Longford Half/Marathon/Ultra 28/08/2011

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Time for a thread for this one. Thinking of heading to Longford this year myself, though I want to do a good time in the National Half so have a bit of a conundrum. :pac:

Ill be down there for the 2 marathons most probably. Probably the marathon then the ultra.

ultraman1 wrote: »

u doin galway aswell that day;)

haha there is only one of me:D
might do 1 down in longford and then galway. Havent decided yet.

Does anyone know if this race has pacers?

babalobioddy wrote: »

Hi,
I did longford last year a realy nice course,fairly flat. From memory I dont think there was any pacers. The weather wasent overly warm that day so hydration wasent a major issue the only problem was at the water stations where the water was given out in plastic cups instead of bottles I know its only a small thing but realy interupts your pace to try and drink from a cup !!!. Im looking foward to it again this year. I did the cork marathon a couple of weeks ago and got a pb, hopeing to go one better in longford, bring it on!!!!!

The Longford marathon didn't have pacers last year - and certainly has not had them every in it's 10? year existence.

There are no energy drinks - to my understand on the course - again I seem to recall there being cups of energy drinks at one or two points on the course. Not ideal but then again Boston and London marathons do cups....

Longford is a tough beginners marathon - not because of anything to do with the terrain but rather the fact that it is rather isolating - there are some lonely stretches of nice rural roads and boreens leading onto a stretch on the N5 road - which is normally wicked busy and the hard shoulder is rather narrow.

The Longford marathon is certainly not a race that is trying to be commercial - it is no fringes - not that it has ever concerned me in terms of placing but they do give a lot in prize money - first 6 in all the races and then categories - and do their bit for local charities. Also - if the half marathon people haven't it all eaten - there is one hell of a spread of food afterwards!

Also - despite the recent weather there has been some really warm days when the marathon was on - it starts at 10:30 so most people are still out on the course at 130 - 3pm - which makes it a tough time with the heat! So sunscreen is not a bad idea - and lots of those cups of water.

Hope that this is of some help - and finally beware the pace at the start - half marathon shares the first mile or so - keep an eye out for marathon bibs!

I didnt do this last year but from what i recall, the worst drag is around mile 14(could be wrong:o)and yep, it can get quite lonely at times.My favourite memory from doing this was passing a really old guy sitting outside his house in the middle of nowhere with a packet of rich tea buscuits put out on a plate in front of him.I wasnt sure if he was asleep or not, or if the biscuits were for him or us-and i hadnt the heart to wake him:)

Am training for the full n longford this year, only did this one once before, but thoroughly enjoyed it, it is fairly flat and well organised have to say. i like the long sleeved tshirt - handy over the autumn and winter months, like the fact its not excessively expensive (if you enter b4 aug 1) good spread afterwards is always a bonus. cant fault longford but am running with a bevy of women, too lonely to run solo ! definately wouldnt be doing this as a first time marathoner,you wont get the crowds of dublin or cork :rolleyes:

CCR wrote: »

I'm thinking of running the half marathon and I was just wondering what the situation with driving to this event is on the Sunday morning. What is to best route to take into town, what is the latest I could leave it and where best to park?
Thanks in advance.

11am start for the marathon, therefore you'll like be parking up at 9:30-10:00. Mass traffic will be an issue. Prob best parking in the Tesco carpark. No charge on a Sunday. Head into town from the second roundabout on the bypass (N4). Its the second roundabout whether heading from Sligo (turn right) or Dublin (turn left). 1km from the roundabout turn right, (it's the first right thats not an industrial park. Another 1km and turn left, then about 100m turn right, which is into the back end of the car park. About 500m from the start line at that. No traffic lights, no big junctions that could cause a back-log. Easy!!! THe website refers to changing facilities for before and after, but the only entrance to this is beside the Cathedral and will be mental with holy people!

menoscemo wrote: »

Are you getting this info from the website? I think the info there is still referring to last years event....(there is no mention of the ultra start for example). Hopefully the full starts at 11am again this year so that I can drive up from Dublin at a reasonable hour.

Yeah, the info page http://www.longfordmarathon.com/info1.htm refers to both 2011 and 2010. Copy and paste job and no though about the ultra I'd reckon. Date at the top is 2011 and Below "2010 Entry Fees" they have the prices for 2011. Probably nothing about the Ultra as this was only a late addition.

Parking info comes from my extensive local knowledge.

Looking forward to Sunday. It will be my first Half Marathon. No idea what to expect. Just hoping to make it around the course.

Yeah i signed up for the marathon on Thursday and i know it was very late entry ect, 65 euros..:-(

Best of luck to everyone running on sunday!