Longford Half/Marathon/Ultra 28/08/2011

RacoonQueen

Last year's thread
Course profile
Race website

Time for a thread for this one. Thinking of heading to Longford this year myself, though I want to do a good time in the National Half so have a bit of a conundrum. :pac:

menoscemo

1 star (terrible)

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Time for a thread for this one. Thinking of heading to Longford this year myself, though I want to do a good time in the National Half so have a bit of a conundrum. :pac:

Aggghh so the secret is out

RacoonQueen

menoscemo wrote: »

Aggghh so the secret is out

Nope. Wrong again. You'll never guess. :cool:

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Time for a thread for this one. Thinking of heading to Longford this year myself, though I want to do a good time in the National Half so have a bit of a conundrum. :pac:

Ill be down there for the 2 marathons most probably. Probably the marathon then the ultra.

ultraman1

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Ill be down there for the 2 marathons most probably. Probably the marathon then the ultra.

u doin galway aswell that day;)

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

ultraman1 wrote: »

u doin galway aswell that day;)

haha there is only one of me:D
might do 1 down in longford and then galway. Havent decided yet.

glennhysen

3 stars (average)

I'm doing the marathon. Was supposed to run it last year but I got injured and was able to defer my place to this year. Training has been going well over the last few weeks and I'm steadily building up the long runs. I'm running the Clontarf half this Sunday which i think is good preparation.

For anyone that has run it before, did they have energy drinks or gels? And if so, can you remember which ones?

Formosa

Does anyone know if this race has pacers?

babalobioddy

Hi,
I did longford last year a realy nice course,fairly flat. From memory I dont think there was any pacers. The weather wasent overly warm that day so hydration wasent a major issue the only problem was at the water stations where the water was given out in plastic cups instead of bottles I know its only a small thing but realy interupts your pace to try and drink from a cup !!!. Im looking foward to it again this year. I did the cork marathon a couple of weeks ago and got a pb, hopeing to go one better in longford, bring it on!!!!!

The Hammer

2 stars (poor)

babalobioddy wrote: »

Hi,
I did longford last year a realy nice course,fairly flat. From memory I dont think there was any pacers. The weather wasent overly warm that day so hydration wasent a major issue the only problem was at the water stations where the water was given out in plastic cups instead of bottles I know its only a small thing but realy interupts your pace to try and drink from a cup !!!. Im looking foward to it again this year. I did the cork marathon a couple of weeks ago and got a pb, hopeing to go one better in longford, bring it on!!!!!

The Longford marathon didn't have pacers last year - and certainly has not had them every in it's 10? year existence.

There are no energy drinks - to my understand on the course - again I seem to recall there being cups of energy drinks at one or two points on the course. Not ideal but then again Boston and London marathons do cups....

Longford is a tough beginners marathon - not because of anything to do with the terrain but rather the fact that it is rather isolating - there are some lonely stretches of nice rural roads and boreens leading onto a stretch on the N5 road - which is normally wicked busy and the hard shoulder is rather narrow.

The Longford marathon is certainly not a race that is trying to be commercial - it is no fringes - not that it has ever concerned me in terms of placing but they do give a lot in prize money - first 6 in all the races and then categories - and do their bit for local charities. Also - if the half marathon people haven't it all eaten - there is one hell of a spread of food afterwards!

Also - despite the recent weather there has been some really warm days when the marathon was on - it starts at 10:30 so most people are still out on the course at 130 - 3pm - which makes it a tough time with the heat! So sunscreen is not a bad idea - and lots of those cups of water.

Hope that this is of some help - and finally beware the pace at the start - half marathon shares the first mile or so - keep an eye out for marathon bibs!

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

Still hoping to get down to longford if i can get the time off work. Great race organised for runners. Need to support races like this and keep them alive. These big commercial races will come and go but longford is hopefully here for the long haul.

elvis jones

I'd like to do the half if i get off work by 5am:p

corkrunner71

One good thing I guess about the 10.30am start is that you don't need to be there the night before. This business of collecting ur race number and chip the day before can really add cost to the race. Why can't the pack be posted or collected on day of if numbers not that large.

jonny99

I didnt do this last year but from what i recall, the worst drag is around mile 14(could be wrong:o)and yep, it can get quite lonely at times.My favourite memory from doing this was passing a really old guy sitting outside his house in the middle of nowhere with a packet of rich tea buscuits put out on a plate in front of him.I wasnt sure if he was asleep or not, or if the biscuits were for him or us-and i hadnt the heart to wake him:)

glennhysen

3 stars (average)

Sounds like it's going to be a bit different from the other two marathons I've done (Dublin & Edinburgh)!

I hope everybody's training is going well. Two more hard weeks to go and then taper down for the big day.

dizzymom

3 stars (average)

Am training for the full n longford this year, only did this one once before, but thoroughly enjoyed it, it is fairly flat and well organised have to say. i like the long sleeved tshirt - handy over the autumn and winter months, like the fact its not excessively expensive (if you enter b4 aug 1) good spread afterwards is always a bonus. cant fault longford but am running with a bevy of women, too lonely to run solo ! definately wouldnt be doing this as a first time marathoner,you wont get the crowds of dublin or cork :rolleyes:

CCR

I'm thinking of running the half marathon and I was just wondering what the situation with driving to this event is on the Sunday morning. What is to best route to take into town, what is the latest I could leave it and where best to park?
Thanks in advance.

BTH

CCR wrote: »

I'm thinking of running the half marathon and I was just wondering what the situation with driving to this event is on the Sunday morning. What is to best route to take into town, what is the latest I could leave it and where best to park?
Thanks in advance.

11am start for the marathon, therefore you'll like be parking up at 9:30-10:00. Mass traffic will be an issue. Prob best parking in the Tesco carpark. No charge on a Sunday. Head into town from the second roundabout on the bypass (N4). Its the second roundabout whether heading from Sligo (turn right) or Dublin (turn left). 1km from the roundabout turn right, (it's the first right thats not an industrial park. Another 1km and turn left, then about 100m turn right, which is into the back end of the car park. About 500m from the start line at that. No traffic lights, no big junctions that could cause a back-log. Easy!!! THe website refers to changing facilities for before and after, but the only entrance to this is beside the Cathedral and will be mental with holy people!

menoscemo

1 star (terrible)

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

11am start for the marathon, therefore you'll like be parking up at 9:30-10:00. Mass traffic will be an issue. Prob best parking in the Tesco carpark. No charge on a Sunday. Head into town from the second roundabout on the bypass (N4). Its the second roundabout whether heading from Sligo (turn right) or Dublin (turn left). 1km from the roundabout turn right, (it's the first right thats not an industrial park. Another 1km and turn left, then about 100m turn right, which is into the back end of the car park. About 500m from the start line at that. No traffic lights, no big junctions that could cause a back-log. Easy!!! THe website refers to changing facilities for before and after, but the only entrance to this is beside the Cathedral and will be mental with holy people!

Are you getting this info from the website? I think the info there is still referring to last years event....(there is no mention of the ultra start for example). Hopefully the full starts at 11am again this year so that I can drive up from Dublin at a reasonable hour.

BTH

menoscemo wrote: »

Are you getting this info from the website? I think the info there is still referring to last years event....(there is no mention of the ultra start for example). Hopefully the full starts at 11am again this year so that I can drive up from Dublin at a reasonable hour.

Yeah, the info page http://www.longfordmarathon.com/info1.htm refers to both 2011 and 2010. Copy and paste job and no though about the ultra I'd reckon. Date at the top is 2011 and Below "2010 Entry Fees" they have the prices for 2011. Probably nothing about the Ultra as this was only a late addition.

Parking info comes from my extensive local knowledge.

glennhysen

3 stars (average)

Only a week and a half left! I hope the taper madness is not effecting people too badly. I running the Frank Duffy 10 mile on Saturday easy as part of my taper.

I hope everyone's training is going well and all looking forward to the 28th!

Kissy Lips

4 stars (good)

Are headphones allowed?

Art of Noise

Really looking forward to this now. Can't believe its so close again. The year flies. Did a good few races in the build up, most recently Tyrellspass 15 mile last week as well as a few long runs (i.e) 20 plus miles. Main worry is I don't think I did enough weekly mileage. I'd say I barely exceeded 40 miles per week including the long runs. Ah well will soon find out anyway. Taper wise I think I will only run one short run again this week and leave it at that. It's what I did last year and I felt fresh on the day.

Kissy Lips I am pretty sure headphones are allowed. I've seen runners with them in previous years anyway.

Having done the marathon the last two years now I think the main thing to look out for is that if there is any breeze at all on the day there will be a bit of a headwind on the N5 out to Tarmonbarry on the early part of the marathon. Once you turn right here however this generally subsides somewhat and you enter a more sheltered environment. There really are no hills of any significance to look out for. It is a flat course yet still manages to be challenging with a slight incline between miles 19 - 21 on the N4 if I can recall.

Traveling Matt

Looking forward to Sunday. It will be my first Half Marathon. No idea what to expect. Just hoping to make it around the course.

kandikane

1 star (terrible)

Traveling Matt wrote: »

Looking forward to Sunday. It will be my first Half Marathon. No idea what to expect. Just hoping to make it around the course.

will i inform masseys )

Woddle

I was half thinking of doing the half but logged on to check the price, now €50 so definitely won't be doing it.

AJCOT

Woddle wrote: »

I was half thinking of doing the half but logged on to check the price, now €50 so definitely won't be doing it.

But there's a Pat the Baker loaf waiting for you at each water station!:D

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

Yeah i signed up for the marathon on Thursday and i know it was very late entry ect, 65 euros..:-(

ger664

Going to have to miss this tomorrow, was my primary target for the year but life gets in the way sometimes. Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow.

Killerz

Best of luck to everyone running on sunday!

RacoonQueen

Best of luck folks. Interested to hear reports on the ultra if anyones running it...

AJCOT

Fantastic day, bit wet & windy but well organised & a wonderful atmosphere. Enjoyed the jaunt around town at the start & the food at the end was unexpectedly good, though many left without sampling this. Died in the last 3 miles but I suppose you have to train for these things. Goodie bag was an interesting treasure trove, hope the Beverly Hills toothpaste works on the few teeth I have left!

subscriber

3 stars (average)

I only did the half myself as training for dublin but had never ran anything over 8 miles before. Man I felt the pain after 9 miles, Strangely enough although I was hurting really bad and my pace had dropped off to over 9 min miles, I was able to find a second wind and practically sprint the last 1.1 miles of it. I wanted 1.45 as im a 47 min 10k runner but even having broken through 'the wall' as they call it I managed 1.47.15 which im pretty satisfied with. Only 2.15 off my target time on my first half. Can I presume I would be on for a 3.30 marathon time or would there be a significant roll back over the longer distance bringing me closer to 3.45 or even 4hrs I wonder? Recovery is going to be tough as Im a broken man, had my first ice bath wen I got home, not as bad as I imagined. Gets the job done as well.

I taught the course was very good as well as the majority of it was flat with only a few steep hills. The organisers and marshals did a fantastic job , especially with partial road closures and some open roads. Great post marathon facilities as well like food and a muscle rub down by one really cute looking chick from mullingar.!! Everything one needed.

So thats me, how did u get on?

gerard65

AJCOT wrote: »

Fantastic day, bit wet & windy but well organised & a wonderful atmosphere. Enjoyed the jaunt around town at the start & the food at the end was unexpectedly good, though many left without sampling this. Died in the last 3 miles but I suppose you have to train for these things. Goodie bag was an interesting treasure trove, hope the Beverly Hills toothpaste works on the few teeth I have left!

What time did you get?

AJCOT

gerard65 wrote: »

What time did you get?

1.39, four minutes slower than Dublin last September but not enough long runs done & bike fall has feiced these old bones. Did 10 in 72 minutes & then blew up. Still delighted I ran it, have a mad few weeks coming up so may not get in much running between now & Dublin. How is your training progressing? Impressed with your 14 miles in the Park yesterday.

gerard65

AJCOT wrote: »

1.39, four minutes slower than Dublin last September but not enough long runs done & bike fall has feiced these old bones. Did 10 in 72 minutes & then blew up. Still delighted I ran it, have a mad few weeks coming up so may not get in much running between now & Dublin. How is your training progressing? Impressed with your 14 miles in the Park yesterday.

I know all about blowing up in these races. Training's going well, just putting the miles in to try and stop the blowing up;)
XC season just around the corner:D

menoscemo

1 star (terrible)

I had a great race and used this as a training run for Berlin, with miles 10-20 at PMP. Came in just over 3'26, which I am delighted with.

However from an organisational point of view the race was pretty poor. Very few marshalls on the course. Little atmosphere as we passed through very few towns. No road closures and there were a few hairy moments at the end of the race as we came back into Lomgford. There were also a lack of waterstations and the water was in cups. Most of the volunteers only filled the cups up about a quarter full as well which is very poor. Also for a pricey enough marathon, getting a cotton t-shirt is pretty poor form. The race was fine for me but I would not recommend this race to a first time marathoner.

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

AJCOT wrote: »

Fantastic day, bit wet & windy but well organised & a wonderful atmosphere. Enjoyed the jaunt around town at the start & the food at the end was unexpectedly good, though many left without sampling this. Died in the last 3 miles but I suppose you have to train for these things. Goodie bag was an interesting treasure trove, hope the Beverly Hills toothpaste works on the few teeth I have left!

We must have been at 2 different races. Water stations were attrocius. Marashalls non existant. Atmosphere apart from the finish was non existant. Really disapointed with this race to be honest. 65 euros i paid to enter this race, didnt see where my money went tbh.

menoscemo

1 star (terrible)

Mods, can you open the poll?

kandikane

1 star (terrible)

its open now a big fat 2 from me

K2

3 stars (average)

really enjoyed this marathon, my last one was belfast 2009 so its been a while. Not a pb but didnt suffer at any stage (probably why i enjoyed it so much ) I have to say I still do not like sharing the course with the relays but I can understand why race organisers run relay team events to boost entry numbers.

kandikane

1 star (terrible)

Oisin11178 wrote: »

We must have been at 2 different races. Water stations were attrocius. Marashalls non existant. Atmosphere apart from the finish was non existant. Really disapointed with this race to be honest. 65 euros i paid to enter this race, didnt see where my money went tbh.

Thats you been to kind it was rubbish the organisation was the worst in the world,it must have cost 100 euro to organise that event..never again

ellieswellies

3 stars (average)

I really enjoyed the Longford half today, it was my second half and compared to the last one I ran (the Rock and Roll in Seattle) it was nice to have a smaller crowd - you're not struggling to get around people the whole time, and you meet loads of folks (and no huge portaloo queues!). Plus it's nice and flat:) And it's great to see all the locals out, as someone mentioned earlier in the thread it's all about keeping the smaller marathons alive. Maybe not for a first timer, it's great to have a rowdy crowd to keep you going for your first race, but I'd love to run this one again. Weather was nice too - just enough rain to keep cool and enough sun to keep dry!

watercarrier

did this instead of the galway marathon.....damn u galway city counsellors....should of ran around galway and saved me 65 quid and petrol money

glennhysen

3 stars (average)

I ran it in 4:09, which was a pity as i was on for 3:50ish but a muscle in my right thigh seized up with 6 miles left so I spent the rest of the race walking and jogging very slowly. However i still managed to finished to race which given how i was feeling was something.

This was my first time running this marathon but from reading this forum and looking at the race website it was pretty obvious that it was a "no frills" race. I was very impressed by the people who came out of their house and setup their own water and food stations.

jinxy1

I did the half marathon in longford and have the same issues as many of the previous posters. I was really unimpressed with the cotton t-shirt after paying such a high entry fee. Two junctions on the half were unmarshalled though there were signs but still! I was running alone for parts of the race and felt quite isolated at times. On a positive note I thought the stewards and water volunteers were very friendly but I did notice the half-filled cups too. I had a good run and liked the course but i would only do this run again if it was MUCH better value for money. Also, people have mentioned the post race food but where was it? I just had a red card in my envelope which I presume was a ticket to it if but it didn't say where it was so I went home!

average_runner

4 stars (good)

I did the half yesterday and cant understand why so many complaints.

I understand the t-shirt but I knew about this, but the cotton tshirt is as bad as race series 10 mile t-shirt, the purple techincal top.


The goodie bag for this race is way better than the Dublin Marathon goodie bag and has to be said it was the best goodie bag i got this year.
The race series in the park is getting a bigger entry, making more money and yet their goodie bag is rubbish. For wexford half, goodie bag was non existant.

The course for the half was well marshalled, plenty of water stations, more than usual for a half marathon, energy drink was a nice touch, no other half does that.

As for been lonely out there running, what did you expect with no more than 1500 doing all the races?? All small races are like that in the middle of nowhere.

The finish was very good for this race, having the longford Rose presenting you the medal and seats to recover.
What i also like about this there was no marshalls rushing you through here and hassling you. Instead it was well done, take a seat, have a bottle water etc.

Food afterwards was great too. The food was well advertised on the web and the announcer said it a few times too

Oisin11178

1 star (terrible)

average_runner wrote: »

I did the half yesterday and cant understand why so many complaints.

I understand the t-shirt but I knew about this, but the cotton tshirt is as bad as race series 10 mile t-shirt, the purple techincal top.


The goodie bag for this race is way better than the Dublin Marathon goodie bag and has to be said it was the best goodie bag i got this year.
The race series in the park is getting a bigger entry, making more money and yet their goodie bag is rubbish. For wexford half, goodie bag was non existant.

The course for the half was well marshalled, plenty of water stations, more than usual for a half marathon, energy drink was a nice touch, no other half does that.

As for been lonely out there running, what did you expect with no more than 1500 doing all the races?? All small races are like that in the middle of nowhere.

The finish was very good for this race, having the longford Rose presenting you the medal and seats to recover.
What i also like about this there was no marshalls rushing you through here and hassling you. Instead it was well done, take a seat, have a bottle water etc.

Food afterwards was great too. The food was well advertised on the web and the announcer said it a few times too

Yeah if you like goodie bags and a good looking girl giving you a medal your sorted. if your doing a marathon in very hot conditions with 5 and 6 mile gaps between water stations and no marshalls your not. It would all be fine if the entry fee wasnt 65 euros but it was and it was a poor showing for the price.

Middle Distance

Would anyone have the results from yesterday, can't find them anywhere on the net! Cheers:)

dizzymom

3 stars (average)

well done to longford on their 10th anniversary run, epic day, rain kept off for most of it! well organised event.

The Hammer

2 stars (poor)

There is certainly a mixed-bag of opinions and reactions to yesterday's races in Longford. I think all of the opinions are actually valid whether your race experience on the day aligns with them or not.

1. Longford is too expensive - If they took the cost of the Marathon down to say 40? and maybe the half to 25 or 30 I feel that they would boost numbers considerably - it is positioned in the calendar nicely for people training for Dublin or the big autumn marathons in Berlin, Amsterdam - or even New York or Chicago. It is true that it is difficult to see where the entry fee goes. They do have a very big charity angle to this (they state it pretty loud and clear). However - there is poor/no signage to the after-race food, there are no showers.
2. Longford marathon (whatever about the half) is not one to run if you don't like small marathons. I don't think it will be ever a race where people will actually go outside their houses and cheer the runners (some people did setup water tables etc). It is not a first-timer marathon (unless you are a very experienced runner at other distances...)
3. Technical T-shirt - from what I understand it should not be too much cost to get technical t-shirts in Longford - they are a great addition to the goodie bag - and they are a great advertisement vehicle also. I don't think I have ever seen anyone wearing one of the cotton t-shirts they get at this race at another race.
4. The stretch on the N5 road coming back into town is dangerous - particular for marathon runners who are by this point beginning to lose concentration and wander a bit along a curvy racing line...

In terms of country marathons I found it no worse in terms of lonely-ness than Dingle (13 mile - 26 mile stretch) or Clonakilty or even Bogtrotters... Certainly Limerick is a big city and there were plenty of tumble-weed sections there too ...

Overall I think for Longford to be celebrating Longford Marathon in say a 20th edition they need to....
1. reduce prices - give more bang for the buck
2. re-think some sections of the route that brings runners in contact with national road traffic
3. get more running clubs involved in the setup/organisation
4. update their web 2.0 profile a bit better - their facebook is still not showing anything new...
5. Start at 10 or 10 30 am ...