Warriors Run 2011

Mint Sauce

So. If you have been reading the general chit chat thread, you will know that there are at least a couple of the Sligo Boardies including my self aiming for it this year. So in light of that thought I would give it, its own thread, as I also know from previous years there was a few others from here who have also done it before as well, so there wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

So, post your tips and hints here, how your getting on with training, etc etc.

Heres the website, registration opens 9th of May and entry is €40.

What Is The Warriors Run ?

The Run is a competitive and gruelling 15 Kilometre road and hill race which takes runners from the beachfront at Strandhill to the top of Knocknarea mountain (1050ft) around the megalithic cairn known as Queen Meaves Grave and back to the beachfront again. Started in 1985, the Warriors Run has seen runners from all around Ireland and from over 20 different countries compete in one of Ireland's most unique races.

So if you think a 15K run is easy peasy, you've never been to Strandhill !!!

http://www.warriorsfestival.com/about-warriors-run/faqs

Cool Running

Fair play Stew on getting a thread started nice and early on it. Unreal race. Definitely my favourite race ever. Missed running it last year for the first year in five years and it was devastating to watch it. Wont even be at it this year as out of the country but will follow with interest from here. A must run for any runner from Sligo. Running round the cairn on Knonckarea and glancing down and seeing views of Sligo while racing is just and unbeatable buzz.

One simple training tip would be to do the route at least once before the big day. Just park the car in Strandhill and hit the route. Unfortunately I don't think the new part of the mountain route allows for pre training up it but you can still run up the old route which is from the car park up and down the main path. That is also a great training run just up and down the main path from Knocknarea car park to the cairn and back. Its good practice for the downhill part which some people struggle on after working so hard on the other parts.

Mentally I used to always look at it as 3 runs. A run to the mountain, then the mountain part and then flat out home. Great feeling when ya hit the cairn as it nearly all downhill from then on.

Anyways best of luck to Stew and any other Sligo boardies doing it this year. Ya wont regret it.

Roll on the 27th of August

Sligo22

would love to do it at some stage, maybe next year... doing the Kesh caves and Knocknashee among other places yesterday really showed me how unfit i've gotten any advice on a good reasonably priced gym in town????

Mint Sauce

Looked at the map of last years route again ealier on today, and for the first time, the elevation chart, I then got a slightly daunting feeling about the thing. Man that hill is alot lot steeper than I thought.

cloneslad

I'm definitely doing it again this year. I missed last year's race because I was living where CoolRunning is living now. I last did it when the course changed in 2009, sick as a dog, and broke my cough syrup in my bag taking it out of my car...crappy day but still loved it.

I'll be registering myself, my brother (as a birthday present for him) and my cousin (as a 'I know you don't want to do it, but if I pay for you, you'll have no choice but to go' present ) I'll be registering all three of us on the opening day on may 2nd.

It's a great race, well organised and very well supported by the local community, it's my favourite to do.

cloneslad

Sligo22 wrote: »

would love to do it at some stage, maybe next year... doing the Kesh caves and Knocknashee among other places yesterday really showed me how unfit i've gotten any advice on a good reasonably priced gym in town????

I used to be a member in the clarion for the first year it was open, back in 2005-2006. It was expensive at the time (about €600 a year) but I was using it everyday so it worked out well priced for me. I haven't a clue on the cost now though.

If you just want to go running, you should head out towards the racecourse, I used to run around there everyday in the summer when I lived in Sligo...again, not sure if you can still do it though.

Mint Sauce

cloneslad wrote: »

I used to be a member in the clarion for the first year it was open, back in 2005-2006. It was expensive at the time (about €600 a year) but I was using it everyday so it worked out well priced for me. I haven't a clue on the cost now though.

If you just want to go running, you should head out towards the racecourse, I used to run around there everyday in the summer when I lived in Sligo...again, not sure if you can still do it though.

You can run it. I've been on it twice during the week, use the access about a few hundred metres up from the sports complex.

Sligo22

Thanks will look into it a the end of the semester when i have time to

Mint Sauce

Sligo22 wrote: »

Thanks will look into it a the end of the semester when i have time to

Bear in mind, the races start next month so may not get into run on race days/evenings.

cloneslad

I've run around it a few times in the early afternoon before an evening race without any problems, you might get to chat to a couple of jockeys trying to sweat out a few more pound before the races while on your run.

Mint Sauce

cloneslad wrote: »

I've run around it a few times in the early afternoon before an evening race without any problems, you might get to chat to a couple of jockeys trying to sweat out a few more pound before the races while on your run.

Might get a tip or two as well.

cloneslad

I was working in a bookies at the time too, last thing I had on my mind was losing money on horses like the people coming into the shop

Lornen

15km? Crap.

I better up my training

Is the time limit still 2 hours?!

Feeling a little sick at the thought!

Mr Cawley

The mountain will sap your legs for the run home, if you haven't run the race in training it'll be a struggle, unless you're used to running beyond that distance comfortably.

Also zig-zagging down the mountain allows for much more pace than climbing down in a straight line.

Mountain running is a must to build flexibility in your calves and achilles otherwise you'll feel serious pain in them in the more vertical sections on the way up.

The first year doing it is the toughest!

whatswhat

irish-stew wrote: »

Looked at the map of last years route again ealier on today, and for the first time, the elevation chart, I then got a slightly daunting feeling about the thing. Man that hill is alot lot steeper than I thought.

Fair play to you. 25 Euro from me, to a charity of your choice if you complete it...........incentives can pay dividends!! All the Best!

Mint Sauce

Hill training is defo going to be a must, although want to get a bit of distance and strenght in the legs first before attempting that. Have been up to the car park at the base before but need to talk a walk up the public path in the next week or two to familaise my self.

Lornen wrote: »

15km? Crap.

I better up my training

Is the time limit still 2 hours?!

Feeling a little sick at the thought!

Broom wagon is 2 1/2 behind Lornen, based on your times though if you can keep that average pace through out you'll be well within.

whatswhat wrote: »

Fair play to you. 25 Euro from me, to a charity of your choice if you complete it...........incentives can pay dividends!! All the Best!

Cheers, but dont forget everyone else on the thread.



This is just a personal adheivement for me. The slagging I'll get if I dont finish it will push me on.

MoonDancer

I'll be running it again, I have a feeling the places will fly out as soon as it opens!

Mint Sauce

An event I thought might help with training, not so much the distance and terrain, but running as part of a group as part of an event. The Streets of Sligo 5km, also being discussed here, an entry form is in todays Champion.

T runner

Just a few initial tips I can think of.

Build up mileage slowly.

Consistant training at the start. Save the hard stuff for when youre fit.

Incorporate cycling if possible as this will make the legs stronger for the uphill and downhill.

Do one long run per week (longer than the rest).

Build this long run up to 9 miles to get around or up to 12-15 for the strenght to push it a bit.

Second run should be 2/3 distance of longest run.

Do 6 by 100m fast but relaxed and walk back after 2 weekly runs (not sprinting, just fast). Wait till youre running a few weeks to try this. It gets your legs used to different paces. These are called strides.


Ive added a sample early week and week closer to teh warriors run for an intermediate runner.


week A

sun 5 miles

mon 3 (6 strides at end)

wed 3

Thur 3 (6 strides at end)


Sat cycle 45 min



Week W

sun warriors route easy pace (9 miles)
Mon hilly cycle 90 mins.

tues 3 miles very easy

Wed 7 miles (1.5 mile warm up with 3 by 1 mile mile ran at a harder pace, rest for 3 mins after each one then 1.5 mile warm down).

sat 7 miles (20 minute at a hard even continuos pace, or 40 minutes at warriors race pace). Flat or undulating road.

Endurance is important to get you around the course. (long run)
Leg strenght gets you up and down mountain faster and in better shape (cycling, hilly runs)
Stamina gets you around quicker and makes you hold the pace (3 by 1 mile, continuous fast runs).

That last week there is advanced enough. Id say endurance and leg strenght are most important.

Plazaman

MoonDancer wrote: »

I'll be running it again, I have a feeling the places will fly out as soon as it opens!

Great event and the 800 places aren't long filling up so get in early I'd say.

BTW the Online Registration opening has been changed to 9th May 2011 at High Noon. See HERE

Best of luck to all the Boardsies taking part. I have the onerous duty once again this year of sampling the beers to ensure the highest quality standards are maintained for runners afterwards. I shall also be on cheering duties for finshers so when ye have ye're numbers, post them here so I'll know when to give the extra special roar.

Mint Sauce

Plazaman wrote: »

Great event and the 800 places aren't long filling up so get in early I'd say.

BTW the Online Registration opening has been changed to 9th May 2011 at High Noon. See HERE

Best of luck to all the Boardsies taking part. I have the onerous duty once again this year of sampling the beers to ensure the highest quality standards are maintained for runners afterwards. I shall also be on cheering duties for finshers so when ye have ye're numbers, post them here so I'll know when to give the extra special roar.

Any idea if the registration is through runireland.com, or do the warriors run organisers have their own set up.

Would love to have a beer afterwards, unfortunatly, due to prior commitments it will be the soft stuff for me afterwards. But I wish you well on your quaility assurance role.

Plazaman

irish-stew wrote: »

Any idea if the registration is through runireland.com, or do the warriors run organisers have their own set up.

Would love to have a beer afterwards, unfortunatly, due to prior commitments it will be the soft stuff for me afterwards. But I wish you well on your quaility assurance role.

Ya, I think they operate a standalone system so you can only register through their website.

JonnyF

had to miss last year's event cos it clashed with a rugby match, won't have that excuse this time around. can't wait

Mint Sauce

Registration for the Warriors Run opens midday tomorrow.

Doing the Streets of Sligo 5k next weekend. Need to find a 8-10k training plan after that.

cloneslad

just signed up for the 5k myself, I'll be signing up for the warriors tomorrow too.

There a 10k run here in monaghan next sunday but I have done it before so I figured I'd try a new one instead, plus 5k is shorter than 10k (apparently it's twice as short, but that's only hearsay) so it's a win win all round for lazy old me

promethius

The entry fee is €40 that is bloody expensive!
It's a very good event i'm not saying anything in relation to that but there's no way they can justify that as an entry fee. I know what people will say mountain in dangerous for insurance etc but it's a sponsored race that doesn't give a technical t shirt. Someone is making a nice profit on this, which is fine as long as the cost is reasonable.

I've organised races in the past so have an idea of the costs involved and the things that need to be paid for, a total of €32,000 goes a very very long way. I'm planning on doing it all that aside!

Mint Sauce

Hmm. The home page states registration has opened, but when you go to register, it states another hour before it opens.

rovers_runner

irish-stew wrote: »

Hmm. The home page states registration has opened, but when you go to register, it states another hour before it opens.

Major FAIL, joke of a site.
Is it just me or has the price gone up too ?

Mint Sauce

rovers_runner wrote: »

Major FAIL, joke of a site.
Is it just me or has the price gone up too ?

What was it last year?

rovers_runner

irish-stew wrote: »

What was it last year?

€30, just found the paypal email in my gmail.
Disgrace, but will still pay it for the sake of taking part in the event.

Mint Sauce

rovers_runner wrote: »

€30, just found the paypal email in my gmail.
Disgrace, but will still pay it for the sake of taking part in the event.

Hope your not in a rush. This is the message on the site.

Bear With Us - Registration Opening Very Soon Servers Slow To Upload

rovers_runner

The design company are a joke, they should remove their link from the warriors site out of shame

Mint Sauce

rovers_runner wrote: »

The design company are a joke, they should remove their link from the warriors site out of shame

Thought it might have been on runireland, but not so.

cloneslad

there's a countdown on it now. It's opening at 1pm.

It's like trying to get tickets to see 'right said fred' or whatever it is those cool kids are listening to these days

ectoraige

cloneslad wrote: »

It's like trying to get tickets to see 'right said fred' or whatever it is those cool kids are listening to these days

I think "Weezer" is where it's at these days, get with the program!

Don't want to miss the run this year, my legs fell off last year so I couldn't train, have a physio appointment this evening for another injury but hopefully not too serious this time.

ectoraige

I just completed registration there, slow, but got there in the end.

Good PR for the race, they can claim demand was so high the servers crashed

Mint Sauce

Done (i hope), went though paypal, got my receipt, clicked to return to the warriors website, and crashed again.

38 registered so far.

kchsligo

I've just completed the paypal section of registration but keeps crashing when it tries to bring me back to the Warriors Festival site!!!

Frustrating as the site stated "You must return to the Warriors website after payment to complete registration and be assigned a bib number."

cloneslad

don't worry about it crashing upon return to the site. It happened me too but I still got my confirmation e-mail. I've registered myself and my brother, just trying to get my cousin registered and then I'm done.

Being unemployed has its benefits at times

Then, to google more about weezer and their teenage dirtbag song so I can be hippin and a hoppin like the youngsters

rovers_runner

cloneslad wrote: »

don't worry about it crashing upon return to the site. It happened me too but I still got my confirmation e-mail. I've registered myself and my brother, just trying to get my cousin registered and then I'm done.

Being unemployed has its benefits at times

Then, to google more about weezer and their teenage dirtbag song so I can be hippin and a hoppin like the youngsters

+1 on the website problems.
I just emailed them now with my Paypal reciept number etc.
The only email I got was from Paypal, no sign of a bib number.

kchsligo

got the confirmation email from PayPal alright but now just wondering how do I get the bib number assigned - anyone any ideas???

cloneslad

I just got an e-mail from the warriors run themselevs, acknowledging my registration. It also provided me with an invoice number too.

No bib number, but I'm sure it will be provided at a later date anyway. I'm still trying to register my 3rd person but the site is down, on the upside, it's most likely down for everyone so it's hopefully nothing to worry about

kchsligo

am after getting a few emails from the festival themselves one of which has a BIB number - happy days. now all i have to do is train!!!

cloneslad

website just crashed due to unprecedented traffic. Surely they should have forecasted this happening and been able to switch to a bigger server for one day.

I can't imagine demand was even in the thousands so it really is poor planning by the web staff.

ectoraige

My wife and I registered, and both completed the payment with Paypal, but after that there was an error coming back to the warriors site. We both received emails from Paypal confirming payment.

I received an email with the bib number coming from a live.ie address, my wife just received an email with the invoice number from the warriorsfestival.com address, no bib number. Mine had Paypal PDT in the subject, hers had Paypal IPN in the subject, which are two different mechanisms Paypal uses to confirm transactions with the vendor. When you complete payment, Paypal is meant to connect back to the warriorsfestival server to confirm that it has processed the payment, obviously with the server issues this isn't always happening.

Whatever the case, Warrior's account with Paypal will have the records so if you received an email from Paypal, I wouldn't get stressed about it, I'd say it'll get sorted soon, the organisers will probably have a bit of a headache from wading through emails for a while though

Lornen

Tried to get on the site there and it said that registration would be up and running by tomorrow?!

Do you think there is still any places left? Shítting a brick here and I really don't want to miss out. Absolutely livid.

Mint Sauce

Have my email from warriorsrun.com as well. No bib number, but not to worried at present. Website was down again, thier stating an issue with paypal.

Mint Sauce

Lornen wrote: »

Tried to get on the site there and it said that registration would be up and running by tomorrow?!

Do you think there is still any places left? Shítting a brick here and I really don't want to miss out. Absolutely livid.

Hopefully should be okay, there was about 40 places gone when I was doing mine a couple of hours ago, think it collasped shortly after that. Lets hope the server is up to it though with the aditional traffic its going to face when it does come back on line.

Lornen

irish-stew wrote: »

Hopefully should be okay, there was about 40 places gone when I was doing mine a couple of hours ago, think it collasped shortly after that. Lets hope the server is up to it though with the aditional traffic its going to face when it does come back on line.

I hope so too How many spaces are up for grabs anyway?

Mint Sauce

Lornen wrote: »

I hope so too How many spaces are up for grabs anyway?

800. Are you on FB, the warriors festival page are updating the situation.

Update - Our website will be back up and running tomorrow morning upon which this mornings problems will hopefully be no more. Anyone who registered this morn and only got a PayPal email, consider yourself registered and we will manually allocate your bib/pin number by email to you.

Lornen

irish-stew wrote: »

800. Are you on FB, the warriors festival page are updating the situation.

I am indeed Stew, can't see anything past the 4 of May.. Like no updates. Hope it's the right one... So registration only started at noon?! Wow! Can't believe how badly this has been slapped together. Yargh. Think it'll take long before the run reaches capacity?