Frankfurt Marathon Oct 25th 2015

Bahanaman

A posse of us from the club heading over to do this one. Seems to have a good reputation. Flat, fast, well organised etc. Would love to hear from anyone who's done it.

plumber77

Great race...loads on it here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057084245&page=26

ger664

Just signed up this evening. Will have to get lessons in translating Corkonian from RC after looking at the entrants list.

Krusty_Clown

ger664 wrote: »

Just signed up this evening. Will have to get lessons in translating Corkonian from RC after looking at the entrants list.

It's probably easier just to ignore all of the Cork people. German is probably closer to English anyway.

Aer Lingus seem to have dropped prices on flights that weekend. €97 return from Dublin, if you're willing to come back at 8pm on Monday (or €145, to return at 11am on Monday). Also €80 return from Kerry, via Ryanair (to Frankfurt Hahn).

Itziger

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It's probably easier just to ignore all of the Cork people. German is probably closer to English anyway.

Aer Lingus seem to have dropped prices on flights that weekend. €97 return from Dublin, if you're willing to come back at 8pm on Monday (or €145, to return at 11am on Monday). Also €80 return from Kerry, via Ryanair (to Frankfurt Hahn).

Oi, I might pop up to the race and throw a few (empty) Tanora bottles at ya!

Usual warning on distance from Hahn to the city itself but I guess most people know that by now. Those prices are fairly good alright.

Bahanaman

Itziger wrote: »

Oi, I might pop up to the race and throw a few (empty) Tanora bottles at ya!

Usual warning on distance from Hahn to the city itself but I guess most people know that by now. Those prices are fairly good alright.

Great prices! I booked months ago with Lufthansa who were the cheapest at the time. Great value on Expedia now for the full package. 3 nights accommodation from Friday and flights for less than €250! Was on to the organisers a couple of weeks ago about something and they were very good to deal with. They told me that there were 51 Irish entrants last year. Wonder how many this year?

belcarra

Bahanaman wrote: »

They told me that there were 51 Irish entrants last year. Wonder how many this year?

39 so far according to their entrant database.

Krusty_Clown

belcarra wrote: »

39 so far according to their entrant database.

We're up to 58 Irish registrations, with just 10 days left for online registrations. So who's in, from these parts?

Jebuz
Krusty_Clown
Emer911
Bahanaman
Ger664
Asimonov

Belcarra? plumber77? demfad? Anyone else?

Bahanaman

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

We're up to 58 Irish registrations, with just 10 days left for online registrations. So who's in, from these parts?

Jebuz
Krusty_Clown
Emer911
Bahanaman
Ger664
Asimonov

Belcarra? plumber77? demfad? Anyone else?

More importantly...where's the craic after the race?! Never been to Frankfurt meself so looking to all you financial hard hitters for a good steer!!

plumber77

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

We're up to 58 Irish registrations, with just 10 days left for online registrations. So who's in, from these parts?

Jebuz
Krusty_Clown
Emer911
Bahanaman
Ger664
Asimonov

Belcarra? plumber77? demfad? Anyone else?

Not me anyhow, holding off til Manchester in the spring. Haven't done one since Frankfurt '13 due to injury so easing back into it. Looking forward to seeing what ye think of it. Without doubt my fave marathon so far.

Bahanaman

Heard Manchester is supposed to be great. Nice and flat.

Itziger

Bahanaman wrote: »

More importantly...where's the craic after the race?! Never been to Frankfurt meself so looking to all you financial hard hitters for a good steer!!

Krusty did a reccie last year. It's all sorted. The man's a pro, he even ran the race beforehand to add authenticity.

12 Apostles I believe.

belcarra

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

We're up to 58 Irish registrations, with just 10 days left for online registrations. So who's in, from these parts?

Jebuz
Krusty_Clown
Emer911
Bahanaman
Ger664
Asimonov

Belcarra? plumber77? demfad? Anyone else?

I'll be in Berlin in a few hours for goal autumn race and will be running Dublin the day after Frankfurt so no go this year for me.

Best of luck everyone and ye all have to follow Krusty back to mcgrattans for the DCM drinks the following day!!

Krusty_Clown

The 12 apostles was an amazing feed (with some top-notch beer). The only thing was that it was a very quiet area of town. After having been ejected from the restaurant, we struggled to find an open hostelry that would serve us some refreshing beverages (but did eventually locate an English pub).

Recommended plan of action:
1) Couple of sneaky beers tucked into the gear-bags, for immediate post-race revival
2) If it's a nice day, meet up in the central area beside the registration hall, for some outdoor post-race refreshment (there are a select number of outdoor hot-dog/beer vendors, that tend to draw large queues). Nearby supermarket can be used to supplement supplies (there's also a nearby MacDonalds, KFC, Chipotle and other fast food services).
3) If the weather isn't quite so welcoming, head to the nearby Irish bar about 1km from the finish, for some post-race banter and crap beer.
4) Quick shower, and out for a German feed in the 12 Apostles for 6pm'ish, or grab some slightly less German fare around the train-station?
5) Pick a bar somewhere around the bar-district and finish up the night there?

ger664

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

for some post-race banter and crap beer.

So I be able to get Coors over there. Sorted

ASIMON0V

KC that sounds like a plan. One less variable to deal with.

We are staying in the Adina - flying out Friday morning and back Monday morning, I think with aer lingus.

Haven't done a marathon since 2012, forgotten how consuming they get in the final few weeks.

Krusty_Clown

ger664 wrote: »

So I be able to get Coors over there. Sorted

Run a sub-3, and I'll find you some Coors. Even if I have to travel back to the West of Ireland to find it!

Bahanaman

I'll drink Coors meself if I manage the sub 3! It's the Corner Hotel for us which is only down the road from the start/finish. Still some great value to be got for flights and accommodation. Much cheaper than Dublin that weekend! We're flying with lufthansa Friday evening and Monday afternoon. Bigger Irish crowd than last year. I like the idea of a common meeting place. There's an Irish bar down the road called O'Reilly's but to be honest I'd prefer a German spot for a nice weissbier! Krusty seems to be the man to follow!

ger664

Staying in the Concorde Hotel, Friday morning Aerlingus from Dublin early back on Monday to make McGrattens.

jebuz

Sneaky post-race beers in the bag, Krusty you're a pro. Great to see there'll be a group of us heading over. I'm heading over with a clubmate and we'll be staying in the Citadines which is pretty close to the start. That plan of action sounds great!

Flying back to Kerry at 13:25 on Monday which allows me plenty of time to curl in a ball and shiver.

opus

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Recommended plan of action:
1) Couple of sneaky beers tucked into the gear-bags, for immediate post-race revival

Good plan there! I remember how incredibly hard it was to get a beer post-race last year, not what you'd expect in Germany either.

Krusty_Clown

opus wrote: »

Good plan there! I remember how incredibly hard it was to get a beer post-race last year, not what you'd expect in Germany either.

It wasn't hard - we were just lazy. Plenty of beer in the supermarket in the nearby shopping mall. But it was sooooo far away.......

Itziger

opus wrote: »

Good plan there! I remember how incredibly hard it was to get a beer post-race last year, not what you'd expect in Germany either.

It was a bit of a pain, yeah. In Karlsruhe last week, after I exited the official runners zone - where I understand they won't serve beer - we asked in a tent what was for consumption............ Alkoholfrei only!! I had a bit of a laugh with the guys and did a faux, "This is unacceptable, I'm in Germany, I want real beer" rant. They took it in the spirit it was meant in, but it did mean we headed back to the hotel instead for a jar or two.

Itziger

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It wasn't hard - we were just lazy. Plenty of beer in the supermarket in the nearby shopping mall. But it was sooooo far away.......

Ah Krusty it was RELATIVELY difficult.

If you boys ever come to Lux to do the marathon you'll see how quick and easy it is to get beer. Get a jar of it before you exit the finishing hall area. Then outside there are a good few stalls with sausages and beer for sale again..... and it's evening/night time.

opus

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It wasn't hard - we were just lazy. Plenty of beer in the supermarket in the nearby shopping mall. But it was sooooo far away.......

Far away & closed cause of it being a Sunday! I remember someone (DrQ?) going on a reconnaissance mission there.

I go to Germany enough these days to know that you have to stock up on Sat to avoid disappointment

Krusty_Clown

Itziger wrote: »

Ah Krusty it was RELATIVELY difficult.

Yep, just remembered the supermarket was closed on Sunday. Best to stock up. Don't leave it to chance...

There are lots of small shops around the train station, but by the time you've gone up that far, you're surrounded by bars..

Bahanaman

63 Irish entries. Some crowd from Mallow! Fair play. Just wondering if anyone is on the Lufthansa flight at 17:50 from Dublin on the Friday? Also suppose it's a bit early for weather talk??!!! :eek::P

Krusty_Clown

It's never too early to start speculating about the weather!
Flying out on Friday afternoon, but with Aer Lingus. Back early on Monday for post Dublin marathon pints.

Bahanaman

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It's never too early to start speculating about the weather!
Flying out on Friday afternoon, but with Aer Lingus. Back early on Monday for post Dublin marathon pints.

Post Frankfurt pints is the reason I'm not coming back until Monday afternoon! So it's ok for some wild weather speculation then! Great! I suppose we could expect Dublin like conditions?

Krusty_Clown

Bahanaman wrote: »

Post Frankfurt pints is the reason I'm not coming back until Monday afternoon! So it's ok for some wild weather speculation then! Great! I suppose we could expect Dublin like conditions?

Well, last year, we had around 12'C, dry and clear with sunny spell, with no wind to speak of - in other words, perfect conditions. The year before (2013), they had strong winds (19km / hr), which affected performances. 2012 looked pretty good. 2011 was nice and cool, when Kipsang ran what was (at the time) the second fastest marathon time in the world. So I guess we've a pretty good chance of near-perfect conditions, with a small risk of poor conditions.

ASIMON0V

Overweight, undertrained and not afraid of a massive fail. here goes...

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja

Krusty_Clown

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja
krusty_clown|2:35:03|2:32:50|1st Asics| much


Hmmm... If it had said 'target' I'd have said 2:31:30. But it says 'Prediction', so I have to say 2:32:30. If we get a perfect day, and I'm in perfect health, I may throw caution to the wind and give it a proper lash, but I'd be pretty happy with either of the above times.

Bahanaman

How do I add to this table without messing it up?! I have form here!!

ASIMON0V

here you go...

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja
krusty_clown|2:35:03|2:32:50|1st Asics| much
bahanaman|3:00:0X|2:54:59|1st Asics| carlow brewing co.

ger664

Lost September to knee injury was hoping for sub 3:10. Will make a call next wednesday on target time if any. So krusty is off the hook on having to keep coors in his gear bag for post race celebrations.

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja
krusty_clown|2:35:03|2:32:50|1st Asics| much
bahanaman|3:00:0X|2:54:59|1st Asics| carlow brewing co.
ger664|3:18:12|?:??:??|1st Asics| does a duck swim ?

Bahanaman

ger664 wrote: »

Lost September to knee injury was hoping for sub 3:10. Will make a call next wednesday on target time if any. So krusty is off the hook on having to keep coors in his gear bag for post race celebrations.

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja
krusty_clown|2:35:03|2:32:50|1st Asics| much
bahanaman|3:02:19|2:54:59|1st Asics| carlow brewing co.
ger664|3:18:12|?:??:??|1st Asics| does a duck swim ?

Seeing it in black and white like that frightens the bejaysus out of me!!! That's the A+ prediction by the way! Cheers Asimonov! Anything beginning with 2.. would be great!

village runner

Bahanaman wrote: »

Seeing it in black and white like that frightens the bejaysus out of me!!! That's the A+ prediction by the way! Cheers Asimonov! Anything beginning with 2.. would be great!

You first sub 3.....
Thanks to the short marathon in the sunny south east

jebuz

Name|Current PB|Prediction|Corral|Beer
asimonov|2:46:17|2:49:59|1st Asics| Ja
krusty_clown|2:35:03|2:32:50|1st Asics| much
bahanaman|3:00:0X|2:54:59|1st Asics| carlow brewing co.
ger664|3:18:12|?:??:??|1st Asics| does a duck swim ?
jebuz|2:46:59|2:35:00|1st Asics|would be nice

Itziger

Wow, Jebuz, that's an impressive target there man. 12 minutes you're looking for. All the best with it, hope it goes well. Must admit I haven't followed your training but I'm guessing it's gone to plan.

ThebitterLemon

Bahanaman wrote: »

Seeing it in black and white like that frightens the bejaysus out of me!!! That's the A+ prediction by the way! Cheers Asimonov! Anything beginning with 2.. would be great!

Hope you smash it up Bahanaman, I still feel the Waterford pain, and I wasn't even running it!

Impressive looking targets from ye all, hope you have a good one.

TbL

Bahanaman

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Hope you smash it up Bahanaman, I still feel the Waterford pain, and I wasn't even running it!

Impressive looking targets from ye all, hope you have a good one.

TbL

Cheers TbL! Asimonov being a bit mischievous putting that time down but sure it's there now. Wouldn't want to be accused of sandbagging!

Bahanaman

Weather update!: Accuweather says completely dry, 6 deg (feeling like 9 in the sunshine!), little wind. None of the other useless weather forecast sites seem to have anything further than a ten day forecast!!!:eek: WTF fellas!!!

Itziger

Bahanaman wrote: »

Weather update!: Accuweather says completely dry, 6 deg (feeling like 9 in the sunshine!), little wind. None of the other useless weather forecast sites seem to have anything further than a ten day forecast!!!:eek: WTF fellas!!!

Was thinking of you folk on my last two runs. It's got well cold here all of a sudden. Went out for a Long run on Sunday, not crack of dawn or anything and had to go back for a long sleeve top after 1k. 'Twas about 3 degrees. Last night it was cold too. Had forgotten what running in the cold was like!

Bahanaman

Looks like those arm warmers will come in handy ASIMONOV!

Krusty_Clown

Hope everyone's final training is going well.... Some stuff:

The long-cut: When you see this gate at the 7.5km and 39km mark, don't bother going through it - take the shorter route (keep left). It's not an official chip-timing mat. It's a charity gate in aid of the refugee crisis, and running through it will in theory automatically deduct/donate €3 from your bank account. However, it doesn't seem to work for non-nationals (I ran through it twice last year (unknowlingly) and nothing was donated), so take the shorter route, and make a separate donation to the refugee crisis!

The time-change: If I'm not mistaken, clocks go back at 2am on Sunday morning, so it means you'll have an extra hour in bed. If in doubt about whether your alarm clock will auto adjust, bring an old school alarm clock that's not connected to the internet and set it back before you go to bed. Less worrying and you'll sleep better.

The start time: The race starts at 10am local time. That's 9am in Ireland. But the clocks will have gone back an hour by the time we start. So if you want to head out for your final medium long run this weekend at the same time as the race starts, wearing your race gear, having eaten your race nutrition (that's some dilligence!), then you should head out at 10am Irish time (I think. Time changes make my head go all fuzzy).

Rugby: Assuming Ireland get through the match against Argentina this Sunday (1pm), it means that we will be playing the winner of QF4 (either Scotland or Australia (for convenience, let's just say Australia!)), on marathon Sunday at 4pm (GMT), which is 3pm in Frankfurt. Handiest place to watch the game is probably (sadly) the O'Reilly's Irish bar, which is about 1,200m from the finish line. It will be absolutely wedged, and they don't take reservations on Rugby weekends. So for aprés race entertainment, can I suggest some post race beers as planned, maybe move towards the Irish bar to secure seats around 1:30pm-2pm? (unless someone has a nearby hotel room, a minibar, and some sweet internet bandwidth!).

Expo: Expo is pretty good, but not particularly cheap. If you can get there on Friday, it will be significantly quieter. Those masseurs? They aren't free. Remember to pick up your custom pace band from the Asics stand - there may be a queue.

Dinner: Italian restaurants are extremely busy on Saturday evening. Make a booking if you can. Our plan is to have a big lunch and eat in the apartment for the evening meal.

Transport: Best way to get from the airport to the city, is by train. It's not hard to figure out. It's a 25-30 minute trip, and costs around €4.55. Train network website: RMV. You're travelling from 'Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen' to 'Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof' for the main station. Typical trains are the S8/S9, in the direction of Offenbach/Hanau.

Pretzel run: Is a good way to spend Saturday morning. It's a very slow 5k around the start/finish area, followed by a free breakfast of pretzels and apple juice. If anyone has an Irish flag, they might bring it along, as it would be a good way to grab some of the boardsies who don't know other boardsies. Also handy for the post-race knacker drinking.

GPS reception: You can;t count on it in Frankfurt, because of the tall buildings. Make sure you have a pace band if you have a time-specific objective. Average pace and distance numbers on your GPS watch will not be accurate.

Starting corrals: It's a German marathon - Germans are efficient - corrals fill up early. If you have a specific place in mind to start from, better leave enough time, or you'll end up climbing over high fences, as we did (20 minutes before the race start).

Toilets: Queues at the Messe hall before the race are pretty massive. Go before you go!

Course: Largely very flat with some brief drags and small inclines. The start is very twisty, with some early cobbled roads. The end is the same as the start - very twisty, and again with the cobbled road - only this time, it hurts a lot more. The stretches in between aver largely long straight roads. Check out the course video, if you haven't already.

Finish: go visit the finish line on the Friday or Saturday. It's worth taking a peek and getting your photo taken, as you probably won't remember too much or get to experience it too greatly on race day.

On-course drinks: If you are a sub 2:45 runner (male), or sub 3:00 (female), you can drop in drinks, that will be taken to particular points on the course. These have to be dropped in by 8am. Make them unique, so you can spot them in a hurry. Don't count on them being there - have fall-back options! The drinks location is in the Basement of Hall 1 (it's very hard to find!). Make sure you label your bottle with your race number, and the drink station you want it to be positioned at. There will be a few tables for each of the drinks stations. Place it in the right box (e.g. Table 2, @30km). Bring sticky labels and a pen!

Nutrition stations: the order of items at nutrition stations is as follows:
Clock -> medical aid -> own nutrition -> water -> Isofit Orange -> tea -> water tank to dunk in your sponge ->bins.
All you have to really remember, is that water comes first, then sports drink, then tea.

Gels: Are liquids and need to be placed in your liquids bag at the airport. They are within the permissible size.

That's all I got for the moment.

Bahanaman

Is that all?! Jesus how are we supposed to manage on such a paltry amount of information!! ....Great stuff krusty! I'll have my splits scrawled all over my arms as well as the pace band. The dodgy GPS has me worried. Unfortunately I'm a slave to the Garmin unlike asinonov who can casually cast his aside the morning of the race!! Count me in for the pretzel run. Probably won't have a tricolour but will be wearing a fluorescent yellow cap. It'd be good to meet a few other Irish/boardsies to formulate plans for the post marathon session.

Re the rugby: I wonder would it be an idea to find an English bar to watch the game? The game will probably be showing but the venue not as full for obvious reasons.

Krusty_Clown

There's an English bar pretty close by (The Fox and Hound) that shows the Rugby also.

Bahanaman

Just googled english bars and seen that. Be right craic if it was taken over by paddies for the day!

ASIMON0V

Thanks for the info KC - very useful. I am going to hit the expo on friday to get it out of the way. Can everyone do the run on the saturday or do you need to enter that separately. Can we save the where to watch the rugby discussion till after the weekend? Bahanaman you're not allowed use exclamation marks again till next wednesday.

Bahanaman

What?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Krusty_Clown

ASIMON0V wrote: »

Can everyone do the run on the saturday or do you need to enter that separately

Yep. You just rock on up and....jog.... Here's the route from last year (note the pace!).