Phoenix Park Duathlon

silvermints

Anybody out there compete in last Tuesdays Phoenix Park Duathlon? I was amazed at my splits and time until I checked my bike computer. The cycle course appeared to be only about 8 miles and not 10 miles. When I checked the run course, that too appeared to be only round 1.6 miles and not the 2 miles advertised. Anybody else got opinions on this?

911sc

The run was 2.7km and the cycle was 12km (3laps of 4kms).

silvermints

Thanks for that. Bit disappointed with the event. What with the course not being measured correctly. It should have been easy enough to design the course so that it was 2m-10m-2m as advertised.

trinewbie

silvermints wrote: »

Thanks for that. Bit disappointed with the event. What with the course not being measured correctly. It should have been easy enough to design the course so that it was 2m-10m-2m as advertised.

Fair enough it was advertised as a different distance but it was still a great event, really well run...Fair play to Belpark, a huge amount of effort goes into organising events like this.....

snack_ie

Well you cant exactly shut down the Phoenix Park just for 200 people... thats why its on such a small loop!!! Have to make do with what they have.

Alot of effort goes into it too, I have marshalled the last few I have been around for and didnt really appreciate the amount of abuse I got of drivers for it...
If you dont like it, vote with you feet.

911sc

I'd be curious to know what teething issues were encountered?

I thought it was a very well organised event, and can not think of any pb. Though, it was my first duathlon so do not have anything else to compare against. May be top performers fighting for the sec have a different view.. I was just doing my best not to be last:), finished 103rd out of 159.

Nice evening, nice course, good atmosphere, what else is needed?

Really looking forward to the next one (July for me as i am running Cork marathon on the 02nd June)


Silvermints,
May be a pity that the distances were not published onto the Google Group. But a real effort has been made, with video & satellite map of the 2 courses published at http://groups.google.ie/group/dublin-duathlon/web/course

If you had been to be practise session on the 30th April, you would have known;)

silvermints

Sorry about that folks. If I'd known people were so tetchy I wouldn't have brought it up. I appreciate the effort that went into organising the event but call me pedantic (or, I'm sure, something worse) if something is advertised as 2 mile, 10 mile, 2 mile then I take it at face value that is what it is and not 1.7 mile, 7.5 mile, 1.7 mile.
And before I'm eaten alive again, let me repeat, I enjoyed the event and do appreciate the work done by the organisers.

animal

I thought Belpark did a fantastic job on this. It was a class course and I just wish there were cycling races on it.
I took part in it and I didn't think there were any teething issues. Perhaps an extra bike rack might have been required but i was happy enough to put my bike on the ground. I always get mine entangled in those racks anyway!
I actually preferred this course to the flat one that was used before. It's easier to keep count of the laps on the bike.
One comment that I would pass or advice I might provide to novices would be to practice your cornering on the bike. There were a few dodgy manouvers out there! One problem with training on the course in that the direction is the opposite to the traffic so you cant lash around the corners. You can still train around it in the opposite direction and lash around the corners...

As for the distance being incorrect - you should do another few laps afterwards as training if it wasnt long enough for you.

Thinkfirst

I really enjoyed it too and congratulations to the organizers, good job! Really nice circuit, much better than years before. Looking forward to the next one.

But nothing is perfect and the distances werent taken right, something that should be very easy to do. Actually they are saying that the one in August is 5K-2 laps for the first leg so they know what the distance is. Then again they say is 20K-4 laps for the bike part...

I have to say i was a bit dissapointed with 12K for the bike when it´d be so easy to add an extra lap to make it 10 miles, it might be coz i like longer distances

Anyway guys this is not a complaint, just constructive criticism.

cunnins4

silvermints wrote: »

And before I'm eaten alive again, let me repeat, I enjoyed the event and do appreciate the work done by the organisers.

Calm down man, no one was having a go!

I'm only doing the July and August duathlons myself, first time doing them and I can't wait. Should be a great training aid for my triathlons later in the summer. Fair play to Brian Crinnion, only looked at the google groups site now. A lot of work's been put in to that site.

911sc

Silvermints,
You may or may not already know about www.mapmyrun.com.
I use it to measure the distances i run & cycle, and find it a very accurate tool to measure course.
For instance, i measured the Dublin Marathon distance with it, and got 42.3kms. I measured the Duathlon run course and got 2.7km (as announced by Brian during training session).
Worth having a play with it. Enjoy.

messed_up

Quote from Animal: "One comment that I would pass or advice I might provide to novices would be to practice your cornering on the bike. There were a few dodgy manouvers out there! One problem with training on the course in that the direction is the opposite to the traffic so you cant lash around the corners. You can still train around it in the opposite direction and lash around the corners..."

I misread the information on the website when checking out the bike route and spent the few weeks prior to the race practicing the course in the opposite direction. On race day, I didn't slow down enough around one of the bends at the back end of the course and ended up on one of the large steep banks on the other side of the road. By some miracle, I hit path of worn ground used by runners and was able to skate along that for about twenty yards and bunny hopped back out onto the road!

Needless to say I slowed down coming in that bend for the remaining laps!

Really enjoyed the night and am looking forward to getting back out in June

silvermints

Thanks for that 911sc much appreciated. Haven't used it before, but very useful.

GaelForceRookie

It was my first time doing a combination event and I thought it was excellent. Ideal for building up a newbie's confidence. Really looking forward to the next one (and improving my time)