Track Races

Stupid_Private

Hi,

This summer I'm going to be concentrating on 5000m racing and maybe a few 3000m if they pop up. I've plenty of road racing experience but racing on the track is going to be new to me. Should be fun!!

Anyway, what I was looking for advice on is the footwear. Any recommendations on racing spikes for them distances?

Also is their a website I could be pointed to that would have a list of track meets in the Dublin area? I'm in London at the moment and I'll be racing in a few leagues here but I'll more than likely be home for a few weeks in June so it'd be ideal if I could find a 5000/3000 race then.

Thanks.

thirtyfoot

There is a sticky of race fixtures that has the graded meets in Dublin which is a good place to start. You probably need to be in a club. These graded meets start next wednesday. They are Graded A-D ranging from the top club runners to beginners etc and are a great event and introduction to track racing. There are 8 meets in total.

http://dublinathletics.com/resFix/fixtures.asp

Stupid_Private

Thanks for that. I've sent a mail to them to ask what the deal is.

bazman

Good spikes IMO:
http://www.johnbuckleysports.com/products/params/2/1120/43
or
http://www.johnbuckleysports.com/products/params/2/1120/459

You could use racing flats either for 5k ...

Stupid_Private

bazman wrote: »

You could use racing flats either for 5k ...

I think for the first one in two weeks I will be using the racing flats. My coach wants me to get a pair of spikes for some of the speed training we'll be doing over the next few months as well as the races.

Timmaay

Tingle wrote: »

There is a sticky of race fixtures that has the graded meets in Dublin which is a good place to start. You probably need to be in a club. These graded meets start next wednesday.

Argh, they're starting so soon, of course I had to go off and brake my arm last weeks, no running for another 2 weeks and no sprinting for ages for me:mad:. Still I hope to do some of the later ones. Are XC spikes (with 5mm instead of 12mm spikes, of course:D) ok for 400/800/1500? I have been mainly using flats in my track sessions till now.

ecoli

i would recommend wearing flats for your track sessions as spikes are not designed always for continual repetition s as are usual of track sessions it they good for races but wearing them the while time will take its toll on the body.
as for spikes i recommend the nike lanangs for anyone that knows the yes they are S/C spikes but the light as anything and they give good support for long distance track races i use them for s/c,3000m and 5000m and never had a prob with injuries and find them amazing only thing is most likely ahve to be ordered from the net

Stupid_Private

Another quick question for you all on the Graded track meetings. I mailed them a while back and they said I could enter as a member of a London club.

My question is, does anyone know what the standards for the development races are? The A and B standards are listed on their website but Development races aren't mentioned. Yet on the race card they have a series of them. I know I could just email them again but then again someone here might know!! Thanks.

cfitz

Stupid_Private wrote: »

My question is, does anyone know what the standards for the development races are? The A and B standards are listed on their website but Development races aren't mentioned. Yet on the race card they have a series of them. I know I could just email them again but then again someone here might know!! Thanks.

As far as I am aware, the Development races are considered a step higher than Grade A. I think they sometimes take the entries by email and it may be difficult to enter on the night depending on how many people have entered by email. In most of the middle distance races people enter in a higher grade than their pb would dictate. If you really wanted to run a development race, you could probably get into it regardless of your pb.

Personally I think they should try to be more rigid about who gets into which grade. It would probably be better for everyone in the long run.

Stupid_Private

Thanks for that. It would have been some tight squeeze to get into the A so I reckon the above A will be a step too far. I'll have two further track races here before I get back so I should have a better idea what my level is soon.

cfitz

If you have some time on your hands you could look through the results from last years meets on dublinathletics.com. That might give you a better idea of which grades would suit. I usually run in the grade that is suggested, and if I win then I'll run a grade higher (at that distance) from then on regardless of my pb. But doing it that way you could end up in some very slow races.

Also, be aware that Irishtown seems to be slower for middle distance than Santry (probably due to wind/surface).