Gaelforce West - Discussion & Afters

WithCheesePlease

CKWPORT wrote: »

EDIT: And shame on those that ditched their bottles & gel/bar wrappers on the reek, FFS, its not a lot of trouble to put an empty bottle in your bag or a bar wrapper in your pocket till you get to the finish.

That's true for the whole course, was terrible. Empty bottles, sachets and wrappers were littered all along the roads and trails. Disgusting.

Redbhoy

CKWPORT wrote: »

And shame on those that ditched their bottles & gel/bar wrappers on the reek, FFS, its not a lot of trouble to put an empty bottle in your bag or a bar wrapper in your pocket till you get to the finish.

Here here!

Can someone tell me what an 'Elite' is?

djpm

Redbhoy wrote: »

Can someone tell me what an 'Elite' is?

Somewan fasht!

Wonkagirl

My understanding (and hopefully peter will be online soon to tell us more) of an elite is someone who would be on course to do GF in < 5 hours.. or someone who regularly runs marathons in <4 hrs.

But i guess it's a grey area..

but come on, walkers in the elite section? Those people clearly just wanted to get out early before the muck, and finish earlier.. I'm a jogger and signed up as a jogger. That's the way it should be.

I've done CP on reek sunday twice, and never remember seeing any litter at ALL. I was shocked by the amt of it.. dirty dirty people!

Mr Freeze

Ya, I think you go in the Elites, if you are competitive and want to race it, and are obviously super fit and doing this craic all the time.

Walkers in the Elites, thats a good one, I asked a guy on the reek as I was heading up how he was, as he looked wrecked and was struggling big time, at the start of the zig zag. He said he got the 5:30 bus & started at 7:00, that puts him in the elite wave. I started in the 5th wave, so for an Elite, 6hrs to the reek aint great. I couldn't figure why he enter Elites.

I spotted him again on my way down, not much further from where I met him on the way up with his head in his hands. Tbh I felt sorry for him.

Peterx

Most of the quick people were supposed to go in the first few waves and most of the slow people in the last few waves but in reality as particular waves filled up fast folk ended up in later waves and some walkers ended up in the earlier waves.
As mentioned earlier, the fastest lads were unfortunately split between the first 2 waves.
Plenty for the organisers to tweak but it appears that many many entrants had expectations of a triathlon event and were disgruntled when a non-navigation adventure race appeared in front of them.
It should be mandatory to use the zig zag path, this contains the erosion and massively increases the chances of an injured runner being found and helped quickly.
I realise it increases congestion on that path but unless someone* goes to the trouble of building another zig zag path near the existing one we've little choice.

someone*
Anyone other then me usually...

Mossess

This is my take on the day and I have to say that initially I hadn’t actually researched the map too deeply, really just glanced over it. I knew there was a beach section and it would get a little wet in some parts, and that was grand.
When we all lined up at the start point I thought to myself, “this isn’t too bad, 100 or so metres and we’re on the road, happy days” So off I trotted up onto the road. No problems at all. Have to admit that I was worried a little by the amount of downhill in that first stage because I knew there would be an up hill, and also the increased risk of injury from down hill running, and also my pace had increased beyond what i had planned. Not to worry though, the scenery is nice. Must remember to look about and take it all in.
Then I look ahead and I see a bit of a queue forming, whats this all about I think. OMSMODGWTF is going on with that hill. Okay, we’re going up it. It wasn’t easy was it. Between slipping, sliding and trying to keep up a good pace, it was interesting. Someone made a comment about it being a taster for Crough Patrick, internally I cursed and smiled. Reached the top and started down. Talk about a slide. Did I mention the slide had Rocks and Drops in it. Not bad though, much easier on the way down in one way. Nearly at the bottom, back on road soon I think. Hadn’t quiet figured on the mud river, that was fun.
As I made my way along what seemed more like a queue then a race I decided that sticking to the sides maybe wasn’t the smartest option, time to go up the middle. One step in. I’m thinking “where is my knee gone???” Step two, “time to lunge outa here” and I’m back on the side again. Things start to spread out a little here and I pass the stragglers from the previous wave. Then back onto the road. My shoes are filled with water and mud, not to worry though. As the run goies on I catch sight of the kayaks, then turn right, and up and around before getting to the transition area.
When I arrived there was quiet a queue built up. Time to catch my breath. There was a Steward there who directed me to the correct queue, on my and her left, yet she kept saying “Stay to the right hand side.” All the time pointing to the left
I’m guessing she had being doing this for quite a while and thought better then to try and point out whole left right thing, I’m sure on some level it made sense. A lad came in after me and joined me in the queue. Think he was from Cork, said he was rounding off the GAA season with GFW, fair play I said. The humour at the Transition was good and everyone was chatting away. The Kayaking was possibly the easiest of all the sections. It was the Cork lads first time in a kayak, I made the mistake of sitting in the back. Wet pants! It was a funny crossing as the banter was good. Think we managed to ram the same boat twice at the start and nearly at the finish. Not sure how long the crossing took, but no one passed us and we managed to pass quite a few, except for the lads we rammed of course. Set off on the a long long 3.5k run through marsh and brush and mud. That really was a bit of an energy sapper. When I got to the bike transition I was a little annoyed I have to admit to see lads, in full view of marshals getting changed and eating from there parked up cars and vans. I planned carefully what I could carry and took on board all the warnings about not stashing food along the route or accepting food or water from spectators. That aside, I got to my bike, gave it a quick once over and walked with it out to where I could mount it. It was at this point I ate an energy bar. It tasted great.
I know the bar looked like a regular power bar, but I think this one was made with the finest Swiss Chocolate, and fruit hand picked and selected – just for this bar. You get the jest. It was nice. So Off I started. The benefit of a road bike over a mountain bike were immediately seen. I’m fairly new to bikes but I was passing people all over the place. The biking seemed like a good break from the running and I settled into a good steady pace. Forgot to reset my bike computer until about 3k in. After another 6k I started chatting to a lad who didn’t seem to be coping too well at all. He was convinced that there was only about 5k left. Not sure if he made it at all.

At one point I got cramps. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced them on a bike, in both legs at the same time. It wasn’t pleasant, but sure what could I do? If I got off the bike I’d only be walking around like a ballerina doing swan lake, so I carried on, had to laugh. I’ve seen throughout the thread a lot of people complaining about the steep downhill section. I have to say that I enjoyed it, there were bits when I let loose, but mostly gripped the brakes as tightly as I could, did my best to avoid pot holes, loose gravel, wet grass in the middle and all the rest and managed to survive it – must check the computer to see what speed I reached on that section. There were points when I had to get off the bike as I was unable to carry on uphill, but they were few and far between. When I got to the Transition for Crough Patrick I was surprised to see all the bikes at the side of the road. It was a complete mess and disorganised. I rode up to the entry point and was told there was a place on the rack for my bike, Happy days I thought, so I parked up. Used this point to refill my bottles and water down the remainder of the lucuzade sport. (Hadn’t realised how strong it tasted)

As I started up the reek I passed a number of discarded fig roll packets, half full. I guess if you were in one of the earlier waves you had the option of refuelling. But I saw nothing more than a girl sitting on a table with a roll of paper cups near the tap – The tap which was the water point. Poor effort there. Anyway. Like a lemming I followed the crowd ahead of me and started walking directly towards the top of the reek. I should have taken the Zig zag route as the way I went was a total energy drain. When I reached the pathway I was amazed by the views and used this opportunity to take a few snap shots. Then off up I carried on. The reek sure was crazy. Everyone was encouraging everyone else and there was a great feeling of “lets get through this” – what did it for me was when I was really out of energy when I saw a woman coming back down with her kid, she must have been about 5 or 6, and I thought to myself, “What on Earth am I complaining about. If that Kid can do it and keep on smiling then so can I” so I down an energy gel and carried on. Also passing the Farmer in his Sunday best 3 piece suit also fired me on too! When I got to the top I made a few phone calls and decided to eat the banana I’d been saving. Turns out I had killed it. The banana that is. Ah well, you can’t have everything in life. The views were great up there, and then, before I knew it, it was time to come back down again. descending was a lot easier, I’d say coming down took about 25 to 30 minutes, maybe less. Again refilled my bottles and got back on the bike.
Flying along, then the left turn, rocks. Quickly hop off the bike, this was that secion that had been talked about. I have to say it was a lot worse than I had thought it was going to be. I hoped up on the bikle a few times. Cycled where I could. Ran where I couldn’t. Got back out onto the road, a little bit of a downward slope, nice one I think as I build up a bit of speed. I pass an ambulance treating a lad in the back, he doesn’t look too comfortable, I pass his bike maybe 50 metres later. If ever there was a reminder to be careful at this stage, that was it. Hit out onto the main road, and all the energy that had been drained though out the day has returned. The last section and I have bags of fuel left in the bag, so I crank up the gears and speed up. I start passing a good few people and it’s all going great. There were a few people out waving and cheering on, I nod and carry on. I pull into Westport house and I’m told there is a little section to run. As I park the bike up I wonder how my legs will react to running again. Turns out quiet well and it all happens in automatic. Over the line. Finished. I’m an empty shell. I have no energy. Rob is there. He comes over and we shake hands. Other then Rob there it would have been a hollow finish to be honest. Rob told me about the Pasta which I was thankful of. All in all a great days adventure.

But there are a few things that were downers.
1/ The months before the start, there seemed to be no involvement from the organisers.
2/ I mailed the organisers regarding a matter and received no response.
3/ Each email from the organisers left me feeling like I had just been spammed.
4/ The registration was a farce. – Queuing up how many times!! That drove me nuts, although I didn’t get to drive very far due to the traffic jams and muddy conditions.
5/ The lack of a timing mat at the start. – Did they run out or just decide to save a few quid?
6/ The Goodie bag. Spammed again. The T-Shirt, fair enough, it’s a t-shirt. Fairly standard. But they have big name sponsors, or at least they should, so from what it could have been to what it was, was as big a gap as Croagh Patrick
7/ The lack of anything to say you finished it. This is my first event of this kind, a big thing for me. Anything would have been better than nothing.

That being said, all the things that I complain about are superficial. Points 1 to 3 – maybe I was just expecting too much, it’s only all about the day after all. Point 4 – Registration had to be done, and it had to be done where you dropped your bike. Point 5 – Maybe there was one?? Point 6 – No Goodie bag would have actually been better. Point 7 - It would have been nice.

Some people moaned that the organisers made a lot of money out of the event. To that I’d say – well, that’s their job. But I would say that perhaps they should employ someone to handle the niceties that usually go with these events.
It was all being said a great day and a great event. I’ll be back next year, hoping to knock an hour off of my time.

coach23

I have to say i had only one major gripe before reading all before me. I was disgusted by all the wrappers and bottles on the course i'm a avid outdoorsman i regualrly hike the hills and i'm a firm believer in leaving it as you found it, clean and beautiful, we all appreciated how awesome the scenery was and yet so many people chose to run the course and ruin the event.

It was my first time at an adventure race and i loved the challenge of completing it, i was doing it for charity and it was one close to my heart sadly i got injured with a month to go and couldnt train at all in the month leading up to the event so i was starting from scratch and felt it. I spend most of my day on a bike and was expecting that to be my best section but my god did the cramps hit me hardm I got off my bike to help a fellow competitor who couldnt change a tube....surely this should be a pre requisite anyway as soon as i got back on the bike i cramped up every muscle in both legs jsut froze hard, and it didnt stop until i hit the hotel after it all, it turned out to be alot of hours of pain but i was happy with myself for finishing it as i think alot of people were.

as for the organisers all the posts above kinda made me realise what was happening. the registration was a disaster and needs to be improved, as for the staff i found them mostly not all to be fair, rude and unappreciatave of what we were doing. there were alot of things that need to be improved little things that will make it an amazing event.

will i do it again next year.....hell yeah and i'll promote it to others got the bug now

toomuchdetail

I think the main issue with the mountain rescue people is that apart from the litter was that there was a major displacement in rocks/stone/shale down the mountain which normally would not take place .
The GF crew I believe didn't even bring the own generator and had to scab the MR base electricity, the donation by GF to the MR was also minimal .
Walkers with Elites is probably not unique to GF and it is mostly down to people not knowing either their own capability or the elite standard, an predicted time for a 10mile run on the entry form would sort 90% of this out as you could sort accordingly .
That said I think the issues are obvious and lets hope they are smart enough to learn from it.
The positives far out weigh the negatives.

El Vino

Mossess wrote: »

This is my take on the day and I have to say that initially I hadn’t actually researched the map too deeply, really just glanced over it. I knew there was a beach section and it would get a little wet in some parts, and that was grand.
When we all lined up at the start point I thought to myself, “this isn’t too bad, 100 or so metres and we’re on the road, happy days” So off I trotted up onto the road. No problems at all. Have to admit that I was worried a little by the amount of downhill in that first stage because I knew there would be an up hill, and also the increased risk of injury from down hill running, and also my pace had increased beyond what i had planned. Not to worry though, the scenery is nice. Must remember to look about and take it all in.
Then I look ahead and I see a bit of a queue forming, whats this all about I think. OMSMODGWTF is going on with that hill. Okay, we’re going up it. It wasn’t easy was it. Between slipping, sliding and trying to keep up a good pace, it was interesting. Someone made a comment about it being a taster for Crough Patrick, internally I cursed and smiled. Reached the top and started down. Talk about a slide. Did I mention the slide had Rocks and Drops in it. Not bad though, much easier on the way down in one way. Nearly at the bottom, back on road soon I think. Hadn’t quiet figured on the mud river, that was fun.
As I made my way along what seemed more like a queue then a race I decided that sticking to the sides maybe wasn’t the smartest option, time to go up the middle. One step in. I’m thinking “where is my knee gone???” Step two, “time to lunge outa here” and I’m back on the side again. Things start to spread out a little here and I pass the stragglers from the previous wave. Then back onto the road. My shoes are filled with water and mud, not to worry though. As the run goies on I catch sight of the kayaks, then turn right, and up and around before getting to the transition area.
When I arrived there was quiet a queue built up. Time to catch my breath. There was a Steward there who directed me to the correct queue, on my and her left, yet she kept saying “Stay to the right hand side.” All the time pointing to the left
I’m guessing she had being doing this for quite a while and thought better then to try and point out whole left right thing, I’m sure on some level it made sense. A lad came in after me and joined me in the queue. Think he was from Cork, said he was rounding off the GAA season with GFW, fair play I said. The humour at the Transition was good and everyone was chatting away. The Kayaking was possibly the easiest of all the sections. It was the Cork lads first time in a kayak, I made the mistake of sitting in the back. Wet pants! It was a funny crossing as the banter was good. Think we managed to ram the same boat twice at the start and nearly at the finish. Not sure how long the crossing took, but no one passed us and we managed to pass quite a few, except for the lads we rammed of course. Set off on the a long long 3.5k run through marsh and brush and mud. That really was a bit of an energy sapper. When I got to the bike transition I was a little annoyed I have to admit to see lads, in full view of marshals getting changed and eating from there parked up cars and vans. I planned carefully what I could carry and took on board all the warnings about not stashing food along the route or accepting food or water from spectators. That aside, I got to my bike, gave it a quick once over and walked with it out to where I could mount it. It was at this point I ate an energy bar. It tasted great.
I know the bar looked like a regular power bar, but I think this one was made with the finest Swiss Chocolate, and fruit hand picked and selected – just for this bar. You get the jest. It was nice. So Off I started. The benefit of a road bike over a mountain bike were immediately seen. I’m fairly new to bikes but I was passing people all over the place. The biking seemed like a good break from the running and I settled into a good steady pace. Forgot to reset my bike computer until about 3k in. After another 6k I started chatting to a lad who didn’t seem to be coping too well at all. He was convinced that there was only about 5k left. Not sure if he made it at all.

At one point I got cramps. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced them on a bike, in both legs at the same time. It wasn’t pleasant, but sure what could I do? If I got off the bike I’d only be walking around like a ballerina doing swan lake, so I carried on, had to laugh. I’ve seen throughout the thread a lot of people complaining about the steep downhill section. I have to say that I enjoyed it, there were bits when I let loose, but mostly gripped the brakes as tightly as I could, did my best to avoid pot holes, loose gravel, wet grass in the middle and all the rest and managed to survive it – must check the computer to see what speed I reached on that section. There were points when I had to get off the bike as I was unable to carry on uphill, but they were few and far between. When I got to the Transition for Crough Patrick I was surprised to see all the bikes at the side of the road. It was a complete mess and disorganised. I rode up to the entry point and was told there was a place on the rack for my bike, Happy days I thought, so I parked up. Used this point to refill my bottles and water down the remainder of the lucuzade sport. (Hadn’t realised how strong it tasted)

As I started up the reek I passed a number of discarded fig roll packets, half full. I guess if you were in one of the earlier waves you had the option of refuelling. But I saw nothing more than a girl sitting on a table with a roll of paper cups near the tap – The tap which was the water point. Poor effort there. Anyway. Like a lemming I followed the crowd ahead of me and started walking directly towards the top of the reek. I should have taken the Zig zag route as the way I went was a total energy drain. When I reached the pathway I was amazed by the views and used this opportunity to take a few snap shots. Then off up I carried on. The reek sure was crazy. Everyone was encouraging everyone else and there was a great feeling of “lets get through this” – what did it for me was when I was really out of energy when I saw a woman coming back down with her kid, she must have been about 5 or 6, and I thought to myself, “What on Earth am I complaining about. If that Kid can do it and keep on smiling then so can I” so I down an energy gel and carried on. Also passing the Farmer in his Sunday best 3 piece suit also fired me on too! When I got to the top I made a few phone calls and decided to eat the banana I’d been saving. Turns out I had killed it. The banana that is. Ah well, you can’t have everything in life. The views were great up there, and then, before I knew it, it was time to come back down again. descending was a lot easier, I’d say coming down took about 25 to 30 minutes, maybe less. Again refilled my bottles and got back on the bike.
Flying along, then the left turn, rocks. Quickly hop off the bike, this was that secion that had been talked about. I have to say it was a lot worse than I had thought it was going to be. I hoped up on the bikle a few times. Cycled where I could. Ran where I couldn’t. Got back out onto the road, a little bit of a downward slope, nice one I think as I build up a bit of speed. I pass an ambulance treating a lad in the back, he doesn’t look too comfortable, I pass his bike maybe 50 metres later. If ever there was a reminder to be careful at this stage, that was it. Hit out onto the main road, and all the energy that had been drained though out the day has returned. The last section and I have bags of fuel left in the bag, so I crank up the gears and speed up. I start passing a good few people and it’s all going great. There were a few people out waving and cheering on, I nod and carry on. I pull into Westport house and I’m told there is a little section to run. As I park the bike up I wonder how my legs will react to running again. Turns out quiet well and it all happens in automatic. Over the line. Finished. I’m an empty shell. I have no energy. Rob is there. He comes over and we shake hands. Other then Rob there it would have been a hollow finish to be honest. Rob told me about the Pasta which I was thankful of. All in all a great days adventure.

But there are a few things that were downers.
1/ The months before the start, there seemed to be no involvement from the organisers.
2/ I mailed the organisers regarding a matter and received no response.
3/ Each email from the organisers left me feeling like I had just been spammed.
4/ The registration was a farce. – Queuing up how many times!! That drove me nuts, although I didn’t get to drive very far due to the traffic jams and muddy conditions.
5/ The lack of a timing mat at the start. – Did they run out or just decide to save a few quid?
6/ The Goodie bag. Spammed again. The T-Shirt, fair enough, it’s a t-shirt. Fairly standard. But they have big name sponsors, or at least they should, so from what it could have been to what it was, was as big a gap as Croagh Patrick
7/ The lack of anything to say you finished it. This is my first event of this kind, a big thing for me. Anything would have been better than nothing.

That being said, all the things that I complain about are superficial. Points 1 to 3 – maybe I was just expecting too much, it’s only all about the day after all. Point 4 – Registration had to be done, and it had to be done where you dropped your bike. Point 5 – Maybe there was one?? Point 6 – No Goodie bag would have actually been better. Point 7 - It would have been nice.

Some people moaned that the organisers made a lot of money out of the event. To that I’d say – well, that’s their job. But I would say that perhaps they should employ someone to handle the niceties that usually go with these events.
It was all being said a great day and a great event. I’ll be back next year, hoping to knock an hour off of my time.

Great race report Mosses, you should consider submiting it to sleepmonsters.com or Outsider magazine

GoHardOrGoHome

Peterx wrote: »

It should be mandatory to use the zig zag path, this contains the erosion and massively increases the chances of an injured runner being found and helped quickly.
I realise it increases congestion on that path but unless someone* goes to the trouble of building another zig zag path near the existing one we've little choice.

someone*
Anyone other then me usually...

+1 to that. Make the zig-zag mandatory as Peter mentioned it was in the first year. That levels the playing field as it's not a navigation adventure race and prevents erosion.

GoHardOrGoHome

plodder wrote: »

I imagine that people who were happy with it, are less inclined to come on here and shout about it. So, maybe it's not balanced that way.

But a lot of the complaints sound reasonable enough, and it depends where you were in the field, whether you experienced them. Am I right in thinking that the event has doubled in size every year? So, there were about 1000 in it last year? Will there be 4000 next year? It sounds like it can cope with about 1000. But the profit motive makes it hard to stick to limits like that.

2009 - 2500
2008 - 800
2007 - 400 I think.

Don't know how many in 2006 the first year.

I'd say it could cope with 2500 but they would need to put a bit more effort (money) into the finishing line and the pasta. There were a few people who passed over the finish line in near silence which was awful. I did a decent amount of clapping and shouting as I knew people who were in most of the waves right up until the 9am bus but it would have been nice to have a couple more volunteers lined up to hand people a Lucozade sport and a bowl of pasta and congratulate them on finishing a fairly monumental achievement.

Fair play to volunteers who were there. There didn't seem to be any change over of helpers for the woman at the finish line. I'd say it was exhausting to keep helping people take off their timing chip for hours in the rain.

Three cheers for the volunteers!

(I'm a poet and I didn't know it)

toomuchdetail

Race aside and any views on the value offered by hotels/B+B's to those that traveled , had a few people stay with me but had relatives been qouted over €170 per room per night in B+B and a once one qoute of €240 for 2 people for 1 night in hotel.

Mr Freeze

Did anyone that filled in and sent back the feedback form get their 6 euro voucher yet???

No sign of it for me.

El Vino

Just wondering if anyone has a decent high resolution photograph of the Reek, Don't need any competitors or people in it, just a good photo of the mountain is perfect?

thanks
EV

thebouldwhacker

Mossess wrote: »

Some people moaned that the organisers made a lot of money out of the event. To that I’d say – well, that’s their job. .

I'm all for money making events, the more money they make the greater the possibility of more and better events, my 'moan' is that there are many many not for profit events held with entry fees as low as €20 which have better support in place.

There is a big difference between paying money for a product which is delivered to a high standard and the organisers grabbing the money and letting people off.
While such events have a fend for yourself element if you allow an event like this grow so big so quickly you have to increase the participants supports.

Also it has to be taken into account that not only did they get our entry fee but also money from sponsors and associated revenue streams... the right to put out all that spam was paid for!

yop

CKWPORT wrote: »

Did anyone that filled in and sent back the feedback form get their 6 euro voucher yet???

No sign of it for me.

The link to the form in the email they sent doesn't work!

Mr Freeze

yop wrote: »

The link to the form in the email they sent doesn't work!

Now Now Mr. Programmer...go up one folder from the link and you will find a load of docs, one of them is the feedback form.

yop

CKWPORT wrote: »

Now Now Mr. Programmer...go up one folder from the link and you will find a load of docs, one of them is the feedback form.

Could be a sly way of stopping people from responding

Mr Freeze

I would say so, as I sent it off the same day the email came, and have got nothing back yet.

belcarra

toomuchdetail wrote: »

Race aside and any views on the value offered by hotels/B+B's to those that traveled , had a few people stay with me but had relatives been qouted over €170 per room per night in B+B and a once one qoute of €240 for 2 people for 1 night in hotel.

Myself and three others managed to get accommodation in a B&B on the Leenane Road for €35 each. (Two twin rooms). I thought that was pretty good value!
In conversation with the man of the house he mentioned business was down by 30% this calendar year and they had halved their prices (€70 would not have been value but it was a nice place with a great Breakfast!).

toomuchdetail

Good to hear Belcarra , a little afraid with all the GF feedback that they could kill the golden goose.

Jucer

Hi
Did Gaelforce and Achill roar last year. Hope to to hem again next year. I did both races using normal runnners. I am going to change to trail runners this year. any recommendation on what type are best. from my web searches i have found 3 maked Innov8, walshes and solomoms. i cannot seem to locate a retailer for walshes in Ireland does anyone know of one? thanks

Enduro

Personally, I don't like walshes at all. Not enough support. There are a few online retailers in the UK that sell them, the last time I looked. Orienteering sites have them some times.

belcarra

I did GFW in Salomon Speed Cross 2's as well as loads of IMRA runs. I found them to be perfect for the terrain and much better than road runners. Cost about €90 in Snow and Rock in Dundrum.

ronanmac

Wore Salomon XA Pro Ultra GTX, bought as they were the only trail runners in Great Outdoors at the time. Don't know how they compare with others but I found them great. Definitely don't wear regular runners, people wearing non-trail shoes were falling all over the place on the descent on the first off-road hill during the initial 10k run.

Jucer

cheers
will probably go for a pair of solomons

djpm

I got a pair of waterproof Salomon something or others, used them in Gaelforce - 2 issues. 1, waterproof was great until water got in the top, then my feet stayed wet. 2, I kept falling on the 2nd run and coming down the reek, went over on my ankles literally about 6 times. Maybe I hadn't broken them in properly, I only got them a couple of weeks beforehand, but I had used them a few times.

El Vino

I wore a pair of Inov-8 Terroc 330s, Couldn't speak highly enough of them, really sure footed, the only thing I would say is that I might have gone for a slighlly lighter shoe from the same range if I hadn't been doing the reek. This one had lots of side and toe protection.

Anyone get a 5 yo-yo voucher for filling in the post race survey?
EV

c montgomery

I wore a pair of innov8 (rocklite 310 i think) for GF last year. I use them alot for trail running and i find them excellent in wet, muddy or damp conditions. I dont use them when road running as they dont provide enough cushioning but for trails and off road they cant be beaten.

Got them in the Edge in cork for 90euro i think including discount.

Enduro

I'd advice against getting goretex/waterproof runners for GF. It's a wet race. You'll probably have your feet submerged in water at the kayaking at some point. waterproof shoes will just hold the water in after that, whereas normal shoes will let it drain out.

Poncherello

I would disagree, no need to submerge feet if you are careful. I kept my feet dry for entire race. (while wearing trail shoes which were somewhat waterprooof)
Mind you I didnt win it so what would I know !

yop

Poncherello wrote: »

I would disagree, no need to submerge feet if you are careful. I kept my feet dry for entire race. (while wearing trail shoes which were somewhat waterprooof)
Mind you I didnt win it so what would I know !

How did you manage to get into the kayak and out again without putting your foot in the water

Not doubting you but I can't see how you kept feet dry between the state of the downhill in the first 12km, the puddles along the same track, the kayak and the 3km run to the bikes, never mind the pit of a transitition area

Had you sky hooks to hang off

MushGSXR

were you in full scuba gear or something? +1 on the non waterproof shoes. Once you are out of the wet they dont be long drying out!

Enduro

OK then, I'll be more accurate

If you're going to do the race as fast as possible then your feet are going to get submerged (most likely several times, given the bog in the middle section too). Being careful = being slow.

darabbit

Hi,
I'm thinking of signing up for this weekend to get my toes in the water of adventure racing. I am a recreational runner and have just purchased my first racing bike recently..very shaky at first but getting there.

Didi anyone go to this last year or has anyone signed up for this year. Is it worth the money.

Thanks for any thoughts on this:)

dapope

darabbit wrote: »

Hi,
I'm thinking of signing up for this weekend to get my toes in the water of adventure racing. I am a recreational runner and have just purchased my first racing bike recently..very shaky at first but getting there.

Didi anyone go to this last year or has anyone signed up for this year. Is it worth the money.

Thanks for any thoughts on this:)

See my post on the training weekend from last year.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=60704766&postcount=41

darabbit

Great post. I am really looking forward to it now. Your post has motivated me again. Thanks!

Mr Freeze

El Vino wrote: »

Anyone get a 5 yo-yo voucher for filling in the post race survey?
EV

No, never got the voucher, and honestly, didn't expect them to send them out anyways.

Mr Freeze

Sorry for asking yet another question regarding Trail shoes!!

Its my 1st question about them though...I am thinking of getting a pair this year for GF, I just did it in runners last year, New Balance runners that have great support and prevent me from getting shin splints again.

I am wondering what is the support like in most trail shoes? and If anyone can recommend a pair that has good arch support??

Thanks

whittey

Signed up for the May Connemara challenge, if that goes ok, hoping to signup for GaelForce in August.

Anyone got any recommendations on trail runners.
I've heard of Solomans & Innov8, but from this page I can see Nike, Adidas & Asics all do some as well.
http://www.startfitness.co.uk/prodtype.asp?strParents=4070,4071&CAT_ID=4077&numRecordPosition=1

Anyone able to advise on a good shop in Ireland to purchase from?
Am Galway based so if there's a good stockist here in the west, that would help.

toomuchdetail

whittey wrote: »

.
Am Galway based so if there's a good stockist here in the west, that would help.

I am in the same boat and I am going to Dublin this weekend so will be looking at 53degrees north and a few other places, will probably go for the Salomon.
Exposure in castlebar have a decent range on the Solomon and they have a website :
http://www.exposure-sports.com/

Greatoutdoors in Galway might be worth a look.

I have also seen some of the Asics and northface in both Elverys headford rd and in Lifestyle . very random sizes and ranges, you might see them one day and nothing the next .


Got this link from IMRA website , good guys on there for advice also.
http://www.shoeguide.co.uk./
Some more reviews below .
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/reviews/category.aspx?productCategoryId=14

sipherlucian

Folks anyone ever run Gaelforce west in barefoot trail runners? Done the event a couple of times but contemplating changing to barefoot shoes this time, use them all the time now but not sure about this event.

The Noble Nudge

sipherlucian wrote: »

Folks anyone ever run Gaelforce west in barefoot trail runners? Done the event a couple of times but contemplating changing to barefoot shoes this time, use them all the time now but not sure about this event.

Ah runners are a personal choice.
Whats putting you off if you are running in them already?
I dont know the brand but Ive "ran" Croagh Patrick in Brooks road runners...