Dingle Half/Full Marathon - 5th Sept 2015

RubyK

Anyone doing the half or full marathon 5th September? I'm hoping to sign up for the half, depending on how the next 2 weekend long runs go. I'm not looking for a time, just want to run and enjoy the atmosphere and scenery, having been injured for most of May & June.

For anyone who has done the half and full, where are are the toughest hills to be aware of in the half?

TFBubendorfer

I've done the full twice and the ultra 3 times. The half is by far the "flattest" of all the options because it's the only race of the three without any significant hills.

There is a fairly long drag up from mile 6 to 8 with about 150 feet elevation gain but you get those spectacular views all the way towards the Skelligs as a reward. There are a lot of smaller ups and downs all throughout the course but nothing major. It's not a fast course but the scenery more than makes up for it, so if you're not looking for time then definitely give it a go.

Elevation profile can be found here: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/47684842

RubyK

Cheers for the TFB and the link, that's savage going doing the ultra 3 times!

As for the half, it sounds like a challenging enough route, but doable. It's been a long time since we've been to Dingle for a weekend, so here's hoping the next few weeks go ok, training wise, and I get to run it.

ultraman1

RubyK wrote: »

Cheers for the TFB and the link, that's savage going doing the ultra 3 times!
.

He was gonna go for 4 ,but it was getting dark:)

RubyK

ultraman1 wrote: »

He was gonna go for 4 ,but it was getting dark:)

Ha ha ultraman1

innuendo141

Doing the full myself- looking forward to it. Looks like a great route.

chavezychavez

You doing the full this year TFB?

skittles8710

I'm doing the half as well. It's as prep for Dublin marathon in October so won't be gong at it too hard. As mentioned before I've heard the scenery is beautiful so looking forward to it now!

diego_b

skittles8710 wrote: »

I'm doing the half as well. It's as prep for Dublin marathon in October so won't be gong at it too hard. As mentioned before I've heard the scenery is beautiful so looking forward to it now!

Same boat as myself!

Fudge74

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

I've done the full twice and the ultra 3 times. The half is by far the "flattest" of all the options because it's the only race of the three without any significant hills.

There is a fairly long drag up from mile 6 to 8 with about 150 feet elevation gain but you get those spectacular views all the way towards the Skelligs as a reward. There are a lot of smaller ups and downs all throughout the course but nothing major. It's not a fast course but the scenery more than makes up for it, so if you're not looking for time then definitely give it a go.

Elevation profile can be found here: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/47684842

Well done on your achievements!
Just wondering did you notice, were there many walkers doing the half? I love Dingle and this sounds amazing.

TFBubendorfer

Fudge74 wrote: »

Well done on your achievements!
Just wondering did you notice, were there many walkers doing the half? I love Dingle and this sounds amazing.

Yes, there will be plenty of walkers.

When I did the Ultra I would go through Dingle about 90 minutes after the start of the full/half and I always caught up with the slowest walkers after 8 miles. The last 2 or 3 miles before the half finish were usually quite busy with walkers and run/walkers (which made this one of my favourite stretches - the rest of the route could be rather lonely!)

TFBubendorfer

chavezychavez wrote: »

You doing the full this year TFB?

Yes, but ...

I've been injured for the last 8 weeks and am only just back to running. I'll do the full but only as a fun/training run, and it will almost certainly my slowest marathon in years.

GRoche

Hi TFBubendorfer, Ive been following your blog,
I'm planning on doing the full in Dingle, ran 20 miles last weekend, the longest I've ever run, I'm scared silly about the hill at mile 22, was dead on my legs at mile 20 not sure where the remaining 6 will come from, not to mention that hill. Do you have any advice, I'd stand on my head drinking a barrel of whisley if someone told me it will help with my mental motivation on the 5th

TFBubendorfer

GRoche wrote: »

Hi TFBubendorfer, Ive been following your blog,
I'm planning on doing the full in Dingle, ran 20 miles last weekend, the longest I've ever run, I'm scared silly about the hill at mile 22, was dead on my legs at mile 20 not sure where the remaining 6 will come from, not to mention that hill. Do you have any advice, I'd stand on my head drinking a barrel of whisley if someone told me it will help with my mental motivation on the 5th

To be honest, most people get over that hill by walking rather than running.

As for being tired after 20 miles in training, I still get that even after 11 years of running. It won't stop you from completing the marathon, though.

Runninghard

Quick question.
Does anyone know if it's cups or bottles of water in Dingle ?

BKWDR

Feeling better about being signed up for this after doing a comfortable frank Duffy 10 mile.

BKWDR

Runninghard wrote: »

Quick question.
Does anyone know if it's cups or bottles of water in Dingle ?

Bottles

skittles8710

Medal is fab. .really hope I'm recovered and can do the half on Saturday!

3D2S

Any word on if there's a finishers top?. Have asked as have others on fb page but no reply. Have done the half a few times, this year goin for the full and lookin forward to another great weekend in Dingle. I'd be very disapointed if there's no top as the tops are always brilliant.

TFBubendorfer

3D2S wrote: »

Any word on if there's a finishers top?. Have asked as have others on fb page but no reply. Have done the half a few times, this year goin for the full and lookin forward to another great weekend in Dingle. I'd be very disapointed if there's no top as the tops are always brilliant.

On the website it says:

All runners receive: chip timing, packs sent to your door (ROI only), quality finishers top, quality medal, goody bag, music & entertainment, after party, reduced entry to following year.

RubyK

50/50 as to whether I'll get to do this, husband is in bother with torn ankle ligaments, so I'm not sure a 3hr+ car journey and a weekend on his feet would be fair on him. Though, I suppose he could rest up on a highstool! Will make a call on it tomorrow.

Best of luck to all, looks like the weather is going to co-operate too

innuendo141

Looks like the weather isn't going to be an issue for us tomorrow.

Best of luck everyone! Hope everyone enjoys it! Looking forward to a quick dip on Inch Beach afterwards

BKWDR

Enjoy. My first half... Nervous enough as I know the terrain.
Looking forward to the post run pint.

For ppl who are around Dingle on the Sunday. There is horse racing on Beal Ban beach west of Dingle towards Ballyferriter at 3pm
Is great Craic every year and especially if the weather is great

skittles8710

Just about to hit the road from Tralee to Dingle, looks a fine fresh morning on the side of the horizon anyway. Best of luck everyone can't wait to hear how ye get on!

skittles8710

Really great day out yesterday. Weather conditions almost perfect. Great atmosphere and good banter with the 2hr pacing group. Steady 9minute odd pace up mile 12 which was an epic battle. Wanted to get in under 2 hrs and have 1:58:09 on my watch so happy out with that. Only slight annoyance is that my chip time doesn't seem to have registered and both my gross and net times on the results page is showing at 1:59;27.

Love the medal and tshirt will definitely be worn a lot. Wish I could have stuck around Dingle for the celebrations. Hope some of the folk here made the Hill Grove 😊

innuendo141

Yesterday was an incredible day- I enjoyed every single minute of the full marathon. The organisation, the atmosphere, the people standing out and clapping and offering fruit and drinks- it was all absolutely brilliant.

The race itself was second to none. The views were beyond breathtaking and it really was a shame that you couldn't slow down to take more of it in or it'll affect your time!

For myself I found the first 13 pretty easy, a lot easier than my previous races. Was aiming to keep under 8.15 and was averaging an 8.0. The work started just as the half racers diverted off to their happy finish. The hills from there could be felt but I must say that up until the hill at the 22ish miles I felt like I could run forever. The decline after that hall was such a good feeling.

Was aiming for 3.36 but am absolutely over the moon with my 3.28! My previous best out of 4 marathons was 3.47 so am glad that I've made a good improvement and keep aiming to improve.

Looking forward to reading some other stories from the day. Hope everyone that hung around had a great night.

BTW the pier after the race was a godsend for a quick dip for the legs!

Shane12

My first full, I have done the half here 3 times. I have to say that training for a full is incredibly tough, every little niggle for the last few weeks had been amplified 10 fold because of fear of injury. As per the previous poster I found the first half not too bad and for the first time really appreciated the scenery.

Once the first half finished the reality of the second half hit with that tough ascent. I felt alright until the start of the climb at mile 21/22 and the sun came out up to this the weather was perfect, after that the legs just were not responding I have not experienced that before it was a shock. Thankfully I managed to come in at 3:27 so I was very pleased with that. Wanted to enjoy the last mile but just longed for the finish.

As other posters have stated the support en route was great, the extra water stations were very appreciated. would love to do another full but not sure I have the discipline for the training.

beertons

Well done all. Was hoping to do the half myself, but life has been too hectic the past month for training. The missus was glad I missed it, went down to Stradbally today. Maybe next year.

diego_b

Really enjoyed the race and recorded a two min PB so was thrilled.
Wrote up a race report for my log here if you want to have a read.

skittles8710

innuendo141 wrote: »

Was aiming for 3.36 but am absolutely over the moon with my 3.28! My previous best out of 4 marathons was 3.47

Wow that's some chunk off your PB! Fantastic on that tough course you must be buzzing

TFBubendorfer

innuendo141 wrote: »

Was aiming for 3.36 but am absolutely over the moon with my 3.28! My previous best out of 4 marathons was 3.47 so am glad that I've made a good improvement and keep aiming to improve.

That's a massive improvement and there is much more to come - the same effort on a flatter course will lower the time by a few more minutes for sure. Congratulations!


I really enjoyed the day and got on much better than expected (seems to be a theme here). My race report (very long, as always) is here: http://rubbishrunner.blogspot.ie/2015/09/good-news-from-dingle-c-mo-olwill.html

Btw. I don't really give a damn about medals (I have far too many already) but the spinning heart in this one is pretty cool. Thumbs up!

innuendo141

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

That's a massive improvement and there is much more to come - the same effort on a flatter course will lower the time by a few more minutes for sure. Congratulations!


I really enjoyed the day and got on much better than expected (seems to be a theme here). My race report (very long, as always) is here: http://rubbishrunner.blogspot.ie/2015/09/good-news-from-dingle-c-mo-olwill.html

Btw. I don't really give a damn about medals (I have far too many already) but the spinning heart in this one is pretty cool. Thumbs up!

Great report and enjoyable as always, and thanks! Already looking forward to Tullaroan

skittles8710 wrote: »

Wow that's some chunk off your PB! Fantastic on that tough course you must be buzzing

Thank- yeah, still buzzing in the office! Body in reasonable condition too so even happier still.

spurscormac

Due to intermittent training over the sumer I didn't really have a proper goal time going to Dingle.
I've only done two other HMs, Connemara was my first, a 1:44:odd effort. The next one I did was Kinvara a couple of years ago, and managed 1:35:15, but this was after a very solid winter training.
So I headed for the start line with a stretch goal of 1:39:xx and a more realistic sub 1:45 in mind.

The race started well, I felt very good and decided on a 7:30 goal pace which would give me 100 seconds once the hills kicked in on the second half.
The first half went well and I banked plenty of time (though I would pay for this later), 7:24, 7:12, 7:24, 7:35, 7:28, 7:29, with mile 7 in 7:50. I was now past halfway, 8 seconds inside the 7:30 p/mile pace, and 108 seconds inside 1hour 40min.
Then the hills hit, the fatigue set in, and I slowly crumbled to 8:11 for mile 8, rallied a bit for 9 & 10 in 7:57, 7:59 but in the space of those 3 miles my banked time was gone. A steady 8:00 into the headwind for the 11th mile was followed by a complete collapse on the hill and a 9:12 mile.
Despite the mostly downhill last mile towards the finish, I had nothing in the legs and only managed 8:32, with an overall finish time of 1:42:32.

The pint at the end was guzzled down quickly, but when I went back to the bar for another, the queues were 5 deep, so I abandoned that until later back in town.

Given my lack of structured training and the subsequent difficulty of the last few miles of headwind and hills, happy enough with the result.
In future I think I'll try using some gels, could help prevent the drop off with 3 miles to go. I attempted to eat some jelly babies, but found them too much work to chew and with a dry mouth I ended up spitting it out as it was an annoyance.
A beautifully scenic run, I was glad to have driven it on Friday to know what was ahead, and get the opportunity to take in the views.

So now to get the head down for a winter of proper training and maybe a better crack at this distance in future. Galway Bay half in a months time on my doorstep is tempting, if only to gauge where I could be on a flatter course.