Athlone ¾ Marathon, Sun 7th Oct 2012 11am

tang1

bazman wrote: »

Hey all
The price remains at €44 this week - until Friday 7th midnight so get in now to save €5.
I know some on this forum will argue that this is expensive, but considering all on offer it's a bargain race, technical t-shirt, medal, refreshment stations, free transport from Athlone, post-race massage, pacers

This might answer your question.

Dalken

Man the last 2 mles are tough.

bazman

We're short a few pacers for 7th October 2012.

Anyone interested?

bazman

CCR wrote: »

Is it possible to get to this race by public transport? I'm travelling from Dublin so I could get a train to Athlone but the problem is getting from Athlone train station to start of race and back.
Thanks in advance.

Just to confirm - free bus transport is provided to/from Athlone bus/rail station.

bazman

tunguska wrote: »

I did this race the firdt year it was run and I enjoyed it but the course was extremly undulating. Just wanna know have changes been made to the course to flatten it out since that first year? Thanks

Same course as last year, but it's not that bad! It's undulating in a similar way to Dublin, so from a preparation perspective it's ideal so long as you don't kill yourself on the course My advice is to run controlled and finish strong ...

kencoo

4 stars (good)

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone is running this race again on 7th of October this year and if so is the route the same as 2010 & 2011?


Thanks

RayCun

I moved this post in from the main forum

ultraman1

4 stars (good)

.......I AM A gom

kencoo

4 stars (good)

That answers my question!

Very well organised in 2010 which i think was its first year. Very tough and i was in real pain afterwards. Looking forward too round two in a few weeks!

bazman

We're still short a few faster pacers, particularly:
- 7:15 / mile pace (3hr marathon prep group)
- 8:20 / mile pace (3:30hr marathon prep group)

PM or email info@athlone3quarter.com if interested. There are some perks to the job

Prize fund also confirmed:

• 1st Male & Female: €300 + commissioned trophy + €100 bonus for course record
• 2nd Male & Female: €200
• 3rd Male & Female: €100
• First male and female finishers over 40, 50 and 60: €60 Amphibian King Voucher
• Second male and female finishers over 40, 50 and 60: €40 Amphibian King Voucher

woody1

4 stars (good)

is there a deadline on entries by the way, going for a long run tomorrow to see am i up to it..

bazman

woody1 wrote: »

is there a deadline on entries by the way, going for a long run tomorrow to see am i up to it..

Entries are limited to 1,000 and we expect to sell out, so it is best to get your entry in early if you want to run ...

Muppet Man

4 stars (good)

Anyone know if there Are there any 3:45 marathon prep pacers? (5:20/km?)

Is there a hill profile available anywhere?

(sorry - on blackberry and haven't checked website)

Thx!
Muppet man.

bazman

Muppet Man wrote: »

Anyone know if there Are there any 3:45 marathon prep pacers? (5:20/km?)

Is there a hill profile available anywhere?

(sorry - on blackberry and haven't checked website)

Thx!
Muppet man.

It's an undulating course - particularly miles 4-8, and mile 18 is a difficult one close to the finish

Profile available here: http://www.athlone3quarter.com/race-info.php

Regarding pacers:
- Pace group @ 6:05/km (for those targeting sub-4 marathon)
- Pace group @ 5:20/km (for those targeting sub-3:30 marathon)
- Pace group @ 4:35/km (for those targeting sub-3 marathon)

Reason for pace groups being slighly slower than marathon pace is to ensure you conserve your 'A' game for marathon, but you could run with 5:20/km group for first 28 km easily and then back-off and relax for the last couple of hilly kms ...

woody1

4 stars (good)

bazman wrote: »

Entries are limited to 1,000 and we expect to sell out, so it is best to get your entry in early if you want to run ...

thanks..entered now anyway..

Muppet Man

4 stars (good)

bazman wrote: »

.... you could run with 5:20/km group for first 28 km easily and then back-off and relax for the last couple of hilly kms ...

Thanks Bazman - I was thinking the exact same thing. I'll probably stick my name down alright - just waiting on a pay cheque any day now

Muppet Man

woody1

4 stars (good)

so from looking at the website and the pacers, its assumed if you can run this race in 3 hours your looking at roughly 3.40 for dublin...
is it that much harder than the dublin marathon course..?? not doing dub marathon this year anyway but curious to know for whenever i do

bazman

woody1 wrote: »

so from looking at the website and the pacers, its assumed if you can run this race in 3 hours your looking at roughly 3.40 for dublin...
is it that much harder than the dublin marathon course..?? not doing dub marathon this year anyway but curious to know for whenever i do

You need to flip your question. The idea of the pacing is not to predict your marathon time. The idea of pacing is to recommend a pace for a target marathon time. So if you're planning a 3:45 marathon, we recommend running Athlone 3/4 Marathon in 3:00 hours. This conservative guidance is provided to ensure you don't run your best race in Athlone - the full marathon is the target for most.

Let's take Linda Byrne as an example. She finished Athlone 3/4 marathon in 2 hours, but this did not mean she was going to run a 2:30 marathon. She finished with an excellent 2:36 marathon. She obviously got her pacing in Athlone right to produce an Olympic A standard in Dublin. The pacing chart provided is just a little more conservative, particularly for less experienced runners.

Important thing for me is that you should run Athlone within your capabilities - at no stage should you feel like you're firing on all cylinders and you should finish the race feeling confident about Dublin. Legs will be tired on Monday, but not to the point of not being able to walk The recovery process will strengthen your legs for Dublin and 3 weeks is ample time to fully recover as long as you don't over do it post Athlone. The 3 weeks post Athlone should be taper time ...

woody1

4 stars (good)

bazman wrote: »

You need to flip your question. The idea of the pacing is not to predict your marathon time. The idea of pacing is to recommend a pace for a target marathon time. So if you're planning a 3:45 marathon, we recommend running Athlone 3/4 Marathon in 3:00 hours. This conservative guidance is provided to ensure you don't run your best race in Athlone - the full marathon is the target for most.

Let's take Linda Byrne as an example. She finished Athlone 3/4 marathon in 2 hours, but this did not mean she was going to run a 2:30 marathon. She finished with an excellent 2:36 marathon. She obviously got her pacing in Athlone right to produce an Olympic A standard in Dublin. The pacing chart provided is just a little more conservative, particularly for less experienced runners.

Important thing for me is that you should run Athlone within your capabilities - at no stage should you feel like you're firing on all cylinders and you should finish the race feeling confident about Dublin. Legs will be tired on Monday, but not to the point of not being able to walk The recovery process will strengthen your legs for Dublin and 3 weeks is ample time to fully recover as long as you don't over do it post Athlone.

ahhh fair enough.. that makes sense to me.. not running dublin this is part of a long build up to maybe running it next year... had run the 31k at the weekend in 3 hours but in no way felt id do the full distane in 3 hr 45 minutes..thats where my curiousity was coming from .. thanks

kencoo

4 stars (good)

If youre a novice id ask the pacer boys/gals at the start... in 2010 i expected to finish in 3 hours so followed the 3 hr pacer for 12 miles before i cracked.... during that 12 miles i kept thinking that they were going to slow down at any minute now!!

Its an excellent prep race for DCM. Tough with plenty of hills.

bazman

We're short a pacer for the pace group @ 4:35/km (for those targeting sub-3 marathon).

Any takers out there? It's a great day out Let me know if you could be or know anyone who could be persuaded ...

rasher_m

I'm thinking of going to this one, any idea of whether or not I should follow a pacer...I'm hoping to try for 4.15 in Dublin.

bazman

rasher_m wrote: »

I'm thinking of going to this one, any idea of whether or not I should follow a pacer...I'm hoping to try for 4.15 in Dublin.

There will be a pace group starting out at about 10min/km, so you could certainly start with them and see how you feel. If anyway uncomfortable with the pace run your own race as it's a relatively sheltered route. We'll have mile & km markers like other years, so it should be easy to know your pace throughout even without a gps watch.

bazman

Online entries will close tomorrow night and since we're close to capacity there will be no entries on the day, so get in now to avoid any disappointment ...

Running Fool

Hi guys,

Anybody know if there'll be registration on the morning?

I want to do this and want to sign up but I won't know if I'm free from work until Saturday afternoon?

Thanks

bazman

Running Fool wrote: »

Hi guys,

Anybody know if there'll be registration on the morning?

I want to do this and want to sign up but I won't know if I'm free from work until Saturday afternoon?

Thanks

Hi Running Fool, we're close to capacity so we will not have entries on the day.
I will let you know if this changes

Craptacular

3 stars (average)

bazman wrote: »

rasher_m wrote: »

I'm thinking of going to this one, any idea of whether or not I should follow a pacer...I'm hoping to try for 4.15 in Dublin.

There will be a pace group starting out at about 10min/km, so you could certainly start with them and see how you feel.

I presume you mean 10min/mile in which case I'll be tagging on to them.

sureitsgrand

3 stars (average)

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career_move

4 stars (good)

According to the race brief the last shuttle bus leaves at 9.50

http://athlone3quarter.com/userfiles/2012_A3Q_RaceBriefingPack.pdf

bazman

career_move wrote: »

According to the race brief the last shuttle bus leaves at 9.50

http://athlone3quarter.com/userfiles/2012_A3Q_RaceBriefingPack.pdf

Modified Race Pack here:
http://www.athlone3quarter.com/userfiles/2012_A3Q_RaceBriefingPack3.pdf


The Athlone ¾ Marathon complimentary bus will pick up from the Athlone bus and train station at approx the following times:
- 9:15am (to cater for 9.03 Galway train)
- 10:10am (to cater for 10.07 Dublin train – this bus cannot wait beyond 10:15 for the Dublin train!)

Look out for Moran’s 21 seater minibus with an Athlone ¾ Marathon sign in the window. Please try to make the earlier buses. The Athlone ¾ Marathon bus service from Athlone to race registration is provided free of charge. The last bus will leave promptly at 9:50am to ensure athletes have enough time to register and warm-up for the race. Return buses will leave after race, with times to be confirmed on the day as demand dictates.