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Midlands Half Marathon & 5K 12/8/2012

Midlands Half Marathon

Race Website
Last years thread including poll results

Portlaoise
Half marathon - 10 am start, 30/38/45 euro entry
5k - 10.15 start, 10/12/15 euro entry

Changing Facilities
Access to the hotel leisure centre, including showers and swimming pool for post race

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Comments

eoinín

I don't mean to be critical but after looking at the race website it is still not really clear to me where and when this event will take place! The midlands is a huge area, so it would be very helpful to say on your homepage what town the race is on in. It took me a long time and lots of clicking on the website to see "County Laois" in small letters at the top of the page. I still am not entirely sure where the race is on but I'm guessing its Portlaoise as you mention the Rock of Dunamase somewhere. It would also help to have the precise date somewhere more obvious as it is hidden in the newsletter.

The first thing I need to check if I want to do a race is "when and where", so it would be great if these were displayed a little more obviously. There's also no harm in putting some basic info (date, location, price) in your original post here to attract the interest of a few people who might not click on your link.

Apart from that it looks like it is going to be a load of fun - best of luck with it!

theboyblunder

I paced this last year (in a very fetching effeminately coloured top). Course and organisation were good, only thing was the support from the locals was shocking.

Running through the town I was whooping and shouting trying to drum up support, but a travelling leper colony would have got a better reception from the good citizens of portlaoise. I think one drunkard clapped.

Midlands Half Marathon

Hi Eoinín,

You're not being critical at all, in fact we very much appreciate this feedback, as most people will leave the site without letting us know. It's amazing, you spend ages planning all the details to go into the site, and forget about the basics! There is now a When and Where on the homepage.

I wanted to avoid putting in too much information in this post initially as I was worried about 'promoting' it too much, but am happy to answer as many questions here as needed. The price is currently €30 for the half, it will go up to €38, then eventually €45, details of these are on the registration page.

Thanks again
Brian
The Midlands Half Marathon

Midlands Half Marathon

Hi theboyblunder,

Thanks for pacing last year, glad you liked the top:D

There are a lot of first time 5k runners around town, so we are hoping by having more of these on the day it will boost the interest and support in the race. They are starting 15 minutes after the half, and should be finished before most of the half, so there will at least be an improved start finish area.

We'll do all we can to boost the profile around the town this year

eoinín

Thanks Brian and well done on the organisation so far. I'm quite tempted to try this race as its not so far from Dublin and at a convenient date in the calendar for me. I like the idea of running past the Rock as its an interesting spot and worth a visit in itself. At my slow pace I think I'll have plenty of time to admire it as I pass!

Midlands Half Marathon

eoinín wrote: »

Thanks Brian and well done on the organisation so far. I'm quite tempted to try this race as its not so far from Dublin and at a convenient date in the calendar for me. I like the idea of running past the Rock as its an interesting spot and worth a visit in itself. At my slow pace I think I'll have plenty of time to admire it as I pass!

Would be great to see you there. Keep in mind, there's a nice climb around the Rock of Dunamase, so a lot of people will get a chance to see it!!! (You don't climb all the way up though.)

tang1

Cannot view results on website either, what numbers ran it last year?? Seriously considering running it.

chinguetti

Did this last year as a pacer and loved the pacing top. The hill at the Rock is tough but once that was done, the course was fine but going through the town was very dead.

Have to say i liked it. The thing that impressed me was that one of the organisers came up and asked me what i thought of event and did i have any suggestions to make it better.

Midlands Half Marathon

tang1 wrote: »

Cannot view results on website either, what numbers ran it last year?? Seriously considering running it.

OK, that's fixed now, should be able to see the results from last year.

chinguetti wrote: »

Did this last year as a pacer and loved the pacing top. The hill at the Rock is tough but once that was done, the course was fine but going through the town was very dead.

Have to say i liked it. The thing that impressed me was that one of the organisers came up and asked me what i thought of event and did i have any suggestions to make it better.

We took on board some of the suggestions alright, new route avoids a lot of the roundabouts (not all of them), and it's probably more rural than last year.

tang1

Midlands Half Marathon wrote: »

OK, that's fixed now, should be able to see the results from last year.

Cheers for that, entered your race last night.

Midlands Half Marathon

Discount entry for both races closes tonight if anyone is interested.
Thanks

elvis jones

I did it last year and enjoyed it. Its a local race for me and have to say the only negative i had has been fixed. Moving the the end line to a more focal point will help with atmosphere.

Having music played might even help more;)

The course is tough enough but worth it, great t shirt ( my wife stole mine ) and its a nice medal as well.

Doing it again after olympic tri on the sat as part of the tough weekends training for the lost sheep.

Midlands Half Marathon

elvis jones wrote: »

Doing it again after olympic tri on the sat as part of the tough weekends training for the lost sheep.

Hardcore weekend!

elvis jones

Midlands Half Marathon wrote: »

Hardcore weekend!

No Effort, No Gain:p

elvis jones

Any sign of the new revised route, i was hoping to run it one of the evenings in July.

menoscemo

elvis jones wrote: »

Any sign of the new revised route, i was hoping to run it one of the evenings in July.

This is what's up on the website: http://www.midlandsmarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Midlands-Half-Marathon-Provisional.jpg

I think it is pretty much the same route as last year except it starts and finishes at the Maldron Hotel near the N7 exit.

elvis jones

menoscemo wrote: »

This is what's up on the website: http://www.midlandsmarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Midlands-Half-Marathon-Provisional.jpg

I think it is pretty much the same route as last year except it starts and finishes at the Maldron Hotel near the N7 exit.

Ya i've seen that map but i'd like to see the actual garmin one so i can zoom in and see it right.

tang1

Many other Boardies planning on running this?

menoscemo

yeah, i'll be running this as a training run. I plan to start slowly and come roaring through the field after 5 miles. There'll be a merry band of boardises doing the pacing as well.

Raven Runner

Is Entry for Half Marathon still open?

tang1

Raven Runner wrote: »

Is Entry for Half Marathon still open?

Not being smart, but did you try entering?

elvis jones

Raven Runner wrote: »

Is Entry for Half Marathon still open?

No closed last week

tang1

You running elvis, much of a crowd expected for the Half?

[Deleted User]

Went to join up and it's closed. Must be a good crowd in.

Looks like its the kilomarathon for me...

menoscemo

Disappointing that the course was long. 14.3 miles by most accounts. I think the measurers Jones counter was not calibrated properly as all the miles were exactly 1.1 miles on the Garmin. Good win by Racoon Queen all the same. Claralara took 3rd place as a pacer!

tang1

menoscemo wrote: »

Disappointing that the course was long. 14.3 miles by most accounts. I think the measurers Jones counter was not calibrated properly as all the miles were exactly 1.1 miles on the Garmin. Good win by Racoon Queen all the same. Claralara took 3rd place as a pacer!

Good race if it was correct distance, tough in parts. No excuse for long course, but wont say more about that, the race director was getting an earful from enough people when i crossed the line about it. From the first mile it was clear it was going to be way off. I ran a pb for 13.2 mile can i take it!!!

menoscemo

tang1 wrote: »

Good race if it was correct distance, tough in parts. No excuse for long course, but wont say more about that, the race director was getting an earful from enough people when i crossed the line about it. From the first mile it was clear it was going to be way off. I ran a pb for 13.2 mile can i take it!!!

Yeah in Fairness to the RD he didn't hide, held his hads up and took the flack for the course being wrong.
I organised the pacers and in fairness they had a nightmare as it was impossible to pace without destroying the pacees. You can't really ask the pacers to perform in those conditions so they became a little redundant.

RacoonQueen

No excuses for a race being 1.25 miles long. Absolutely none. Kudos to the organiser who stood at the finish line to soak up all the complaints and has now posted on facebook admitting to the long course. Many organisers disappear from the finish line and try to brush it under the carpet but he's stood up to accept the blame and was visibly very disappointed with what happened.

Maybe a lesson to him if the course measurement was cutting corners but he did say it was measured with a jones counter.

Was livid during it especially when I nearly got killed on the roundabout at 10 miles (9 miles by their measurements) but have calmed down now and the race directors acceptance of the blame softened the blow a bit.

But long course and dangerous roads with cars speeding through roundabouts (boy racers who looked like they were just being pricks) is unforgivable in the grand scheme of things. There could have been a nasty accident there.

tang1

menoscemo wrote: »

Yeah in Fairness to the RD he didn't hide, held his hads up and took the flack for the course being wrong.
I organised the pacers and in fairness they had a nightmare as it was impossible to pace without destroying the pacees. You can't really ask the pacers to perform in those conditions so they became a little redundant.

Knew something was wrong alright when i seen the 1.40 pacers running on with no crowd and then yourself and RAL3 i think it was shortly after.

menoscemo

tang1 wrote: »

Knew something was wrong alright when i seen the 1.40 pacers running on with no crowd and then yourself and RAL3 i think it was shortly after.

Yeah what happened there was that one of the pacers fired on at 6:30/mile pace to try ot get closer to a 1:40 finish, while Ral3 stayed at what should be 1:40 pace (7:30/mile).

When it became clear the course was going to be long and the mile markers weren't coming back (in fact they were getting longer and longer) the pacing pairs were left in a conundrum as to what to do and generally had to split up.