Charleville Half Marathon 2017

diego_b

Registration is open now.

Special early bird price that finishes today...worked out at 31.80 including booking fee.

Race site

Register here

Goes up by a fiver until July 12th when it goes up again.

Murph_D

I'm in for this, and so is the Mrs. Plenty of others I know of too. Never ran it before - anyone have any info about the course? Is it as fast and flat as claimed (if it is in fact claimed - could be mixing up with somewhere else!)

chrislad

It's very flat. A small bridge nearly mile 11/12 or so, but overall, an excellent PB course. My previous PB before this was 2:04. I got 1:56 here (granted that was after another marathon training session), but I could have done faster as I only set out for sub 2. The weather was ideal too on the day which help. None of that pesky heat!

It's well worth doing, very well organised, and a nice spread afterwards.

HigginsJ

Aiming to do this as my target race for the rest of the year.

Charleville to Kilmallock is very flat straight stretch of road with one bridge about 2 mile outside of Charleville, you go over and back, aside from that it is as flat as advertised.

Working class heroes

Murph_D wrote: »

I'm in for this, and so is the Mrs. Plenty of others I know of too. Never ran it before - anyone have any info about the course? Is it as fast and flat as claimed (if it is in fact claimed - could be mixing up with somewhere else!)

It really is as fast/flat as claimed. An absolute cracker of a course, D.

opus

Working class heroes wrote: »

It really is as fast/flat as claimed. An absolute cracker of a course, D.

It is indeed, just that bridge mentioned earlier & that's pretty much it for hills.

Spirogyra

Likely to be doing the DCM so probably will do this as a 'build up' , Is the start area near the Bus Stop? Bus Eireann Bus stop from Limerick ?

CR 7

Spirogyra wrote: »

Likely to be doing the DCM so probably will do this as a 'build up' , Is the start area near the Bus Stop? Bus Eireann Bus stop from Limerick ?

Yes, it's sort of at the back of the buildings the bus stops at. I think the shortest way there is to walk through the Dunne's stores laneway and then exit downstairs through the car park. That leaves you 100m or so from the start line/registration area. My knowledge of the town is all from driving, but it's very close to that anyway.

hot buttered scones

Murph_D wrote: »

I'm in for this, and so is the Mrs. Plenty of others I know of too. Never ran it before - anyone have any info about the course? Is it as fast and flat as claimed (if it is in fact claimed - could be mixing up with somewhere else!)

Here's my Garmin trace from last year:

Charleville HM 2016

Flat enough.

Murph_D

Training going well, starting to think about the actual race. Any news?

Spirogyra

Would it be an idea to make this a 20 miler for the DCM ? 3 or 4 miles gentle before ? 2 or 3 after ? . How then would I 'pace ' the H-M ?

sixpack's little hat

I'm no longer running this due to injury.

I just cancelled a night's stay in Innisfree B&B if anyone is looking for accommodation. I know I had trouble finding somewhere when I booked it back at the start of July.

rodneyr1981

What's this course like regards shelter from wind etc?
Looks like going to be a windy one.

annapr

Anybody know what they do at water stations? Bottles or cups? Any lucozade? Not much info on the official website.

Never mind, had another look and answered my own question.... small bottles of water

Murph_D

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

What's this course like regards shelter from wind etc?
Looks like going to be a windy one.

Won't be too windy according to this forecast. Early yet of course.

dublin runner

So, looks like I will be leaving Sunday morning from Dublin. If anyone is doing likewise, a car share may suit. PM me if anyone is thinking about a 6am departure time!!

kookiebrew

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

What's this course like regards shelter from wind etc?
Looks like going to be a windy one.

Don't mind the wind as of now there's 97% humidity forecast...lets hope it's as usual and they get it wrong

hot buttered scones

kookiebrew wrote:

Don't mind the wind as of now there's 97% humidity forecast...lets hope it's as usual and they get it wrong

Won't be too bad if it's raining though.

hot buttered scones

rodneyr1981 wrote:

What's this course like regards shelter from wind etc? Looks like going to be a windy one.

I wouldn't say it's sheltered. It depends on the wind direction. It's more or less and out and back course with a loop round Kilmallock so the wind should balance out.

kookiebrew

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Won't be too bad if it's raining though.

No rain forecast YET... 15 degrees, 25kmph winds, 97% humidity... That's the am forecast on weather forecast dot com...

annapr

kookiebrew wrote: »

No rain forecast YET... 15 degrees, 25kmph winds, 97% humidity... That's the am forecast on weather forecast dot com...

Yuck... warm and humid... :eek:

kookiebrew

annapr wrote: »

Yuck... warm and humid... :eek:

The worst.. I'd nearly take sideways hail over it

hot buttered scones

kookiebrew wrote:

No rain forecast YET... 15 degrees, 25kmph winds, 97% humidity... That's the am forecast on weather forecast dot com...

This is Ireland. I'd look out the window on the morning of the race and I still wouldn't trust what I saw. FWIW the weather channel app is saying 16 deg, showers, 11kph winds WNW. Yr.no is saying 9 degrees, rain and 2m/s wind. Weather underground is saying 12 deg at 10am with showers 5mph winds.

kookiebrew

hot buttered scones wrote: »

This is Ireland. I'd look out the window on the morning of the race and I still wouldn't trust what I saw. FWIW the weather channel app is saying 16 deg, showers, 11kph winds WNW. Yr.no is saying 9 degrees, rain and 2m/s wind. Weather underground is saying 12 deg at 10am with showers 5mph winds.

Haha ain't that the truth.. Weather forecast changes 3 times a day. Still won't stop me checking between now and Sunday morning though.

On another note, how flat it is. Looked at a few profiles on strava and final few miles seem uphill.

hot buttered scones

kookiebrew wrote:

On another note, how flat it is. Looked at a few profiles on strava and final few miles seem uphill.

Not so much uphill, but there is a small bit of a drag for the last 2 miles. The only real "hill" is the railway bridge. Well that and about 200m when you turn at the creamery towards the finish. But it feels worse than it is because you run it with tired legs. Anyway you run down these at the start.

kookiebrew

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Not so much uphill, but there is a small bit of a drag for the last 2 miles. The only real "hill" is the railway bridge. Well that and about 200m when you turn at the creamery towards the finish. But it feels worse than it is because you run it with tired legs. Anyway you run down these at the start.

Thanks for that... Gotta try and keep a bit for the finish so

annapr

hot buttered scones wrote: »

This is Ireland. I'd look out the window on the morning of the race and I still wouldn't trust what I saw. FWIW the weather channel app is saying 16 deg, showers, 11kph winds WNW. Yr.no is saying 9 degrees, rain and 2m/s wind. Weather underground is saying 12 deg at 10am with showers 5mph winds.

Can I have 9 degrees please with maybe a sprinkling of light drizzle...

adrian522

6 degrees, no rain, light breeze.


https://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Munster/R%C3%A1th_Luirc/long.html

EireEV

@Sixpack's little hat.. sorry to hear you are not able to run due to injury..

Did you give you're entry away?

opus

This looks ok for Sun next, bit on the chilly side for me but lots of other people prefer that.

Jakey Rolling

opus wrote: »

This looks ok for Sun next, bit on the chilly side for me but lots of other people prefer that.

Don't like the heat, but 5C would be a shock to the system all the same!
Will bring my long sleeve top and compression socks just in case.

Not really prepped for this one but will give it a go anyhow. My PB is a soft 1:36 (10mile PB is 67:12 this year) so if I keep an even pace I would hope to knock a couple of minutes off.

Itziger

Erra, lad, leave off with the weather forecasts FFS. It's Cork in September. Not Dubai in July or Vladivostok in January. it'll be grand. And it's a Half!

Now Berlin marathon, that's been 30 degrees one or two years.

hot buttered scones

[quote=ItzigerIt's Cork in September. [/quote]

So your saying it'll be cold, warm, dry, rainy, windy and calm (with a chance of hail) at some stage and possibly all at once?

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote:

It's Cork in September.

So you saying it'll be cold, warm, rainy, dry, windy and calm (with a chance of hail) at some stage and possibly all at once?

Itziger

Precisely

rodneyr1981

Might sound like a dumb question but not a local..
Is there plenty of parking nearby or should I factor in extra time etc?

hot buttered scones

rodneyr1981 wrote:

Might sound like a dumb question but not a local.. Is there plenty of parking nearby or should I factor in extra time etc?

There's loads of parking and it will be well stewarded. The farthest parking is about a 5 minute or so walk from registration. There's a big car park by the finish and next door near the industrial units.

chrislad

Itziger wrote: »

Erra, lad, leave off with the weather forecasts FFS. It's Cork in September. Not Dubai in July or Vladivostok in January. it'll be grand. And it's a Half!

Now Berlin marathon, that's been 30 degrees one or two years.

Ah stop with that! I don't need to be hearing that at this stage!

hot buttered scones

I've lost track of whose doing this on Sunday, so best of luck everyone. Hope it goes well.

El Caballo

Great race again this year as usual from North Cork AC. Really enjoyed it and managed to have a decent ol run as well for a change:pac:. 1.27:13 to record my fastest half in 4 years and finally get back to threatening Pb's again. I probably should of beat it today if not for a few overenthuastic middle miles that bit back in the last 5k. unofficial 10 mile PB of 64:52 en route. Roll on Dublin.

Jakey Rolling

Turned out to be perfect weather for the race today. Excellent organisation and atmosphere.

Finally did myself justice and reduced my PB from 1:36:30 to 1:31:30ish. Tried for 1:30 pace the first mile but could feel it wasn't sustainable so went for plan B and ran a comfortable 1:32 pace.

Great feed in the hall afterwards.
Onwards to Dublin...

hot buttered scones

What a day. The weather was perfect and everything just clicked into place. My goal was 1:30:00. I reduced my PB from 1:31:55 to 1:26:37 (chip time) with unofficial 10k and 10 mile PBs on the way. I went out a bit fast but it felt comfortable so I just stuck with it and pushed on a bit from Kilmallock on. I'm over the moon. I honestly can't believe I just did that!! Full report to follow in my log. Superbly organised race again.

El Caballo

hot buttered scones wrote: »

What a day. The weather was perfect and everything just clicked into place. My goal was 1:30:00. I reduced my PB from 1:31:55 to 1:26:37 (chip time) with unofficial 10k and 10 mile PBs on the way. I went out a bit fast but it felt comfortable so I just stuck with it and pushed on a bit from Kilmallock on. I'm over the moon. I honestly can't believe I just did that!! Full report to follow in my log. Superbly organised race again.

Jaysis, fair play. that's some scalp to take off your PB. You must've passed me in the last mile.

rodneyr1981

Great day and great race. Fair play to them very enjoyable

mrmoonlight

Great race that was well organised. Planned to do it in 1:45 did it in 1:40! Delighted first half marathon done and dusted

An_Reathai

Fantastically organised race + perfect conditions = 241 runners sub-90 mins...

https://www.sportsplits.com/home/results?c=74&r=338&e=1

boydkev

Great race and the weather ended up being perfect, Got my PB down from 1.36.55 down to 1.33.45. So a good day

sideswipe

Great race. Really nice to run in perfect conditions and temperature after a summer were every race I entered seemed to be a hot day!!

Not wanting to criticise any aspect of what is probably in my top 3 races- but I did think the pacers were a little over excited!
The 1:30 pacers anyway- they seemed to go out hard and ease off, both of them positive split the course, one by 1 min the other by 2 (missing the sub 1:30) I tried to keep up with them but left them off when the 1st mile was in 6:38 (It was a downhill mile I know) and they were still pulling away. There wasn't many left with them at the end.
Anyway, as I said I'm not complaining- I know they do it for no reward and it is great to have them, but it just proves that sometimes it's best to run your own race.
Some standard of runners there, you break 1:30 and theres hundreds of finishers milling around!!

RayCun

An_Reathai wrote: »

Fantastically organised race + perfect conditions = 241 runners sub-90 mins...

https://www.sportsplits.com/home/results?c=74&r=338&e=1

66 under 80, very impressive

opus

Great event yet again, fair play to North Cork AC! Don't think the extra numbers made it more congested or anything either.