Ireland's fastest marathon?

Claude Harmon

Having completed the Dublin Marathon for the third time, i want keep pushing my PB down. I know Dublin is pretty flat, but there must be flatter courses in Ireland.

So i am wondering what is Ireland's Fastest (ie Flatest) Marathon??

Aimman

The Le Cheile Lexlip Midnight Marathon in June.

26.2M around a 400m running Track. Cant get flatter then that. :cool:

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

The Le Cheile Lexlip Midnight Marathon in June.

26.2M around a 400m running Track. Cant get flatter then that. :cool:

But is it AIMS Recognised?

I was talking to a few about this on Monday and the general Consensus is that Portumna Forest marathon in June is the fastest and flattest in the country. It also carries an AIMs Certificate so it is good for Boston, London, NewYork Etc Qualification purposes. I might try it this year...

dev123

Portumna would definitely have to be up there. The fact that a large part of it is on a trail definitely takes pressure off the legs compared to concrete / tarmac

ultraman1

menoscemo wrote: »

the general Consensus is that Portumna Forest marathon in June is the fastest and flattest.

could be the flatist? ,but dublin is the fastest;)

Cabaal

Portumna is pretty flat alright - see garmin profile http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189495781

Very well organized also and great you can basically park beside the start/finish line (for the longer distances anyway), I know I'll be going back to it next year was very happy with it

Krusty_Clown

Cabaal wrote: »

Portumna is pretty flat alright - see garmin profile http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189495781

Elevation gain: 661 metres? :eek:

Dublin was only 353 metres!

Cabaal

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Elevation gain: 661 metres? :eek:

Dublin was only 353 metres!

Stop ruining my reality, it felt like it was flatter :pac:



(yes I should have actually compared them against each other....doh)

Krusty_Clown

Cabaal wrote: »

(yes I should have actually compared them against each other....doh)

I was just teasing. That's just Garmin numbers, which you have to take with a significant pinch scoop bucket of salt. The elevation gain numbers are nonsense.

average_runner

menoscemo wrote: »

But is it AIMS Recognised?

I was talking to a few about this on Monday and the general Consensus is that Portumna Forest marathon in June is the fastest and flattest in the country. It also carries an AIMs Certificate so it is good for Boston, London, NewYork Etc Qualification purposes. I might try it this year...

But would the trail not slow u down?

breffni blue

Longford and the Waterford marathons are very flat..

EauRouge79

Waterford would have my vote.

Ecoenergy

Great Limerick Run is on in May and has an ascent of 312ft. I've never ran it but at the Dublin expo they were advertising it as a 'PB' Marathon on the hand out I received. It also says you get a 10% discount using code GLR10 before Dec 1st.

ger664

Eddie Murphy Memorial in Sixmilebridge in November surely.

ger664

Ecoenergy wrote: »

Great Limerick Run is on in May and has an ascent of 312ft. I've never ran it but at the Dublin expo they were advertising it as a 'PB' Marathon on the hand out I received. It also says you get a 10% discount using code GLR10 before Dec 1st.

2 tough drags passed Thomond Park and Ennis Road and both come in the last 6 miles.

ultraman1

every bloody race organiser says their marathon is a PB course....,,the only key to getting PB marathon is to run faster than you did in your fastest marathon,,i think there was a thread about this a while ago started by a grump

Aimman

ultraman1 wrote: »

every bloody race organiser says their marathon is a PB course....,,the only key to getting PB marathon is to run faster than you did in your fastest marathon,,i think there was a thread about this a while ago started by a grump

I better not ask about the fastest 50k route so

kit3

What's Kildare like ? Not so much wondering about how fast etc but more the contrast between a big city marathon like Dublin and a much smaller rural one ? Are you likely to be running on your own for large parts of it ? I know this is probably difficult to answer. I've just done Dublin twice so have nothing else to compare with. Am debating whether to go for the full in Kildare or stick to the half (did it last 3 years here) and try to bring my time down for that before going for Dublin again. Any thoughts ?

Muppet Man

I've run Longford, Kildare, clonakilty and duBlin. Longford is definitely the flattest for me. One humpback railway bridge at 22 miles. That's about it really. Poorly supported though with no pacers.

Didn't like Kildare, found it much harder than Dublin hill wise. Clonakilty is silly hard.

Cheers,
Muppet man.

ultrapercy

Muppet Man wrote: »

I've run Longford, Kildare, clonakilty and duBlin. Longford is definitely the flattest for me. One humpback railway bridge at 22 miles. That's about it really. Poorly supported though with no pacers.

Didn't like Kildare, found it much harder than Dublin hill wise. Clonakilty is silly hard.

Cheers,
Muppet man.

"Silly hard". Now that is gud.

Oisin11178

There is 2 issues here lads. What's the flattist does not mean it's the fastest. My vote for flattery would be Langford closely followed by portumna. Fastest I'd say would be Dublin because the few drags are balanced out by the support, water stations and pure buzz of it. I like small marathons but others don't. Each to their own.

NoGutsNoGlory

EauRouge79 wrote: »

Waterford would have my vote.

what about the 2 mile hill before mile 12 on the way to tramore...... hard hill
i heard they are going to try and take this out....

EauRouge79

NoGutsNoGlory wrote: »

what about the 2 mile hill before mile 12 on the way to tramore...... hard hill
i heard they are going to try and take this out....

Ill give you that alright, Also a tough section about 6 miles through country roads. its a tough hill at 12 miles alright but its not very steep and a few very quick miles either side of it - I would hope that they didnt remove it to be honest as it might take from the route.
Really enjoyed the route this year apart from the out and back section at 22/23.

2nd half is quite flat as well, think you would struggle to find flatter.

dizzymom

PORTUMNA FOR DEFINATE ! ITS PANCAKE FLAST AND ALL LOOPS, AND BANG ON THE GARMIN ! I DID A PB THERE THIS YEAR, TWAS 4 MINUTES FASTER THAN MY CORK TIME ! ITS ON IN JUNE AND THE COURSE IS NOT CONGESTED SO YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO DO A PB THERE

Muppet Man

So flat its worth shouting about