BHAA GARDA/ST RAPHAELS 4m/2.5m XC 11.30 Sat 21 Feb

zorkmundsson

Sorry if this is covered in the "review" sticky at the top of the page; had a look through and didn't see it mentioned. Was just wondering if this was a fairly open event? I'm a very average runner by a good distance but wouldn't mind running this instead of a training spin for a bit of interest. also, x-country is something i haven't tried before and this seems like a reasonable distance to start out with.

Is the standard generally very high? would i embarrass myself/be a hindrance if i went round in >30 mins? thanks a mill.

shels4ever

zorkmundsson wrote: »

Sorry if this is covered in the "review" sticky at the top of the page; had a look through and didn't see it mentioned. Was just wondering if this was a fairly open event? I'm a very average runner by a good distance but wouldn't mind running this instead of a training spin for a bit of interest. also, x-country is something i haven't tried before and this seems like a reasonable distance to start out with.

Is the standard generally very high? would i embarrass myself/be a hindrance if i went round in >30 mins? thanks a mill.

If you go arouns in 30 mins you will be in the main pack and wont have a problem, i'll be about 33 mins i'd say. One thing this is a hard enough course too so maybe a little slower then you expect.

zorkmundsson

shels4ever wrote: »

If you go arouns in 30 mins you will be in the main pack and wont have a problem, i'll be about 33 mins i'd say. One thing this is a hard enough course too so maybe a little slower then you expect.

man if i get close to your time i'd be delighted. as i say, no experience at all of cross-country and a very bog-standard road runner, so just looking for a fun thing to do of a saturday. just don't want to get in the way.

emerald007

Women’s 2.5m starts 11.30am (note change of distance)
Men’s 4m starts 11.30am.
Venue: Phoenix Park Magazine Fort
Registration: Garda Boat club, Islandbridge
Cost €10 for BHAA members, €15 for non members.(yearly membership €15) Please note, that due to popular demand, the race for the ladies has been reduced to 2.5miles. The men will still run 4 miles. There is a combined start.


http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=110398891020944036591.000462e322a4a6111a4f7&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.355982,-6.320229&spn=0.05133,0.103512&z=13

See http://bhaa.ie/ for more details.

zorkmundsson - you'll be in the mid pack with that planned time.

zorkmundsson

emerald007 wrote: »

Women’s 2.5m starts 11.30am (note change of distance)
Men’s 4m starts 11.30am.
Venue: Phoenix Park Magazine Fort
Registration: Garda Boat club, Islandbridge
Cost €10 for BHAA members, €15 for non members.(yearly membership €15) Please note, that due to popular demand, the race for the ladies has been reduced to 2.5miles. The men will still run 4 miles. There is a combined start.


http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=110398891020944036591.000462e322a4a6111a4f7&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.355982,-6.320229&spn=0.05133,0.103512&z=13

See http://bhaa.ie/ for more details.

zorkmundsson - you'll be in the mid pack with that planned time.

thanks a million, i appreciate it. will head down on the morning and register before being hopelessly tamed by grass, mud, and hills!

shels4ever

zorkmundsson wrote: »

thanks a million, i appreciate it. will head down on the morning and register before being hopelessly tamed by grass, mud, and hills!

Best of luck you'll love it ..

Peckham

Course is hilly, and if next day or two is wet, it will be muddy...so if you don't have cross country spikes, probably best to run in old runners if you have some. Footwear will get ruined!

I ran my first cross-country race two weeks back, and when I got home I had to use a nailbrush on my legs to remove the caked mud!

christeb

Call me crazy but here goes: would I be better wearing a pair of football boots if the weather is bad?
I have a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapours (these exact ones) with moulded studs which are very light and would give me lots more traction than an old pair of runner (I don't want to invest in spikes just yet).
Yes I'd look ridiculous but would it work??

Peckham

christeb wrote: »

Call me crazy but here goes: would I be better wearing a pair of football boots if the weather is bad?

Could you run 4 miles in pair of football boots?!

shels4ever

Peckham wrote: »

Could you run 4 miles in pair of football boots?!

Can he run it without them

I'd say you would be better off in runners then boots, but i've seen people wearing them in a few races before christmas. I cant see how they would be better then runners studs front and back are not great for running and may give you too much grip in sections and slow you down,

TheRoadRunner

yeah not too sure about the footie boots. Runners could be difficult also if the course is very muddy. I think I'd go with runners unless you've done a trial already in the footie boots and found them to be ok !

jollybean

anyone know if you can register on the day, and if so what time to turn up at?

thanks!

shels4ever

Was planning on runners tomorrow myself just didnt want to rick the calf too much , but seem to be 100% at the moment, and with todays rain I dont know.

Covered some of the course last sunday on my long run and it was not bad under foot, but I've been running in mcuk most the winter.

TheRoadRunner

jollybean wrote: »

anyone know if you can register on the day, and if so what time to turn up at?

thanks!

hey. Yeah you can register on the day. Race is at 11.30 (I think) so turn up around 10-10.30 and that will give you plenty of time to register and get warmed up. Have a look at www.bhaa.ie

robinph

I'm wondering if I should be getting some spikes longer than the 9mm that I currently have.

jollybean wrote: »

anyone know if you can register on the day, and if so what time to turn up at?

thanks!

You can register on the day. Not sure what time they will be open at the boat club from though, but it's apparently a bit of a walk from there to the start.

So whats the consensus, guys?

Are you all going with spikes for saturdays race?

robinph

If it's on grass then definitely spikes in my reckoning.

christeb

Peckham wrote: »

Could you run 4 miles in pair of football boots?!

If they're fine for 90 min on the pitch I should hope they'd be OK for 4 miles. And these particular boots are actually lighter than any runners I have

christeb

shels4ever wrote: »

Can he run it without them

I'd say you would be better off in runners then boots, but i've seen people wearing them in a few races before christmas. I cant see how they would be better then runners studs front and back are not great for running and may give you too much grip in sections and slow you down,

Thanks, maybe I'll just bring 'em and play it by beer....

robinph

christeb wrote: »

Thanks, maybe I'll just bring 'em and play it by beer....

Intentional typo?

christeb

robinph wrote: »

Intentional typo?

Yes

TheRoadRunner

ND 1978 wrote: »

So whats the consensus, guys?

Are you all going with spikes for saturdays race?

definitely spikes if you have them, even if it dries out a bit. 9mm should be perfect

Fred&Vinny

zorkmundsson wrote: »

thanks a million, i appreciate it. will head down on the morning and register before being hopelessly tamed by grass, mud, and hills!

you will need to register for annual membership on line 48hours in advance of the race if you want to be included in the team prizes. you can do it here http://bhaa.ie/staticpages/index.php?page=20090115142629968

Hard Worker

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

definitely spikes if you have them, even if it dries out a bit. 9mm should be perfect

I was never fond of 9mm spikes. There would be insufficient grip on a course like Saturdays. I always wore a mix of 12 and 15mm in my day. There are very few courses in Ireland that wouldn't take a 12mm spike.

Racing Flat

Hard Worker wrote: »

I was never fond of 9mm spikes. There would be insufficient grip on a course like Saturdays. I always wore a mix of 12 and 15mm in my day. There are very few courses in Ireland that wouldn't take a 12mm spike.

Agreed. The only time I'd consider 9mm is for the Dublin novice which being on the last weekend of September is usually fairly hard.

Even though it might be quite 'dry' on Saturday, it is still soft, so 12 or 15 would be my choice - maybe 12 as there may be a few hard bits around the trees.

shels4ever

Thanik .Apart from the odd twig or root this area isnt too bad, and i've run there a good bit, some parst get a little soft but usually ok.

Fred&Vinny

http://bhaa.ie/mediagallery/album.php?aid=34&page=1 shows some pix from the course from last years race

robinph

How many times do we have to run up this hill though? :eek:

shels4ever

3 times I think should be fun

TheRoadRunner

robinph wrote: »

How many times do we have to run up this hill though? :eek:

yep 3 times I think. I hate that hill with all my heart. The hill runners on this board will laugh at the size of it, but I find it tough. Mentally and physically it broke me last year, had to walk up it on the last lap !

shels4ever

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

yep 3 times I think. I hate that hill with all my heart. The hill runners on this board will laugh at the size of it, but I find it tough. Mentally and physically it broke me last year, had to walk up it on the last lap !

It finished me last year after the second time I almost died no joke though i was going to pass out. Remember sitting on the grass wondering where is all went wrong...

robinph

Right, where do I get one of those pink skorts that they were trying to pusuade me to wear for the Cupids Dash?

I'm entering the womens race instead.

rdunne

Its not that bad.
remember what goes up a hill ,get to go down!

Fred&Vinny

pink shorts, robinph?

Fred&Vinny

BHAA is now on facebook http://bhaa.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=210. feel free to join up

robinph

Fred&Vinny wrote: »

pink shorts, robinph?

It's called a skort apparently that they wanted me to wear last weekend. Never going to happen though.

shels4ever

robinph wrote: »

It's called a skort apparently that they wanted me to wear last weekend. Never going to happen though.

You know far far too much about these.

gerard65

Good luck tomorrow guys. I'll be checking the results with interest. Sorry I can't be with you but its going to be a while before I can race again. The weather's looking fairly good in the morning so you should have a good one.

TheRoadRunner

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

yep 3 times I think. I hate that hill with all my heart. The hill runners on this board will laugh at the size of it, but I find it tough. Mentally and physically it broke me last year, had to walk up it on the last lap !

Now I am scared...:eek:

TheRoadRunner

ah it's not that bad. By the way I got a call from the BHAA today. We are back to the holy trinity, our 4th member was assigned to another team. I think they want to disband us also

Thats 'the man' for you....

Just when we were looking to build on our 2 points in the league table!!!

Peckham

Looking forward to this race, and also meeting fellow forumites I haven't yet had the pleasure to meet.

TheRoadRunner

me too. Hopefully the weather will be similar to today

Racing Flat

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

ah it's not that bad. By the way I got a call from the BHAA today. We are back to the holy trinity, our 4th member was assigned to another team. I think they want to disband us also

ND 1978 wrote: »

Thats 'the man' for you....

Just when we were looking to build on our 2 points in the league table!!!

Perhaps they should just the change the name from BHAA to Dublin Running League and let people register whatever teams they want. As it's not really Business Houses any more.

Or they could keep it as BHAA and let people who are in a Business Houses team run in the team race and allow everyone else just run as an individual.

IMHO Eircom is a Business House, Zurich is, Trinity College Dublin is...Beaumont Hospital would be, Dublin Hospitals is not, AIB would be, Banking is not...and Boards AC is not:(.

Busines Houses is a fantastic idea to get a sporting thing going between work colleagues. The way the BHAA is going this is being lost, IMHO.

So, be stricter with the BH classification (while still allowing individuals enter) or just change the name and constituion if you ask me. My 2 cents.

robinph

Was a good race today and thankfully we only had to do the hill the three times, I wouldn't have made it up another time round though.

Racing Flat wrote: »

...and Boards AC is not:(.

I think they may have disbanded any teams that we had now as between the six of us there today we didn't register in any team category results listing. I was sure that we had at least one complete team today from the previous arrangement of people that they gave us but maybe we are now all just down as individuals. Swords Labs managed to win two team events though so maybe they have now been split into two separate groups?

shels4ever

robinph wrote: »

Was a good race today and thankfully we only had to do the hill the three times, I wouldn't have made it up another time round though.



I think they may have disbanded any teams that we had now as between the six of us there today we didn't register in any team category results listing. I was sure that we had at least one complete team today from the previous arrangement of people that they gave us but maybe we are now all just down as individuals. Swords Labs managed to win two team events though so maybe they have now been split into two separate groups?

I think we have 3 people in one group today but there was a problem with my registration for the year, it was misplaced or i was deleted had to register again today so that may have caused problems.

Great race today feel a lot better after this one then I did when I tried to run it last year.

zorkmundsson

great event today, really enjoyed it. first ever x-country effort, so was prob blessed with conditions. went very easy throughout and had enough for a "highlight reel" sprint at the finish, which was nice. was it the full 4 miles? if so, delighted with my time.

may well be back, those hills need dealing with!

RacoonQueen

You got good weather for it too. That hill is piss easy you bunch of wusses.

robinph

I mesured it at 3.92miles so not far off the stated distance.

zorkmundsson

mp1972 wrote: »

You got good weather for it too. That hill is piss easy you bunch of wusses.

man, weather was perfect. couldn't have asked for better. really good event, well organised and marshalled and whatnot. BHAA are doing that part right, as far as i can see.

robinph

mp1972 wrote: »

You got good weather for it too. That hill is piss easy you bunch of wusses.

Didn't notice you out there running up the hill.