Dublin Marathon 2010

Donny5

4 stars (good)

pauldry wrote: »

I ran it in 5hr 17min chip 5hr 11.

Not as fast as last years 4hr 31. Am i the slowest person on this thread

Not by a long shot. I came in at 5:50 and change. Embarrassingly, that's not even a personal worst for me!

I ran (well, completed) it in a robot costume, and it was fairly tough. I certainly got my money's worth of Club Energise (8) and gels (5) this year. overall, the race was fantastically organised, and, like always, the folks who came out to support people even as slow as me were great. I know I wouldn't have finished without them.

Also, if I ran into anyone people in the crowded first threes miles.

Excuseless

Peterx wrote: »

My fancy watch says both Athlone and Dublin had similar amounts of climb with Athlone being slightly tougher so yes deffo a good training race and good prep for Dublin.
(Athlone had 174m of climb with Dublin showing 151m of climb according to my garmin)
Dublin is great, loads of good happy positive vibes and great support. I'm biased obviously being from Dublin but your can't beat running in your home town.

Only thing we were worried about was that with 3 weeks between the A3/4M and DCM some might run it too hard and not have time to recover but this seems not to have been an issue.

Think Bazman's superb 2.22 :eek: after doing the A3/4M Course 4 weeks before in training, his training programs on the event website plus pacer negative split target times showed that it should be a very useful race for many in preparation for DCM.

Great news is that next year the A3/4M will be on 2nd Oct - 4 weeks before DCM

Well done to all on their own performances - was only there to cheer this year tho was tempted to fill in a pacer gap when chatting to Greg at expo on sun evening - supporting was a better job for me I think as I hear the pacers did great. Jason bursting his 3.00 ballon in the park and having to run with the placard the whole way was good going - hats off to you man and I believe you were still able to raise a glass or more in the pub after .........:)!

pauldry

3 stars (average)

Donny5 wrote: »

Not by a long shot. I came in at 5:50 and change. Embarrassingly, that's not even a personal worst for me!

I ran (well, completed) it in a robot costume, and it was fairly tough. I certainly got my money's worth of Club Energise (8) and gels (5) this year. overall, the race was fantastically organised, and, like always, the folks who came out to support people even as slow as me were great. I know I wouldn't have finished without them.

Also, if I ran into anyone people in the crowded first threes miles.

Haha I saw you. At least us slowbies got to see all the fancy dress live and got to enjoy the marathon experience for longer than you fasters.

Nando.

4 stars (good)

Just like to pay tribute to the pacers who did a fantastic job last Monday. This was my second marathon, my target was to finish somewhere between 3.20 /3.30. I was on target for 3.20 until mile 20 and then hamstring cramps started in both legs :eek:.
The first of the 3.30 pacers passed me between miles 24/25 and then the second. The third 3.30 pacer was slightly behind the first two, he turned out to be my saviour. At this stage I was constantly cramping and having to stop regularly to stretch but I hung on to the third pacer mainly because he kept roaring at everybody around him “ it’s still on lads, 3.30 is still on, keep it going, come on, 3.30 is still on”. He kept it up throughout the last mile and I was desperately hanging on to him. He then stopped on the run-in to the finish line roaring back to everybody, encouraging everybody.
I finished chip time 3.29.36 and absolutely delighted. I would have definitely stopped again during the last mile and missed out on sub 3.30 only for the third pacer. I didn’t get a chance to thank him afterwards, and I’m not sure which of the pacers he was, it may have been LeCheile but I’m not sure, so whoever the third pacer was, many, many thanks for getting me over the line sub 3.30. Cheers LeCheile if it was you. Fantastic Day.

mrak

4 stars (good)

I got a call from someone who found a nintendo DS belonging to a spectator with a big selection of games. He thought the spectator was cheering on someone from my club (craughwell AC) but nobody in the club has gotten back to me yet. Let me know if anyone has heard from a spectator who lost a DS and a bunch of games.

Well done all who completed the marathon - great achievement.

Peckham

Nando. wrote: »

Cheers LeCheile if it was you.

It was him. Myself and TFB were up the front of the group.

Duckee

4 stars (good)

Hi everyone,

I ran my first (but not the last ) marathon ever on Monday coming in at the lighteningly slow time of 5hrs 33mins - and I'm still chuffed to bits with it. I wanted to say a hearty congratulations to everyone who ran the course whether they finished in 2:10 or 7:40.

What an amazing day it was, great weather, great atmosphere. I was astonished with the great level of support from all the people cheering on from the sidelines. Also, to the bloke who told me I was 'bombin along' towards the final stretch - Thank you, the words of encouragement pushed me to a running (and not crawling!) finish.

Bring on DCM 2011

Jacky08

4 stars (good)

anymore wrote: »

I ran my first marathon in Dingle this Sept doing it in 5.04 ( and being as sick as a dog for last 5 miles.) Ran Dublin in 4.02 chip time and it was beyond my wildest dreams, crowd was wonderful and orgainsation great.
I know i shouldnt have run so soon again, but it was an impulse that turned out well. Am 53.

FANTASTIC

Jacky08

4 stars (good)

I remember getting my photo taken right after the finishing line WITH MY MEDAL - does anyone know who/what/where I can get my hands on it
Cheers

galwayspur

4 stars (good)

Oisin11178 wrote: »

I had it for the last 8 miles. If its me your talking about you are welcome:D

Ha, great stuff!! Thanks, Oisin. You & the lads pacing with you made the journey all the more enjoyable. I'm going to try following the yellow balloons next year...

robinph

3 stars (average)

Jacky08 wrote: »

I remember getting my photo taken right after the finishing line WITH MY MEDAL - does anyone know who/what/where I can get my hands on it
Cheers

marathonfoto.com

They are still uploading their photos, and then you can buy them.

Also worth having a look on www.racepix.com to see if anyone there got you as well.

SharkTale

3 stars (average)

Why is the Dublin Marathon always on a Monday.

Surely they might get a bigger overseas contingent taking part if it was on a Sunday. Overseas competitors would only have to take one day off presuming they work Monday to Friday ( Monday returning home), and for other competitors they would not have to take the Tuesday off to recover.

I could see the reasoning behind it if it was a public/bank holiday in the rest of Europe on the Monday but this is not the case.

Putting it in to respective would you be as keen to run a marathon on mainland Europe if it was on a normal Monday? probably not.

If the reasoning behind it is road closures, I would assume that Sunday would be a lot quieter than the Bank Holiday Monday with people leaving and returning to and from Dublin on the Monday.
or if the reason is the logistics of organising the infra structures, signage, water, stewards and all the stuff that goes on behind the scene, surely it is the same for other big marathons that take place on a Sunday.

Walking ( very slowly around ) Dublin City on Tuesday you would not know that such a large event had taken place less than 24 hours earlier, so the clean up can be done very well on any day, I presume.

Always wondered why Monday?......how about Sunday of the bank Holiday weekend?

pdiddyw

First timer myself and came in at 4.13, was aiming for sub 4, even passed 30 km mark at 2hr51 min so was on course but died a death at the last five miles and saw the 4hr pacers pass me by at mile 22..just couldn't keep up...

If it wasn't for Athlone 3/4 I probably wold have added at least another 20 min to finish time...anywaYs def got the bug for it now and itching to get out training again.. and more determined then ever to get sub 4, next time round...


Does anyone know how long one should leave it to run the next marathion,
I'm think Barcelona 2001 in March?
TA

Condo131

4 stars (good)

pdiddyw wrote: »

Does anyone know how long one should leave it to run the next marathion,

Mrs Condo says "Ask your wife!!!!" :D:D

Marthastew

4 stars (good)

grimbergen wrote: »

Re. the pacing bands, if anybody is doing one of the US marathons they often give out good quality pacing straps that use velcro and are comfortable on the wrist. I've used mine again and again as the piece of paper with the pacing can be changed to suit the time.

At the Chicago marathon they gave out free pace tatoos, they're really good, you pop them on the inside of your lower arm. It's possible to order them online also, they cost about two dollars.

As regards the use of pacing bands, I think some people find them really useful, I like them because they can also be a distraction from the pain that sets in in the last 6 miles.

CorkRunning

4 stars (good)

digger2d2 wrote: »

I just wanted to echo my thanks to the pacers....I started about 40/50 metres behind the 3:45 lads with the intention of keeping them in sight, they got about 150 metres ahead of me but was up behind them when the balloon escaped in Inchicore...

What exactly happened to that purple 3:45 balloon??? Did it burst or just float away???

The reason I ask is that I was the pacer with it

The road was wide and open...no trees....and then it was just gone even though the lead was still tied to my arm. I presumed it had burst.

digger2d2

4 stars (good)

CorkRunning wrote: »

What exactly happened to that purple 3:45 balloon??? Did it burst or just float away???

The reason I ask is that I was the pacer with it

The road was wide and open...no trees....and then it was just gone even though the lead was still tied to my arm. I presumed it had burst.

It was like a balloon that a kid let go...It just took off......:)

tunguska

4 stars (good)

Wasnt gonna do this but feck it, could be cathartic.

Hasnt been a vintage year. In january I fell on the ice(out running like an eejit)and did my knee. Took the gutts of 3 months to heal but in the meantime I made several disastrous attempts to return to training too early and injured myself further. Eventually I got into an injury free groove and knocked out a few good race times. Started to get back up to where I shouldve been but then I got a little carried away and did too many races, blew myself out a bit. Low point was the national half marathon where I was running on exhaust fumes, ran a terrible time that day. After that I had to try and take it a little handier to get myself right again. It worked for the most part but I still wasn't 100% by the time I ran the addidas half, but defintely better than I had been. Taper went well and I started to feel strong again.

The morning of the race I got to the start line area and the place was electric. Tucked in right up the front, looked across and I was surprised to see Linda Byrne to my left. There had been no mention of her in the race program. Her first marathon, I wanted to go over and tell her to take it handy, dont go nuts the first half but I decided to mind my own business. Gun went and we were off. I had a look out for Abhainn and Heff but the palce was madness, couldnt make anybody out. I'd have to wait til further ahead to meet up with the lads. This time last year I went off like a scalded cat, by mile 3 I was fecked. So this time I said Id go super easy for the first mile and cruise for the first half of the race, taking it up a notch once Id cleared the walkinstown roundabout. First mile was 5:55 by the course marker and 6:10 by the garmin??? Didnt matter, felt nice and handy. Although I did notice that my stomach was groaning a bit....... Just after mile 2 the stomach was really starting to kick up a fuss. This had never happened to me before, my stomach was always rock solid and reliable, never any trouble in a race. I was starting to consider the possibility that Id have to make a pit-stop. As we turned onto Dorset street some lad in a pair of GAA shorts and a big red cotton t-shirt came up alongside me, carrying a big 1.5 litre bottle of water in his hand???? He said to me: How ya boss.........and then proceeded to fall over a traffic island, hitting the bricks like a sack of spuds, arms and legs everywhere, water bottle went flying. He got back up, grabbed the water bottle and sprinted after the rest of us. Jaysus that'd wake ye up! He says to me, before tearing up the road after the the lads doing 5:30/mile.......passed him 2 miles later and he was keeled over at the side of the road, big red face on him, getting medical assistance.

Anyway by mile 4 the stomach was really screaming at me and I knew my worst nightmare was happening: Id have to stop during a marathon. I spotted a lane, made my detour. I'll spare the details but my little trip had cost my about 1min 30. Came back out and was tempted to sprint after the lads I knew I shouldve been up with but instead I didnt panic, kept it nice and steady. I figured Heff and Abhainn were long gone by this stage. Took it steady through the park, overtaking people all the way. Hit 10k at a 39mins, was 1min 30 down on where I had intended to be at that point, but still didnt panic, i knew I could make it up bit by bit. Still hammering away overtaking people at a steady rate got to the 11mile marker and I got a shout from Mrs Misty Floyd. I remembered at that point last year I got the same shout but I wasnt really able to respond as I was fecked. But this year I felt great. Stomach was still not happy but there was no way a second stop would be made. Achilles was a little tight on right foot aswell, but I thought nothing of that, just another niggle.
Got to the turn onto dolphins barn and the roar from the massive crowd was frightening/awe inspiring. Heading towards the bridge the crowds were on top of me on both sides, felt like contador heading up col de tourmalet. Passing by our ladys hospital I spotted the polish girl, patrycja. She was slipping off the back of a big group of lads, went off too fast I thought. She ended up doing over 4hrs on the back of a 1:21 half. Fair play to her for finishing.
Turned onto the stretch towards superquinn and spotted Sean Connolly from my club, he was shouting encouragement at me and I felt great. Took the halfway point in 1:20. That was fine, still biding my time before I made my move. Hit the walkinstown roundabout and no way did it feel like Id been running for 1:20, it really felt like this is where the race begins. I got a massive shout at the roundabout, this was local territory for me and I felt about 10ft tall striding down cromwellsfort road. At that point last year I was wasted and just hanging on but it was polar opposite today.
Took things up a notch as per the plan. Up until that point had been hovering around the 6:00-6:03min/mile mark, now I took it up to 5:50 or thereabouts. Passed the 14mile point and Roadrunner gave me a big shout. Then I saw Rob Teevan up ahead, he looked in trouble. Hes usually a sub 2:30 guy but not today. I passed him: You Ok Rob? Leg is ****ed was the response, But I'll finish, he added. Fair play, Id expect nothing less from a warrior like him.
I was still passing people but I knew I was getting into the territory of some serious runners as the number of bodies had thinned out substantially. I passed two guys and then this one lad came up alongside me. I took a quick look at him and I knew he meant business, he looked very strong. He fell into step beside me and that was it, we didnt say a word to each other but a silent agreement had been made between us. We were really motoring, it was 1:17 pace and I felt grand. The miles started to fly by. I had gone out during the week on my bike to go over the course to get the lay of the land. It was absolutley 100% the best move id made in preparing for the marathon because I knew excatly what was around the next corner. I knew I just needed to hang on until around 21miles and then all the really difficult terrain would be in the bag. But then as I was approaching the hill at milltown disaster, I got a whopper stitch in my right side. My friend started to pull away, he looked back at me as if to say, c'mon lets go, but the stitch was bad, I was starting to slow. I dug my hand into my side and attempted to massage the point where it hurt the most. It was working but I was slipping back. A guy came alongside me I recognised him, it was Abhainn. We started to work together and I was feeling ok again, the sticth had gone, but worringly the tightness in my achilles was making its prescence known more and more as the miles went by. We got to the clonskeagh hill and a lad in red went passed. It was a wake up call, no way if we were going fast enough should anybody be overtaking us, not at 20miles gone. So I reacted and went after him, but my achilles wasnt happy at all. I started to worry a bit, thoughts of having to drop out due to injury crossed my mind briefly. But no way would I let that I happen. Id crawl to the finish on my stomach if I had to.
We shot up roeback hill and rounded the corner onto Fosters ave. I was nervous about the downhill sections. I didnt mind the uphills so much but downhills give me the heebie jeebies, an injury waiting to happen. We tore down the hill but just as we turned onto the stillorgen duel carrigeway my achilles went. Not in any massive, snapping way, but I knew the gig was up. I slowed, I just couldnt run as fast as I had been, even though I felt strong. Everytime my foot hit the deck there was no spring back up, it felt flat and sore. Abhainn went by me and off up the ucd flyover. All I was concerned about at that point though was making it to the finish before something snapped. Ed Mcentee from sportsworld came up alongside me and said we should work together to get to the finish. I said fine, but my achilles might not make it all the way, Id hang onto him as long as I could. We were making could time and we were almost on top of abhainn again when the achilles locked up once more. That was it for sure, I couldnt push it, I had to ease back a little to the point where it wasnt screaming at me. I lost about 6 places in the last mile which I was gutted over but it couldve been worse. Got to nassau street and with 300m to go somebody shouted at me to put the hammer down, and so I did. Managed to almost catch some polish lad on the line.

2:42. Not bad, pretty happy. If you had offered me that a few weeks ago when I was wasted after the national half Id have taken it in a heartbeat. Its a PB by over 3minutes which is also good. Im thinking a lot over the last few days about what might have been. That guy I was working with from about 14miles to 18miles ended up going 2:37. If that stitch hadnt have hit at that moment Im pretty sure I couldve stayed with him, regardless of how the achilles felt. I know if I was rocking towards that time I wouldnt have cared as much about how my leg felt. But its spilt milk and no use crying now. Made a lot of mistakes this year and as a result I learned tons, its all relevant. Im already really excited about next year. Ive talked to the guy I train with and we've mapped out what we're gonna do next year, we have a good small group all going for the same targets so its gonna be good. Im going to stick to my one marathon per year rule. I did too many races this year and it was a diluted effort in the end. I wanna give everything I have to that one marathon, if I did any more I think Id end up doing 2 or 3 mediocre marathons as opposed to one great one.
It was a great day though, think I'll always remember this one for some reason.

TheRoadRunner

tunguska wrote: »

Wasnt gonna do this but feck it, could be cathartic.

Could have helped sort the bowels out if you could have written this last week

Berlin will be flat and fast, we'll have a training and racing group for it. The reason you'll remember last Monday is because we will take a lump off that time.

aero2k

Great report tunguska.

I had a feeling you were about 90 sec down on target when I saw you at 10k, but you looked fine so I wasn't too worried. I didn't think you'd have such an eventful next 32k though!

I think your plan of being more focussed next year is a good one, I reckon we all have a big bundle of nervous energy that gets quickly depleted if you spread it too thin. Just because you're physically capable of racing every week doesn't mean you should, it's better to make the races fit in as stepping stones to a bigger goal.

Best of luck next year, looking forward to more great things from you.

misty floyd

4 stars (good)

Very glad you posted that Tunguska, an excellent report. The learnings are gold really. Something to take away and get even better. Well done again on an amazing time. As Aero says looking forward to hearing even better things next year.

RacoonQueen

4 stars (good)

Great report tunguska. Cracking run too, your next one is going to be an absolute cracker. Do we really have to wait a whole year before we see what you can really do?

tunguska

4 stars (good)

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Berlin will be flat and fast, we'll have a training and racing group for it. The reason you'll remember last Monday is because we will take a lump off that time.

Now that there is fightin' talk.........I like it. Im looking forward to it man, I know youre chomping at the bit to get going. Its gonna be great.

tunguska

4 stars (good)

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Great report tunguska. Cracking run too, your next one is going to be an absolute cracker. Do we really have to wait a whole year before we see what you can really do?

Cheers, next year will be a belter. Im afraid it will be a years wait but you'll appreciate it more when next time eventually comes around. You should try the one per year strategy, see what happens......

lecheile

4 stars (good)

Nando. wrote: »

I’m not sure which of the pacers he was, it may have been LeCheile but I’m not sure

As 3:30 train driver Peckham has already confirmed Nando - It was I!

Many ask the question as to why I and other pacers 'give up their race' or perform such a 'selfless act' but for me, and I'm sure for most of the other pacers, it is a pure indulgence. All it takes is a single piece of feedback like this to make any effort worthwhile - It is really a very satisfying job and a lot of fun!

Nando. wrote: »

many, many thanks for getting me over the line sub 3.30

Nando - it was my absolute pleasure!

Hard Worker

Hey Tunguska! That's some target you've set for my brother in New York
Well done.

pauldry

3 stars (average)

Did the marathon as I mentioned before in 5hr 17mins chip time 5hrs 11

Just thinking it must be a total bugger to organise the thing what with all the gels and orange and water and prizes and shirts and tshirts and goodie bags and rds and registration and starting and whistles and sponsors and fm 104 and drums and spar drums and guitarists and radios and radios in cars and radios in gardens and radio stations and children high 5 ing and jelly sweets and specatators looking and cheering and shouting and telling you what to do and pushing you that extra mile and taking some smarties from a fine thing that i couldnt take coz my hand muscles seized up and looking for famous people and looking for you people even though i dont know you people though i do know of you people and looking for something that would mean the finish was near and sticking to the road as the miles wore on and climbing up the hills so slowly at the end and peeing in the bushes and behind trunks and trunking in the portaloos behind water stations and running so slowing you go backwards and finiding that the finish is so near and hearing the familiar voices of your loved ones near the end and hearing the chappy on the loudspeaker naming names as you cross the finish line and lifting your heavy arms in celebration and getting your chip torn off and taking your medal as it drags you neck back down and getting your goodies with more shower gel and getting that hard earned light blue long sleeved shirt and meeting your loved ones and not being able to talk and not being able to move and eating a banana and a jaffa cake and promising not to do it ever again and changing your mind and going for dinner and thanking the stewards.

Must be a bugger to organise:)

jlang

3:17'23 for me. Started easy enough and stayed 30 seconds or so behind the 3:15 pacers for the first few miles, easing past on the downhill through the Phoenix Park. Got to 23 miles averaging 7'23 but I'd been finding it tougher since Milltown. I dropped back, closing with 7'51, 8'18, 9'10, 1'54 to finish in great discomfort but still running. I witnessed the pace train pass by on Merrion Road and I was impressed by the pacers' energy and enthusiasm and hung on for half a mile or so but powerless to keep up.

Plenty of possible excuses for the fall-off but I'm inclined to think an extra gel might have allowed me keep the pace up until to the finish, rather than faulting my pacing or arrogance in passing the pacers. On gels, I finished with three in my back pocket, but after sitting down in the pub I only had two left and a sticky smelly mess in my pants.

On balance I'm delighted with the time, a PB by 11 minutes that I'd have gladly taken if offered that morning.

Peckham

tunguska wrote: »

As we turned onto Dorset street some lad in a pair of GAA shorts and a big red cotton t-shirt came up alongside me, carrying a big 1.5 litre bottle of water in his hand???? He said to me: How ya boss.........and then proceeded to fall over a traffic island, hitting the bricks like a sack of spuds, arms and legs everywhere, water bottle went flying. He got back up, grabbed the water bottle and sprinted after the rest of us. Jaysus that'd wake ye up!

Love it!

Congrats again on a great time. Fair play to you to not panicking after your pitstop. 1:30 is a big chunk of time for a 2:4X marathoner!

RubyK

4 stars (good)

Brilliant report tunguska, fantastic, eventful running Best of luck with next years plans, sounds like you are all fired up for it, already!