Art O'Neill Challenge

911sc

For those interested in loosing few pounds right after Christmas, Art O'Neill challenge is a 55km night run (and/or walk) starting from Dublin Castle on the 09th January 2009 at 00:00.
Good luck as I'll be in bed.;)

hunnymonster

I really like the look of this!

tunney

AFAIK its not competitive and more of a a "tea and sandwiches" type of time.

hunnymonster

tunney wrote: »

AFAIK its not competitive and more of a a "tea and sandwiches" type of time.

my kind of event :-) Just thinking it might be useful MdS training.

--amadeus--

Dublin in Jan <> Sahara in March!!

Actually being serious the navigational practice would be good. You'd be in with a shout of placing wouldn't you?

hunnymonster

it was the navigation and night running I was thinking might be good practice?

ekevosu

I did this two years ago but the vast majority hiked it (as did I), only a couple of runners from the north ran it. A lot of it is on the road (first part of it) which would be fine to run but the part over the mountains would be incredibly hard to run due to the terrain. Usually guaranteed a bit of rain but a good challenge (I swore never again after it but thinking of doing it again since).

--amadeus--

Yea, possibly. MdS isn't GPS navigation though is it? And I thought it was pretty clearly marked? There will be a world of difference in teh terrain but night running practice in a race environment would be valuable all right.

Back OT how much of teh race is tarmac and how much off road / cross country?

hunnymonster

about 60% tarmac as far as I can tell

MdS is navigated by the front runners and apparently pretty easy to follow by those further back. You do need to be able to navigate though as the desert can throw up anything. That's what I've been told anyway, will let you know in April :-) Given that I'm still getting lost on the streets of Cork (whose stupid idea was it to have the river split and confuse me!) I don't stand much hope in a sand storm.

Enduro

It is differnent to the normal Art O'Neill walk. This time the ultra run is an official part of the event. Runners have their own start time, and will be provided with a small amount of support.

I've entered, and I can (theoretically) navigate, so there is one person to follow anyway (Hopefully in the right direction). Should be a blast. Should also be an opportunity to lay down a few markers, as this is the first "official" race. Records can be set (Good opportunity to set the female record, HM)

Slogger Jogger

Good luck to anyone considering taking part. I'll be in my leaba recovering from the kids hyper from Christmas.
Is there any particular reason why its being done at night apart from appealing to mad people ? I expect that progress will be slow once you hit the mountains due to the lovely peat and boggy ground.

ekevosu

midnight was the time art o neill and hugh o donnell escaped from dublin castle as far as I know and the walk is a recreation of their escape. I think it works out well enough as it starts to get bright during the mountain part when you need to see your footing. I was half thinking of doing the hike again after reading this thread but then the painful memories came back......:)

Odysseus

Enduro wrote: »

It is differnent to the normal Art O'Neill walk. This time the ultra run is an official part of the event. Runners have their own start time, and will be provided with a small amount of support.

Hi Enduro, any idea of what type of support will be provided? Also anyone got a map of the route I couldn't find one on the site.

Odysseus

So I have just done the deed and signed up for this. Apart from Enduro has anyone else signed up?

hunnymonster

myself and mr HM just have. Not entirely sure I'll be ready yet. I've had a lingering cold all christmas and not feeling so hot!

shels4ever

hunnymonster wrote: »

myself and mr HM just have. Not entirely sure I'll be ready yet. I've had a lingering cold all christmas and not feeling so hot!

Fairplay to everyone doing this and the best of luck.

Odysseus

hunnymonster wrote: »

myself and mr HM just have. Not entirely sure I'll be ready yet. I've had a lingering cold all christmas and not feeling so hot!

I'm glad to hear that both of you have entered, hopefully you be ready in time. This race had been somewhat of a curve ball for me in that I was planning on taking my time with the navigation side of things in the new year, I never hear of this before. However if some has gone to all the trouble to organise it; it would be very bad manners not to turn up;)

hunnymonster

thanks Odysseus. I did 25 km this morning and chest was very tight afterwards. I'll make the call much later in the week. My bad lungs tend to exaggerate the symptoms and then recover pretty quickly.

Hard Worker

hunnymonster wrote: »

thanks Odysseus. I did 25 km this morning and chest was very tight afterwards. I'll make the call much later in the week. My bad lungs tend to exaggerate the symptoms and then recover pretty quickly.

Have you linked up with the other Irish that are doing the MdS this year?
Will you be doing this 55K with your back pack? It'll be great practice for the MdS as you will have to run through the night on the long stage.

RacoonQueen

Best of luck to all doing this. Sounds like it'd be a blast.

Enduro

Hey HM, great to hear that you (and pardner) have signed up. Make sure to say hello! Likewise to Odysseus.

Odysseus, in case you haven't already found them, maps and locations of support stations are up on the website.

hunnymonster

Will do. Looking forward to meeting you. I'm a bucket of snot this morning. Hopefully this is progress and Lungs will now clear.

This will be the first time for me for navigation, night running and proper off-road running. I've just looked up "OS grid reference" on wikipedia, and despite several maths based degrees, it makes no sense to me.

jeffontour

hunnymonster wrote: »

This will be the first time for me for navigation, night running and proper off-road running. I've just looked up "OS grid reference" on wikipedia, and despite several maths based degrees, it makes no sense to me.

Hi all, I'm also signed up to run this and have to say having been on some of the route at the weekend it's going to be tough going through some sections, there's lots of opportunity to end up struggling through boggy patches or deep undergrowth when you don't have to!

I've run some night events before but they were on marked trails which were much safer. I'm hoping there's going to be some ultra camaraderie and people bunch with others moving at their pace.

Jeff

GoHardOrGoHome

jeffontour wrote: »

I'm hoping there's going to be some ultra camaraderie and people bunch with others moving at their pace.

Any chance of some ultra slow camaraderie (while still maintaining (faking?) a running motion)? I'd love to do this but not entirely sure. I suppose if I run out of steam I could drop a gear and finish it as a hike with the hikers. I'd have warm gear in the backpack if that was the case (it's part of the mandatory kit anyway).

hunnymonster

Weather report on the radio news on way home said much of Wicklow impassible with temperatures expected to dip to -7 C tonight. brrrrgh At least we won't have to worry about slushy mud :-) if it's going to be that cold later in the week.

shels4ever

Actually looking at the map now to see if i'll be able to make it to some point to have a look at this. looks like a great event there isn't many events or ultras that i'd think about doing but this is one.

hunnymonster

shels4ever wrote: »

Actually looking at the map now to see if i'll be able to make it to some point to have a look at this. looks like a great event there isn't many events or ultras that i'd think about doing but this is one.

standing on high ground with a flare in each hand would be good I finally got some sleep after a couple of nights up with bunged up breathing and I had a nightmare about being lost on a cold mountain top to wake me. 911sc you've a lot to answer for!

shels4ever

hunnymonster wrote: »

standing on high ground with a flare in each hand would be good !

So just the normal Friday night for me then.

hunnymonster

There has just been an email from Gearoid, essentially saying, if you can't navigate, run to the first checkpoint and then join the walkers. While this is a very sensible thing to suggest, I was wondering if anyone would be running slower than me and who can navigate. That way I could still run with someone without risking, getting lost. I say slower than me because the last thing I want is to run the risk of holding someone up. I would guess about 8:30 min/mile would be the speed I would expect with a head full of snot on a cold Jan night.

jeffontour

hunnymonster wrote: »

I would guess about 8:30 min/mile would be the speed I would expect with a head full of snot on a cold Jan night.

I'm not planning on going much quicker than this but unfortunately not confident navigating in the dark so not much help to you HM.

On my initial enquiries I'd thought there would be more support for runners but that's not to be. For my own safety I'm happy to take the approach suggested by Gearoid but maybe with the following tweak.

Make it to Kippure, walk that offroad section with the hikers and maybe the next road section approaching Black Hill also. Once we have daylight we consider continuing on as a group at a quicker pace?

Jeff

hunnymonster

that could be a plan.