Wexford Half Marathon

lougholad

Hey all,

I was looking to start my running year off with the wexford half marathon as ive been told its a really fast course (false sense of achievment for me )

only thing is i cant seem to find the route anywhere online. I have emailed the organisers but havnt had any reply.

Can anyone help me out? Or even if somebody has it mapped could they send me a link??

thanks in advance

RacoonQueen

http://www.wexfordhalfmarathon.com/index2.php?page=half_marathon#map

http://www.mapmyrun.com/ie/loch-garman-l/2012-wexford-half-marathon-route-45146766

Though not sure if the route has changed since 2012...Eoin you really need to do some updating on dates and stuff on that site!

lougholad

thanks alot ive been searchihng for weeks.. your google is superior to mine

Oryx

I ran it in 2012 and I don't think it's changed since. Apart from a few drags it is flat. But practically every race out there claims to have a fast course.

lougholad

either way its a good way to get me up off my arse and back training havent done a thing since the dcm time to get thes mince pies off have you ran the derry marathon? I was thinking of heading up in june

Oryx

Never done Derry.

lougholad

im going to give it a go this year.. the medal is F**king huge

Kurt Godel

lougholad wrote: »

im going to give it a go this year.. the medal is F**king huge

There's a running forum for just this sort of discussion, you'll get more answers over there http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=972

lougholad

cheers curt

pointer28

lougholad wrote: »

im going to give it a go this year.. the medal is F**king huge

The medal was an insult considering the entry fee. The cheapest, tackiest piece of crap I have ever seen. You'd get better at a primary school sports day.

I found the course pretty fast, a few drags in the beginning (when you're strong) and some nice gentle downhills after that.

Considering doing it again this year but was really disgusted with the medal, I know it's not important but its not a cheap race. I'd like the option of no medal and a reduction in the entry fee, it's the only race memento I've ever binned.

Edit: I'm talking about Wexford HM and not Derry.

lougholad

ohhhh i just read your edit. Yeah i was just planning on doing it as a starting point. 35e before end of jan. might do the samsung 10km that night in town but i heard its just full of people so hard to get any speed. anyway an eventfull year for me the derry medal is the king of all medals well so it looks in the pics:)

Oryx

I know Eoin reads this forum, so maybe he will take your points on board. (or maybe not!). The teeshirts could do with an overhaul too, E!

pointer28

Oryx wrote: »

I know Eoin reads this forum, so maybe he will take your points on board. (or maybe not!). The teeshirts could do with an overhaul too, E!

I forgot all about the tee-shirt, which says a lot! Buried in the bottom of a drawer and never seen since.

I just think if you're taking good money off people you should at least make an effort to give them something worthwhile. I did six HM's last year, Wexford was the most expensive and yet had the worst medal and tee-shirt. I'd love to do it again and support a local race but there's a principle involved.

Oryx

pointer28 wrote: »

I forgot all about the tee-shirt, which says a lot! Buried in the bottom of a drawer and never seen since.

I just think if you're taking good money off people you should at least make an effort to give them something worthwhile. I did six HM's last year, Wexford was the most expensive and yet had the worst medal and tee-shirt. I'd love to do it again and support a local race but there's a principle involved.

I agree. And as we are spoiled for choice when it comes to races, organisers will suffer if they dont give entrants value for money.

eoin ryan

Medal will be different this year.
Tops - I'll take a look at

pointer28

eoin ryan wrote: »

Medal will be different this year.
Tops - I'll take a look at

When you say different, does that mean better?

Maybe stick up a picture of it.

eoin ryan

pointer28

Eoin,

I'm a customer of yours from last year and I may well be a customer of years this year as well. As well as that I have absolutely no problem with commercial races, and am quite happy to support them as long as they provide me with a quality product or service, and I fully defend their right to make a profit while doing so.

As such, I think it's perfectly acceptable for me to bring up an issue that was mentioned by plenty of people after last year's race. I know full well that a medal is not important for the few at the front of the race or for the more experienced with loads of experience. But, there are some people for which just finishing your race is a big deal and for which they would like a memento of.

Taste is subjective, and if I receive a medal that I personally don't like, but which was obviously designed with some effort and respect for the people entering the race, then I won't complain. It's the lack of effort and thought that went into last year's medal that annoyed me. Overall, I enjoyed the race and am not against doing it again but there's a principle here and lots of other races on the calendar.

eoin ryan

I hear you, I understand and we are cool. Work in progress
I was googling Olympic medals when i found Madame (above).
Thought it was witty....

pointer28

Cheers Eoin and best of luck with this year's races.

I know it's only something silly but these little mementos are treasured by some of us.

I hope to do Wexford again and possibly even Wicklow as well.

eoin ryan

Eary Bird ends on Jan 31st. Biggest crowd has entered to date so far

helps this plan

2014 Charity Initiative

A potential pot of €4,000 for 2 x Charities
If race reaches 1,500 participants in 2014 organisers will donate
€3,000 to Pieta House and €1,000 to Wexford Marine Watch.
- In 2012 the race had 1,100 participants.
- In 2013 the race had 1,300 participants.
- For 2014, +200 extra entrants is very achievable.
This 2014 charity initiative in conjunction with Race Director Eoin Ryan doing the ‘Marathon de Sables‘ for Pieta House

village runner

eoin ryan wrote: »

Eary Bird ends on Jan 31st. Biggest crowd has entered to date so far

helps this plan

2014 Charity Initiative

A potential pot of €4,000 for 2 x Charities
If race reaches 1,500 participants in 2014 organisers will donate
€3,000 to Pieta House and €1,000 to Wexford Marine Watch.
- In 2012 the race had 1,100 participants.
- In 2013 the race had 1,300 participants.
- For 2014, +200 extra entrants is very achievable.
This 2014 charity initiative in conjunction with Race Director Eoin Ryan doing the ‘Marathon de Sables‘ for Pieta House

An extra 200 on say last year will bring in an extra 9k at 45 a head....so to give 4k away probaly doesn't eat away at profit because you will have your fixed costs anyway.its a nice touch but it sounds to me you want 1500 so you can give 4k to charity . You are using pieta house to promote your event when in fact they might get zero if say 1499 did it. For a good charity say giving 15 euro a head for every runner after 1100(2012 number) would give pieta house a good chance of seeing some cash

NoGutsNoGlory

i ran this a few years ago.. the T shirt was crap... way to short. every size was to short .. like belly tops and i'm a skinny lad

VR makes a very good point above ..

eoin ryan

When you accuse anyone of 'using a charity' to promote anything it would be advisable to have your facts correct.

But before any of that it is worth mentioning that I (it was my idea) didn't have to do this charity initiative. It was a choice. Based on growth patterns we prob will make 1,500 runners charity or not involved. The power is with the people to decide if they want to enter and ensure we make the target.

Couple of things that need to be straightened up
We don't charge €45 to enter
Our pre race price is €40. Our early brid is €30. This is for the half marathon.
We also have a 10km with a pre race price of €25.
There is a potential pot of €4,000 for 200 runners. That is €20 per head. From experience the tail end of 'later' entries tends to be the 10km crowd (not as much training needed as the half so they decide later on). It is with these 'later' entries that we will go from 1,300 to 1,500. Could be 2/3 - 10km and 1/3 half marathon. When you take out costs - the €25 entry for 10km goes below the €20 per person. So if it happens to be all 200 people doing the 10km I will have to pony up the difference to make €4,000.
Having looked at it, I have estimated that there will be slightly above or slightly below €4,000 from the 200 entrants depending on number of 10km entries. If it is below it is my responsibility to pay up.

Another thing worth considering is that nobody forced the charities into being involved in this mechanic. They know the power is with the people and they were clear on growth trends over the years. Good for them if we get it and I'm going to do my best to make 1,500 (i like the challenge of making targets). And if we don't it is clearly explained on the website how the mechanic works.

This is worth repeating: This was a choice to create this initiative. I didn't have to bother my arse. But I'm glad its being done and may we reach 1,500

Phonehead

From an outsiders perspective I think people are being somewhat harsh here. The truth is there is no real need or incentive to donate, would association with a charty bring in an extra 200 runners who weren't going to run the event anyway? I doubt it, at best you'd be looking at multiples of 10's and they would be 10k walkers although I still doubt it really, if someone is going to do something for charity they'll run the event for charity and get donations.

It's a gesture, nobody said it was akin to Bob Geldof and live aid so I think calling Eoin out in this manner is pretty poor form. (Just My Opinion) but if you feel strong enough about the charaties in question and their lack of funding from the event then why not run it and seek people to sponsor you?

In Toronto we pay huge sums to run events and it's pure profit for the organizers, 60 or 70 euro to do a half marathon where you get a crappy hat and some stale bagels. We get good medals but for that price you would certainly want a good quality medal.

tommycahir

Hi guys, just wondering what the story is with pacers on the day? Specifically thinking of 1:50 and 2:00 time frames?

pointer28

tommycahir wrote: »

Hi guys, just wondering what the story is with pacers on the day? Specifically thinking of 1:50 and 2:00 time frames?

There were 1.45 and 2.00 pacers last year, don't think there was 1.50 but open to correction.

Gijima

pointer28 wrote: »

There were 1.45 and 2.00 pacers last year, don't think there was 1.50 but open to correction.

1:30 1:45 2:00 pacers

tommycahir

Thanks guys will probably stick with 2:00 and see if a group splinters towards end for faster time..

donnacha

eoin ryan wrote: »

Medal will be different this year.
Tops - I'll take a look at

Did you get a chance to look at the tops for this years race Eoin?

beertons

Looking forward to this now, time is going fairly fast.

eoin ryan

Yes to both
Medals and tops

pointer28

eoin ryan wrote: »

Yes to both
Medals and tops

Kudos on taking onboard the criticisms and working to improve them, much appreciated.

Any chance you can organise the weather as well ? ;-)

barryoneill50

eoin ryan wrote: »

Yes to both
Medals and tops

What colour are the tops this year eoin?

eoin ryan

She is red

Podge83

eoin ryan wrote: »

She is red

Hey Eoin, are you all set for MDS?? Ye might be a bit red yerself in a few weeks time - and that's without the tee shirt!!!!

Best of luck with it!

eoin ryan

Thanks Podge.
Now that Wicklow is over I can start getting my head into it
I'm as ready as i will ever be. Looking forward to it. 2 years since i entered
Once in a lifetime gig. Long and slow seems to suit.
Not sure what that says about me....

eoin ryan

A heads up before the weekend....
The online entry will close on Tuesday at 11.59pm
This is so we can do the number pick up in Dublin on Wednesday.

We have 4 x number pick up options where you can also enter (subject to avail)
Dublin Wednesday
Wexford Friday
Wexford Sat
Wexford Sunday

Dates and times on final info sheet click here

Thanks

pointer28

Well done at MDS but don't get any daft ideas for changing the Wexford route.

Any sand dunes and I'm demanding a full refund! ;-)

eoin ryan

Guess i'll have to remove this section so

Podge83

eoin ryan wrote: »

Guess i'll have to remove this section so

Isn't this the Clontarf Half? ::::-))))))

eoin ryan

Boom boom !!

tommycahir

Hi
I'm starting to taper for this now and of course starting to over plan everything as normal, I am aiming for a sub 2 hour time and am wondering does anybody have any advice on what is the best way to approach the course for optimum time?
my initial thoughts are to sacrifice 10 seconds per KM for the 1st 7ish KM until to the top of the initial hill, then try make that time up on the downhill side.

Any advice?

pointer28

Find the 2 hour pacers and follow them. They will probably have a large balloon or fluorescent vest or something to identify themselves.

They're all experienced guys and will look after you and help you to your goal. They'll speed up / slow down when appropriate while keeping a close eye on the goal time. They really are a super help and they even kept us entertained on the way round last year.

tommycahir

pointer28 wrote: »

Find the 2 hour pacers and follow them. They will probably have a large balloon or fluorescent vest or something to identify themselves.

They're all experienced guys and will look after you and help you to your goal. They'll speed up / slow down when appropriate while keeping a close eye on the goal time. They really are a super help and they even kept us entertained on the way round last year.

Thanks had somehow forgot about those despite asking about them a few posts back
To be honest I am debating with myself on whether to follow them or not as have been running my longer runs 2 x 18.2KM runs @ 5:35 pace and some of my shorter 8km runs have been at 5:15-5:25 per KM pace.
Ultimately I don't want to get to 18/19KM and have nothing left in the tank or to have to drop pace and miss the 2hr mark.

pointer28

AFAIK the pacers usually aim for 30 seconds faster than goal ie 1:59:30 which is 5:39 mins/km

The atmosphere and the crowd will carry you along and the pace will feel a lot easier on the day than in training. I would follow the pacers to the 18/19km mark and if you feel strong at that point try and push on.

That's exactly what I did last year, I followed the 1:45 pacers until 18k, still felt strong at that point so I kicked on and finished in 1:43:xx

Also, I did 7/8 HM's last year and find Wexford to be a fast course. The only hills are all at the start when you should be full of beans and may actually help you to hold back and not go off too fast. Then it's every so slightly downhill for 14k, just enough to make you run easy but not enough to thrash your quads.

Anyway, in case I have been clear enough, PACERS !!!

They really are a godsend, kind of a cross between Haile Gebreselassie and Mother Theresa :-)

donnacha

Any folks here doing the pacing for this? I'm hoping not to run into any of ye as I aiming for a sub 1:39 ... the Mrs however is running also and if she is on form on the day should be able to stick with the 1:45 pacers.

beertons

It said in an email that the pacers are from boards ac, so they must be. Own up .

Ross Runner

Hey Eoin is the 10k soldout? cos i know someone who is down the wknd and is thinking of doing it but wont decide until the last minute....cheers

eoin ryan

Hi,

No - we have 100 places left in total. Unless it goes beserk...

Lots of enquiries tho !!

beertons

Best of luck everyone.