Gaelforce North????

rubberducky1888

Hi all, I was on http://www.msai.ie (Multi Sport Adventure Ireland) and I noticed on their calender an event in June '11 called "Gaelforce North". I checked with Gaelforce Events and I couldn't find mention of the event. Does anybody know anything about the event. It said that it was to be staged in Donegal but the google map link is wrong. Assuming that it will run along the same lines as GFW, that would mean that Mt. Errigal would be involved at some stage or maybe I'm on completely the wrong wavelength. Any info would be great. Cheers

Excuseless

rubberducky1888 wrote: »

Hi all, I was on http://www.msai.ie (Multi Sport Adventure Ireland) and I noticed on their calender an event in June '11 called "Gaelforce North". I checked with Gaelforce Events and I couldn't find mention of the event. Does anybody know anything about the event. It said that it was to be staged in Donegal but the google map link is wrong. Assuming that it will run along the same lines as GFW, that would mean that Mt. Errigal would be involved at some stage or maybe I'm on completely the wrong wavelength. Any info would be great. Cheers

The word has been out on the grapevine down west at least regarding this event for past couple of weeks.
I just got the date confirmed to me on Friday and added it to the MSAI Calendar so that folk know about it for next year when planning their events.
The google maplink just comes up automatically in relation to the location put in so don't pay too much heed to it.

I don't have anything to do with the organisation of this event!

I think Errigal is likely to be involved but the details are still being ironed out by the GF folk I believe so expect a mail from them I reckon when details are available.

ThisRegard

The Gaelforce email today says details of the event will be announced this week.

Mr Freeze

http://www.gaelforceevents.com/north/

Officially announced now.

ThisRegard

You must be feeling hard done by CKWPORT, an event not in your part of the country for a change ;-)

I've never really been around Donegal so this would be a good opportunity to see it.

Mr Freeze

Aye, I am gutted.

But I feel I have to go though as I am pictured in the banner on the site for it now, got some shock when I clicked the link and saw myself in the kayak.

I will definitely consider going as long as some inconsiderate friend of mine doesn't decide to get married that weekend, thats about all that might prevent me. I missed one event this year due to a wedding, Sea2Summit, and that was in my home town too, wasn't impressed.

nerraw1111

Wonkagirl in 5, 4, 3....

Looks good.

Be great if they did offered a reduction for entering the two events. Or least to boardsies who did a great job promoting the event last time out

ThisRegard

Yeah, it would be a good idea to take a leaf from the ROAR guys with a discount for multiple events, I know many will do at least 3 of their races.

I was wondering where Wonkagirl is myself !

groovyg

ThisRegard wrote: »

Yeah, it would be a good idea to take a leaf from the ROAR guys with a discount for multiple events, I know many will do at least 3 of their races.



Ya couldn't agree more, they should definitely offer the Boards members a discount considering one of their organisers have advertised their events on here and then got banned for it. Aside from this alot of the boards members support their events.

Seres

definitely up for this one , june is a really nice time for these sort of events , hopefully we wont be ripped off , that will def turn me off !

threeleggedhors

In my home county, it's a defo for me. Be prepared for plenty of hills !!. Gonna see if I can rope a few mates from home into doing it. Glenveagh is stunning by the way. Looking forward to it already. Now to download the Goats Don't Shave tune "The Hills of Donegal", da doo doo doo da doo doo doo, north and south we'll keep them out ...

darabbit

Very excited about this. Other halfs bday on same day but have already convinced him that Donegal is a great 'wee place' to golf:) We can kill 2 birds with one stone and all a that...
I don't think many people will get a chance to sample the course before June though!! And ye thought Westport was far...

helimachoptor

Will be doing this with the same friend as GFW earlier this year. Looking forward to it and will start the training post xmas!

snailsong

Don't know if I'll do it but just wanted to post in the thread before Wonkagirl:).

And hey, whaddya mean its not in Mayo,,,

Wonkagirl

:Dhahaha i'm a few days late.. but very excited needless to mention!:D

this is good news, and will surely mean PBs for all of us in GFW in august..

woe betide anyone who decides to get married either weekend. although weddings look a little thinner on the ground for me next yr, unless a few engagements pop up over the xmas period, which is always likely, mens knees seem to buckle this time of yr!

there should definitely be a special GF price for people who enter both, and indeed connemara which is of course the same family!

meanwhile, my fitness has gone to pot. roll on jan1 when normal order will resume. barely working out once a week at the moment due to work/social commitments. it's driving me demented!

Wonkagirl

just noticed how many !!!!!!!'s i had in my previous post!!!!!!!!!!!
god i'm excited about the season ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(she's back)

rubberducky1888

Tg4 Rás Earragail and gaelforce north, are these both the same race because they're on in the same place and same date. Just wondering

Countess Macky

I see that there was a change of date for Gaelforce North to 4th June 2011.
The Tg4 Rás Earragail is on the 25th June 2011.

Fi H

Seems strange that Gaelforce decided to branch out and plan a race for the same place and date as a race has already been planned!

Thinking of checking out Ras Errigail as it will probably have good sponsorship if TV4 doing it! so might be cheaper to enter!

I emailed the Ras Errigail people and they said their website will be up by end of Jan!

rubberducky1888

Well I'll be supporting the Tg4 Rás Earragail just because the gaelforce crowd seem to be taking over the country. Now don't take me wrong, they organise a great event but monopolies are never good so bar a poor course design I'll be giving my money to the new guys

thehamo

Just had a look there at the Gaelforce North Race. In two minds as tho whether to do it or not. Deffo want to do GFW again this year as I know I can better my time with a bit of training. 85 euro for each race? Man thats expensive! Will be doing Conemara as well as it was my first race last year and Due to a broken bike incident I had to run the last 8 km of the bike section with the bloody thing. So I know ( and will) do better in that!

On a different note, got my self a brand spankin new (well nearly) Cyclo cross bike the other day. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING on the bog roads GFW:D

mini mal

the price seems a bit steep at euro85. is there anything cheaper around?

donothoponpop

mini mal wrote: »

the price seems a bit steep at euro85. is there anything cheaper around?

There is indeed mimi mal. You could do the IMRA Carauntoohill race for only €7, staffed by volunteers and cheery faces.

Another option is the Wicklow Adventure Race at Glendalough, sunshine guaranteed, and hosted by Excuseless, who often engages with this forum, and lists competitors races on his calendar- which is for the benefit of the whole AR community, no?

mod What you shouldn't do on this forum is post solely to advertise a race you are involved in, when thats a commercial race. There's a very generous and open bunch of posters here, who would far prefer event organizers were upfront about their involvement in races they are promoting. One of the worst offenders in this regard is GF Events, who have opened up multiple accounts in the past to find out if "anyone has heard of this race?" that they are organizing. It appears, despite the PM's I have sent to you, that you want to go down the same road with your event. That's not being fair to the forum members here, and if it continues, I will ban mention of your event. The rules on event promotion are fair, and for the benefit of those that pay the entry fee rather than those who profit from the entry fee. /mod

ThisRegard

The <snip> is on the same weekend for about half the price.

mod Sorry ThisRegard, but this is the event he is trying to promote, and is the response he was looking for /mod

smallwonder

Countess Macky wrote: »

I see that there was a change of date for Gaelforce North to 4th June 2011.
The Tg4 Rás Earragail is on the 25th June 2011.

Apparently Ras Eargail is not going ahead now. As a native in these parts i've been around most of the route that Gaelforce North are including in their event. The run through Glenveagh should be mighty...it's downhill at the start too which should help warm up the wee legs. The cycle is fairly hilly at the start but when you get out onto the back of errigal road it flattens out...enough time to catch your breath before the ascent to Errigal. Having climbed Croagh Patrick I definitely think Errigal is a much nicer climb(could that be biased??) Hope you get a good day as the views are stunning. The offroad section through the forest is a bumpy one...i've only done it in a mountain bike and found that tough enough! You end up down at Bunbeg beach with an old beached boat made famous in Bono & Clannad's video for a song I can't remember!!
I think I'l perch myself at the hotel bar and watch you all finish...sipping a cold beer:-)

Fi H

Yup cancelled - v dissappointed as I really wanted to do this but theres a lot of other things on june bank holiday

Seres

donothoponpop wrote: »

There is indeed mimi mal. You could do the IMRA Carauntoohill race for only €7, staffed by volunteers and cheery faces.

Another option is the Wicklow Adventure Race at Glendalough, sunshine guaranteed, and hosted by Excuseless, who often engages with this forum, and lists competitors races on his calendar- which is for the benefit of the whole AR community, no?

mod What you shouldn't do on this forum is post solely to advertise a race you are involved in, when thats a commercial race. There's a very generous and open bunch of posters here, who would far prefer event organizers were upfront about their involvement in races they are promoting. One of the worst offenders in this regard is GF Events, who have opened up multiple accounts in the past to find out if "anyone has heard of this race?" that they are organizing. It appears, despite the PM's I have sent to you, that you want to go down the same road with your event. That's not being fair to the forum members here, and if it continues, I will ban mention of your event. The rules on event promotion are fair, and for the benefit of those that pay the entry fee rather than those who profit from the entry fee. /mod

god thats really good value though , €7 , will def consider doin it if i dont do flora mini marathon or rough diamond adventure race , thought bout gael force north , but frankly i think the GF events are a bit of rip off and i dont think these events are organised with any goodwill for the sport !

helimachoptor

Does anyone have an idea of how rough the off road part is for the bike, would it be similar to the last part of GFW last year?

coill100

Off road is not as bad as Gfw.
I know this route very well, the rough patch starts will a steep hill at the gate of the coillte forest for about 1km and then to rough chippings (Black) on the forestry track for another 1km.
After this, you are on two ok...ish forestry track going down hill.
This will be fast, so watch for loose stones etc.
From the gate at the bottom of the coilte forest to the other end is aprox 6kms. Once at the other end you are on to the main road, this too is quite fast depending on the wind direction.
Watch the turn off at Bunbeg, it will be tight and you will go wide.
Ending a sharp hill towards the beach.

Rinker

I'm just considering choice of shoes for this race. does anyone know what the first run section is like? forest road or rough trails?

ThisRegard

No forest trails anyway. First bit is mostly tarmac path before you cut up the hill on fairly wet and boggy conditions before you rejoin the path and eventually the road.
After the kayak it's more wet bog before road and the next big run is Croagh Patrick.

Rinker

ThisRegard wrote: »

No forest trails anyway. First bit is mostly tarmac path before you cut up the hill on fairly wet and boggy conditions before you rejoin the path and eventually the road.
After the kayak it's more wet bog before road and the next big run is Croagh Patrick.

you're mistaking it with GF west. I'm trying to figure out what the terrain is like on the run thru Glenveigh National Park?

coill100

Just a gravel road to start with, that is untill you reach the castle.
After the castle you turn right up a two to three hundred meter climb.
Down hill for last couple of kms to gartan lake.
Shoes, I used a pair of trail running shoes on gaelforce and clips for the bike.
The downside to this is that you have to carry them when on the bike.
Hope this helps.

ThisRegard

Rinker wrote: »

you're mistaking it with GF west.

Just realised that myself, loosing track of what gaelforce that I'm reading.

helimachoptor

Looking forward to this. Have picked up a new road bike so will use that but having some shin splints on and off so hopefully they dont slow me down too much.

From GFW last year, i had nothing left at CP, but from evaluating it i realised it was from not eating enough.

This year myself and my friend will be having a quick sambo at the bike transition. Those energy bars are great but you still feel hungry

threeleggedhors

Only a 5% chance of precipitation on Saturday, light wind and 16 degrees, sweet as a nut ....:)

helimachoptor

threeleggedhors wrote: »

Only a 5% chance of precipitation on Saturday, light wind and 16 degrees, sweet as a nut ....:)

Hopefully a strong headwin would really take the fun out of it but a tailwind...

I'm in the 7am wave, what about you guys?

threeleggedhors

07:30, plenty early for me ...:p

yermandan

How do you know what wave you're in? I havent heard anything

threeleggedhors

yermandan wrote: »

How do you know what wave you're in? I havent heard anything

:eek: You had to choose a wave when registering and it'll be in that 1st email you got after registering...

helimachoptor

yermandan wrote: »

How do you know what wave you're in? I havent heard anything

Noob

Yes its in the firt email you got. Otherwise on Thursday there will be PDFs on GFN website and you can search for your name on that to find out your wave.

coill100

7:00am , just to get it over with a.s.a.p
Lets hope the sun shines!!!!!

smallwonder

Hi folks what is the story with the Mandatory kit? Do they check if you have everything in it? Not sure i would be bothered bringing waterproofs and hats etc with the weather forecast! Also do you have to bring it up the mountain?
Getting wild nervous now:eek:

coill100

They didn't check my kit at either the conamara adventure challange or galeforce west last year. It is worthwhile to have a light rain jacket, it gets cold on the mountain. Just think light....

helimachoptor

Agree with Coil, will have a very light rain jacket and thats it

threeleggedhors

The brother in law told me that 2 yrs ago at GFW a girl wasn't allowed onto the bus coz she didn't have the kit. Safe bet is to just have the gear, would be a shame to do a load of training, pay 80 euro and not get to do it..

Rinker

Looking forward to this one now. I've only seen Glenveigh on the Tv and its looks beautiful and plan on a soak in the Atlantic when I cross the finish line.
Not sure what to expect from Errigal. Does anyone have an idea of how long it takes to get up and down Errigal compared to Croagh Patrick or what time the elites should do it in?

threeleggedhors

Rinker wrote: »

Looking forward to this one now. I've only seen Glenveigh on the Tv and its looks beautiful and plan on a soak in the Atlantic when I cross the finish line.
Not sure what to expect from Errigal. Does anyone have an idea of how long it takes to get up and down Errigal compared to Croagh Patrick or what time the elites should do it in?

Haven't done it either but they're almost the same height so in and around the same length of time to do Croagh Patrick me thinks...

smallwonder

Rinker wrote: »

Not sure what to expect from Errigal. Does anyone have an idea of how long it takes to get up and down Errigal compared to Croagh Patrick or what time the elites should do it in?

We're getting up and down it in an hour with fresh legs...who knows how long on the day! The starting point for GFN is a wee bit different from the normal route at the carpark but there's a bit of a path to follow which gets you out of the heather! It's also a smidgen drier than the normal route as it's less traveled.

coill100

I am looking at 40 to 45 mins up and abut 15 to 20 down, which was my time at gfw. The assent to the top is not as slippy or sharp as the reek, however its not an easy climb after that cycle. Drink plenty on the bike, you will need it..
Seen my start time at 6:30 ouch.

smallwonder

Went up the Errigal route yesterday, they've it all flagged now...its a lot steeper than the one I've been practicing on...dammit! Horrible rocky section before you hit the path. I hope nobody comes a cropper on it on the way down:eek: