Art O'Neill Challenge 2011

Git101

4 stars (good)

Met the organiser, Gearoid on Saturday at WAR Glenmalure and the fecker has sown a seed.
This looks to be an interesting event. I'm thinking hard about giving it a go.

dare2be

mithril wrote: »

Just to point out from safety point of view, no-one should attempt to run this unless they have completed a regular road marathon before without difficulty. This will be a good deal tougher and you don't want to "hit the wall" in the dark and cold miles from help. Completion time is not that important; its having the endurance and the miles in the legs that is required.

Point taken. So starting to train for it now would be about right or would i have missed the boat so to speak?

Enduro

4 stars (good)

mithril wrote: »

I agree there are not many roads, but there are quite a few sections of good trails that appear safely runnable in the dark, and where you would make better progress than a walking group.

From a couple of recces and a close reading of the maps, this is what I am thinking of doing:

Walk initially from Kippure House across the river (not sure where bridge is ?) along shoulder of Ballybrockan Hill until connect with road. Looks to be about 1KM. Not sure if any of this is runnable?

About 4KM run on the road to Ballynultagh Car park.

2KM jog on good stony trail to top of Black Hill.

4.5KM walk on rough ground over Billy Byrnes Gap until connect with forest trail near intersection of Ballinagee River and Gowran brook.

2 KM run on forest trail southwards until reach the R756 just south of Ballinagee Bridge

3KM run on a forest trail until reach the Glenreemore Brook.

2km walk following the river until reach Art's Cross.
Ascend the ramp here.

1 KM walk on rough ground south west until reach Three Lakes.

1 KM walk due south until reach river.

1 KM walk south following river until reach Table Track forest trail.

3.5 KM run on Table Track south east until reach finish at Barravore.


Comments?

Without access to maps at the moment that reads pretty accurately, with one or two small adjustments. The route out of Kippure house goes down to a bridge over the river. From there you climb to the peak of the hill south and pick up the track that runs off the peak westwards. That takes you directly to the road out. The official route from Billy Byrnes gap was different, and took a slightly more western route. All the rest sounds good. Navigation is at a premium from Art's Cross to Glenmalure.

It's worth sticking to the suggested route as best you can. It gives the mountain rescue lads a much better chance of finding you (and in a winter run like this there is always the chance of something unexpected happening). Definitely hit the checkpoints, as otherwise you'll cause a panic.

As Jeff says, there is no problem using a headtorh for visibility. In fact when I ran it I didn't even need to use that, as there was enough ambient light for me to see what I needed to. A darker night would have required it though.

And don't forget, to complete it you can always just walk if running is too difficult. Plenty of the route is so difficult that it has to be walked anyway (climbing towards Art's Cross being the most obvious example that springs to mind)

mithril

dare2be wrote: »

Point taken. So starting to train for it now would be about right or would i have missed the boat so to speak?

If in doubt, do the run from Dublin Castle to Kippure, then take a call as to whether to join a fast walking group or stick with the original group who will attempt to run on a bit more.

An awful lot depends on the weather.
Don't underestimate how awful it can be to walk for hours in hail or driving rain across bad terrain in the dark or how easy it is to die of exposure in the hills with a bad sequence of luck.

The last time I did something like this was a sponsored attempt to climb the highest point in every country in Ireland inside 100 hours which involved a lot of night running. We had a girl who thought she broke her ankle - turned out to be a severe sprain - on Cuilcagh mountain in Cavan and had to carry her down in the dark and rain. If she had been separated from the group, she could have lost her life very easily.

shipstirrer

www.artoneillchallenge.com is now live

sarsfieldsrock

What way will the trails be marked for this? Will there be any signs marking the course or is it self navigation.
I am seriously thinking of doing this but would only have run well marked trails before. I have done night trail runs but they are very well marked at the turns.

shipstirrer

all details on site. trails are not marked, you need to be a good navigator or join one of the guided groups.

shipstirrer

if you are doing the ultra there are several options you can have. go it alone, go it alone to 25k and join in with other runners who need leading or go alone to 25k and join a walking group. you can also enter as a team with one or two competent navigators

ThisRegard

I'm guessing they're not marked at all, or if so, poorly. Hence the need for guides, navigators on teams and the links to a navigation course.

sarsfieldsrock

There is a garmin connect activity link earlier in the thread showing the 2009 route. Will the 2011 route be the exact same route and if so could you use that on another Garmin to follow the route?

ThisRegard

On the Art site there's a Garmin route from a competitor in a previous race so presumably that will be the course. There's also fairly detailed description on the course page.

shipstirrer

site has all the details pretty clear. same route as last time.

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

So in terms of training, can anyone recommend a training plan? Or is it a case of following a regular marathon plan and perhaps doing the long sunday runs on trails/hills?

It's a great challenge, would love to give it a shot.

Antigrav

You can learn from the fatality that ocurred on the inaugural staging of this event.

1. The competitor had inadequate clothing, having left his jacket in the toilet at the start

2. Nutrition prior to the event was poor

3. No food or drink was consumed during the race, except beer

3. Two competitors had not covered significant distances before due to restricted movement

4. The footware worn was not suitable for hill walking

5. Mountain rescue were late on the scene

All of the above risks are avoidable with foresight, planning, and good training

shipstirrer

When was that Antigrav? Sounds like someone who should have been nowhere near a hill.

First time this event was staged it was 2009 when it was fully supported with food, guides and mountain rescue with not even a sprained ankle to report on.

Before 2009, the Art O Neill walk took place but it was in no way an organised event like it is now. It was up to individuals themselves to sort themselves out.

Different scenario now.

Enduro and Jeff on Tour ran it last time and should be able to offer good advice on training and what to expect

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

shipstirrer wrote: »

When was that Antigrav? Sounds like someone who should have been nowhere near a hill.

First time this event was staged it was 2009 when it was fully supported with food, guides and mountain rescue with not even a sprained ankle to report on.

Before 2009, the Art O Neill walk took place but it was in no way an organised event like it is now. It was up to individuals themselves to sort themselves out.

Different scenario now.

Enduro and Jeff on Tour ran it last time and should be able to offer good advice on training and what to expect

I think he's talking about Art himself! No merino wool in those days.

donothoponpop

Brilliant AntiGrav, took me hook line and sinker!

shipstirrer

Ya fecker antigrav !!! Just reread ur post

good one

Rinker

nerraw1111 wrote: »

So in terms of training, can anyone recommend a training plan? Or is it a case of following a regular marathon plan and perhaps doing the long sunday runs on trails/hills?

It's a great challenge, would love to give it a shot.

Likewise I'd like to have a go at this race. Can anyone offer any advice on gear especially head torches before I rush out and buy an unsuitable one?
I'm planning on running stretches of the wicklow way as training and doing some course recce's. During daylight at first but it'd probably be a good idea to get some night running in too.

sarsfieldsrock

You can get expensive ones and to see the specialized ones just type "running head torch" into a google search. It will probably come back with Petzl as the brand.
I have run a few night races and use an Energizer head torch that I bought in Dunnes for €8. Now the races I have used it in have had a lot of other runners with head torches but I have also run on the Curragh on my own with it and it shows the way quite well.
What will be more important will be the clothing and footwear that you select for this. You can expect fairly harsh weather in Jan so wear a few layers and get a pair of good gloves and a good hat and make sure there is no cotton clothing worn.

jeffontour

nerraw1111 wrote: »

So in terms of training, can anyone recommend a training plan?

Follow a regular marathon plan but maybe throw in a few longer runs back to back over weekends. Something like 2 three hour runs over a weekend. It's time on your feet that's the important thing I think as that's what will be the big difference between this and a marathon.

Do as many of your longer runs as you can in the hills. Can't beat training in terrain similar to the event to indicate any problems you may have on the night. Be it equipment or physical conditioning related.

Get out for some runs with your headtorch. Not sure where you are based but if you're in Dublin the Ticknock area on the southside would be perfect and Howth head on the northside.

And don't forget to stop every now and again and enjoy the views!

Antigrav

Antigrav wrote: »

You can learn from the fatality that ocurred on the inaugural staging of this event.

Well spotted nerraw1111, this was about Art, but also so people do not undertake this event lightly.

1. The competitor had inadequate clothing, having left his jacket in the toilet at the start

They climbed down the sh1t hole in the privvy to escape the Castle

2. Nutrition prior to the event was poor

Dinners in the lockup were none too great, although Art was described as 'corpulent'

3. No food or drink was consumed during the race, except beer

Don't know why this didn't work. Works for me

3. Two competitors had not covered significant distances before due to restricted movement

They were shackled

4. The footware worn was not suitable for hill walking

Sandals and thongs?

5. Mountain rescue were late on the scene

You can't really blame O'Byrne, 'twas a miserable night

I'd also suggest anyone contemplating this to walk the section between Black Hill and Glenmalure during the day. You can park a car on the other side of Sorrell Hill after going through Lacken, and leave another at the end of the trail.

The section up to Art's cross and past the Three Lakes near Table Mountain is tough enough in daylight and being familiar with the lie of the land would help getting through it at night.

shipstirrer

good advice antigrav although everyone gets to arts cross area after sunrise. even still, its worth the recce. for the majority, sunrise has already happened by the time they get to ballinagee bridge (second pit stop...hence the porridge!)

Some of the ultra runners will definitely push this though. enduro did around 7hrs last time and hit the 2nd checkpoint somewhere around sunrise.

mithril

Antigrav wrote: »

I'd also suggest anyone contemplating this to walk the section between Black Hill and Glenmalure during the day. You can park a car on the other side of Sorrell Hill after going through Lacken, and leave another at the end of the trail.

The section up to Art's cross and past the Three Lakes near Table Mountain is tough enough in daylight and being familiar with the lie of the land would help getting through it at night.

I am doing to do a recce of some section of the route on Sunday. Let me know if anyone wants to join me. If there is another car available, will try what is suggested above.

guapos

This might be handy for a training run
http://www.wmr.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155

ezikel

I am organising the art and would definitely recommend the Mountain Rescue Moonlight walk as a training run for ultra runners and walkers alike.

Its ideal preparation. However ultras be warned that the Art requires good navigation skills if you decide to go it alone, if you are sketchy on the navigation front I will have to move you into a team at checkpoint 1.

Any questions at all, just mail me on the contact page on the Art site.

sarsfieldsrock

Okay so. I have registered for this with the option to be accompanied by a navigator after checkpoint 1.
Who else is in and is anybody going without the navigator?

mithril

sarsfieldsrock wrote: »

Okay so. I have registered for this with the option to be accompanied by a navigator after checkpoint 1.
Who else is in and is anybody going without the navigator?

I will definitely be doing this if uninjured and also plan to take the navigator option.

Oisin11178

sarsfieldsrock wrote: »

Okay so. I have registered for this with the option to be accompanied by a navigator after checkpoint 1.
Who else is in and is anybody going without the navigator?

Might tag along with yourself if thats alright eddie:D

sarsfieldsrock

I wouldn't have thought you were a great one for navigating in the Irish mountains but the crack should be good anyway!