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Dublin Marathon 2010

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,526 ✭✭✭Killerz


    Sincere best wishes to everyone in the marathon on Monday.

    May the pace balloons be with you and let the spirit of the marathon flow through you!

    Most importantly though, enjoy the beers afterwards :D

    Killerz


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,492 ✭✭✭Woddle


    Just wanted to wish you all well for Monday and to smile as you run up the hill in Milltown, as I'll be there with the camera.
    Enjoy and don't forget to make friends with the runners beside you.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭BarneyMc


    4 stars (good)
    Jimh wrote: »
    I am planning to cross the river at custom house quay and turn left on the south quays and follow the road round to Lombard street and park in one of the parking bays there. If you want a Car park then the Setanta Car Park or Stephen's Green are nearest but I don't know how accessible they will be with the Road restrictions

    Is there free parking on bank hol Mondays in Dublin? Finding it hard to come up with a plan. Considering parking outside my friend's house beside Croke Park and walking over to the start line or catching a bus...:confused:


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭Peckham


    BarneyMc wrote: »
    Is there free parking on bank hol Mondays in Dublin? Finding it hard to come up with a plan. Considering parking outside my friend's house beside Croke Park and walking over to the start line or catching a bus...:confused:

    You'll be doing well to get a bus. Parking is free on bank holidays, so you could drive into the city. If you get over southside and find parking along the canal, or down towards Lansdowne Road, that's probably the handiest for walking to start/from finish.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19,492 ✭✭✭✭Krusty_Clown


    3 stars (average)
    Peckham wrote: »
    You'll be doing well to get a bus. Parking is free on bank holidays, so you could drive into the city. If you get over southside and find parking along the canal, or down towards Lansdowne Road, that's probably the handiest for walking to start/from finish.
    You can find parking easy enough on some of the roads off of Leeson Street (e.g. Hatch Street). A 5 minute walk to the start/finish.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,351 ✭✭✭DublinDilbert


    3 stars (average)
    It looks like it will be a chilli for the first hour or so. NRA website is currently reading about 2C...

    Time to rethink the wardrobe options! Anyone else considering along sleeve top? Not sure as I'll probably wear my jacket for the first hour also!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭BarneyMc


    4 stars (good)
    It looks like it will be a chilli for the first hour or so. NRA website is currently reading about 2C...

    Time to rethink the wardrobe options! Anyone else considering along sleeve top? Not sure as I'll probably wear my jacket for the first hour also!

    Just about to pin my entry number to my short sleeved top and was thinking the same! First marathon so not sure... advice welcome!:)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭BarneyMc


    4 stars (good)
    Peckham wrote: »
    You'll be doing well to get a bus. Parking is free on bank holidays, so you could drive into the city. If you get over southside and find parking along the canal, or down towards Lansdowne Road, that's probably the handiest for walking to start/from finish.

    Thanks Peckham, I used to work down that area so will try and find a spot there tomorrow. Thanks also Krusty!


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭Peckham


    You'll definitely be chilly standing around on the start line, so ideally have a long sleeve tshirt over your gear that you're prepared to chuck away before the gun goes (or even wear for the first mile or so). Cheap Penneys hat and gloves can be useful too.*

    You'll be surprised how quickly you warm up once you start running. Remember you'll be running at a faster pace than your normal long runs, so you won't get cold!

    * Or you can do what I did in 2008. I went searching through a pile of clothes I had intended for the charity shop, found an old overcoat and wore this on the startline. Much to the amusement of fellow runners.....but I was snug!


  • Registered Users Posts: 660 ✭✭✭Git101


    4 stars (good)
    I don't think this was posted here this year... I like it..

    When you stand on the Start Line, you join the club.
    When you stand at the Starting Line, you earn your membership.
    Millions dream of being where you are. You are no longer a dreamer.
    You are a doer.

    Thousands more started a training programme but never finished.
    They started with the same enthusiasm (or more than) you.
    They started with more or less the same physical gifts or disadvantages as you did.
    They had no more and no less reason to be successful than you.

    But somewhere along the way, they lost that enthusiasm.
    Somewhere on the road or on the track or treadmill, they decided that the rewards just weren't worth the effort.
    They decided that they could live without finding their limits, without challenging their expectations of themselves and without taking a hard look at their image of themselves.

    You didn't. If you're standing at the Start Line, you've not only accepted the challenge, but you've also beaten back the demons.
    You've conquered your imagination and self-imposed limitations.
    You've gone further, got stronger and become tougher than you ever imagined.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 7,103 ✭✭✭plodder


    4 stars (good)
    Last year I parked on the streets around the IFSC. It's a fairly quick walk across the pedestrian bridge from there, and it's not near the course so easy to get away from after, but I'm not sure how much free parking there is. You'd probably need to be early.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,351 ✭✭✭DublinDilbert


    3 stars (average)
    Is anyone else laying out their stuff for tomorrow??

    Just been looking through old Christmas presents that i've never worn for something disposable to wear to the start ( sorry mum! )


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,043 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    3 stars (average)
    Just got off a plane full of slightly nervous looking people coming over for the marathon. People were a lot chattier than you usually find as well.

    Have a hat with me I'm prepared to throw away, but other than a bin bag I don't have anything other than the Boards AC vest to keep my top half warm. Think I may have to go shopping later to find a tatty tshirt to throw away part way round, and maybe some gloves too.


  • Registered Users Posts: 35 3D2S


    I love this article so much. It gives an 'ordinary' runner like me so much encouragement to know that someone of Annette's ability goes through pretty much the same pain and doubts as the rest of us!! I'm hoping to get my first 4 hour marathon under my belt.

    Good luck to everyone Monday, ye can do it!!;)
    trats wrote: »
    Irish Times

    23 October 2010

    _______________________________________________

    ATHLETICS: The National marathon has been incorporated into the Dublin marathon for the last few years. ANNETTE KEALY , National champion from last year, and who won the title in 2003 and was second in 2008, takes this year’s competitors through the course and the strategies that can help lead to success

    Tread softly, because you

    tread on my dreams

    – WB Yeats

    I CAN’T be there this year. The body said no, and that was that.

    I still have the dream. The dream of running another Dublin marathon, the dream of running another Dublin marathon exactly right, the dream of running a personal best, the dream of breaking 2.40.

    Too old? Maybe. But the great thing about the marathon is, you just never know. It’s unpredictable. Things happen. Constantita Dita won the Olympic marathon. She is a good athlete, a great athlete, and she made it happen. But the most coveted prize of all? Who would have predicted that?

    It’s Monday, October 25th, 2010. It’s early. You look out the window. You have butterflies.

    2003, as Ian O’Riordan said afterwards, was a day made in heaven for marathon running. Sunny. 12 degrees. No wind. The sun bouncing off leaves of every shade of yellow, orange and red in the Phoenix Park. Magnificent.

    2008 was miserable. Windy. 8 degrees. Hands freezing on the line. Toes numb for two miles. A gale in your face all the way up Crumlin Road. Wretched.

    2009 was somewhere in the middle. Bright. 10 degrees. A little breezy. Not bad.

    Conditions might be any way. Kind, cruel or anywhere in between. Bring your gloves!

    You have your breakfast.

    I had my porridge two-and-a-half hours before the race last year. I don’t like being hungry on the line. That will be too late for some of you. I went back for a last little rest. Might as well. At 7.30, as I lay there, I said to myself, I can’t believe I’m still in the bed and running the marathon at nine.

    You get up.

    There’s not much to do now really. It’s just yourself and your gear and your drinks or gels – if you plan on bringing them. It’s nice to be glamorous, but it’s not the best idea to wear new gear. You’ll be disgusted if your shorts turn out to be a bit loose and keep slipping down and you spend the 26 miles having to hoist them up. Or your top turns out to be a bit tight and gives you a stitch or causes chaffing under your arms.

    If you wear brand new runners or racing shoes, it is highly likely you will be injured after the race, which you might not be too concerned about at the moment but you will bitterly regret when you are laid up for six months with an Achilles’ injury or the like.

    You should even be careful that shoes you have worn already are not too snug for marathon running. In my first marathon my feet swelled during the race and by 17 miles my toes were squashed. Agony and nine miles to go! Lost two toe nails afterwards.

    You head into the course.

    Your nerves might be playing tricks on you. You might feel tired or you might feel sick. You might be shaking. You think of the little garda on his motorbike on the Dublin Marathon website flying through the streets of Dublin and off into the suburbs and you feel dizzy. You are just getting yourself ready.

    You are on the line.

    It might be your first marathon and now you can’t wait to get going. To start the adventure. The journey into the unknown, to places never visited before. You are blissfully unaware of the highs and lows which await you.

    Or it might not be your first marathon and memories of pain, pure pain, buried since you ran the last one, come flooding back. And there will be pain, and there will be drama, and there might be joy and there might be tears.

    But you are there. You made it to the starting line and you have a lot of work done. So seize the moment. The wonderful moment.

    And tie your laces!

    You’re off.

    The first part of the course is nice. Starting in Fitzwilliam Street, through old Georgian Dublin, it declines slightly down Leeson Street and Dawson Street onto Nassau Street and meanders around College Green out onto O’Connell Street. Historic Dublin. You pass the GPO and the enormity of the occasion might hit you now. You are on top of the world.

    You will probably run your fastest marathon if you don’t go off too hard. The fastest times in the world have mostly been run at an even pace or a slightly quicker second half. Haile Gebrselassie broke his world best in Berlin in 2009 in two hours, three minutes and 59 seconds. He went through the half-way mark in 1:02.05. The absolute master. The shrewdest of tacticians.

    So patience. Which is not easy, especially if you’re feeling that it is all very pedestrian at this stage.

    The third mile graduates up into Parnell Square and up Berkeley Road. It turns onto the pretty, leafy North Circular Road. The first drinks station is along here. I think it is important to drink early, and drink often, even if you don’t feel like it.

    You enter the Phoenix Park at four miles. The trees are beautifully uplifting at this time of year. You might have found a rhythm with somebody by now or, even better, a group. In my first marathon, I had found my group by three miles. We were to stay together until mile 18. Last year people came and people went, but I found my group at last at 16 miles, just when I thought I couldn’t take another step. And it was glorious. We were to stay together for another nine miles.

    Settle.

    The last mile in the Phoenix Park, along Upper Glen Road, which brings you to eight miles, causes you to clatter downhill. You might enjoy the freedom of the drop, but it is definitely hard on the legs. You come out of the park, take a right along the Chapelizod Road, cross the canal and the guts of the next five miles is climbing. You climb significantly up St Lawrence Road and Sarsfield Road towards Kilmainham Gaol.

    You are arriving at 10 miles now. A marathon guru I know says you should be feeling comfortable at 10 miles or else you are in trouble. I must say, I have not once felt comfortable at 10 miles in any of my three Dublin marathons.

    You level off for a little while along South Circular Road and you twist around and cross up over Dolphin’s Barn bridge to face a long, two-mile drag up Crumlin Road, past Our Lady’s Hospital and left to the halfway point on Walkinstown Road. There are plenty of people clapping and cheering you on now, and all in great form, which is really helpful.

    Memories of happenings on Crumlin Road abound. My parents and my sister were at the bottom of the hill the first year and that was a great boost. In 2008, I had a cold. I took the gamble and ran. Every runner near me seemed to dissipate up the hill and I was left floundering into the wind and rain. I looked for my parents all the way up the hill. They weren’t there. They had gone to some other point. Crisis! And 13-and-a-half miles to go. I was as bleak as the day.

    2009 and I was nervous about that section. To my great relief, I had met two lads at the bottom of the hill and I was staying with them and we were working up the road together.

    A Raheny supporter came along on his bike. Delighted to see us together, he started to call out, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh style: “Go Raheny. Go Rathfarnham. Raheny. Rathfarnham. One Raheny girl. Two Rathfarnham boys. Working together. Great stuff. Go on, yeah. Good on yis.” He was just about to move on, when he turned for a final glance. And then it dawned on him: “Willy Morris? Is that you?” he said. Peals of laughter. And us supposed to be running a marathon? It is hard to run and laugh at the same time. It got us up to halfway.

    The lads moved on then.

    It is tough when you are left behind. You suffer. You tread water for a while, but the marathon is ebbs and flows. They might come back to you.

    The next few miles along Kimmage Road and Foxfield Road are pretty flat, and then there is a lovely section of the course which is slightly downhill along Templeogue Road, which brings you to 16 miles, and on into Terenure and the picturesque Orwell Road and Park.

    All the same, there might come a point somewhere around now, maybe because there is still such a long way to go, where dark clouds descend and the demons surround you and you struggle with them, and then you say “I can’t do this”. And you really feel that this is the end. That you can’t go on. That the dream is shattered.

    And it is exactly now that you need to put one foot in front of the other, to get to the next lamp-post or to the next tree or to look at the sweat patch on the singlet of the guy in front of you and not let it drift away.

    The black thoughts happened between 14 and 16 miles last year. Not going to plan. Despair. And then a group came along. Pauline Curley was in the group. A critical moment. Do you say to hell with it, you don’t care and let them sweep on, or do you gather yourself and get back in the race? Somehow, I found myself in that group. I was looking at their backs, their bums, their shoes.

    And I was not exhausted any more. There was revival and there was rhythm. The clouds had passed and there was brightness.

    And then we were helping each other. Together. Side by side. In front, behind. Side by side again. And then Pauline and I were in a race and we were fighting. A small gap. A jostle. Together again. There was no 17, 18, 19, 20. There was the next 20 yards and the knowing now that a gap, any gap, meant winning or losing. We were to battle for eight miles. And we could.

    There is a tough hill on Milltown Road around 18 miles. In my first marathon my group of three was still together. Now, on this hill, one of the lads said “I’m gone”. Shock. He had been grand. He was pushing earlier. Nearly dropped us twice. Had to scramble back to him twice. But that was a while ago. We were comrades by now. We shouted to him to stick with it. He couldn’t. We didn’t want to leave him.

    You have to go. It’s a race.

    Nineteen and 20 are rolling miles along Clonskeagh Road and Roebuck Road. I think you are in a dip in the road when you arrive at 20. This might be a monumental moment. 20 miles done. I haven’t really felt any elation or delight so far in arriving at 20. I’ve done what you’re not supposed to do and thought each time, not of the miles run but of the 10km still to go. 10km seems a long way. I don’t know why you convert it to kms.

    You continue to undulate a little up and back down Foster’s Avenue. You are working hard, and then you turn out onto the Stillorgan Road. It’s only a little while later, but it is easier to feel positive now because its only a five-mile road race to go now or a lap of Malahide Castle. Five miles seems much more manageable than 10km. With the crowd there telling you that you are doing great and the drop down the Stillorgan Road, you might pick up speed. You might feel great. Up and over the UCD flyover.

    Nutley Lane is slightly downhill, but your legs are getting tired. I made a half-hearted push here last year, but you have to mind yourself because you want to make it home without blowing up. Still nearly half an hour to go.

    Merrion Road. Twenty-three. Anyone who is running their first marathon will never, ever have run this far before. It’s exciting. It’s torture. Your legs are getting tight. Nearly there and yet so far away. You might feel you have slowed terribly even though you haven’t. In 2008, there were tears here.

    You might have to call on every faculty you have – physical, mental, emotional, even spiritual at this point. To keep it all going.

    And then again, maybe not. You might have a nice momentum going now or a new bounce with the end in sight. Twenty-four. Shelbourne Road and a few hillocks. Getting up over the bridge at Grand Canal Street might feel like climbing Croagh Patrick. Along Grand Canal Street to Hogan Place. It was around here that I edged ahead of Pauline last year. It could easily have been the other way around. Twenty-five.

    And then it’s an outside lap of Trinity College. And it’s a long old mile. And don’t let up now. A lot can happen in a mile. Spectators are cheering like mad down Westland Row. That lifts you again. Pearse Street is long. But you’re now rounding College Green again. One last push and the spectators all along Nassau Street bring you in.

    26.2 miles. You are home. Pleased or disappointed, you will have given it everything.

    A life achievement. Well done!

    I wish I were running. I’ll be cheering instead this time. Cheering madly.

    All the very best. Enjoy the ride.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,545 ✭✭✭chinguetti


    2 stars (poor)
    I've visited Pennys and got gloves, hate and long sleeved t-shirt for 9 euro. They will kept me warm for the first few miles and then they'll be discarded.

    Weather sounds it will be like Cork to Cobh a few weeks back - bloody cold at the start but once you're moving, you'll warm up. The sunshine helps too so don't over dress as when you get to the second half of the race, you will be over heating.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,793 ✭✭✭Macanri


    A quick post to wish well to all doing the marathon tomorrow. All the best for it and hope you all meet your respective goals.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,311 ✭✭✭xebec


    Spotted a few Boardsies at the expo yesterday and actually got them to stand still long enough for a photograph... Not going to name anyone though, you'll all have to come to the pub to find out who's who.

    5110576282_54a85f8774.jpg
    DSC_0001 by xebec running photos, on Flickr

    Best of luck to everyone, the hard work is done now it's just time to make the most of and try to enjoy the day.


  • Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭dermCu


    Best of luck to all of you. Leave it all out on the course.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,043 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    3 stars (average)
    Why do they enter everyone with an address in Ireland as being Irish? I'm sure there was no other option on the entry form.

    I guess I've just been assimilated. Resistance is futile. :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 19,492 ✭✭✭✭Krusty_Clown


    3 stars (average)
    xebec wrote: »
    Spotted a few Boardsies at the expo yesterday and actually got them to stand still long enough for a photograph... Not going to name anyone though, you'll all have to come to the pub to find out who's who.

    5110576282_54a85f8774.jpg
    DSC_0001 by xebec running photos, on Flickr

    Best of luck to everyone, the hard work is done now it's just time to make the most of and try to enjoy the day.

    Where's the photo of the boards-manned Pacer stand? :confused:


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  • Registered Users Posts: 20,853 ✭✭✭✭Stark


    What are people wearing tomorrow? I don't want to overdress, but I'm thinking singlet might be too cold given the temperature tomorrow. Might go with a short sleeve running top with a long sleeve over it that I can ditch a few miles in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,704 ✭✭✭✭RayCun


    4 stars (good)
    I'm sticking with the singlet, but wearing a sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms to the start line.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,321 ✭✭✭earlyevening


    I'm wearing the Boards AC singlet with a pair of gloves for the first few miles to keep the hands warm.

    I only recognise one person in that photo. Will have to meet some more of you. Which pub are people going to?

    Good luck everyone! Have a great race.


  • Registered Users Posts: 171 ✭✭pudgeydev


    4 stars (good)
    Good luck all, might see some of you in McGrattans after!


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,441 ✭✭✭Slogger Jogger


    4 stars (good)
    Good luck all. Hope you get the race your training and dedication deserves.

    And thanks and best wishes to the pacers. May ye be like metronomes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,545 ✭✭✭tunguska


    4 stars (good)
    xebec wrote: »
    Spotted a few Boardsies at the expo yesterday and actually got them to stand still long enough for a photograph... Not going to name anyone though, you'll all have to come to the pub to find out who's who.

    5110576282_54a85f8774.jpg
    DSC_0001 by xebec running photos, on Flickr

    Best of luck to everyone, the hard work is done now it's just time to make the most of and try to enjoy the day.

    Andy what are you looking at? You seemed very pleased with yourself whatever it is..........


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,364 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    4 stars (good)
    Good luck kids. The hard part is done now, the fun part is nearly here. Enjoy it. Hope everyone meets their target.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,043 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    3 stars (average)
    Just been shopping and got some extra layers ready for tomorrow. Tshirt, hat, gloves, bin bag all ready to be discarded at some point along the way leaving me with just the BAC singlet and shorts by the finish.


  • Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 26,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭rainbow kirby


    robinph wrote: »
    Just been shopping and got some extra layers ready for tomorrow. Tshirt, hat, gloves, bin bag all ready to be discarded at some point along the way leaving me with just the BAC singlet and shorts by the finish.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,545 ✭✭✭tunguska


    4 stars (good)
    Was watching the combined rules last night and tg4 were using the theme from the final scene in last of the mohicans as their intro music. If you wanna get yourself psyched up for tomorrow check this out, great scene(not one word spoken at that)inspirational stuff.
    Best of luck to everybody.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiKM4fxY1U&feature=related


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