Porto marathon...

Muppet Man

Hi folks... anyone here ever run the Porto marathon? It's a week after Dublin, and instead of doing Dublin, a few friends of mine and I were thinking of doing it as something different. They are first timers and it seems relatively flat, with a small climb at the start. Easy to get there with Ryanair flights on Fridays and not a bad area to make a one week recovery holiday in.

Appreciate any insight from anyone that has done it.

Muppet man

Singer

I haven't done the marathon, but I did do a 15k race put on by the same organisers covering some of the course. It is reasonably flat alright, and it goes through some lovely parts of Porto. The race I did was very well organised, the same standard of the Dublin Race Series. Porto's pretty cheap to eat and drink well in and handy to get to thanks to Ryanair. The VIP package for the marathon looks pretty attractive too, just €100.

I was strongly considering doing the marathon in Porto this year until we decided to mix a family holiday and marathon elsewhere!

Muppet Man

Thanks Singer - this is helpful. One of the things I like about it is that apparently, you can enter the marathon or 15k race at the expo. You dont need to register in advance (seems crazy...). If the marathon training goes tits up, you can just do the 15k instead.

Muppet mam

Muppet Man

Hey - if anyone is interested, the following are my experiences at the Porto marathon 2017 - if anyone is thinking about it in the future.

First off - this is a pretty fair and flat marathon. From 12km to 42km, the race is along the beach front and river front, so there are no crazy hills or long pulls. The longest hill is actually at the start, which is about 1km gradual incline, but is barely noticeable given the fresh legs and will also stop you going off in a gallop. Total elevation gain is 447 meters, versus Dublin's 787 meters. Garmin course map / elevation here, which I have also added to the garmin maps thread.

Temp on the garmin said 13 degrees, which I'm guessing was an average. Because it felt like a rather chilly 10 degrees at around 8:30 am, and it was 18 degrees at the finish line at 1pm. There was a forgiving breeze off the water which was nice. The scenery - if thats your thing - is very nice as you are basically running beside and under/over bridges water for 30k.

Marshalling on the course was excellent, water stations every 5k with bottled water, and sponges from 15k onwards (they were needed!). Food (banannas and nuts) and high energy drinks also available from 15k. Good/Average crowd support along the way, though nothing like Dublin. Timing mats every 3 or 4 kms was nice as the race could be tracked live via a very good apple or google app, and also via the wesbite. So at least the supporters knew when and where you were going to be to cheer you on.

The only warning about the course itself is that about 5% of the race is run on uneven cobble or brick streets, to the point where a lot of people, including myself were running on foot paths to avoid them. If your feet are prone to calluses / welts / blisters, this is worth considering.

Finish line was well managed, but the start line was a little chaotic. One of the problems was they were starting a 15k race immediately after the marathon start, so all the 15k runners were lined up behind the marathon runners, which meant that there was no real easy way to find your starting point with the 15k runners in the way. Also, I had signed up for a 3:45 race and was planning on running with the 3:45 pacers, but the 3:45 pacers were at the back of the "3:15 to 3:45" group. Signing up for a 3:45 marathon actually put me in the 3:45 to 4:15 group. So I could see the pacers about 100 yards in front of me, but no amount of arguing with an high viz Portuguese man would let me through. I was up with them after 3 k anyway, so it wasnt a big deal, but something to watch out for in future.

Only other gripe was that the two 3:45 pacers did a great job but switched at the half way point and the one new pacer that took over was obviously on fresh legs and seemed to be in a bit of a hurry!! I let him go at 25km when I stopped for a pee...

Expo was good and was well attended by the usual vendors flogging stuff. A marathon T-shirt at the expo, a finishers t-shirt at the end (yes, two t-shirts), the medal and a bag were all very nice.

My own race went OK and got to 20 miles pretty much on plan and in line with training, although I quickly ran out of steam as the mid day heat increased and I suffered badly on the last 10k. No excuses though, I should have had more training under the belt. Got home in 4:01:50 according to the Garmin, at 42.66km, but I definitely did not take the racing line.

Porto is a very beautiful and old city, and the wine region in northern Portugal - especially in the Douro Valley (Port/Wine) is a fabulous way to unwind after a 42k run.

I will be back.

Muppet Man.