Tullamore Half Marathon 25th August 2018

RayCun

think this is the route

website

Last year's thread

Seems to have a good reputation, and I'd expect a good race from Tullamore Harriers.

Note - if you're coming from the M6, stay on the ring road around Tullamore until you get to the Charleville roundabout (the one after the turn for the golf club). The stadium is about a mile from the roundabout, much easier than going through the town centre.

Sunny Dayz

Thanks for that. First time to do Tullamore half. We shall see how it goes.... Thanks for posting the course map and directions. I actually didn't know where the Tullamore Harriers were in the town (it's 20 years since I was there and it wasn't for running!!)

Ray Donovan

Great race. You can't go wrong with it. Testing course but nothing outrageous. Wouldnt be a PB course however.

Great spread of food in the clubhouse after, showers on site and lots of parking. As I said you can't go wrong.

Pink11

First year doing it. Looking forward to it.

Presume number pick up is that morning? Is there a cut off time?

Is the bag drop near start line or the club HQ?

Ray Donovan

Pink11 wrote: »

First year doing it. Looking forward to it.

Presume number pick up is that morning? Is there a cut off time?

Is the bag drop near start line or the club HQ?

Bag drop is in the club AFAIK and will be very near where you park your car.

Number pick up can be done evening before or morning of the race.

Cut off point of 3 hours.

http://tullamoreharriers.com/faqs/

Pink11

Ray Donovan wrote: »

Bag drop is in the club AFAIK and will be very near where you park your car.

Number pick up can be done evening before or morning of the race.

Cut off point of 3 hours.

http://tullamoreharriers.com/faqs/

Thanks sorry what I meant was, does the collection point to get your numbers close up at a certain time?

I'm getting the train so won't be arriving until 10.30am!

Peterx

https://www.mapmyrun.com/ie/tullamore-l/half-marathon-tullamore-route-217165415

That's the route from the Tullamore Harriers website page. The club put on a great show and it's a well organised event.

Great course, perfect for Dublin training. Not totally flat but flattish, much like Dublin. 47m of climb* according to the link above.


*It was 86m elevation on my Strava file from 2013 and 186m from Barry who ran beside me the whole way that day with a few other people recording about 90m on Strava. Statistics and damn lies hey...

Ray Donovan

Pink11 wrote: »

Thanks sorry what I meant was, does the collection point to get your numbers close up at a certain time?

I'm getting the train so won't be arriving until 10.30am!

Ah you'll be grand. The start is more or less outside the club so people wont be moving to there until 10:45am. You'll have loads of time.

eyrie

Ray Donovan wrote: »

Great race. You can't go wrong with it. Testing course but nothing outrageous. Wouldnt be a PB course however.

Curious as to what makes you say that, if it's fairly flat? Thinking of doing it myself regardless but am just interested because I had thought it was supposed to be a fairly fast course.

Ray Donovan

eyrie wrote: »

Curious as to what makes you say that, if it's fairly flat? Thinking of doing it myself regardless but am just interested because I had thought it was supposed to be a fairly fast course.

Flat in my estimation would be Galway Bay (another great race btw but ridiculously overpriced) whereas Tullamore has a few hills as you turn right after Mucklagh and also a little bit of climbing to do as from the Tullamore side of Killurin GAA pitch back into town. Again there's no major hill in it just a few drags but they all add up. It shouldn't turn you off doing it though.

Marathon2011

Will they have pacers?

Any idea around what miles the climbs are. Im not on strava.

Cheers

RayCun

I don't think you need to be a Strava member to follow the link?

Looks like the first 2k (to the roundabout outside town) are a gradual climb, followed by a drop in the next k.
Then mainly a gradual (30m in 7k) climb to the 10k mark, with the steepest bit in the tenth k.
Back down again in the next 5k
Some shorter but steeper ups and downs in the next few k
Then back downhill into the town and around the track


Pacers for 1hr30; 1hr40; 1hr45 1hr50; 2hr & 2hr 10

Ray Donovan

Marathon2011 wrote: »

Will they have pacers?

Any idea around what miles the climbs are. Im not on strava.

Cheers

1:30
1:40
1:45
1:50
2:00
2:10

eyrie

Ray Donovan wrote: »

Flat in my estimation would be Galway Bay (another great race btw but ridiculously overpriced) whereas Tullamore has a few hills as you turn right after Mucklagh and also a little bit of climbing to do as from the Tullamore side of Killurin GAA pitch back into town. Again there's no major hill in it just a few drags but they all add up. It shouldn't turn you off doing it though.

No it wouldn't put me off at all, I just had an impression of it being very flat. Not sure where I got it from! I don't object to a few hills anyway.
Thanks for clarifying

kiloecho15

This is a great race, best half I have ran. The organisation and facilities are top notch. The spread put on afterwards is worth the entry fee alone. The course is testing with undulating but no major hills, the first half harder than the second half. The previous couple of years was quite warm and humid and this made the run a bit trickier. Finishing with a lap of the track is brilliant.

Cabaal

Guys has this filled up yet?

martyboy48

Cabaal wrote: »

Guys has this filled up yet?

Think I saw something on FB saying it's getting close to sellout.....

RayCun

20 places left said facebook

Cabaal

I signed up the other day, aiming for sub 1:30 (well, to beat my 1:29)

Ray Donovan

Fair play if you manage it. It’s not the most difficult course of all time but I don’t know if I’d call it a PB course.

highlandcow

I will be running this weekend. Last race of my season before taking a few weeks off running. Hoping to run a pb but not quite sure what shape I'm in. Got a bit of a cold, mileage has been average and have a few niggling aches and pains. Ran it 2 years ago and was very impressed. It was tougher than I thought last time and didn't quite reach my goal, hoping for a better result on Saturday. As others have said it's a great race. Hopefully catchup with a few of you out there. Best of luck.

Alorra

I did this at the weekend. Really nice, well set up race. Great trip down the country. Loved coming around and doing the lap of the track (possibly the first time on a track ) and great grub afterwards, a feast. Was thrilled leaving town with a good pb of 1.34 and some sandwiches. Thanks to the harriers��

Alorra

I did this at the weekend. Really nice, well set up race. Great trip down the country. Loved coming around and doing the lap of the track (possibly the first time on a track ) and great grub afterwards, a feast. Was thrilled leaving town with a good pb of 1.34 and some sandwiches. Thanks to the harriers👍

Cabaal

Ran the half, didn't get the PB I wanted but damn close especially given lack of training specifically for it.

Very well organised event, my race report http://runninginkilkenny.blogspot.com/2018/08/tullamore-quinlan-cup-half-marathon.html

RayCun

Not the easiest course but a very well-run event - nice t-shirt, lots of stewards, water stations, parking, and food afterwards, well done to Tullamore Harriers

Caprica

Was very impressed with this race, would definitely recommend it. Nice t-shirt and medal, well ran registration, plenty of parking, lots of water on course with a very nice track finish. Got home in 83.42, found the opening 10k tough to hit my splits to the extent that I was 90 seconds behind schedule. Worked hard in the second half and picked of a lot of people, passed a Rathfarnham guy in the las few meters as he was waving to the crowd. Felt strong all the way to the end. Bar the sharp drags around the 12 mile mark, it was probably an easier second half.

Tullamore Harriers have amazing facilities. The track and function room were top notch, the spread afterwards was one of the best I seen.

RayCun

Caprica wrote: »

Was very impressed with this race, would definitely recommend it. Nice t-shirt and medal, well ran registration, plenty of parking, lots of water on course with a very nice track finish. Got home in 83.42,

this you, or did you get him right on the line?

Peterx

Excellent event, the best technical T-shirt I've got from a road race and very well marshalled and organised.
Easy to get to, the free parking was managed perfectly and the afters came with added nostalgia for any locals who would have gone to discos there back in the day.
Solid course, plenty of undulations and finishing on the track is a big bonus.

Will be back.

brennarr

Caprica wrote: »

Passed a Rathfarnham guy in the las few meters as he was waving to the crowd.

I actually seen that, he wasn't impressed when he noticed you passed him. It was his own fault

Cabaal

brennarr wrote: »

I actually seen that, he wasn't impressed when he noticed you passed him. It was his own fault

I'll never understand people slowing down coming up to the finish, always better to give it what you got left and knock the second or two off

Tommy Max

Total agree with the feedback here, it is a really well run event. Credit to Tullamore harriers. Great organisation on the day.

Third time to do it and very happy with how it went for me but I certainly suffered as plenty of others did that I met along the way. It is advertised as a challenging but fair course and that is very accurate. No major hills but plenty of long drags.

Well done on a great event Tullamore.

eyrie

Fantastic event, to echo the positive comments others have made. Amazing attention to detail too - like the supplies of dioralyte/plasters/etc in the toilets afterwards. And the cakes! Mmmm....
It was really well run and welcoming too. Would definitely go back and would strongly recommend it to others. Thanks to all involved in organising!

Ray Donovan

My fourth year in a row doing it and even though I am biased (I'm from Offaly, but not a member of the Tullamore Harriers) I have to say it is now definitely my favourite HM on the calendar. Yes, it's challenging but that makes it all the better. The lap on the track is a great buzz and the guy on the PA as we were coming in gave it socks!! Showering facilities are great as had no intention of rushing home and the spread in the clubhouse was terrific (as usual). Parking was plentiful and non-problematic. Lovely medal and t-shirt aswell. Can't recommend it highly enough. Well done to all involved.

highlandcow

Caprica wrote: »

Was very impressed with this race, would definitely recommend it. Nice t-shirt and medal, well ran registration, plenty of parking, lots of water on course with a very nice track finish. Got home in 83.42, found the opening 10k tough to hit my splits to the extent that I was 90 seconds behind schedule. Worked hard in the second half and picked of a lot of people, passed a Rathfarnham guy in the las few meters as he was waving to the crowd. Felt strong all the way to the end. Bar the sharp drags around the 12 mile mark, it was probably an easier second half.

Tullamore Harriers have amazing facilities. The track and function room were top notch, the spread afterwards was one of the best I seen.

Sounds like you paced it perfectly. I did not. Was on pace for sub 84 up to 15k then the wheels came off. Struggled home in 1.26 ish.

I will echo what others have said that it is one of the best races on the calendar. My second time doing it and I will be back despite finding it tough going. Well done to all those who took part.

Caprica

RayCun wrote: »

Caprica wrote: »

Was very impressed with this race, would definitely recommend it. Nice t-shirt and medal, well ran registration, plenty of parking, lots of water on course with a very nice track finish. Got home in 83.42,

this you, or did you get him right on the line?

RayCun wrote: »

Caprica wrote: »

Was very impressed with this race, would definitely recommend it. Nice t-shirt and medal, well ran registration, plenty of parking, lots of water on course with a very nice track finish. Got home in 83.42,

this you, or did you get him right on the line?

I just pipped him on the line. Got him in the last couple of strides

Sunny Dayz

Another +1 for the Tullamore half marathon. I've only done other half to compare it to, although I've done a few 5k's and 10k's over the years. But it was such a well organised event. No bother with parking, registration, tshirt collection, plenty of toilets, lots of space for warming up. Great communication. Short walk from HQ to the start line, everyone knew where to start from and we weren't kept long waiting to start. Everybody taking part was in great spirits. The support along the route is the best I've ever experienced. Between the locals, young and not so young out cheering on, plenty of well stocked water stations and the crew zipping up and down the course on bikes checking all were ok


I enjoyed the course, I found it to be fair. A few people had said Oh I heard it's hilly, I actually found the hills were fine, they weren't anything to write home about, I certainly don't remember much about them and I hate hills! The finish on the track was great, they've a fab surface on it.


Some spread on in the disco hall afterwards, it was great for keeping people about to chat and mingle. Many's a good night was had in there back in the day Only slight compliant is that there was no hot water left by the time I got to the showers, but it didn't really bother me, cold shower didn't do me any harm!


I can certainly see why people would come back to do it year on year....