Galway Bay Half Marathon

limerickleader

Anyone have any info on this? It's on in early October. I saw it mentioned on runireland.com and it sounds interesting. I'm hoping to do either Longford or the National Half but might do this one as well.

Just wondering a) if this is the first year of it and b) judging by the course description how tough will it be?

Go raibh maith agaibh...

http://www.galwaybayhalfmarathon.com/

tisnotover

seems to be an extesnsion of galway bay 10. ran that one two years ago+was disappointed with course:

a lot of the route was open to traffic, so you had to run on footpaths, concrete is not good for legs!
running along the prom in galway was a disaster.loads of people walking along as usual, but no part of it sectioned off for race!

But that was the first year of it....haven't ran it since, but a lot of the 13.1mile route looks very similar to the 10mile

Munster_Gal

The hill in the middle of the course does not look one bit nice!
I'd almost be up for it but not sure i'd be able to manage two half marathons in as many weeks - I'll see how the 10miler goes I think

Actually ... Just seen that it's €60 to enter... might have to rethink that one! We're in a recession ya know!

jinka

60euros to run in between walkers and prams ! Love Galway but come on!

Get the organiser on this and ask him why he is charging 60e
Love to hear the reasons....Hope its no the "going to good causes hash we normally get"

tisnotover

jinka wrote: »

60euros to run in between walkers and prams ! Love Galway but come on!

Get the organiser on this and ask him why he is charging 60e
Love to hear the reasons....Hope its no the "going to good causes hash we normally get"

didn't check price, but 60euros, they can fe*k off...

come down to cork instead+do the cork2cobh 15 mile in October or the half marathon in Blarney in september, much better value at these two!

Munster_Gal

God I thought I was the only one that was gonna think it was totally overpriced!

littlebug

and worse... there's also a 10k incorporated into it which is also 60 euro :eek:

It is a good cause... I'd love to do it but 60 for a 10k really is too much!
http://www.galwaybay10.com

osnola ibax

The prices of some events would really put you off. It just goes to show you what great value the adidas race series is. Lovely venue, great atmosphere, three races including a half, three free functional t shirts plus a bonus fourth and a gear bag, and all for €45, absolute class.

jinka

Its funny.. I had to take apx 40per cent cut in wages/bonus etc like a lot of people im sure and yet race organisers (not all mind!!) seem to think its ok to put the price up and generally RIDE us rock solid( as Damien Richardson)- ex cork city manager so elegantly put. For people who do the odd event its ok and they probably dont know any better , but for seasoned campaigners its frustrating.

Munster_Gal

littlebug wrote: »

and worse... there's also a 10k incorporated into it which is also 60 euro :eek:

It is a good cause... I'd love to do it but 60 for a 10k really is too much!
http://www.galwaybay10.com

Oh now that really is ridiculous!!

jinka

Well then, why dont we all start bombarding them with emails re the overcharging etc and see what comes back.

now let me see " going to a good cause blah blah-deja vous...zzzzzzzzzz

brutes

This race has been the Galway Bay 10 http://www.galwaybay10.com/ for the last number of years, not sure why its changed to a two headed event now as ten mile is a good race distance. Route was always good and fast on paper but lack of road closures and traffic has been a problem.

Re the entry fee, if you read the GB10 website, all funds go to Cancer Care West, and have done since it started. It was always 150 e ( at least) to get in , and this resulted in entries being mainly charity focused , fundraisers walking or getting around etc, so the entry fee has come down a lot from last year!.

Speaking as a selfish competitive runner who would never bother and have no interest in raising funds for charity to race, and having stumped up 150 in previous years just to run it, cos its down the road ( my one good deed in the year! ) its a welcome drop in entry fee. Agreed it seems steep on first glance, but thats the background

The race/route could be a very good one if done right, hopefully the numbers will bump up this year.

limerickleader

Cheers for all the feedback.

Hadn't seen the entry fee - jaysus - 60 euro for a 10k??!?! good night and good luck!

catweazle

Maybe I am wrong here and too suspicious by halve, but I did the Achill half marathon as well this year, first time distance runner and I was surprised that they can price the run up the same or more than most triathlons. Surely there is a lot more expense in running a triathlon between transition areas, safety in the swim etc etc.

Is there somewhere they give breakdowns of what they give the nominated charity after the event, do the organisers take a huge cut of it themselves before passing on token money to the charity.

60 euros for Achill over 2000 runners = €120,000, no roads closed off, i would imagine the town council are very obliging to the organisers due to the tourism it attracts as regards car parking, police etc. We got a medal, t-shirt, banana, burger, snickers and some water for that money. I have no problem with this if I knew for certain that most of the profit was going to the charity

60 for Galway as well seems outragous when it looks like no roads closed off, is mentioning a charity involved in the run a license to charge what they like and justify it when someone questions it

Once again I dont want to tar everyone with the same brush here, but I am sure their are some organisers making a lot of money out of this

belcarra

http://www.runireland.com/events/2009-09-06/coastal-charity-challenge
Louisburg to Westport coastal Half Marathon. Only €40 and it all goes towards Mayo Mountain Rescue team...their website should be enough to convince that they don't throw cash about!!
Seriously though, should be a good, scenic course and good value/great cause.

As for the Galway race, personally I think the cause is worthy and from what I can tell I'd be happy that the entrance fee mainly goes towards the charity (Apart from overheads obv!). I don't get the vibe from them that they are a commercial event a la Clontarf Half a few weeks ago. (Having said that, I still think the choice is with the person to participate or avoid and probably would have done Clontarf if available!).

Ultimately, it's nice to have the choice of these runs available. If you are looking for no frills distance running try the West of Ireland marathon series...4 full marathons for €60!

downser

For the Galway Bay Half-Marathon the initial €60 is the cost to enter the event. This is the entry fee - none of this money goes to charity.
You can also choose to give money to charity on the sign-on page - if you do so you must pay €120 - & €60 of this goes to charity. There are 5 or 6 charities that you can choose from.

spurscormac

With just regards to the route - its a nasty looking one.
Its through Knocknacarra & up the back roads where I live, and believe me, those hills are not in the slightest bit nice, very undulating and will be testing.

Having said all that, its so close to me it would almost be a shame not to run it, but it would be a step up in distance for me, so I might decide sometime in December whether or not to run it. €60 is steep, but I'll consider it.

As regards the Luisburgh-Westport run, that would be a much flatter course, though its only just over a month away, so would need to up the training distances to get it in.

kayakmoss

The Galway half would be a good testing run but if they're not closing the roads it will be a disaster!
Some of the roads are tight enough and with cars on them too it wont be enjoyable.....:mad:

JUSTONE

Just say an ad that says you get the following for your €60 - finishers medal, Underarmour technical tee, water, goodie bag, chipped time, refreshments after and drinks vouchers!!!!!!!!!!

jinka

Price is crazy. !!

kayakmoss

Did anyone hear whether the roads are going to be clsoed or what??

catweazle

dont know about the roads being closed but i am boycotting it, 60 euros for a 10k road race is a joke, the event organisers are fleecing people.

I would expect they think they will get the runners anyways as it is a charity race

jinka

They love to give you "its for charity" if you complain. This sort of race will attract the mini marathon brigade and I would urge real runners to give it a miss. A better idea would be to charge 20e max with the option of giving more. I mean for fcuk sake there are the guts of 500000 on the dole. Still if they get the numbers they will justify it no doubt.

El Director

i wanted to do both Galway half and Achill half but couldn't believe the prices. Surely it would be better to charge a minimal entry fee and give everybody a sponsorship card to fill.

There was a triathlon in Galway last may, it was 8o euro to enter, 20 went to a charity, there wasn't even a t-shirt! Again i think a sponsorship card would have been the way to go.

Enduro

Lads, as downser said....

For the Galway Bay Half-Marathon the initial €60 is the cost to enter the event. This is the entry fee - none of this money goes to charity.

So the sponsorship card option is exactly what is happening. None of the 60 euros is going to charity. It's all going to the organisers.

littlebug

60 euro fee for a 10k is ridiculous. I also emailed last week to ask about the starting time for the 10k which wasn't obvious on the webpage (this was when I thought at least some of the 60 was going to charity) and I got no response. Poor form.....

catweazle

I got a reply from the 10k charity Cancercarewest her details are

Sharon Fitzpatrick
Cancer Care West
Ph: 091 545000
E: sharon@cancercarewest.ie

there is conveniently no contact details for the 1/2 or full marathon websites or none that I could see.

She basically confirmed that the "event organisers" are charging €60 per entrant whether it is 10k, half or full.

I then told her I would have been happy to pay €60 for the 10k entry if I knew that any profits would also go to the charity but I am not going to line some event organisers profits who is not only screwing entrants but also the charity out of money.

There is no way there should be a €60 charge for a 10k race. I take issue with the €60 in general for all three races but i could live with it for the half and full marathons. The charities should look for an alternative "event organiser", from what I hear from my friends is that a lot of people are refusing to run at these prices.

Over 3000 people expected to run the 10k alone 3000 x 60 = 180,000, nice money for

The €60 entry fee includes:

• Race entry
• Water, first aid stations and toilets
• T-shirt/top
• Finishers Medal
• Light refreshments after the event
• Entry to the après event (details to be confirmed)

Sorry to go on about this just that I was looking forward to run this and now I am brassed off about missing it over my principles

Johnnio13

Was signing up this morning until I saw the price.
Not a chance I am paying 60bucks for 47mins of running.

And to re-iterate any profit above the 60€ is going to CCW - the rest is as Catweazle has posted.

I don't mind paying up to €25 for a 10k if there is some organisation but there is none that I know of in Galway.
Roads are still open, traffic along route, walkers etc....

Even the Bupa 10k is getting pricey now.

kennyb3

Enduro wrote: »

Lads, as downser said....



So the sponsorship card option is exactly what is happening. None of the 60 euros is going to charity. It's all going to the organisers.

they should be ashamed of themselves... in my opinion making out that its €60 because its going to charity

jinka

I hope linda Naughton picks up on this disgrace. A worrying trend too.

footing

jinka wrote: »

I hope linda Naughton picks up on this disgrace. A worrying trend too.

See article in the Herald on Thur 24 Sept on this very matter. Like most of the posters, am fascinated that it is the vastly overpriced races that get the numbers. As for the BUPA 10k (mentioned earlier); it was and still is overpriced and set a trend for extravagant entry fees jumped on by the Connemarathon people. Since a lot of their entries come from abroad, they know the entry fee is only a small part of their expenses for a nice weekend away (that's my theory anyway).
One pal of mine does the naughty thing. If races charge too much and he still wants to run them, he simply doesn't pay. Not too sure about that - but the fact is that if races charge too much, they shouldn't be supported.
PS: Has anyone noticed that the Simon 8k is asking people to raise Eu150 for their race this year? That's on top of an entry fee (can't remember the details but it's at www.funrun.ie).
In the past, Simon charged a minimal fee, knowing everyone would give them more. Now they've got fancy-pantsy PR and marketing people in and are going the way of the commercial races. It would be interesting to know what PR companies charge - I sure as heck don't want my donations going to pay them.