gaelforce west 20/8/2011

Kander

2 stars (poor)

smurph10 wrote: »

The Kayak was grand but for some reason i always get soar groins when trying to work the Kayak. 9 minutes i think.

This is normal for alot of people on sit on top kayaks. Its cos most of them don't have back support and so lot of pressure in put on the core body espicially defined the hip-flexors and upper thighs.
Having the back-pack on and body weight (belly) can make it worse as its harder to get an up-right body position and better balance to ease the pressure on the core.

Having a back rest will solve most of this for ya.
Hope this help ya

Fi H

Greetings from the land of cant walk, in agony but already planning for next year congrats peter! I cant comprehend how you can go that fast but clearly its possible

mdlb

4 stars (good)

second year doing it and managed to shave 23 mins off to finish exactly on 5 hrs!!! delighted!!! very well run this year, last bit of the bike being barriered off was a big help... easier than dodging buggies like last year!!

well done to everyone who done it!!

robroy1234

Fi H. Get into an ice-bath - 20 minutes everyday. Well its not really ice, but cold water with the option of throwing ice-cubes in. I do ice-baths everyday and it is an excellent rememdy for sore legs.

thehamo

3 stars (average)

Fi H wrote: »

Greetings from the land of cant walk, in agony but already planning for next year congrats peter! I cant comprehend how you can go that fast but clearly its possible

How did you get on Fi?

kuro2k

4 stars (good)

Great race on saturday, weather was fanatastic. It was my first time and it will definetly become a yearly event for me now.

It took me 6hrs exactly, my aim was to just finish so I'm happy out. I probably started in the wrong wave, CP nearly broke my heart........... Well done to all

hardCopy

3 stars (average)

hardCopy wrote: »

6:53

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

More on this tomorrow.

Well done all, done great times posted!

Back to reality today, just about every muscle aches at the moment.

I had an amazing day on Saturday and enjoyed almost all of it, even when I was suffering. This was my first time doing Gael Force West and it was a lot tougher than I expected, the course description doesn't do it justice.

I was in the 7am wave. The first run was much boggier and muddier than I expected, several times I went up to my knees in what looked like shallow puddles. I had a few falls on the bog run as my running shoes seemed to have no lateral grip running across a slope, no injuries though. 1:32:31 for the run leg.

I met my buddy in the queue for the kayaks so waited for him and we rowed across together. Here we witnessed an unfortunate pair of kayakers who did 5 full circles in the middle of the Fjord while they tried to understand the mechanics of steering a kayak. 9:32 spent on the water.

I stuck with my friend on the second run leg, we were both suffering at this point and slowed the pace a bit, got to the bikes in 31:17, I felt I could have been faster here but I was quite drained at this stage.

I was delighted to reach the bike as this was the part of the day I looked forward to most. I knew the roads out of Delphi pretty well since I had driven them three times on Friday night (see below) and made good progress out to the first hill. I hit the hill in too high a gear and ended up jumping off the bike and pushing for a bit, I got back on about half way up this and managed to stay in the saddle the rest of the way to the Reek. Descending the first hill I came across a lad who had crashed badly at Accident Blackspot 1, I stopped to see if he was OK but there were plenty of people with him and one had a phone so I continued on and flagged down civil defense at the next junction and sent them up. Anyone know if he was OK? The rest of the cycle went pretty well, the bog road was a lot rougher than I expected but I was still able to make progress on the road bike. Plenty of unfortunate folk fixing punctures all along the cycle route, my new gatorskins served me well. I took my time at the bike drop to go to the toilet and fill my water bottle, 1:58:16 altogether for this leg.

On to the Reek, the part I was most worried about. Since it was my first time going up the back of the reek and I'm relatively inexperienced at mountain running, I planned to take the zig-zag path. For some reason my plan went out the window when a bunch of lads in front of me took off to the left up across the heather and I decided to follow them. I hindsight, this was a bad idea, I didn't have the strength to keep climbing on that kind of terrain and had to stop and get my breath a few times, once I got out onto the cone I made better progress in spite of the crowds. Made it to the top in 59:08. I took a couple of mintes at the top to soak it all in and even got some tourists to take a picture of me on my phone.

On the descent I decided to take the zig-zag path as I didn't feel I had the strength to control myself on the steeper route, had a few slips on the way down but didn't hurt myself. Back to base in 49:16.

I really didn't enjoy the Skelp. I didn't have the energy to pick the bike up and run so ended up wheeling it along, was glad to get back on the road and bar the slightly hairy descents, the road back to Westport was one of my highlights. I liked the finish setup, passing by so many spectators in the corral, my girlfriend and mates managed to cheer me on for the last stretch of the bike and again at the finish line. 53:39 for the final leg and 6:53:39 altogether.

What a day! Fantastic craic and will definitely be back next year.

One complaint I did have was about the bike drop. We headed to the bike drop via Delphi, we knew we couldn't drop our bike before registration but saw GFW roadsigns directing us to Killery through the Shefry Pass. when we got to Delphi the marshals wouldn't allow us go around to Killery and sent us back around the Shefry. We left Westport at 7:10 and didn't get to Killery until almost 11. When we got back to Delphi after registering the whole place was flooded and the floodlights had burnt out. My mate soaked his race shoes and I destroyed the shoes I was planning to wear out on Saturday night. By the time we got back to Westport it was well after midnight and we had done over 180km in the car, a horrible way to prep for the race.

The litter was a bit disappointing, is it really that hard to put a wrapper back in the pocket you carried it in all day? Even the very last run to the finish line was covered in gel wrappers, who's eating gels at this stage?

Well done to everyone who did it and hope to see you all next year.

Enduro

Firstly, well done to everyone who raced. Particularly well done to PeterX on regaining his title. Fantastic stuff. Hopefully there'll be a report, as from Peter's brief description it sounded like a great tactical race at the front.

robroy1234 wrote: »

Yeah not one cent from the entry goes to any charity, even though some people competing do so for a charity. The army of marshals are volunteers - so it is a fantastic money-making deal for Delphi and local hospitality industry (for approx 3000 at €90 each thats €270,000 alone for entry, excluding extras such as accodomation, food, drink etc., as well as event sponsorship from businesses)- but considering that on previous posts a certain person was inferring that I myself was trying to profiteer from the event, when I was coaching, advising and doing physio for certain competitors and that anyone else was free to help out with the oils etc., This person took exception to that and therefore hounded me - so I stayed away from the event completely and returned to Westport to catch up with friends that competed afterwards.

These events are great and wonderful as competitive adventure racing - but it is best to bear in mind that these races should be run on the basis of Competition and not as a money making scheme.

Gael Force is run as a commercial operation. What is wrong with that? Why should ANY race not be run as a money making scheme? Nobody is forced to enter. You pays your money, you do your race. People are free to choose to partake in commercial races, such as all the multi-sports challenge races, multiple marathons etc etc, or less commercial races, such as the CCAR adventure races, IMRA races, athletic club organised races etc. There is clearly a market for these types of events when 3000ish people choose to pay 90 quid each to enter GF.

Why should it be a charity race? I really don't get this attitude. Nobody gives the GAA, the IRFU, or the FAI any guff about how much is raised for charity. Why should GF get this crap? They are perfectly explicit about the fact that none of the race fees go to charity. It should be a surprise to no one. Do you raise money for charity every time you race? Would you get any way annoyed at the attitude that you would be expected to raise money for charity every time you race?

Finally, climbing aboard my hobby horse of choice, Gael Force isn't an adventure race, so it isn't particularly great and wonderful as competitive adventure racing.

Enduro

Kander wrote: »

This is normal for alot of people on sit on top kayaks. Its cos most of them don't have back support and so lot of pressure in put on the core body espicially defined the hip-flexors and upper thighs.
Having the back-pack on and body weight (belly) can make it worse as its harder to get an up-right body position and better balance to ease the pressure on the core.

Having a back rest will solve most of this for ya.
Hope this help ya

The SOTs used by GF are designed to take a combined seat/backrest. As a result, without it, the sitting position is very low. Uncomfortably so for me. A quick fix is to sit on your bag and raise your sitting position. That works quite well for me.

mfdc

4 stars (good)

If anyone wants to know how they did on the individual splits, I've put together a spreadsheet here - click the column name (1st run, kayak etc) to sort by that split's time then ctrl-f for your name, column on the far left will show you your position for that split It only shows 250 at a time by default, so you'll probably have to up the number of rows per page or go to subsequent pages (controls are down at the bottom right)

The data is copied straight from the GF results page. Hope someone finds it useful!

thehamo

3 stars (average)

mfdc wrote: »

If anyone wants to know how they did on the individual splits, I've put together a spreadsheet here - click the column name (1st run, kayak etc) to sort by that split's time then ctrl-f for your name, column on the far left will show you your position for that split It only shows 250 at a time by default, so you'll probably have to up the number of rows per page or go to subsequent pages (controls are down at the bottom right)

The data is copied straight from the GF results page. Hope someone finds it useful!

Class cheers for that! CP time didnt change from last year at all for me. Granted I didnt train for it at all so why would it! Can definitely work on the bike section by the looks of things.

Seres

anyone know if it was a course record for the ladies race ? she was over 7 mins faster on last yrs winning time and knock over 20min off her own last yrs time , pretty savage goin , fairplay to her and all who completed , no easy race , hoepfully will give it a rattle again next yr

Kander

2 stars (poor)

mfdc wrote: »

The data is copied straight from the GF results page. Hope someone finds it useful!

Cheers dude, made it nice and simple for my lazy self :P
Am happy to see that I was consistant on the running sections with the kayak and clycle being my strongest. Just have to work on my running me thinks.

thehamo

3 stars (average)

Does anyone know if the splits are still available from last year? Would love to compare

Rew

3 stars (average)

thehamo wrote: »

Does anyone know if the splits are still available from last year? Would love to compare

Yeah you can get them here:

http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2010/gaelforce6/index.html

Mr Freeze

3 stars (average)

Glad it's over, found it really tough this year, still tired and aching badly today.

Got my sub 5 this year, so happy enough, 4:50, a 27 min improvement over last year, yet this year it felt tougher than the first time I did the race where it took me 6hours 2 years ago. It was torture.

Regarding the charity aspect, I don't raise anything for these events, I just pay my entry fee and do the race, I do a race somewhere every month or 2, and I think my family and friends would avoid me like the plague if I raised money for each one I did, that said I do a good few charity based runs too each year ( 4 this year), so that hopefully does some good.

Well done to everyone who took part anyways, looking forward to reading PeterX's race review.

Peterx

mfdc wrote: »

If anyone wants to know how they did on the individual splits, I've put together a spreadsheet here - click the column name (1st run, kayak etc) to sort by that split's time then ctrl-f for your name, column on the far left will show you your position for that split It only shows 250 at a time by default, so you'll probably have to up the number of rows per page or go to subsequent pages (controls are down at the bottom right)

Thanks for that speadsheet, it's very useful for the oul post race analysis.
It's a great multisport race and I obviously love it !
Report to follow..

Rew

3 stars (average)

Photos are up (only the running though no sign of the cycling):

http://www.gaelforceevents.com/en/event_photos.html

On the charity front I did it for the Tania McCabe Foundation along with about 150 others in the 2nd wave. I think they worked something out with the organisers as I paid the charity my entry fee and they gave me a code to register on the Gaelforce web site.

Still collecting online (and on my sponsorship card) if anyone wants to donate:

http://www.mycharity.ie/event/gaelfoce2011/

Rew

3 stars (average)

Here is my RunKeeper log of it (starts just before and ends just after the actual race start and end times)

http://runkeeper.com/user/abetson/activity/48536045

smurphy29

4 stars (good)

Managed 4.47, which was 49 minutes better than last year, so I was thrilled with that. I made a few strategic switches which made a difference.

Last year I was on an MTB with slicks, this time I had a racer with Gatorskins, and I'd trained much more on the bike, so I knocked 26 minutes off the main cycle. I felt really good on the bike and really enjoyed that section of the race.

I also went sans bag and stuffed everything into back pockets on my top. It was a bit bouncy on the runs but I felt nice and light going up CP.

Any first timers, I can confirm that the experience of having done it before makes a huge difference, and there's plenty of scope to knock off chunks of time. Little things like knowing even though you can see the kayakers are getting close you have a big inland-and-out loop to run so you've a bit to do yet!

I went a bit more aggressively than last time, I tried to make sure I started quickly rather than easing myself in to it. And once I realised I was in with a sniff of breaking 5 hours I got my game face on and beat up CP in 35 minutes.

Great race, great day. I really liked the barrier section with the spectators packed around it, but I wonder will they have to review it after that awful crash. Felt just terrible for that fellow.

ThisRegard

While the barriers were an improvement not enough space given to us. As I said I was pushing for a sub 5 hour time and caught a slower trio just as they started, while barging through did cross my mind I thought better of it and let out a few shouts. It needs a little adjustment in terms of the width, I saw similar happen to a few people, they were on a sprint in but basically were reduced to free wheeling for the trip to the field when they caught much slower people. Was there a bad crash there ?

thehamo

3 stars (average)

Twice I had to stop on the bike because of cars. Granted they cant shut the roads for us but was very irritating. First was the descent of the big hill on the first cycle had to come to a complete stand still half way up because of a line of traffic. Then coming into the town heading to wards the barriers a woman pulled out straight in front of me. I was hurtling through and I had to jam hard on the breaks and come to a complete stop again. Totally knocking the wind out of my sails. Took ages to get past her too I was going nuts ( in my head).

So many things I can knock time off for next year. Chain coming off my bike 4 times while going full tilt. Transition areas a big one. time spent in the toilet at delphi added a few minutes to my time :P Work on less cramp (however I may do that). Run I can definitely improve on and the biggie CP. Have to get my time down on that one for sure! Contemplating practicing the straight up straight down technique for next year!

boccy23

As a lurker on this page, I have to say well done to each every one of you who did it and in whatever time. It is a great acheievement to get hrough all the training as needed, arrive at the start line fit and finish the race.

A massive well done and you all have my greatest admiration.

rubadub73

Well done to everyone who took part and a big thanks to all the staff and volunteers along the route, the encouragement they gave was really great.
Did anyone on here get stuck behind a truck and a tractor trying to pass each other just after the turn off the main road towards the fire track b4 Croagh Patrick? Had they been stuck for much longer I reckon the drivers were in serious trouble :P

kevd2000

Seres wrote: »

anyone know if it was a course record for the ladies race ? she was over 7 mins faster on last yrs winning time and knock over 20min off her own last yrs time , pretty savage goin , fairplay to her and all who completed , no easy race , hoepfully will give it a rattle again next yr

She has written a report on the following site if you are interested
http://www.irishtriathlon.com/index.php/2011/08/gaelforce-emma-donlon/

Fi H

2 Wheels Good wrote: »

Good luck all, for a few reasons not doing it this year and really missing it.
Look forward to seeing your report Fi!! Was really impressed with you last year!

Humm wasnt going to do a report and then got carried away ...sorry!:D
For any newbies out there...this race is totally doable! Its only your head that will stop you at the end of the day (injuries and accidents aside)

As the sun set over Gaelforce West 2010 I crossed the finish line in 10 hours 27 mins. The only people there to witness it were my two starving friends who had finished hours earlier and the last of the organisers. There was no soup, no buzz and to be honest I was completely destroyed. There was no way I was going to do the race again and I thought if I ever saw CP again I would throw myself off the top of it I was delighted to have finished and enjoyed the chat and buzz in the run up and days after but fit for a coma on the night itself and by the time we had dinner it was nearly midnight!

Skip forward to June 2011 when the memory of GW 2010 was distant and the girls were talking about going again and I got suckered into entering. Its been an interesting year lots of races but not a huge amount of training so I wasn’t really sure how it would go this time round. I reckon doing a spin up to CP 2 weeks ago was the best thing I ever did as it gave me perspective on the reek for the day. It was definitely the point in the race for me last year where I though most about giving up.

I think my biggest mistake last year was that I thought it was important to keep up with everyone at the start cause it would be mortifying to not be in the bunch when reaching all the people waiting in the next wave. As a result I tried to run, died within 300m and was stampeded by the next wave as everyone thought my wave was done Hilarious!

This year I decided I would just walk the start until I was warmed up and then jog as much of the downhill as I could. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the first run. I found once I started my painfully slow jog that it was easier to keep it going for longer using my ...to that tree approach, only once I hit the tree I picked a new target and kept it up rather than stopping. I adopted a take the puddles approach rather than trying to go round and I found that 8/10 times the puddles had hard ground underneath rather than the bog along the sides. Happy days

My triumph overall was the kayak (there had to be one!) I finally managed to get someone who had done some kayaking before which was great. Given kayaking is the only thing I have much experience of its a pain to have to struggle through slowly with someone who thinks its a novelty and is completely incapable! 7 mins 57 secs – 140th in this section :eek: ......man I wish races would have a much longer kayak with single kayaks available would definitely help balance things up for slow people like myself- maybe !
10k or so haha!

Anyway the next couple of sections were pretty uneventful, only crisis was realising my expensive bike computer bought on Wednesday must be giving me the wrong distances started panicking when it said I had only done 5km by the top of the sheefry pass ...overall it clocked 12 km from Delphi to CP. Thankfully I had driven the route and knew i was further along or i think i would have given up haha!

I definitely think the hardest part of the race is the stretch of bog from the cycle transition to the bottom of the track at CP. My legs felt like lead but as I had recced it I knew once I got onto the path it would get better. I tried to keep up a constant pace on the way up and not think about distance or time. Last year I was one of the last onto CP, pretty much everyone from the later waves had passed me and as a result on the way down I was pretty much on my own, this year it was a total novelty for me to see people with race numbers coming up as I came down and being able to say well done and not far to go....it was also a shock to meet someone from my wave about half way up as I was half way down...at that stage I knew I wouldn’t be last ...yaay

Anyway back onto the bike for the last stretch, I had switched from a mountain bike to a racer so I got off coming over the skelp but after trying to push the bike down hill and taking lumps out of the back of the legs with the pedals I decided to get back on and coast down bits only stopping for the really bad bits. Definitely easier to be on the bike rather than off it! Back onto the road and I was on a total buzz now...last year I had the van with flashing lights behind me the whole way home but this time there were still competitors on the route! As we came into the finish people sitting outside the pubs gave us cheers and once I hit the final cycle lane it was fantastic to get encouragement from people walking back up with their bikes Crossed the finish line early enough to chat to other competitors, grab something to eat and get out to the pub before everyone had gone to bed! An achievement in itself!! In terms of time I was still ridiculously slow with 8 hours 49 mins but I hacked 1 hour 38 mins off last year and am already planning a sub 8 target for next year ...... Overall I am delighted I went and feeling very motivated for the winter.

GFW is a great day out and definitely worth doing!

Nialloooo

first time and all ready planning for next year, brill event , 11 of us from wexford headed up and all had good times in there own right, love the spilts print out at the end, peterx fair play, i came down CP in 14 min and cant see where i could make up 4 min never mind the 1hr+ on the rest lol,savage , fair play to all who finishes yest, we had a man who just over 12 months ago smoked 20 a day and did no excerise and finished in about 7:30 yest thats the biggest achievement of the weekend for me

Mint Sauce

Thats it. I'm doing this next year.

Whistlejacket

4 stars (good)

1st time Gaelforcer on Saturday. I was hoping for 7 hours and made it in 7.06. Absolutely delighted and I can honestly say that the feeling of complete euphoria as I cycled into Westport was worth every ounce of effort.

I'm looking forward to next year and hopeful that I'll be able to make a few tweaks and get my time down. I bought a road bike less than a year ago and only started running at Christmas. If you can cycle you can complete Gaelforce, it's just a question of training and keeping at it, no magic! The athletes who go hard all the way and set quick times have my utter admiration; it's a different league, but if you want to get fit and enjoy yourself while doing something really challenging it's brilliant. For anyone who is thinking of doing it, definitely go for it.

Huge thanks also to the organisers, stewards, volunteers (including my brother) and people of Westport who were great hosts and cheered everyone on.

decriain

7+ hours for me too.

I must say I struggled to make it through the first run. That's me (i think) in the video (at 2min) hoofing up the hill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq-FFV3m2HI&feature=channel_video_title

It was my first time and I thought my ankle would snap on some of those rocks. Are Solomon runners any better for that terrain?