Tralee International marathon 16-03-13

Big congrats to you Thomas. Super time on a tough course. You seemed very comfortable when I seen you after barrow. Unfortunately I let the predictions table down Finished in 3.25 I think, really slowed up from mile 23 on once i realised the pb was gone.Really enjoyed the day though, super weather, great scenery and was delighted with the support along the way.They really need to flatten that hill in barrow for next year.Congrats once again, you got out of it what you put into it.

Belcarra - 3:3x - Not racing this but will be including some MP miles.
opus - 3.2x - Training run for Comrades for me.
plumber77 - under 3.20
TFBubendorfer - under 2:55 - 2:55:05 DOH! :P
ChavezyChavez - Under 3:30
irfrm- 1:24:59- half for me 1:26:01

Happy with the run major hill at 7 mile mark which I lost over a min, should really have build up a cushion for it. Well done all in Tralee

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Let's see how the predictions turned out:


Belcarra - 3:3x - Not racing this but will be including some MP miles.
opus - 3.2x - Training run for Comrades for me.
plumber77 - under 3.20
TFBubendorfer - under 2:55 - 2:55:05 DOH! :P
ChavezyChavez - Under 3:30
irfrm- 1:24:59- half for me

Tough course, alright, though the perfect conditions made up for it.

Great running Thomas.
Was changing out of my wet running top in the car park when I spied your garish orange top flying past the Brandon. I legged it over to the finishing straight and gave you a shout out. Had a quick glance at the finish clock and re koned you would miss 2:55 by a matter of seconds.
Impressive running.

Race results are here:

http://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=74&RId=10126

On the downside they have added 2 extra seconds to the time from my watch :rolleyes:

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Race results are here:

http://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=74&RId=10126

On the downside they have added 2 extra seconds to the time from my watch :rolleyes:

Interesting. I clocked myself at 1:36:43, but I have been given an official time of 1:36:30 ( which I am taking :rolleyes:).
Which timing mat was th official finish? The one approx 20 metres in front of the finish gantry or the one under the gantry itself?

opus wrote: »

Great running Thomas, you'd be on for some time on a flatter course!

Was wondering that myself, it's hard to tell what the same effort would have yielded on a flat fast course. 2:52:xx maybe? Only guessing.

opus wrote:

What a day weather wise! Course & scenery was fantastic but I'd imagine it could be fairly brutal on a bad day.

I agree, if they stick to that course then one day it will be a bad windy day, and it's going to be absolutely brutal. In fact, a windy day was my major worry going into the race, more so than potential injury or illness.

chavezychavez wrote: »

Missed out on my sub 3:30, was in front of the 3.30 pace maker all the way until the last mile on the canal when I nearly lost my eye sight from the loss of energy, and had to walk for about 2 minutes to get enough back to struggle over the line.
Not overly annoyed, it will make breaking 3:30 in the DCM all the better :-)
Tough course, traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, even though it got sticky enough from Fenit on.
One gripe was the lack of water out of Fenit, there was water everywhere from the start until Fenit, but once out of Fenit it felt like ages until the next water stop.

What top were you wearing? I passed a yellow top at the end of the canal and he looked to be swaying a bit, could've been you?
Very close anyways and defo worth 3:29 on a course without barrow hill!!

not too dissapointed missing on my target time to be honest, because from about mile 22 on my only goal was to stay running to the finish. I think I paid the price for going out a small bit too fast, but I felt comfortable so I just went with the flow on the day. All seemed very good until we turned off in ardfert and I started getting some engine trouble. I said I'll continue on and monitor the situation but in my case these things don't really go away. Got all the way to barrow without putting myself under any great pressure but barrow hill required a bit more and that was enough to tip me over the edge.Coming back down alls I had in my head was the 2 shiny portaloos I had taken heed of on the way up. I just prayed that there was a vacancy and time lost would be minimised.Engine repairs lasted 2 mins and I was off again. Found it very hard to get back into the rhythm after the break and from there to fenit was a struggle, but the crowd in Fenit was a good pick me up and fair play to all involved in organising that. From there on the route was tough with lots of little pulls and drags apart from one stretch of flat road along by the sea which was fabulous.A bit of calm before the climb upto mile 22 and this was when my calves seemed to have enough. They just stopped co-operating from there on and turned into 2 planks. Still nursing a dicky tummy I avoided sports drinks and gels even though my body was probably crying out for some help, I just wasn't going to risk it. Found going into tralee and turning away from it again was tough and not helped by the fact that there was a long drag to start off that journey. Once it flattened out again and the knowledge that a pb had long since gone, I just enjoyed the run in along the canal and the peace that came with it.As per usual the finishing half mile is always great and speed that earlier seemed lost forever returns in you're lucky.After the finish line was crossed the calves went into full lockdown and I just had to sit down. I looked down at both of them and they were pulsing, almost like 2 aliens were going to bust out at any time Overall I thought for a first effort the day was a resounding success. Some slight gripes but nothing that can't ironed out for future editions. Thought the support and the the volunteers did a great job, so fair play for that.The route could probably do with some slight alterations if it is to become a viable option as an early season marathon but I think there is a place for it. Feel good today and thats a positive. maybe I wouldn't be doing this report if the day was wet & windy ! On second thoughts scrap the maybe

belcarra wrote: »

What top were you wearing? I passed a yellow top at the end of the canal and he looked to be swaying a bit, could've been you?
Very close anyways and defo worth 3:29 on a course without barrow hill!!

Yup that was me, was in the absolute horrors at that stage. Fair play to the Clare Crusader who dragged me for the last mile over the line. Have never hit a wall like that before.

Benny Bulben wrote: »

Really enjoyed yesterday, I went around in 3:25:08 which was over 21 minutes faster than my previous PB. The time agreed with my watch, however my watch said I'd ran 26.41 miles! I'm assuming the difference has to do with having to keep to certain sides of the roads at times with the 2 double backs and to avoid the traffic etc?!

That's a savage improvement, congratulations!

26.41 on the GPS is perfectly normal and yes it's all to do with not taking the perfect racing line and also GPS inaccuracies. My own watch showed 26.46 miles, pretty much what I always tend to see at the end of a marathon.

eliwallach wrote: »

Interesting. I clocked myself at 1:36:43, but I have been given an official time of 1:36:30 ( which I am taking :rolleyes:).
Which timing mat was th official finish? The one approx 20 metres in front of the finish gantry or the one under the gantry itself?

Just check my watch time (1:26:12) and official time (1:26:01), 11 seconds is a big difference, but will also take it:pac:

Tough course hard to get everything right but well done to everyone concerned & the people of Tralee. Thought the run in on the gravel track at the end of the full was tough & isolated and maybe should be looked at for next year....

Raj1 wrote: »

Tough course hard to get everything right but well done to everyone concerned & the people of Tralee. Thought the run in on the gravel track at the end of the full was tough & isolated and maybe should be looked at for next year....

I was happy to see this as I ran on the soft grass at the side and it was such a welcome relief for the feet

Fantastic run Belcarra. Consistently steady pacing and running within yourself guarantees you these great times, on the back of hard work and only minimal time dossing on your blog

Keep it up