Slowest half marathon in Ireland

Slogger Jogger

A contrasting thread to the 'fastest..' These routes though are probably the most scenic and roads less travelled.

Various hilly halfs out there. The imra Wicklow way trail would have taken the biscuit only now its extended to 25k.

Connemara is comparable to the Bantry/Glengarriff run. I'm not fast but ran 1:26 on the later, so there must be more difficult routes. Achill? The Gauntlet run in Kerry? Any others?

Krusty_Clown

Wexford. Took me 2:18 the last time I did it.
I did walk from the half-way point though, after having an injury flare up

paulaner

Has to be the Burren Half. Some parts last year were so off road you couldn't even run them. Hopping along from stone to stone doesn't make for a fast time.

TFBubendorfer

The Burren run and Wicklow trail are off road, at least for parts of it, and should be in a separate category, really.

As for road halfs, I've done (amongst others) Connemara, Bantry/Glengarriff and the Gauntlet run in Kerry, and you can take my word for it that the Gauntlet is way tougher than the other two. You have to cross that mountain twice and each climb on its own has a lot more elevation gain than either of the other two races in their entirety.

They're all beautiful runs, though.

Aimman

The Donegal Half Mooathon is all on-road, but has some challenging hills with a great view from the summit halfway. The full Mooathon has a lot more hills to battle with along with costal winds. Last year, the weather was good, so the scenery was spectacular. I recommend it for the experience.

happy_73

Blarney Half in Cork is no joyride. First half is climbing about 500ft then a sharp downhill and doubles back on itself for the home stretch.

kit3

What about Achill ? There are a number of hills and it's very exposed whih can be a problem when it's windy (as it usually is in Achill !). Views are spectacular though. I did it last year and found it tough but it was my first half. Would be interested to know what more experienced runners think ?

TFBubendorfer

happy_73 wrote: »

Blarney Half in Cork is no joyride. First half is climbing about 500ft then a sharp downhill and doubles back on itself for the home stretch.

That's where I set my personal best (3 times in a row). It's not THAT slow.

Cartman78

Achill is indeed a toughie but a lot easier now that they've changed the direction from the first year it was held.

The long straight section between miles 6 and 9 in the 2005 race are the toughest 3 miles I've ever ran - into a strong prevailing wind after a bunch of hills...soul destroying stuff