GFW 2012

darrenoconaill

snailsong wrote: »

Had hoped to gain on the bike but only got 19 seconds, bad cramps all the way. Went straight up the Reek, hoping it'd be quicker than my usual zigzag route. I was 2 seconds faster, so there's conclusive proof that straight up is fastest:). Fell 3 times on the way down putting paid to any thoughts of a fast finish. I must have been up that mountain 50 times and it breaks my heart every time.

Still happy to finish in one piece and keep it under the 5 hours. Already planning for next year and a serious assault on 4:30:).

There seemed to be an awful amount of people taking the straight route up the Reek yesterday-far more than in previous years. I went up the zig-zag as normal but decided to come straight down. Took me 16:18 coming straight down as opposed to 17:00 last year coming down the zig-zag. So there's conclusive proof that straight down is fastest too

toomuchdetail

Guys , well done to one and all - plenty of war stories and cramps to bring ye back for more .I regret not doing now but after the last 3 I thought I had lost the love for it but Ill be back ..


I got some pictures of the Top 30-40 finishers yesterday , there on Flickr below if your on it or recognise anyone share it around .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85328512@N02/


See you back in the West for the great Achill Roar in a few weeks .

Peterx

Great race as always, improvements year on year with signage and registration so well done to the organisers.

The myth has landed and his name is Tim:)

Tim "The Myth" O'Donoghue was quite simply racing against the clock as no one in the field could trouble him. 4 minutes ahead after an hour he quite simply kept going to extend his lead, post the quickest ever ascent and descent of the reek and finish 6 minutes ahead of Aidan McMoreland despite a puncture.
Two bright stars have landed into the cosy wee pool of Irish multisport racing and will be having fantastic races for years to come.
I had a decent race, happy enough with third although obviously I would have preferred to be in the battle for 2nd place against Aidan, no one was going to be troubling Tim for the win.
Just hadn't quite got enough race sharpness on the day although I couldn't believe it when I saw the two lads only a couple of minutes ahead as we hit the reek - this is the position I've been in for the last 4 years and I was hoping to pull another good Reek climb out of the bag and that the two of them were tiring but these two boyos were not for turning and were never to be be seen again and in fact the descent times show I was the one who had a poor descent.
It's a great race and hopefully we'll see the mighty Marrey back next year after his unfortunately timed virus this year - I missed him:)

gigantic09

Gforce was even harder than i thought.An event where the hits just keep on coming.It really tests a persons resolve and inner strength to cope with the various challenges.Finished it in 4.06 and

swore never again.Now that the aches and pains are starting to heal and the hangover is no more im starting to have 2nd thoughts.It would be great to have a tilt at sub 4 next year.

Weather was perfect and the atmosphere at the finish and around town that night was great.Congrats to all who competed as the achievement of finishing this race is something to be proud of.

scaletec

Absolute savage day. The pain just keeps coming!
As a first-timer I completely underestimated how hard initial run was. Bog run is fairly energy sapping too-thank God it's not any longer. Huge thank you's to all organisers/event staff etc for a brilliantly organised day.Also to fellow competitors who offered support and encouragement on the course (in particular on the reek). Never seen anything like the camaraderie between people doing GFW at any other event-it truly is special!
Congrats to all who took part and see you all next year....if my legs recover!:D

nerraw1111

Great event, superbly organised. Mixed day for me. Didn't go to plan at all. Ended up 10 mins slower than last year whatever happened. Lack of bike training and going out too hard...I think. Never got going on the day and turned into a sufferfest.

Thought the first run was definitely harder this year. Fairly boggy, up to my arse at one point.

Great race though.

Excuseless

endswell wrote: »

some results up front, 3,32 for tim o donoghue? must be a machine

Yup - Course record and with a puncture too.
23' 13" up and 8'38" down - both records for these legs by some margins I believe
He seems to have a relentless fast pace on foot both on and off the mountain and not too bad on bike either
Aidan Mc Moreland had a good race and was in big group pacing off PeterX to kayak and then he made a decisive move before Delphi and held on for good second with sub 10 min CP Descent :eek:

PeterX will be back for more methinks in 2013 - had injury earlier in year and was stuck biking for more than ideal for him in his recovery.

Dessie Duffy a super 4th after being mid thirties after first run - one to watch for the future if he gets the hang of this offroad running lark.

Emma Donlon made to work hard for her win by the improving Kate Cronin in the ladies but great win given her injury plagued season to date.

Happy enough w my own race - Around 40th after first run but plodded my way through field from there home and had a good mountain stage especially with gravity on way down so well happy to make top ten

On on to Achill ROAR now on 8th Sept

Would love to race but guess someone has to get stuck organising

Skilgannon79

Another great trip out in Westport for me even if the race itself was a disaster but every year I go GFW I learn something new... need to hydrate better on the first run, was cramping badly on the bike and reek, and really need to sort out better tyres for my bike! Got a puncture on my front wheel on the off road section after Croagh Patrick, changed out the tube and checked the tyre to make sure there was nothing in it to puncture the replacement tube... hopped back on and cycled about 20 feet when I got a puncture on the back wheel. So I changed out the back tube but forgot to check the tyre, hopped back on the bike again and as soon as I sat on the saddle the back wheel punctured again! Only had 2 tubes with me so that was my race done! Even though it was already done at that stage in reality cos I'd wasted nearly 20 mins on the 2 punctures. Had to carry my bike down to the road and handed it into the first house I came to and started the jog back into Westport... finished in 4h 56m but I'm in mourning now over what my time could have been. Ah well its fuel to fire me for next year!

Congrats to the podium finishers, incredible stuff, some scary split times in there, 8mins 38 off the reek?? I couldn't do that on a zip line.

woody1

jeez 4.56 with 3 punctures and the guts of 8 or 9k run in, fair play
i know it must be a sickener to think of what might have been , dunno if id got 3 punctures if id have jogged it in..

learned a bit meself, first run way underestimated, came too far down the path on the descent of cp.. in general just a bit too much fluting around..was convinced there was something wrong with my front wheel and stopped to check when i was just b*lloxed.. walked part of the steep hill mainly because there were 2 others walking and sure what harm..shouldve stuck it out..wasnt that bad.. have to work on going down steep hills on bike anyone in front of me on either of the 2 descents were long gone by the time i hit the bottom of the hill..got to the kayaks in a small group of 3 or 4 and we all just stood looking at the kayaks for a minute waiting for someone to take initiative..
small things but all told probably worth 5 minutes.. when your on the go and your wrecked you dont care but the day after when you start adding them up !!
it also probably wouldve been more intelligent at my level to go in a later wave and get the benefit of a timeout at the kayaks.. wonder is it worth much or is it a loss of momentum..or is the course in such ****e at that stage that it balances out..

Skilgannon79

woody1 wrote: »

jeez 4.56 with 3 punctures and the guts of 8 or 9k run in, fair play
i know it must be a sickener to think of what might have been , dunno if id got 3 punctures if id have jogged it in..

learned a bit meself, first run way underestimated, came too far down the path on the descent of cp.. in general just a bit too much fluting around..was convinced there was something wrong with my front wheel and stopped to check when i was just b*lloxed.. walked part of the steep hill mainly because there were 2 others walking and sure what harm..shouldve stuck it out..wasnt that bad.. have to work on going down steep hills on bike anyone in front of me on either of the 2 descents were long gone by the time i hit the bottom of the hill..got to the kayaks in a small group of 3 or 4 and we all just stood looking at the kayaks for a minute waiting for someone to take initiative..
small things but all told probably worth 5 minutes.. when your on the go and your wrecked you dont care but the day after when you start adding them up !!
it also probably wouldve been more intelligent at my level to go in a later wave and get the benefit of a timeout at the kayaks.. wonder is it worth much or is it a loss of momentum..or is the course in such ****e at that stage that it balances out..

The minutes of delays and little breaks here and there do add up at the end alright but cutting them out is easier said than done when you're tired out on the course! One thing I do know for sure though is that there is a huge amount of time to be gained coming down off the reek if you work on your descents and you have the strength left in the legs. A recce or two of the reek when you're not against the clock is well worth the trip to Westport. Some of my friends were almost an hour coming down because they stayed on the path and they're not very confident on the downhills, compare that to 8 mins 38 seconds!! My girlfriend took the path last year and came down in 40 mins, a few weeks ago we went to Westport and I showed her a route off the side, she took 15 mins off her time straight away.
I was hoping to break inside the 4 hr mark this year but I was already a few mins off that due to cramps before my puncture disasters struck so its back to the drawing board for next year.
How do you compete with the machines at the front? Answers on a postcard please!

woody1

came down the path cos id tried coming down the side before and nearly killed meself runners i have didnt have the grip so i decided not to risk it, and of course the legs were mashed as well which doesnt help..will be coming down the side next year...

Slogger Jogger

Practise makes perfect. The season for hill running is all but over but check out www.imra.ie next year for races. Do more training in the hills

woody1

off to do warriors this weekend , will that do , had planned on the imra nephin race a few weeks ago in the year but chickened out and spent the day training for this instead..
not a pile of imra races this direction..no shortage of hills to practice on though.. will be heading for sea to summit in november so im sure il be back on the reek shortly..

Skilgannon79

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Practise makes perfect. The season for hill running is all but over but check out www.imra.ie next year for races. Do more training in the hills

Agree 100% with ya Slogger Jogger, IMRA is yer only man, I do the Wed night hill runs here in Tipp/Limk sometimes, they continue during the winter with head torches so hopefully I'll continue them this winter and maybe even give Art O'Neill another go although I didn't really enjoy the road part of it.... loved the mountain part though! Probably will end up doing it again cos I think having that in my legs from January really stood to me this year. Also would love to give the Beast of Ballyhoura a go for next year.... looks like a busy year ahead!:D

Skilgannon79

Excuseless wrote: »

Yup - Course record and with a puncture too.
23' 13" up and 8'38" down - both records for these legs by some margins I believe
He seems to have a relentless fast pace on foot both on and off the mountain and not too bad on bike either
Aidan Mc Moreland had a good race and was in big group pacing off PeterX to kayak and then he made a decisive move before Delphi and held on for good second with sub 10 min CP Descent :eek:

PeterX will be back for more methinks in 2013 - had injury earlier in year and was stuck biking for more than ideal for him in his recovery.

Dessie Duffy a super 4th after being mid thirties after first run - one to watch for the future if he gets the hang of this offroad running lark.

Emma Donlon made to work hard for her win by the improving Kate Cronin in the ladies but great win given her injury plagued season to date.

Happy enough w my own race - Around 40th after first run but plodded my way through field from there home and had a good mountain stage especially with gravity on way down so well happy to make top ten

On on to Achill ROAR now on 8th Sept

Would love to race but guess someone has to get stuck organising

Great performance on the day Excuseless! I got boxed in at the start and found myself back in about 70th place on the run, took a lot out of me trying to claw my way back up. I was happy enough when I managed to draw level with you and got to the kayaks just ahead of you but you went past me on the water and opened a gap when we got to the bikes, whatever chance I had of catching you was wiped out by my cramping thanks to using up too much juice on the run and when we got to the Reek you flew up and down it! Great result to come from 40s up to 8th place, congrats.

Rusty Rothar

Anyone see the accident at the start of the Sheeffry hills road? I went past it around 11 o'clock and an ambulance crew were taking someone away on a stretcher with a neck brace on. I hope it was just precautionary. Weird though to have seen an accident there as it was a straight piece of road. Though a friend of mine who was racing later in the day told me how he was knocked off his bike by someone who was listening to their I pod on the cycle and wasnt paying attention

hardCopy

Just looking over my times, my biggest saving over last year was on the mountain where I saved about 22 minutes. Last year I tried to go straight up but wasn't anywhere near fit enough for it. This year I took the zig-zag up and came down the cone as far as the top of the zig-zag and then cut straight down, saved time everywhere other than the kayak where I was a few seconds slower. Managed to knock 1:03 off altogether, had haoped to make bigger gains than that but I think I forgot just how rough some of the terrain was and also had trouble getting started on the run, I think I ate too much on the bus and had a bit of a stitch from early on.

Will be back next year stronger, leaner and hopefully a better climber.

Edit: out of curiosity, what kind of prizes are on offer at the top end?

chris_d

first time at GFW since 2009. was a great race and well organised with such a big turnout.

conditions were excellent, the lack of wind pushed me on to get as good a time as possible. made a nice change from the cycle from hell into the wind at GF North in June. knocked over an hour off my '09 time so was delighted with 5hrs 29mins. mentally & physically exhausted crossing the finish line.

i was worried having to use my mtb again, but it helped me out on the 'new' part of the cycle route leading to the croagh patrick drop off [my first time cycling it] and i passed plenty of roadies on the hills and the rough patches.

but if i had to choose, i'd say the soup at GF North was better than GF West. looking forward to next year, maybe.

scaletec

Did anyone else fall victim to the misinformed marshall at the entrance onto the bog on cycle to CP? She was calling 3k to foot of the reek!

endswell

hardCopy wrote: »

Edit: out of curiosity, what kind of prizes are on offer at the top end?

i was wondering that as well .... there was an article in body and sole on it @ http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/bodyandsole/ said there were 1700 entrants, that's down from 2300 last year

thehamo

endswell wrote: »

hardCopy wrote: »

Edit: out of curiosity, what kind of prizes are on offer at the top end?

i was wondering that as well .... there was an article in body and sole on it @ http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/bodyandsole/ said there were 1700 entrants, that's down from 2300 last year

Definitely noticed a lack of numbers this year as compared to previous years, even in town after. Pubs weren't half as busy. Was it intentional? I think the waves were even earlier this year too

Rew

Rusty Rothar wrote: »

Anyone see the accident at the start of the Sheeffry hills road? I went past it around 11 o'clock and an ambulance crew were taking someone away on a stretcher with a neck brace on. I hope it was just precautionary. Weird though to have seen an accident there as it was a straight piece of road. Though a friend of mine who was racing later in the day told me how he was knocked off his bike by someone who was listening to their I pod on the cycle and wasnt paying attention

Yeah I passed it not long after it happened, 3 others had already stopped to help him. The best description I could give was he looked like a Mummy from a horror movie. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and face with gaps for mouth and eyes, blood everywhere...

Not sure how it happend the bit of road its on is straight and flat. At the top of Sheeffry the guy in front of me pulled in to an ambulance to ask if they knew about it and they did.

Took 40 mins off my time last year to do it in 5h 23min despite having a desperate first run and adding a few mins to my time up CP.

I was in wave 2 and there was a girl from wave 1 with headphones in walking the trail making it awkward to get by, saw a few cyclists with them in alright. Anyone I was passing I called out which side I was passing on. I was disappointed how many cars I met on Sheeffry road. After the big descent coming into the left after the hard right over the bridge I met a group of racers and a car leading to some rapid breaking. Just after that I met a cyclist coming against me.

hardCopy

scaletec wrote: »

Did anyone else fall victim to the misinformed marshall at the entrance onto the bog on cycle to CP? She was calling 3k to foot of the reek!

I think she must have told absolutely everybody. Everyone I met in the pub afterwards had the same complaint.

Luckily I had my Garmin and told the lads beside me to ignore her, not that they'd believe me over a marshal, I don't think we were even 3K as the crow flies at that stage.

siobhanb79

Hi Guys,
Thank you for all the feedback, we will take it all on board.
Someone was asked about numbers - we had 2050 enter and about 1800 actually turned up to race.
The top end prizes were cash & weekend in Delphi Mountain resort.
The guy who fell off his bike on sheffrey is fine,

Gaelforce team

ThisRegard

thehamo wrote: »

Definitely noticed a lack of numbers this year as compared to previous years, even in town after. Pubs weren't half as busy. Was it intentional? I think the waves were even earlier this year too

Don't think it was intentional as I was keeping an eye on the numbers and it was pretty easy to pick your wave right up to the end, whereas for the last 2 years anyway all the early waves were gone pretty much at the start of the summer.

Seres

endswell wrote: »

i was wondering that as well .... there was an article in body and sole on it @ http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/bodyandsole/ said there were 1700 entrants, that's down from 2300 last year

Im not surprised the numbers are down , the event is bad value and comes off as a money racket . I did it in 2010 and came in under 5 hrs . After that time i could have done with a hot meal after been up from 6 that morning , they had beard and soup in cups at the finish , PLEASE !!! . I mean they advertise for volunteers to take part on the day in order to cut costs . I would not do this event again unless they seriously improved on the value . I really hope the numbers are down because people are responding to bad value for money .

Rusty Rothar

Rew wrote: »

I was in wave 2 and there was a girl from wave 1 with headphones in walking the trail making it awkward to get by, saw a few cyclists with them in alright. Anyone I was passing I called out which side I was passing on. I was disappointed how many cars I met on Sheeffry road. After the big descent coming into the left after the hard right over the bridge I met a group of racers and a car leading to some rapid breaking. Just after that I met a cyclist coming against me.

Its crazy being out on the race like that and listening to your headphones. If you want a nature walk go on one but in a race you have to be aware of whats happening around you. Sheefry descent is difficult as there is always people taking it easy down there, I like to try and push it as fast as I can as I'm a bit more comfortable than a lot of people on the day going down that descent but you're never far from an abrupt stop.

Good time though, you must be happy taking so much off your first year, I think knowing the course makes a huge difference

ThisRegard

Seres wrote: »

they had beard and soup in cups at the finish , PLEASE !!! .

Disgusting, nothing worse than a hard day out and coming back to a nasty hairy drink.

Skilgannon79

siobhanb79 wrote: »

Hi Guys,
Thank you for all the feedback, we will take it all on board.
Someone was asked about numbers - we had 2050 enter and about 1800 actually turned up to race.
The top end prizes were cash & weekend in Delphi Mountain resort.
The guy who fell off his bike on sheffrey is fine,

Gaelforce team

Hi Siobhan,

Firstly thanks for another great day out! Just to give my own view on a couple of the points raised I think I'd be very slow to change anything about the race as it's every competitor against the course as nature delivers it and I wouldn't like to see health and safety get their hands on it too much. I think the improvements you made to the layout of the finish line the last two years have really improved the atmosphere there and it's one thing that sets GFW apart from other events. One thing I did notice though is that there tends to be a lot of support as you cycle in along the quays where people are lining the railings but then when you actually drop the bike and run (waddle) back to the finish line it can be a bit muted at times as I think its difficult to fit enough people in the small area around the finish. Maybe if the finish line was moved back a little bit further and competitors had to run between railings for a short distance more it would allow more supporters in to cheer them on the final run and improve the atmosphere even further? Just a suggestion, maybe there's a good reason for it being set up as it is.
On the cost of the event I don't find it overly expensive considering the bus journey to the start line, and the professional manner in which the race is run. I've never organised anything like that so I don't know what your costs are but I've competed in cheaper events and a lot of them operate in loops to reduce cost and the quality of the course tends to suffer as a result. I've also come over the line in cheaper events with no food and not much more than a stray dog and a freezing photograper to greet me so I don't think there's anything wrong with the Gaelforce West formula. That's why I keep coming back year after year, there isn't much out there to touch Gaelforce in my opinion when it comes to a one day multisport event. Only a couple of events come close.
Anyway in summary congrats on a great day and my love affair with Gaelforce West continues! See you next year!

siobhanb79

Hi Skilgannon,
Thank you for your comments and glad to hear you are still enjoying it.
We try to take all feedback on board and work on it for next year.

siobhan