Oldbridge Parkrun, County Louth

paulocon2

Just to let people know of the latest Parkrun to kick-off in Ireland.

Oldbridge Parkrun takes place at the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre on Oldbridge Estate which is located just outside Drogheda in County Louth. The first event took place last Saturday and saw 125 runners take part. The course is almost entirely over a grass surface. First course record is 17:16 and we are waiting to see if anyone can go under 17 minutes.

Details are all at: http://www.parkrun.ie/oldbridge/. We would love to see some Boards representatives there!

Van.Bosch

paulocon2 wrote: »

Just to let people know of the latest Parkrun to kick-off in Ireland.

Oldbridge Parkrun takes place at the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre on Oldbridge Estate which is located just outside Drogheda in County Louth. The first event took place last Saturday and saw 125 runners take part. The course is almost entirely over a grass surface. First course record is 17:16 and we are waiting to see if anyone can go under 17 minutes.

Details are all at: http://www.parkrun.ie/oldbridge/. We would love to see some Boards representatives there!

Ran it last week, beautiful morning in a lovely location. Great organisation as is normal at all parkruns I've done. Not sure if it was running on grass/trails or the sun but I found it really tough and my time was in line with ardgillan which is very very hilly.

slingerz

just on it being a grass route, will this prove troublesome in the depths of winter following some prolonged heavy rainfall?

paulocon2

slingerz wrote: »

just on it being a grass route, will this prove troublesome in the depths of winter following some prolonged heavy rainfall?

I run it year-round and the route holds up well. There are a couple of locations prone to mud but they have been kept out of the route. I suppose weather is a consideration regardless of the terrain (ice on tarmac runs etc.) so a call would be made on health and safety grounds should conditions dictate.

slingerz

paulocon2 wrote: »

I run it year-round and the route holds up well. There are a couple of locations prone to mud but they have been kept out of the route. I suppose weather is a consideration regardless of the terrain (ice on tarmac runs etc.) so a call would be made on health and safety grounds should conditions dictate.

Yep true enough, best of luck with it, always good to have a parkrun in the locality anyway

Darren 83

First Saturday I'm off I'm doing this, great to have a local park run and a great spot too.

paulocon2

2nd week of Parkrun in Oldbridge this morning. Another great turnout despite the cooler conditions.

Some photos of the event at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1516147145275990.1073741833.1479663912257647&type=1

lennymc

I've done both of these and really enjoyed them. Looking forward to tomorrow's run.

paulocon2

lennymc wrote: »

I've done both of these and really enjoyed them. Looking forward to tomorrow's run.

Delighted to hear that and appreciate the support for the event. As someone who ran both, can I ask how you found the marking? We made a few tweaks last week and have a few additional bits of marking we will add for the run tomorrow. Hoping to get the run to a stage where the marking alone will guide people around and minimise the amount of marshalls needed.

lennymc

I found the marking mostly fine. Perhaps the entry into the final field could be divided up to avoid people crossing paths if they enter/exit at the same time, but that is only a minor thing. TBH I was more following the people in front of me I think as the event matures, people will get to know where to go. Thanks for all your hard work I am training for a half marathon and have a rest weekend coming up soon, and I plan on volunteering that Saturday.

paulocon2

lennymc wrote: »

I found the marking mostly fine. Perhaps the entry into the final field could be divided up to avoid people crossing paths if they enter/exit at the same time, but that is only a minor thing. TBH I was more following the people in front of me I think as the event matures, people will get to know where to go. Thanks for all your hard work I am training for a half marathon and have a rest weekend coming up soon, and I plan on volunteering that Saturday.

Thanks very much for that. Good feedback re. entry into the final field, must try and get down to have a look at that section. Is it in the field itself that the cross-over happens or is it going through the gate?

event

I know its early doors, but will this always be on a saturday morning?

lennymc

paulocon2 wrote: »

Thanks very much for that. Good feedback re. entry into the final field, must try and get down to have a look at that section. Is it in the field itself that the cross-over happens or is it going through the gate?

It's mainly at the entrance to the field when going through the gate. The last two times there have been marshals there, maybe marking it differently could reduce the need for the marshals?

pconn062

Hoping to get down to this myself in the morning, bringing the x-country spikes with me!

paulocon2

event wrote: »

I know its early doors, but will this always be on a saturday morning?

Yes, Saturday mornings at 9:30am.

paulocon2

lennymc wrote: »

It's mainly at the entrance to the field when going through the gate. The last two times there have been marshals there, maybe marking it differently could reduce the need for the marshals?

Thanks for that. Will have to play around with marking at that spot. It might be the one place where we will need to keep a marshall. Also need a marshall at the front of the house but everyone is by that spot pretty quickly so one of the timers can double-job for that.

pconn062

Great event guys, thanks to all the volunteers. I'm going to head out and volunteer myself next weekend. My only comment would be that it would be nice to have kilometer markings on the course, just to give an idea of where you are during the race!

lennymc

Another enjoyable run. Got to meet up with paulocon2. Thanks again to the volunteers

paulocon2

lennymc wrote: »

Another enjoyable run. Got to meet up with paulocon2. Thanks again to the volunteers

Nice to meet you this morning and thanks once again for the feedback. Spoke to the race director after the race and relayed your ideas and we've hatched a plan for marking that section next week.

paulocon2

pconn062 wrote: »

Great event guys, thanks to all the volunteers. I'm going to head out and volunteer myself next weekend. My only comment would be that it would be nice to have kilometer markings on the course, just to give an idea of where you are during the race!

Good idea and one worth looking into. We're still playing around with marking the course so once we have that sorted and have a decent system in place, we can certainly look into it. Look forward to seeing you there next week!

lennymc

missed this last week, but back today. Enjoyed it. Looked like the biggest crowd so far out today. As usual, thanks to the organisers!

Fraggle00

A few people were running the course barefoot yesterday. I might do that myself in 2 weeks when I run this race again.

paulocon2

lennymc wrote: »

missed this last week, but back today. Enjoyed it. Looked like the biggest crowd so far out today. As usual, thanks to the organisers!

Saw you there on Saturday alright. That's the biggest crowd we've had, think there were around 166 finishers. Didn't envy you all running in that heat. Will hopefully run it myself in the next few weeks.

paulocon2

Fraggle00 wrote: »

A few people were running the course barefoot yesterday. I might do that myself in 2 weeks when I run this race again.

Noticed 3 running it barefoot. Something I wouldn't mind trying myself at some stage, recollections of running cross-country barefoot years ago!

Darren 83

Off this sat so going to do this race tomorrow.

meathrunner

Did this park run for first time this morning, very well organised & a lovely challenging course on a lovely sunny morning. Will definitely be back to do it again very soon & hope to get a gang from club to come along. Thanks & well done to organisers & marshals

paulocon2

meathrunner wrote: »

Did this park run for first time this morning, very well organised & a lovely challenging course on a lovely sunny morning. Will definitely be back to do it again very soon & hope to get a gang from club to come along. Thanks & well done to organisers & marshals

Great to hear some feedback and glad you enjoyed it. Involved on the organisation side of things and we are delighted with the numbers it has attracted. Will be interesting to see how back to school/end of summer effects the turnout.