road / offroad race popularity

Slogger Jogger

In Rathdrum Sunday morning last there was a road 5k which got reasonable local advertisement. The turn-out was c. 100 which was probably disappointing all things considered. I probably would have gone myself but for another running event on. Race clashes and all that.

Yesterday evening more by word of mouth than anything we got nearly 150 out at a trail race near Ashford and many of those would have travelled from Dublin to get there. Route was first class. You really were one with nature.

Are road races losing their popularity? Is offroad getting more popular? Hard to tell from 2 isolated events obviously but certainly I've never seen as many people at imra races this year. If I was going to organise an event offroad is probably what I'd look to do.

Sport101

Only started doing the imra races last year and i'll give you my two cents:

- IMRA races are very well organised
- Excellent website,
-always up to date including race results 1hr after races
-comparative stats on site to see how you are performing week to
week, year to year, against others and yourself.
-Inclusive friendly atomsphere, limited elitism
-Awesome surroundings and views when running, a lot of people spend their days stuck in offices and running roads gets boring around towns. Great way to see the Dublin and Wicklow mountains.
-Its cheap, 7 EUR per race
-Its bloody tough, but rewarding...and running downhill is fun!
-Loads of different grades of races across the country
-Great strength training
-Trails are easier on your joints.

Road races are good for setting PBs, that's it for me really.

robinph

I'd expect n00b racers to be doing road races and those of us that have been doing them for longer to be the market for the dafter cross country or trail races. Slightly different market for each type of race.

BeepBeep67

I don't think it's fair to pick 2 races and try and draw a conclusion.
I would suggest that well established events and organisations are seeing a lift in participation during this current running boom - IMRA, BHAA, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, etc. New events trying to latch onto this will find it difficult in the absense of a marketing engine, Billy and team in all fairness are relying on old methods, local radio, local rag, support from local clubs - that's not good enough anymore. They had a great 10k last year, this year they changed to 5k, you need to build from a base, create consistency, create a will to return and beat your course record, tell your friends about the hospitality - Lechille 5k for example.
The cream will survive and get stronger, the rest will be one hit wonders while fickle noobs flirt from race to race.

RayCun

I think there's a smaller pool of trail runners, but they're tighter knit, have an established schedule, and turn up to a high percentage of races on that schedule.
There are loads more road runners. Most of them aren't in any sort of club, they're spoilt for choice with races, so any given race can have a hard time getting entrants.

ThisRegard

I find road running, even just training, incredibly boring after a couple of miles, it's one of the reasons why I'm not in any hurry to do a mainstream marathon any time soon.

I'd agree with many of the reasons Sport101 gave, you have some fantastic scenery and landscapes to use and there's nothing more exhilarating than flying down some tight trails with plants and trees rushing by your head, the descent of the IMRA Sugarbowl being a great example when you cut through the ferns of the main track. Putting the hippy hat on but there's just a great feeling about getting into the hills, mountains and forests for a run.

It may get mighty painful on the way up but you just don't get that high at the end of a road race as you do from a trail/mountain one, I have a smile and that giddy feeling at the end of almost everyone one.

nerraw1111

Interesting question slogger. There appears to be a bigger buzz amongst newbies, and I include myself in that, for the trail and off road races.

As a newbie, I find myself choosing races/events based on the route. For instance, at the start of the year, I was definitely going to do the Adidas Race series and some BHAA races.

But as the year wore on, the Dublin half marathon Plod came on the scene which clashed with the five mile the next day.

The ten mile clashes with Gaelforce and the half marathon clashes with ROAR. I also chose IMRA over BHAA. I did this entirely based on the course and the off road nature.

At the moment, I'm not too pushed about PBs. I measure my improvements based on race position. Perhaps newbies aren't pushed about PBs and prefer to get out in nature and enjoy it.

I also think the fact that in the last few years, a lot of the country went on around the world trips and got their first taste of the outdoors. They are now bringing their new found passion home.

Just my 2 cents.

Peterx

Road races are perceived as being only for proper athletes with singlets.
IMRA, BHAA, Triathlons... et cetera are seen as more inclusive and all of the BHAA/IMRA and most of the triathlons are very web savvy with their results whilst many of the road races never have their results out in any reasonable time (no pun intended

10k road races struggle to find entrants yet olympic distance triathlons fill out to their limit within days and they have a swim and a cycle before your 10k run.

Rashers23

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

In Rathdrum Sunday morning last there was a road 5k which got reasonable local advertisement. The turn-out was c. 100 which was probably disappointing all things considered.

I work close to Rathdrum and the only advertising I saw was on a sign on the road towards the village. There are often signs put on noticeboards in work for events around the area but none for this..missed opportunity I would say for the organisers.

hunnymonster

robinph wrote: »

I'd expect n00b racers to be doing road races and those of us that have been doing them for longer to be the market for the dafter cross country or trail races. Slightly different market for each type of race.

That's certainly my experience.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to pick 2 races and try and draw a conclusion..

+1

Peterx wrote: »

Road races are perceived as being only for proper athletes with singlets.
IMRA, BHAA, Triathlons... et cetera are seen as more inclusive and all of the BHAA/IMRA and most of the triathlons are very web savvy with their results whilst many of the road races never have their results out in any reasonable time (no pun intended

My experience would be exactly the opposite of this: 90% of people I see at road races are the weekend warriers like myself, middle aged, middle weight and trying to stay fit. The IMRA races I find very elite (I asked for some advice from an experienced imra runner at my last one and was told not to bother starting if I didn't know the answer already!) Triathlon is go gear heavy that there is a major commitment to taking part financially not to mention the competency required in multiple disciplined so it tends to be taken more seriously. I know the Dublin BHAA is slightly different to the Cork one but in Cork the BHAA is a series of road races so I'd put them in that category.

Peterx wrote: »

10k road races struggle to find entrants yet olympic distance triathlons fill out to their limit within days and they have a swim and a cycle before your 10k run.

Triathlons are confined to the middle few months of the year and generally have lower caps on the numbers they can register so supply and demand would automatically make them fill faster all other things being even.

Slogger Jogger

hunnymonster wrote: »

The IMRA races I find very elite (I asked for some advice from an experienced imra runner at my last one and was told not to bother starting if I didn't know the answer already!)..

Sorry you had that experience. Elite is probably the last word that comes into my head when I think of imra races. You just need to ask the imra guys here for advice HM The turn-out for the world trial race today would have been fairly elite in imra runner terms. That would have been a factor in me not running. Running just uphill would have been the main factor.. that and clashing family commitments. Instead I found my own on and offroad training run to do in keeping with the theme of this thread.