descents.

Lots and lots of postings re Conn organisation on runireland. If the core complaints of the runners are listened to it will help make it a better event the next time around.

aburke

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Lots and lots of postings re Conn organisation on runireland. If the core complaints of the runners are listened to it will help make it a better event the next time around.

If some of the postings are to be believed, we couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, and that we shouldn't bother with the event at all next year.

I'll write up a full response later in the week, when the dust has settled, but apart from the queue at the tent at the end [for about 30 - 60 minutes] , we thought everything went pretty well, given the scale and number of logistical hurdles to be overcome.

Alan

hunnymonster

I can't speak for this year but the organisation was spot on last year. Just one example, When I was picking up the teeshirt last year I just joined in a queue with everyone else and got a standard blue tee. Next thing I know, when I'm walking away, a little old lady starts running after me. She noticed my "39" number as I was leaving the desk and came after me with the long sleeved version. You don't get that kind of care in Boston!

Connemara is not a big city marathon, it is in the middle of nowhere and that's its very attraction to many people.

aburke, I've got that silly thing in the desert with Ray and Bridget Anne (and Odysseus and Mr HM) this time next year but put me down for connemara 2010! If Helena keeps breaking records, I guess the next thing is to have a woman win the ultra outright in Badewater style!

911sc

Alan,
I think some of the comments on runireland were very harsh....but is it not to be expected no matter how much effort you guys & volunteers put into organizing such an event? When dealing with 3600+runners, there is to be
some disastisfied customers, negative minds and grumpy runners because they lost 10th of the second while they run a half in 2h30min!

Was the Q at the end really that bad? Having run the full in 4h25, i arrive after the bulk of 1/2 marathon runners..and thought the Q was a bit of a pain, physically in my legs (as i posted on runireland).
But is that enough to downgrade the complete organisation of such a big event? No, no and no
I think the day was fantastic, very well organised. We had a superb week-end and would very very happily enter next year race.
Connemara is simply a magic place for a marathon... If people really dislike it that much, they have plenty of other options to run other races somewhere else.!!!
Yes, some bits could have been better (as always in life & with hindsight) and i do sincerely hope that you guys are not too pissed off at this stage after having spent so much time and energy organizing the 2008 event.

Please drop the free harsh comments, and try to consider the feedback in a constructive way.

Again, thank you very much to all involved. Keep up the good work for next year...I'll be back!

And i sign .... i don't hide anomymously behind a computer.
www.doitforthem.ie
Christophe

Abhainn

Some comments were way too harsh. A bit of twicking and next years event will be even better.

Alan just to say I'll be back next year and I'll bet enrties will be full even earlier than this year as is the success of this event.

Question: Why is date next year brought forward to March 22nd?

aburke

Abhainn wrote: »

Question: Why is date next year brought forward to March 22nd?

Because of this....

aburke, I've got that silly thing in the desert with Ray and Bridget Anne (and Odysseus and Mr HM) this time next year but put me down for connemara 2010! If Helena keeps breaking records, I guess the next thing is to have a woman win the ultra outright in Badewater style!

The race director is running the Marathon des Sables, and has to have Connemara out of the way in time!

Abhainn

Ah that's fair enough. I had thought he was off on holidays or something.