Valencia Marathon - Nov 18th

belcarra

Anyone ever done the Valencia marathon?
Is it flat? Decent course for a fast marathon?
It's only €45 at the moment so good value at least.

I'm thinking of taking a few days hols over there and doing this marathon but would appreciate any other feedback people might have.
One thing I've already worked out is no direct flights from Dublin :-(

pulpo

It should be quite a quick course, here is the profile in meters http://maratondivinapastoravalencia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/20120307_Altimetri769_a.jpg
The last year the finishing area was built really nicely and hopefully this race is in the next year on my calendar.

There is no direct flight from Dublin to Valencia on November, but you can fly to Barcelona or Madrid and then take train/bus. You can also flight to Gatwick/Stansted or somewhere else and from there by Ryanair or Easyjet. And if the timetable doesn't match you have to maybe mix those.

belcarra

Thanks Pulpo.

Looking at flights yesterday Barca return was €100 so not too bad but the sale is over again now I think.
Will look to book flights in August/Sept time when hopefully there might be another sale happening...

pulpo

Aer Lingus Sat Nov 17th 06:50 Dublin-Barcelona / Sun Nov 18th 22:00 Barcelona-Dublin. Flights are 105€ and train I think about 60-80€.

belcarra

So has anyone else decided to go for Valencia?
...anyone???

redved

I did this three years ago, it used to be on in the new year

We flew dub-madrid-valencia with Air Iberia, wasn't too bad and saved the hassle of train stations, luggage etc.
We then rented an apt in the city centre which worked out quite well

I found it pretty good, course is very flat, I can't remember any hills at all.
The middle few kilometers (18-25K)can be a bit boring, as you're a fair bit out of the city centre.
Also you get to run through the tunnel at about 26k which depending on your state of mind can be a struggle.
It looks like they've changed the finishing few ks to take in the harbour etc so should be nicer

Also they have fresh oranges and massages at the end. I finished in over 4 hours and there was no queue

Also if you haven't been to Valencia before they have free bus tours of the city from the Expo, very interesting place

ultraman1

belcarra wrote: »

So has anyone else decided to go for Valencia?
...anyone???

not many here do the easy ones:p

belcarra

ultraman1 wrote: »

not many here do the easy ones:p

I thought you might be pacing it since all you managed was 3/4 distance on Sunday:p

belcarra

redved wrote: »

I did this three years ago, it used to be on in the new year

We flew dub-madrid-valencia with Air Iberia, wasn't too bad and saved the hassle of train stations, luggage etc.
We then rented an apt in the city centre which worked out quite well

I found it pretty good, course is very flat, I can't remember any hills at all.
The middle few kilometers (18-25K)can be a bit boring, as you're a fair bit out of the city centre.
Also you get to run through the tunnel at about 26k which depending on your state of mind can be a struggle.
It looks like they've changed the finishing few ks to take in the harbour etc so should be nicer

Also they have fresh oranges and massages at the end. I finished in over 4 hours and there was no queue

Also if you haven't been to Valencia before they have free bus tours of the city from the Expo, very interesting place

Cheers for that redved!
I've flights, accommodation and car all booked and there's a couple of non-running buddies coming along for the holiday and the La Liga game (v Espanyol) at the weekend and the Champs League game (v Bayern Munich) on the Wed so should be a good holiday regardless of the 'little run'!

Do you have a garmin profile for the course by any chance? I keep hearing it's flat, which is great, but I'd be happier with an elevation profile to back it up! The profile on the official site is crap as it only takes points at every 5km interval, so there could be hills in between that they fail to mention! The course layout change might also have added/gotten rid of a few inclines.
Just trying to be fully informed!

And no, not been to Valencia before so looking forward to chilling out there for a few days, hopefully basking in the afterglow of a significant PB!!:)

redved

I ran this without the Garmin at the time but I can say it is a completely flat marathon, the entire city is at sea level and the only "hill" I can remember is on the way out of the tunnel. I don't think I came across any hills in the city for the week I was there.

This is the course for a PB. no question. I keep promising myself to go back someday and do it again, maybe next year

ClashCityRocker

Anyone who is anyone is doing the Luton marathon that day :cool:

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

So has anyone else decided to go for Valencia?
...anyone???

Signed up this morning. Lived there for 9 years and the in-laws are there. Will be able to point you in the direction of a few bars. Depends on what you're looking for of course. A blind man would pick Finnegan's as the place to have a couple of pints but it has become a bit of a victim of its own success I think.

PM me if you like. I'll be flying in on Saturday afternoon or so and flying out on Monday morn but hope to get a jar or two in that night. Hopefully the temperatures will have calmed down. Been high 20's up to recently, not my type of weather for 26 miles.

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

Signed up this morning. Lived there for 9 years and the in-laws are there. Will be able to point you in the direction of a few bars. Depends on what you're looking for of course. A blind man would pick Finnegan's as the place to have a couple of pints but it has become a bit of a victim of its own success I think.

PM me if you like. I'll be flying in on Saturday afternoon or so and flying out on Monday morn but hope to get a jar or two in that night. Hopefully the temperatures will have calmed down. Been high 20's up to recently, not my type of weather for 26 miles.

Nice one Itziger! What's the target...you gonna push for the sub-3:10 or settle for 3:15?? I'm hoping I'll be in position to go wit the 3:15 gang myself but that is reliant on a couple of more weeks of good training yet!

Defo meet for a few beers afterwards. I'm not too bothered about what bar...I'll have plenty of time for getting to Finnegan's in the following days!
Wouldn't worry one bit about the weather at the moment, plenty of time for it to cool down yet!

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

Nice one Itziger! What's the target...you gonna push for the sub-3:10 or settle for 3:15?? I'm hoping I'll be in position to go wit the 3:15 gang myself but that is reliant on a couple of more weeks of good training yet!

Defo meet for a few beers afterwards. I'm not too bothered about what bar...I'll have plenty of time for getting to Finnegan's in the following days!
Wouldn't worry one bit about the weather at the moment, plenty of time for it to cool down yet!

Well I got 3.14 on Sunday so depending on how recovery goes and the few weeks of training, I'd like to target 3:10. Time enough to worry about that though.

beeduybe

belcarra wrote: »

Do you have a garmin profile for the course by any chance? I keep hearing it's flat, which is great, but I'd be happier with an elevation profile to back it up! The profile on the official site is crap as it only takes points at every 5km interval, so there could be hills in between that they fail to mention! The course layout change might also have added/gotten rid of a few inclines.
Just trying to be fully informed!

A search of activities on Garmin Connect in Valencia on the date of last years marathon shows up a good few like this one for example. Plenty more there as well.

menoscemo

beeduybe wrote: »

A search of activities on Garmin Connect in Valencia on the date of last years marathon shows up a good few like this one for example. Plenty more there as well.

This is why people should enable elevation corrections on their garmins. That profile does nothing to show actual elevation. Either there are 10+ sharp 200-300ft hills in Valencia or the Garmin thinks the runner is climbing over several tall buildings...

beeduybe

menoscemo wrote: »

This is why people should enable elevation corrections on their garmins. That profile does nothing to show actual elevation. Either there are 10+ sharp 200-300ft hills in Valencia or the Garmin thinks the runner is climbing over several tall buildings...

Good point. I picked that profile at random as an example but probably should have studied it a little better before posting it.

Itziger

I'm on the easy list for at least 5 days I reckon. After last Sunday's marathon, I got out for a recovery 'run' on Wednesday and thought the level of discomfort was acceptable but yesterday's effort was much worse. Left hamstring really sore and had to walk a couple of times. Hoping that rest will clear it up. If it doesn't, I'll be slow jogging the 42 k in Valencia waving and high fiving people all the way. 4 weeks to go though, I'm hopeful still.

How's training going for other(s) here??

Itziger

Just in case anyone is looking for a marathon urgently! Can't see too many who've forked out thousands for NY going to Spain, but you never know. Valencia marathon has extended it's sign up deadline.

http://maratondivinapastoravalencia.com/en/el-maraton-divina-pastora-valencia-amplia-el-plazo-de-inscripcion/

belcarra

Time to start looking at the weather for this!:D
Looking perfect for the marathon at the moment with 10deg, calm as you like with just a slight drop of rain to keep us cool!
Plenty of time for that to all change to SuperStormSandy conditions yet though!

TRR

belcarra wrote: »

Time to start looking at the weather for this!:D
Looking perfect for the marathon at the moment with 10deg, calm as you like with just a slight drop of rain to keep us cool!
Plenty of time for that to all change to SuperStormSandy conditions yet though!

Best of luck. I'll be keeping an eye out for your result.

blockic

Good luck to everyone running here on Sunday. Look forward to the reports.

belcarra

Just got my race number - 3302.
Bring it on!

Itziger - What's your number?

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

Just got my race number - 3302.
Bring it on!

Itziger - What's your number?

I think I'm 1820, Belcarra. I'll Google timeline that year and see all the good stuff that went down. That positivity will get me over the line

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

I think I'm 1820, Belcarra. I'll Google timeline that year and see all the good stuff that went down. That positivity will get me over the line

Hopefully it won't be twenty past six when you finish instead though...I'll be drunk by that stage!!

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

Hopefully it won't be twenty past six when you finish instead though...I'll be drunk by that stage!!

I'd get my own programme on the TV though, about how I had valiantly lost 2kilos and completed the course in under 12 hours.

Definitely looking like rain now. Hope it's not too heavy. At least it won't be cold. Low of 14°.

Itziger

Well, a good race and a pb by about 66 seconds! 3:12:58 chip time. Still can't seem to get the bloody 3:10. The course is very fair and I'd recommend the race for anyone who maybe runs out of time in their Dublin preparation. On the day it was a lot warmer than forecast: 16 at start but saw a few displays during the race showing 21 or 22.

All in all, happy. Especially as it came just 5 weeks after a tough 3rd marathon in the rain and cold of Metz.

Highlight though has to be meeting Belcarra afterwards for "pints". Himself and another Mayo lad were hitting the red wine hard. We did a mini crawl which took in Mejillones and Calamares as soakage. Good laugh ...... Hope he's recovered for Clon !!!!!!!!