Marathon early 2010

metamorphosis

So after a loooong hard talk to myself i am not going forward with DCM. It was a hard decision as i hate to back out or not face a challenge. I have realized that i have pushed too hard to quickly or in reality wanted too much too soon. I didnt start doing LSRs soon enough and then i piled on the milage too quickly and my body screamed NO! And i also kept up the crooss training as much as i could and i was doing too much and as a result i got slight burnout mentally, physically and have had small injury after injury. Apart from one lsr of just under 16 miles, my lonest has been 13 because of small injuries. Frst the achilles, then my shin and then my ankle. It is very hard to pulll away from this but as someone said in this forum before you only have one set of legs and there are thousands of marathons.

So im going to do some halfs for the rest of the year - half this sat, gauntlet in november and waterford half in december.

Anyway - sorry for the long rant. I want to get peoples opinions on marathons across europe in early 2010.Was thinking maybe paris in april? maybe or edinburugh? Any advise from people who have done these, what they are like or any other possibilities? MY flights and accomadation will be an xmas present to me so im told

Cheers.

Roddy23

I'm in the same sort of boat as you UL - except I decided about 6 weeks ago to knock Dublin on the head this year. I've a few 10k's coming up over the next few weeks, and will be doing Waterford too. I plan to keep the training up and am aiming to do Seville on Feb 14th, based on Hunnymonster's post in the Marathon's thread. Hoping to spend a weekend and a few days after the run over there.

RacoonQueen

Sorry to hear you're out UL I'm desperately trying to keep up the training but continuous niggling injuries and more recent health problems are leaving my own marathon dreams on the edge of a cliff. Having dropped out of Edinburgh already this year the last thing I want to do is drop out of another marathon.

Edinburgh has had great reviews, I started a thread about Edinburgh 2010 in the Events forum last week, you should have a look at what others have said about it. There are some great marathons on in the UK, little obscure ones like Blackpool in April, the first Brighton marathon is on in April aswell, Reading is meant to be a nice one, think it finishes on the track in the Madjeski so you can pretend you're at the Olympics.

Pisco Sour

Rotterdam in April. One of the flattest courses in the world. Would be great for a PB.

Having said that I really like the sound of entering a stadium full of adoring fans for my debut marathon

Pisco Sour

Hmmm....Reading is only a half marathon. Thats a shame

RacoonQueen

04072511 wrote: »

Hmmm....Reading is only a half marathon. Thats a shame

Even better actually. I might run it myself then, in preperation for Connemara.

Pisco Sour

What other marathons finish in a stadium? I know Athens does obviously, and seville aswell, but any others? And any around March/ April time?

One Cold Hand

04072511 wrote: »

What other marathons finish in a stadium? I know Athens does obviously, and seville aswell, but any others? And any around March/ April time?

This is probably of no use to you, but the Melbourne Marathon finishes in the Melbourne Cricket Ground...pretty impressive stadium to finish in, it has a capacity of 90,000! Is on around sept/oct.

RacoonQueen

I think the Loch Ness marathon finishes in a stadium?

goodfella74

I have done Barcelona (March),Malta (March) & Stockholm (May). Out of the three i would recommend Barcelona,the course is scenic and fairly flat, weather was perfect for a marathon, easy to get to and a great night out afterwards.
Stockholm was very hot (weather is a bit hit & miss tis time of year) the course was tough,there was congestion at the water stations, but the organisation & whole setup was amazing and it finished on the track in the Olympic Stadium plus the crowd were fantastic.
Much of Malta was rural and scenic, the crowd support was'nt great either, but a beautiful place with good banter between the runners, they have a half marathon running simultaniously also.
I have'nt done Paris or Edinburgh yet but heard that there both good, with Edinburgh having a fast course.
Hope this is of help

metamorphosis

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Sorry to hear you're out UL I'm desperately trying to keep up the training but continuous niggling injuries and more recent health problems are leaving my own marathon dreams on the edge of a cliff. Having dropped out of Edinburgh already this year the last thing I want to do is drop out of another marathon.

Edinburgh has had great reviews, I started a thread about Edinburgh 2010 in the Events forum last week, you should have a look at what others have said about it. There are some great marathons on in the UK, little obscure ones like Blackpool in April, the first Brighton marathon is on in April aswell, Reading is meant to be a nice one, think it finishes on the track in the Madjeski so you can pretend you're at the Olympics.

Cheers RQ. No point in fooling myself. I know the mistakes i made - too much cross training and increasing the mileage too quickly. Lesson learned. Ill do Saturday and then concentrate on the gauntlet half and waterford half and then marathon on from there.

Have to say hi on saturday. My bib no. is 3484 and ill stand out a bit more with an ankle support type thingy! Might be hard though with close to 8000:D

redved

Another one to consider is Valencia,Spain on the 21st of Feb.
I'm seriously considering doing this as it will give me something to work towards over the winter.
Has anyone done this one before? Also without de-railing the thread what plans would people suggest for a 3.40 marathon.

TFBubendorfer

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I think the Loch Ness marathon finishes in a stadium?

Yes, but it is TINY. Not exactly a major venue with thousands of adoring spectators.

buck65

Wouldn't a "back-up" marathon in mid or late November in Ireland be a great idea for people who train for Dublin and miss it due to a slight injury or cold, where 3 more weeks could make all the difference?

With all the spring/summer marathons , pity there aren't any winter ones, or am I wrong?

rovers_runner

buck65 wrote: »

Wouldn't a "back-up" marathon in mid or late November in Ireland be a great idea for people who train for Dublin and miss it due to a slight injury or cold, where 3 more weeks could make all the difference?

With all the spring/summer marathons , pity there aren't any winter ones, or am I wrong?

buck65, the marathon guide site has a full calendar of marathons worldwide:
http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm?place=Intl

Milan 22/11
Florence 29/11
Luton 6/12

Fairly scarce alright, although trying to peak training wise around Christmas would be hell I'd imagine

metamorphosis

redved wrote: »

Another one to consider is Valencia,Spain on the 21st of Feb.
I'm seriously considering doing this as it will give me something to work towards over the winter.
Has anyone done this one before? Also without de-railing the thread what plans would people suggest for a 3.40 marathon.

Thanks for that. That would be a nice marathon to do and good maybe if i wanted to slog through connemara in April.

Iv been looking up this
http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/europe-marathons-list.php

http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/uk-marathon-list.php

Pisco Sour

Does anybody know whether the Rotterdam Marathon has pacemakers (with the coloured balloons)? I know Paris does but I'd rather do Rotterdam as Paris is expensive to stay in. But i'd rather a marathon with pacemakers for my first marathon.

Thanks

Abhainn

A little further east is the Cyprus marathon March 14th which I am considering. It starts at Petra tou Romiou (Birthplace of Aphrodite goddess of love and beauty, well hey) and finishes in Paphos. Course is flat and temperatures are around 17-20C though humidity is low.

The marathon itself is small but they also have half and 10k on the day.

RacoonQueen

ULstudent wrote: »

Cheers RQ. No point in fooling myself. I know the mistakes i made - too much cross training and increasing the mileage too quickly. Lesson learned. Ill do Saturday and then concentrate on the gauntlet half and waterford half and then marathon on from there.

Have to say hi on saturday. My bib no. is 3484 and ill stand out a bit more with an ankle support type thingy! Might be hard though with close to 8000:D

I shall notice you from the Tiffin bar on a blue velvet cushion surrounded by diamonds I'm sure. I'm unlucky number 13 if I'm running, if not I'll have my free adidas bag over my shoulder and shall be waiting at the finish line on my pretty new bike.

Yes, but it is TINY. Not exactly a major venue with thousands of adoring spectators.

The Scottish are loud though, you can pretend there are more of them.

SUNGOD

Abhainn wrote: »

A little further east is the Cyprus marathon March 14th which I am considering. It starts at Petra tou Romiou (Birthplace of Aphrodite goddess of love and beauty, well hey) and finishes in Paphos. Course is flat and temperatures are around 17-20C though humidity is low.

The marathon itself is small but they also have half and 10k on the day.

i could be wrong but i think that is a "marathon challenge" whuch has 4 days of events that combined add up to just over a marathon.
a 6 k off road
11 k run
half marathon
10 k city run

if its the one looked at that is how they make up the marathon in the name

--amadeus--

04072511 wrote: »

Does anybody know whether the Rotterdam Marathon has pacemakers (with the coloured balloons)? I know Paris does but I'd rather do Rotterdam as Paris is expensive to stay in. But i'd rather a marathon with pacemakers for my first marathon.

Thanks

Yes, from 3:15 down and organised by the Dutch version of the Runners World magazine.

I have done Rotterdam twice and will be tempted to go for a hat trick. The best marathon in Europe, IMO

Peckham

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Even better actually. I might run it myself then, in preperation for Connemara.

Reading half marathon was my first ever race. Not exactly the most scenic of courses - the final 3 miles when I did it were in an empty industrial estate, but the finish in Madjeski Stadium was worth it....and also that I finished just in front of Nell McAndrew, which if I'd known at the time she was just behind me, I would have slowed down!

Abhainn

SUNGOD wrote: »

i could be wrong but i think that is a "marathon challenge" whuch has 4 days of events that combined add up to just over a marathon.
a 6 k off road
11 k run
half marathon
10 k city run

if its the one looked at that is how they make up the marathon in the name

Hi there SUNGOD.

You are referring to the Cyprus challenge which takes place late November.
http://www.cypruschallenge.com/The_Event.aspx

Its an interesting race over 4 days. I know the Irish Runner sent 3 or 4 Irish competitors in 2007 - (thats when they had competitions in its mag:rolleyes:)

donothoponpop

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I have done Rotterdam twice and will be tempted to go for a hat trick.

hmmm...

--amadeus--

donothoponpop wrote: »

hmmm...

You know you want to!!

Pisco Sour

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Yes, from 3:15 down and organised by the Dutch version of the Runners World magazine.

I have done Rotterdam twice and will be tempted to go for a hat trick. The best marathon in Europe, IMO

Awesome, i couldnt find anything on their website about it (not a great website to be fair). Do they have a 4.15 pacemaker or does it (like Paris) skip 4.15 and go straight from 4.00 to 4.30?

--amadeus--

That I don't know, I'm afraid.

The organisers are brilliant - I am sure that if you drop them a mail they'd let you know.

mithril

Seville in February is a good option . One of the earliest ones in the year, well organized, fast, low entry fee and finishes in the Olympic stadium. A little bit difficult to get too that time of year from Dublin is the only drawback.

Pisco Sour

mithril wrote: »

Seville in February is a good option . One of the earliest ones in the year, well organized, fast, low entry fee and finishes in the Olympic stadium. A little bit difficult to get too that time of year from Dublin is the only drawback.

Do they have pacemakers do you know? Whats the weather like in February there?

Also on a side note, why is it called the Olympic Stadium when the Olympics were never in Seville?

SUNGOD

Abhainn wrote: »

Hi there SUNGOD.

You are referring to the Cyprus challenge which takes place late November.
http://www.cypruschallenge.com/The_Event.aspx

Its an interesting race over 4 days. I know the Irish Runner sent 3 or 4 Irish competitors in 2007 - (thats when they had competitions in its mag:rolleyes:)

oh i see......must learn to research before posting:D

hot to trot

The Lisbon one is in December but reports say it is very poorly organised.
I did Paris as my first. Great atmosphere, congested, well organised, beautiful route and have pacers.

Didnt know about seville. Must check that out. I also am looking for an early spring one. I want something to keep me going after Dublin before I go even more pear shaped over the Christmas. Barcelona looks a good option methinks?

colblimp

I, too, have pulled out of Dublin due to missing about 11 weeks of training because of annoying injuries. I'm now looking at Brighton next April, it will be my first marathon so any time at all will be a PB, although I'm looking at sub 3:30 but if I finish in 4 hours or over I'll be suicidal! I'm also going to do Cork mara next year, and maybe Longford and Dublin - I always like to do too much, maybe that's why I'm always injured! :D