Dublin Marathon 2012 - Mentored Novices Thread

jinxremoving wrote: »

well that was some experience. Thanks to one and all on boards for keeping me going when times were tough in training. Thanks to the very nice 5 hour pacers as well. I found it a lot harder than i thought i would, once i hit clonskeagh i felt like death. did a mixture of walking and running from then on. supporters were amazing at keeping spirits up. the very nice girl who gave me a mini mars bar at nutley lane because i was crying because 'chocolate makes everything feel better'.

it took me 5 hours 25 minutes and i am thrilled beyond belief that i ran a marathon. didnt make it to mcgrattans as i could hardly move at that stage. will catch up with everyone again at some stage..maybe next years improvers thread?


sitting here shaking and a bit disoriented so hope this post is coherent!!

Your a legend Jinx, anyone can do it when its' easy, digging in when it hurts is what takes balls, ye left nothing out there, ye did your self proud.

KillianByrne wrote: »

The 4.15 pacers brought me out & the 4.30 pacers brought me home!

Finished 4.30.30

Big sore legs from mile 15 onwards, dropped the speed & walked a couple of times. Fosters Ave to the finish was really tough, didn't expect it to be so hard.

I am now a marathon runner, Yay!

I ran with a boardsie through the park (Robert?) hope you finished strong mate, thanks for saying hello.

That was me Killian. Yes it is Robert but my friends call me Robbie. It was nice to meet you.Glad to hear you got through it ok. Lost the 4:15 group at Clonskeagh and came home in 4:27:10...not my target time but PB nonetheless. See you on the "improvers" thread next year!

Well done everyone

What a day guys. Personally an achievement that I always thought about but never thought I'd do it.

To the crowds: Thank you. To the kids looking for high fives, to the sign writers, to the cheerers and me taking sweets from strangers. I ran with a mate who enjoyed the Pehonix Park, which I have to say is lovely. We are from Donegal so dont run it obviously. But for me personally, coming out of the park to the cheering crowds again was awesome.

I had a plan. Stick between the 4:15 flags and the 4:30 flags, and it worked for me. I knew my hams and knes would be screaming in the later miles. I ran the first half in 2:10 and the second in 2:17, for a finishing time of 4:27:43. my target was 4:30 so happy as Larry.

If any of you has ever watched that film Truman with Jim Carey. When they turn him off at the end <spoiler> everyone that watches says.... what will we do now? That's how I feel at the moment. I have read this thread every day, and in the last week, every minute. Thanks everyone for your input. It certaintly led to an enjoyable marathon experience for me

Target: Sub-4. Actual: 4:02

What a day. Lined up maybe 50 yards behing the 4-hour pacers. That was a mistake - only ever got closer to them when a couple of them took pee stops in the park. But kept them in range till the hill at Roebuck. I had a slow kilometer or two there - must have been very slow because when I looked down the long downhill vista of Fosters Ave they were nowhere to be seen. Still, according to my watch I was still on pace, somehow. But that only lasted till the RDS, at which point, even though I was passing dozens and dozens of walkers and other casualties, I was slowing myself and just couldn't get the mojo in gear enough to get back on track. So in the end I think I was done in by Heartbreak Hill, which serves me right for poo-pooing it in recent weeks!

Fantastic crowds along the route and especially in the final 3k. Finished in 4:02. Yesterday I would have thought I would be very disappointed by that. Today, not at all - it was what I had in me today. Besides, you can't be too fussy when 16 months ago you couldn't run 1k and were smoking 20 fags a day.

Passed an awful lot of people in trouble over the last 10k, which shows you how hard a sub-4 can be. Well done to all of you who hit your number, or got close! Checked out McGrattans but not too many runners in there at the time - headed instead to Doheny's for a fabulous few pints it has to be said.

Well done y'all.

Finished in 4:29, really happy as it was 45 mins better than last year. Hit the HM mark at 2:02 and felt great. At mile 21 my hips started to go on fire and I slowed to nearly 12 min pace and was in a lot of pain for the last 5 miles. Strange feeling as I'd plenty left in the tank but the old hip flexors didn't want to know. The crowd were absolutely amazing, put my name on my tshirt and I felt like a superstar. We should be very proud of the people in our great city

Target Time 3:45
Actual Time 3:48:07

Was waiting for a quiet time of reflection and turns out its 3 in the morning having been woken by pain.
Firstly thanks to you all for the last 11 months or so and congrats to you all, by all accounts you were all terrific.

Things did not good quite to plan. Felt pretty good for the most part, cruised along with the 3:45 pacers until 20 miles and then disaster. Got cramp in my right hamstring and lost 3 or 4 minutes by the roadside trying to get loose, unmerciful pain. Have to say it was the worst minutes i've ever experienced....watching the pacers go and i thought my race was run.

Got going again and plan B kicked in......get in under 3:50. The next 5 miles were a blur, a full on assault on the senses. I hit the first clock on the way in and saw 3:56...and was devastated...could not believe I lost so much time. Hit the home stretch and saw my wife and heard her screaming at me...so I kicked again and then disaster again...both hamstrings cramped and it was hell. Standing against the barrier between 2 photographers...in pieces. And then I spotted a race stewart heading my way. I remember him saying "you ok" and me saying " hammies are gone". He said "What you want to do?" and i just blurted out " f**king finish".

So the last couple of hundred meters were savage. Over the line, 3:58:something and then I met a guy from enniscorthy I had run with at the half marathon there. He said he had done 3:48:something behind me...I was confused then and he explained we set off 10 minutes later...and then the tears came and I can honestly say i did not give a crap.

I learned more yesterday about myself and racing than I could have ever learned from a good race. My parents, wife and kids think its out of my system...I haven't the heart to tell them its only the start..... Now then, where's that neurofen!


Oh and if any of you are running in waterford on the first...see you there.

Yesterday was amazing!! I still can't believe I did it!! Although my legs are confirming I certainly did - cant say I'm looking forward to the cycle into work this morning.....

Obviously trained my body a bit TOO well for yesterdays' early start and was wide awake at 6am today, grr... Seems like a few others here in the same boat!

Target: 4.45, Actual: 4.51, do I care? No!
Absolutely loved it (despite the tough bits) and already trying to figure out when I can do another...

Started off on a not too positive note what with the wrong race number and all (tx for the msgs here). Lady in the info tent's look of horror when told her did NOT inspire me...:eek: Thankfully called over another woman who took my details and said she'd sort out to change over - and sure enough, few mins after crossing the finish line I got a text with my times:D Checked the website this morning and they have it updated with my name which is great (although it does say i'm from N Irl so think just a name swap there!)

Headed in with Curr33 and met up with Shortie_chik in baggage area. Rasher_m - nice to see you there again after our 8 miler in the park 2 wks ago - congrats on your time! Great to meet Walkedkit & DeeDee just in front of the 5hr pacers, you both did great! Walkedit- sounds like we finished v closely, pity didn't see each other in the last stretch (was eyes on the ground for me anyway..)

We decided to take it gentle for first mile or so - so gentle in fact that we suddenly noticed the 5hr pacers had overtaken us:eek: so mad scramble to get back behind them.... Absolutely packed so at bout mile 2 myself and Shortie_chik pushed forward just ahead of them and moved into our 4.45 pace. Close to group of clowns with balloons round their necks for a good part of the park - their banter was hilarious

Had felt slightly nauseous from the start with knot in my stomach (nerves I think) but managed to stick with our pace up to the halfway mark although found crumlin rd a bit tough (darn gentle gradient..). Brilliant celebrations at the halfway mark outside superquinn there, bouncy castles & BBQ's, even to a vegetarian the smell of sausages was yum....

Round the 14 mile and found things getting decidedly tougher.. still on pace but I started to feel weak & shaky.. Running in my t-shirt and arm and hands started to go numb - started to panic that I was gonna hit 'the wall' ( and 4 miles too early...) :eek: Cue a few moans to shortie_chik and stern talking to myself of 'don't be ridiculous, its probably physiologically impossible to do that so early'. Anyway, long sleeve top back on to warm me up and took another gel and managed to keep going... Gels were making my stomach turn though but as was so paranoid bout actually hitting the wall had to keep up sipping them so spent the next 2 hrs running while leaning forward trying to not to throw them back up again (so if you saw a girl in pink top looking like a hunchback that was me:p)

Family at mile 15 with a sign for me which was a real boost but we started to slow at mile 16 then... took our time and started to feel like a nice LSR again and started to get some energy back. Feeling stronger as we approached the 20 mile mark (and no sign of 'The Wall') yet so said goodbye to shortie_chik and pushed on. Heartbreak hill was tough but had arranged friends & other half to be on Fosters avenue so gave me motivation to get up and over then loved running down the hill towards them, waving my arms like a lunatic..(would def recommend to have people waiting for you here!)

At this stage knew my 4.45 wasn't achievable as still struggling with the nausea so had new aim - run a marathon non stop! After the excitement of seeing friends got tougher and from mile 23 was seriously struggling...Pain all down my left leg and esp the knee (never had problem there before), blisters on my right foot.. toughest though was mentally thinking to myself AGES till the finish line and being on your own doesn't help the motivation...:( Decided to start counting so head down and just doing 1-100 11 times for each mile to get me through it. Lots of people walking at that stage..Crowd were amazing but i could barely look up.. EVENTUALLY, got to mile 25 but I swear that was then the longest mile on the course, so near yet still so far.......

Final run around Trinity was brill - crowds were going wild, could finally look up and managed to speed up a bit. Heard my name few hundred yards form end - friends & OH had dashed back to see me finish Have never been more delighted to see a finish line in my life... crossed over then promptly half collapsed over some railings.. poor ambulance woman came over to check on me but just needed a min Such an amazing feeling to finish it.... wasn't emotional, just v v happy with big grin on my face (although did nearly cry when told me only large size t-shirts left - did they not learn from the race series? tons of women after me so id say a lot of disappointed people).

Funnily enough, spent the bulk of the race imaging the yummy food and chilled glass of wine id have at the end then actually couldn't face anything after bar my recovery shake.... great form but v sleepy so had to give McGrattens a miss and head home. Pity to have missed mtg up with those who were there - hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Felt could have done it faster if not for feeling so sick throughout but glad it went the way it did - kept in my head everything been said here bout don't aim for time, just finish so stuck with that and as a result finished really positively and happy. Big thing for me was fear of the unknown going that distance so now I've done it be more comfortable pushing myself more next time... (yes I'm now addicted to marathon running.... )

Can't believe almost 5 months of effort and its all over:( Will really miss the camaraderie and motivation from here (plus what will I check on the computer now....???) Hope everyone else got a big smile on their face now like me and that great sense of achievement that we actually did it!!

Finished in 4:17 target was 4:15 but kinda hoping for maybe 4:10. I started out and ran a bit ahead of the 4:15 pacers and was about 5 - 7 mins ahead of the 4:15 pace at the half way mark. Still running quite comfortably and I must admit the hills clonskeagh and Roebuck were not as bad as expected and I was able to maintain a nice steady pace on the climbs.

I started to wane a bit coming in merrion road and was eventually caught by the 4:15 pacers at the RDS. I ran with them for awhile, but in the last 2-3 Km they pulled away so I came in two mins behind them but still over the moon with the run.
The occasion was fantastic with great support and it was brilliant to wake up this morning having completed a marathon.

My next challenge is to fit into the Size L marathon T-Shirts. I think someone else mentioned the same thing - for size L they are quite small.
Maybe there are different sizing criteria for marathon runners

FINISH TIME 3:34 BOOM :D:D:D:D

What a day? Nothing can describe the emotions I went through yesterday. Woke up feeling very fresh and was delighted to see the weather was being good to us, cool and no wind perfect weather conditions. My boyfriend walked me down to the race start and I was feeling pretty calm and excited. After all my debating about what wave to start in having an orange bib Id wanted to follow 3.45 pacers but they weren't in until wave 2. A good friend recommended just go run my own race as I was entering the unknown and anything under the 4hour mark would have been a bonus. So lined up in wave one 3/4s of way down. Met a lovely man at start, asked was he a boardies but disappointedly he wasn't.
Found I'd plenty of room from the start, could see how easily you could get pulled away with the crowd but my plan was to take it easy from off and push on if felt good. Found it quiet difficult to keep slower at times. At the half way mark I knew I was on schedule for a sub 3.45 but anything could go wrong. Luckily I managed to keep the pace. The crowds were absolutely unbelieveable, I felt like a celebrity everytime I heard my name, they really did Dublin and this country proud. Anytime I felt low and believe you me from Milltown on I was really feeling the pain and on hearing my name I'd push on again and try pass a few others. The last few miles are a bit of a blur again hearing the support was unbelieveable, on seeing the finish line in the distance I was beaming and felt unreal pushing for the finish. Crossing the line in a chip time of 3.34 I felt on top of the world
Once over the line the jelly legs kicked in and can safely say walking back to the hotel was nearly harder than the running, was comicial watching everyone hobbling. Got myself an extra small tshirt I probably should have gone for a small. Even if it looks like a belly top Ill be wearing it with pride for the week:)
A huge thank you to all the marshalls again so friendly and helpful. To all who gave me jellies, cheering and atmosphere again I can't stress what a difference they made. To my own family and friends for listening to my obsession the last few weeks. And lastly to you my boards family I really don't think I'd have gotten through the last few weeks especially without this thread, sometimes I just looked in other times I had queries which were promptly answered, the advice and friendship on this were the making of my first marathon experience. A big congrats to each and everyone of you too who did so brilliantly yesterday, my favourite sign I saw 'If it was easy everyone would be doing it':) And to those of you who missed out my heart went out to you but there will be plenty of races ahead to aim for and we will be with you along the away!
Am in serious agony today, some bad blisters so no high heels for while but DCM 2012 experience is worth every niggle:) Am very excited about the future and this is definitely just the begining of marathon running for me. So my fellow Boardies, whats next on the bucket list? :D:D

Target: 4.30
Actual: 4.53

Missed probably 4/5 wks of the training schedule and it told today. But I cant be too sad.
Followed the 4:30 pacers and was doing great until 19 miles or so.
Went through 20miles at 3:30 so a strong last 10km would have brought me home - but right quad cramped up and I just couldnt shake it. Walked for a bit then ran, but it would just cramp up again.
In one sense I was fairly pissed off as I never got a single cramp in all training - but to be fair, the two injuries I struggled with during the training program were no issue at all.
The taper definitely helped to fix those.
Ran the last mile in a good bit of pain but it was great. Family and friends were on Nassau street and the atmosphere was great.

Was a very tough run and more difficult that I had expected but in retrospect I'm delighted to have it done.

Will I run another?
Probably.... unfinished business out there I think.
Few weeks rest and lets see....
(Even though at 22 miles I swore I'd never run again, let alone another marathon)

It’s the morning after the day before & I’ve been awake since 07:00hrs.

Target 4h45
Time:4h44


I’m fortunate enough to live relatively close to the Start/Finish area so myself & 2 friends used it as a base of operations for the day. A Phonecall from one friend started with him humming the imperial march tune down the phone to me. Nice mood music to set the tone.

Started off waiting in Wave 3 talking to a chap in his 50s who was retelling of a 75year old friend who runs marathons in 4h30. Told him I’d be delighted with such a time. Race starts & it’s some view of Dublin running along Stephens Green, past Trinity & up O’Connell st. I had started with one friend in the same wave but lost him somewhere on Nassau St. Managed to get ahead of the 5h pacers before we crossed O’Connell Bridge.

It wasn’t until we started hitting the residential areas that I really paid attention to the support. People were camped outside their house just cheering people on & handing out whatever they had. I was quite impressed by this. I was running strong at this point. I had finally passed a few crowds of people was hanging behind the 4h30 pacers.

As we entered the Phoenix park I remember seeing one sign “Run Stranger Run!” which made me smile. I commented something as I passed. Always thank the supporters when you can. I managed to over take the large crowd around 4h30 pacers & exited the park feeling fine. I was very surprised by this. I felt like I was running the race of my life at this point.

Hit the halfway point at 2h08. There was a BBQ which smelled delicious & was slightly torturous. It wasn’t until mile 15 that I felt I needed to take a quick pitstop. Bathroom break, leg stretch & .. vaseline reapply(If you don’t know, don’t ask ). Once that was over felt pretty fresh again. Looked at the pacer band on my wrist(It was for a 4h45m finish) and I was about 15 mins ahead of it.

Mile 18/19 I started to run into trouble. The hills around Roebuck while not massive individually started to have an effect on my legs. My right leg just about the Knee started threatening to seize up. Pushed on but my pace had dropped. Had to slow to a walk ¾ up “Heartbreak hill”. Thank feck for the St John Ambulance people and deep heat. The 4h30m pacers over took me somewhere around this point. My friend, who I started with who I though was ahead of me, caught up with me & over took at this point. Bastard.

I still managed to pass my office at the earliest time I’d said I pass. Turns out they missed me by 5 mins. Though with about 4km to go my right leg was just about to go on me. I had to cut to walking pace for a good deal of the last stretch or I feared I risked a complete muscle seizure.

Looking at my pacer band I realised I was probably on track for a 4h45m finish(Realistic Finish time) even at walking most of it home. I tried running as much as I could but walked a good deal. I realised I probably would just miss 4h45m time at this pace with less than a mile to go.

Then at the traffic lights at Pearse st Gardai station my Dad put his hand out of the crowd. This was unexpected to say the least. About 6 months back he had a near miss while abroad which required serious heart surgery. I told him I’d see him at the finish line & resumed running. Passing the mile 26 marker I looked at my pacer band and was now bang on target if I held up for the last bit. At that point a friend who had already finished yelled & high 5’d from the street. I powered down the street for the last section.

Crossed the finish line for a chip time of 4h44m.

Would I do it again? Hell yeah. I've got a PB to beat now.

My splits were really off though. 2h08m for the first half and 2h36 for the 2nd half. Guess I need more hill work.

Once more I cannot say enough good things about the supporters lining the route. If you ever have doubts about the people in Dublin run a marathon and witness it for yourself.

Some of my favourite signs included –

“Run! The Zombies are chasing you!”

“Run Stranger run”

“Look alive, Morgue ahead”

“Blisters are in this season”

<Picture of a Pint> “This is waiting at the finish line”

“Pain now, Beer later”

“Stop reading this sign and keep running”

So how is everyone feeling today? My knee is still a bit sore, but I can go up AND down stairs facing forwards, so I’m taking that as a good sign!

What are people’s stand out memories from yesterday? I have to say, that it is a bit of a blur for me. I think not knowing the area at all didn’t help as I didn’t have a clue where I was most of the time. Stand out crowd for me (apart from the start and finish) were the folks at Kilmainham, they were incredible, really gave a great lift. The only areas I found a bit dull were Walkinstown Road (is that the big long road) and the bit at the UCD flyover.

Fuel wise, I took 4 gels at 6,11,16,21 (dropped one of my Gu ones at some stage, so thankfully was able to grab a Hi 5 from one of the stations) Took a few of my magic jellies, but dropped a load of those too and kind of forgot about them after the first half. I took the Hi 5 electrolyte tablets too, I had never taken them before (I know, naughty, naughty trying them out for the first time during a marathon) and found them great. Took half a tablet at pretty much every water station and had no issues with them. I had no cramping at all, so not sure if they are to thank for that, but I would def use them again.

Sorry, I’m telling a fib, I had the slightest inkling of a cramp at about mile 23, could feel my foot turning into a claw! Remembered the advice about running faster to shock the muscles, and it really worked! Literally just pushed on for about 30 seconds, and the cramp was gone.

Roebuck Hill was nothing! I had built it up to be this big thing, but I didn’t feel it bad at all. I would have done a fair few hills in my training and I think this really stood to me, there is no hill that stood out for me as being tough.

Did anyone else see the girls in the Halloween outfits doing the walk of shame? Can’t remember where it was, but needless to say, they got a lot of good natured abuse from the 4hr pacers!

Toilet wise, I didn’t get to go before the race as the queues were unreal, but I nipped in at the 6 mile water station. It was great, there were no queues at all and I literally lost only about 30 seconds. I was very jealous of all the men being able to nip off whenever they wanted!

Favourite signs were ‘blisters are in this season’ ‘toenails are over-rated’ ‘you think you’re bad, my arms are killing me’ and ‘mortuary ahead. Look lively’. I know it sounds silly, but the signs really gave me a lift, it was great to have something to put a smile on your face!