Kinvara Half Marathon & 10K 02/03/13

RubyK

Has anyone done this one before? Is it recommended, and worth travelling 3hrs to? I don't know whether to go for this, or Bohermeen Half marathon on the same weekend

http://www.rockandroad.ie/welcome.html

Abhainn

RubyK wrote: »

Has anyone done this one before? Is it recommended, and worth travelling 3hrs to? I don't know whether to go for this, or Bohermeen Half marathon on the same weekend

http://www.rockandroad.ie/welcome.html

I have family down that area so it was an excuse to kill two birds.
I did this last year and found it a well run race in a lovely area
All positives from me apart from the stiff wind on the exposed section from mile 5.5 to mile 10 which the organizers had no control over . Not as flat as they say with some little hill in the last few miles.
I intend running it again this year

How far is Bohermeen from you? Another good race by all accounts also

RubyK

Many thanks Abhainn, appreciate your reply. Bohermeen would be about 2hrs 20mins away (google maps), and on a better road for me, than the road to Galway. I wonder how the courses compare? Decisioins, decisions

Abhainn

RubyK wrote: »

Many thanks Abhainn, appreciate your reply. Bohermeen would be about 2hrs 20mins away (google maps), and on a better road for me, than the road to Galway. I wonder how the courses compare? Decisioins, decisions

Bohermeen is flatter and more sheltered
But Kinvara is more pleasant scenery wise!

My Garmin from last year.
Ignore mile 5 data, GPS seems to have gone a bit silly

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154865884

RubyK

Thanks again Abhainn, savage running there on the garmin link :eek:

Think Bohermeen might be a better option for me, location-wise.

Stella Virgo

Kinvara is the best. lovely route through parts of the burren,great little village known worldwide,
a gentle canter meandering through the burren,up a few slight inclines(!) great scenery,
and a finishers medal if you survive it.Go on be brave!
book now,as always sells out early.
http://www.rockandroad.ie/welcome.html

Stella Virgo

Event Details:
Fees Half Marathon - €38 (includes finishers technical T-shirt plus medal)
10k - €22 (includes finishers technical T-shirt plus medal)
Additional details
The Kinvara Rock and Road Half Marathon and 10K Road Race takes place on Saturday 2nd March 2013 in Kinvara, Co. Galway.
This will be the third running of the event. The race sold out in advance in 2012 so get in early to make sure of your place.


The course will take you past some glorious Burren scenery and is quite flat with a few nice hills : )
For more details visit the event website at www.rockandroad.ie and join the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rockandroad.ie.

We are delighted to welcome back our sponsors Saucony, Lucozade, Amphibian King and DIY Pursuits again this year. Galway Bay FM will also be there again on the day.

(get a move on lads/ladies not much time left........)

spurscormac

I'm doing the half tomorrow - hoping to continue the year of PBs in every race so far, 5/8/10k chalked off so far.
Considering I've only done one HM, and that was Connemara, I am reasonably confident.
Would prefer to have a few more long runs in, but I should survive the distance.

Anyone else down for this?

mossym

was down for the 10k, but the fact that i'm only flying back in from chicago in the morning, plus i'm getting a cortizone shot on friday next to help with foot pain means my entry is going to waste

martyboy48

I'm in as well. Got brave one night with a glass of wine and entered. Weather should
be good

dev123

Just leaving galway now. Weather is perfect. Bring sunglasses if you have them :-)

martyboy48

Lovely day for it today yesterday. Sunshine at times, and a great run. I predicted a finish of 1:50- 1:55 for this my first half, so was kinda thrown of when I seen 1:45 and 2:00 pacers. I didn't know where to go!!! Finally decided to start 5 yards ahead of the 2 hr pacers and play it by ear for first 3-5ish miles. Anywho, long story short, manages 1:43:04, delighted with that Most pleasing was that I didn't fade off at end, splits were fairly consistant for me for once

Couple of small issues if I was nit picking as it were, 1 The 1:45 pacers seem to of went way ahead of schedule. Didn't really bother me but I seen them drop the whole group and only at the end did they slow down, when it was to late. I do realize they may not have been experienced but still.. 2 The Q for tea buns could have done with better planning. Long Q is fine but the Q jumping was a pain in the arse after the 20th chancer, (I was getting very cold standing there going nowhere) As I said, these were minor issues if I was being critical.

All in all, A very nice event and will definitely be back Well done to all involved

spurscormac

Great day for the race on Saturday, fantastic weather and a great crowd.
A downer being 20 mins getting through Ballinderreen due to roadworks. Short lights sequence with no works ongoing and a huge backlog of people trying to get out to Kinvara.

I know they had warned us to get out in plenty of time, but this delay put me past 11 when I got to registration, so in hindsight they could have mentioned the roadworks so people would be aware of it - just something to note for future.

Massive kudos goes to the organisers - when I did get there, my number was missing (I thought someone from my club might have picked it up on my behalf but talking to all of them out there, none of them had), but when I went back to the organisers just 15 minutes before the race start, they gave me a new number with no hassle at all.
I even see my original listed number with no time in the results.

Almost flattened a kid on the sprint finish - this I don't blame on anyone but the parents. Coming to the last corner I was flat out overtaking someone when a kid of about 2 walked out in front of me. I managed to swerve slightly & put my hand on his head to avoid ploughing into him and sending him flying onto the tarmac.
I'm all for having kids at races, great to have them out & about cheering on their mum or dad, uncles, aunts or grandparents - but you gotta be very careful of them, especially around the start & finish area when people are going pretty fast.

Fantastic buzz around the place, great spread of sweet stuff that was needed to replenish weary bodies afterwards.

Generally a great day out, but as I'm involved in some race organisation and always seeking to find out where we can get things better, I would give two suggestions for improvements...

1. Due to the limited road access to the town (one main route from Kilcolgan for most traffic), advise outsiders of any potential delays such as roadworks that get progressively worse as traffic gets heavier.

2. Not sure where exactly the kid stepped in front of me, but looking at the corner afterwards, I thought he might have been further back than the start of the barriers, so nothing to stop him breaking free. I think the barriers could have been extended back further & this may have prevented what thankfully wasn't dangerous accident.

But to finish on a positive - my second HM, pb by 9 minutes, great race, very well organised & lovely scenic challenging course.

Bugsy2000

@ Spurscormac,

That was me you passed as the child stepped out. (Unless it happened more than once) It was right on the corner where the crossover to the tea station was. He just came out of the gap in the barriers as we got there. You went left & I went right to avoid him. The child was fine until his mother screamed in panic, she scared the sh!te out him & he started roaring crying. (Don't ask me how I remember all of this, it all must have happened in about 2 seconds. I had forgotten all about it until you mentioned it)

Seeing as I also grabbed myself a 9min PB I have to say you ran a fantastic race . I must keep an eye out for you next time, a bit of healthy competition.

Great race. For a three year old race it draws huge numbers & on the same weekend as Ballycotton. It says a lot about the quality of the organisation & course.

I was delighted with my race. Felt very comfortable until mile 11 & that little sh!t of a hill. Nearly got the better of me.

spurscormac

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

@ Spurscormac,

That was me you passed as the child stepped out. (Unless it happened more than once) It was right on the corner where the crossover to the tea station was. He just came out of the gap in the barriers as we got there. You went left & I went right to avoid him. The child was fine until his mother screamed in panic, she scared the sh!te out him & he started roaring crying. (Don't ask me how I remember all of this, it all must have happened in about 2 seconds. I had forgotten all about it until you mentioned it)

Seeing as I also grabbed myself a 9min PB I have to say you ran a fantastic race . I must keep an eye out for you next time, a bit of healthy competition.

Great race. For a three year old race it draws huge numbers & on the same weekend as Ballycotton. It says a lot about the quality of the organisation & course.

I was delighted with my race. Felt very comfortable until mile 11 & that little sh!t of a hill. Nearly got the better of me.

It was me alright, saw your post in another thread - great improvement over 2 years.
I could see you up ahead of me in that Athenry singlet for ages, slowly closing you down.
I was feeling great for 10 miles, then died a death very quickly. That hill at 11 miles is short but brutal - I did the 10k last year and don't even remember it to be honest, even though its in both races.

You went past me with under a km to go & it took everything I had left to hang in about 10 yards back and somehow find a sprint finish.

All I remember of that kid incident was what I said, appeared from nowhere and I just reacted instinctively to not hit him. I didn't hear the mum scream or the kid crying at all.

A bit of healthy rivalry is always a good thing, must keep an eye out for ya at more local races.

Was delighted with my time, especially considering I faded towards the end - was glad I had a steady first 10 miles in the bag.

Bugsy2000

I enjoyed this race so much I've even wrote a report on it.

Kinvara Rock & Road