Dublin Marathon moves to lottery entries!

Burkie1203 · 30-10-2019 10:11am

Cona wrote: »

Why would a lotto remove time wasters? If anything it is going to add to it significantly.

Because if they get an entry and have to pay in 3 months time they will have already had a change of mind. If they buy one now and forget about it those numbers are lost to the system. I would guess a lot of the no-shows entered on a whim last November at €70 and had forgotten about it by xmas. I know 2 or 3 who did so and didn't even go for a refund in June/July.

Or else demand won't be as high as expected and everyone who enters gets a race number.

I think we need to let this play out before judging it.

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 10:21am

Burkie1203 wrote: »

The lottery is being used to remove the time wasters who sign up and by xmas have forgotten all about it and don't run a single KM training.

I expect the number of people who actually run next year to get close to 21000 as a result.

If numbers drop off or demand isn't as expected they will just go back to how it was previous

I have friends who entered the London for the crack and got in, several wouldn't run a bath but take great pleasure in saying they are in. The lottery will only encourage the 'wasters' as you put it. They have nothing to loose except 15 euro if they refuse a place.

chasingpaper · 30-10-2019 10:58am

TheW1zard wrote: »

Also if I run a 3.01 its considered bad for my age :rolleyes::rolleyes:

No not bad, just not "good" relative to serious runners. It can still be a good or great time for you personally.
But remember there are people running an hour faster than that. Women are running 40 mins plus faster. Irish winner was 2:12. Irish women's winner was 2:32.

3hrs is a lifetime away from these times to be fair. And there are hundreds of club runners who meet that standard. 3hrs was about 650th on men's side last weekend.
A 10 year old girl and 9 year old boy have run sub 3.
http://age-records.125mb.com/
70 year old men and 55 year old women have run under 2:55

Vinnie222 wrote: »

It's a National Championship they should be no qualifying times

The marathon is a national championship but it is mixed with lot of half serious runners, joggers, walkers, charity runners.
If you cannot meet the GFA standard you are not really running in the national championship, you are running against the mass entries and whatever entry system they use is appropriate for that level of runner.

It is different from national champs on track where there are no masses. People generally don't turn up and take 135% (3hrs/2:12), or typically way longer, to finish than the top end of the race. The fact that you would be alone on the track miles behind, or getting repeatedly lapped, is generally a deterrent, so qualifying system isn't required.

Imagine sticking a massive park run along with national 5k race on track, you could finish in 19 mins, get lapped 4 or 5 times, still be top of park runners though and feel good about yourself, but you are really in a different race. That is the marathon.

Damo 2k9 · 30-10-2019 11:05am

chasingpaper wrote: »

No not bad, just not "good" relative to serious runners. It can still be a good or great time for you personally.
But remember there are people running an hour faster than that. Women are running 40 mins plus faster. Irish winner was 2:12. Irish women's winner was 2:32.

3hrs is a lifetime away from these times to be fair. And there are hundreds of club runners who meet that standard. 3hrs was about 650th on men's side last weekend.
A 10 year old girl and 9 year old boy have run sub 3.
http://age-records.125mb.com/
70 year old men and 55 year old women have run under 2:55

So running 3:01 doesnt class you as a serious runner? Whats the magic number we have to hit before we can call ourselves serious runners?

tunney · 30-10-2019 11:06am

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

So running 3:01 doesnt class you as a serious runner? Whats the magic number we have to hit before we can call ourselves serious runners?

2:59

ooter · 30-10-2019 11:09am

has anyone got a link to the GFA times on the official site?

skyblue46 · 30-10-2019 11:15am

chasingpaper wrote: »

The marathon is a national championship but it is mixed with lot of half serious runners, joggers, walkers, charity runners.
If you cannot meet the GFA standard you are not really running in the national championship, you are running against the mass entries and whatever entry system they use is appropriate for that level of runner.

People who won medals in masters team events in the Nationals won them with times which didn't meet GFA requirements. I think they were "really running".

As Murph said most will probably get in through the public ballot anyway.

Tigerandahalf · 30-10-2019 11:15am

How much will it actually cost now to enter?
You pay €15 for the lottery. How much more do you pay if you are successful?

Thanks

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 11:17am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

How much will it actually cost now to enter?
You pay €15 for the lottery. How much more do you pay if you are successful?

Thanks

78.

skyblue46 · 30-10-2019 11:20am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

How much will it actually cost now to enter?
You pay €15 for the lottery. How much more do you pay if you are successful?

Thanks

Another 75 plus 3 admin...the same as the top tier last year. Tiered pricing is gone.

youngrun · 30-10-2019 11:21am

ooter wrote: »

has anyone got a link to the GFA times on the official site?

http://kbcdublinmarathon.ie/2020-entry-process/

At end of this

Seem fairly tough for the men..

Tigerandahalf · 30-10-2019 11:30am

So €93 for everyone. It looks like the money side was a factor. So for a lot of people who entered early they will now be paying an extra €20 or so?

For that price they really need to put in place a transfer system to give people a bit of value.

Damo 2k9 · 30-10-2019 11:38am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

So €93 for everyone. It looks like the money side was a factor. So for a lot of people who entered early they will now be paying an extra €20 or so?

For that price they really need to put in place a transfer system to give people a bit of value.

If they avail of a refund, they lose out on a percentage (cant remember figure), why not charge 15-20 euro for a transfer of a number then? I understand some marathons do it for free, but if its money they are 'worrying' about, then just charge for the facilities to transfer.

chris85 · 30-10-2019 11:40am

youngrun wrote: »

http://kbcdublinmarathon.ie/2020-entry-process/

At end of this

Seem fairly tough for the men..

The qualifying standard is tougher than Boston for men.

Tigerandahalf · 30-10-2019 11:42am

I can see people manipulating this system.
If they are providing a certain number of entrants for each age category you could enter as a 80 year old and probably be guaranteed an entry.

The Ring of Kerry Cycle has lost a lot of numbers and goodwill because they introduced a lottery system. 5 mates running the Dublin marathon could enter before and know straight away they had their entry. They could have been coming from abroad as a club. Now it is almost guaranteed that one of them wouldn't get an entry and so the 5 might not bother.

I would have thought allowing AAI members to enter first during the opening week and then allow others would be a better system. It would encourage people to take out club membership and all clubs around the country would benefit.

Waiting until Jan/February to find out you are successful will entice people to choose other options given that plans need to be put in place early.

Lots of other options out there anyway.

chasingpaper · 30-10-2019 11:44am

skyblue46 wrote: »

People who won medals in masters team events in the Nationals won them with times which didn't meet GFA requirements. I think they were "really running".

As Murph said most will probably get in through the public ballot anyway.

Of course the ones outside the GFA are really running, but they are not running in the same race as the individuals in their age group.
3:23 got a gold medal in M50, and 2:37 was first for the gold medal team. That is a massive difference, first one is 6 miles up the road, he is in a different race!
3:23 would was 94th in M50 category.

M35 medalists all 2:40 or under and senior men all under 2:43, most under 2:20.

I wasn't really aware of team prizes, so I do think each club should be given entries outside the GFA times. Every club should be allowed 3/4 runners to enter a team in each senior and masters grouping. Regardless of the times those runners are capable of.

manwithaplan · 30-10-2019 11:49am

Quick question. My wife has a GFA time (from 2018) but is not in a club. If she didn't get an entry in the first lottery, could she join a club and enter the April lottery? Would her GFA time from before her Athletics Ireland/club membership count?

skyblue46 · 30-10-2019 11:51am

chasingpaper wrote: »

I wasn't really aware of team prizes, so I do think each club should be given entries outside the GFA times. Every club should be allowed 3/4 runners to enter a team in each senior and masters grouping. Regardless of the times those runners are capable of.

That's a perfectly sensible idea.....so it won't see the light of day! :pac:

average_runner · 30-10-2019 11:55am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I can see people manipulating this system.
If they are providing a certain number of entrants for each age category you could enter as a 80 year old and probably be guaranteed an entry.

The Ring of Kerry Cycle has lost a lot of numbers and goodwill because they introduced a lottery system. 5 mates running the Dublin marathon could enter before and know straight away they had their entry. They could have been coming from abroad as a club. Now it is almost guaranteed that one of them wouldn't get an entry and so the 5 might not bother.

I would have thought allowing AAI members to enter first during the opening week and then allow others would be a better system. It would encourage people to take out club membership and all clubs around the country would benefit.

Waiting until Jan/February to find out you are successful will entice people to choose other options given that plans need to be put in place early.

Lots of other options out there anyway.

You will need to prove your age and your passport for collecting your number

skyblue46 · 30-10-2019 11:56am

manwithaplan wrote: »

Quick question. My wife has a GFA time (from 2018) but is not in a club. If she didn't get an entry in the first lottery, could she join a club and enter the April lottery? Would her GFA time from before her Athletics Ireland/club membership count?

I would think the time would count. The one thing I haven't yet seen officially is the qualifying period applicable to GFA. I'm not sure that a 2018 time would qualify.

average_runner · 30-10-2019 11:56am

skyblue46 wrote: »

That's a perfectly sensible idea.....so it won't see the light of day! :pac:

That will happen, as they have to reward the clubs for the volunteer service they provide.

KSU · 30-10-2019 11:56am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I can see people manipulating this system.
If they are providing a certain number of entrants for each age category you could enter as a 80 year old and probably be guaranteed an entry.

This wouldn't work as you need a valid AAI membership which will have you DOB.

It would be spotted through the medal/prize awards and would presumably be Dq'ed from this race and possibly other championships.

manwithaplan · 30-10-2019 11:59am

skyblue46 wrote: »

I would think the time would count. The one thing I haven't yet seen officially is the qualifying period applicable to GFA. I'm not sure that a 2018 time would qualify.

Actually she would have a qualifying time from 2019 in the Limerick marathon too. Had an injury and ran Dublin easy so was outside the qualifying standard this year. She has run the last 10 Dublin marathons.

robinph · 30-10-2019 12:10pm

youngrun wrote: »

http://kbcdublinmarathon.ie/2020-entry-process/

At end of this

Seem fairly tough for the men..

It's a copy and paste from the current London Marathon GFA times, although with an added 35-39 category.

Murph_D · 30-10-2019 12:11pm

chasingpaper wrote: »

Of course the ones outside the GFA are really running, but they are not running in the same race as the individuals in their age group.
3:23 got a gold medal in M50, and 2:37 was first for the gold medal team. That is a massive difference, first one is 6 miles up the road, he is in a different race!
3:23 would was 94th in M50 category.

M35 medalists all 2:40 or under and senior men all under 2:43, most under 2:20.

I wasn't really aware of team prizes, so I do think each club should be given entries outside the GFA times. Every club should be allowed 3/4 runners to enter a team in each senior and masters grouping. Regardless of the times those runners are capable of.

Don't forget the Dublin Marathon is also the Dublin and Leinster championships also, so those competitions can have medalists with considerably lower times. And all three championships also have individual age category and team competitions (including masters teams).

I was lucky enough two years ago to win a M50 team medal in all three of those competitions, plus an individual county medal. I was 56 and ran 3:22 (third scorer). If the new entry methods/GFAs had applied at the time I'd want to have got in via lottery. Say I didn't, our club team doesn't place at all and there's a completely different result. My time was ordinary enough, but not at all unusual historically for a third scorer. I can't understand how the powers that be could not get together and at least base the GFA times on historic results of all three competitions, rather than cut and paste London times (modified only for the M/F 35-39 category) that have been designed around a completely different purpose.

chasingpaper · 30-10-2019 12:25pm

Murph_D wrote: »

Don't forget the Dublin Marathon is also the Dublin and Leinster championships also, so those competitions can have medalists with considerably lower times. And all three championships also have individual age category and team competitions (including masters teams).

I was lucky enough two years ago to win a M50 team medal in all three of those competitions, plus an individual county medal. I was 56 and ran 3:22 (third scorer). If the new entry methods/GFAs had applied at the time I'd want to have got in via lottery. Say I didn't, our club team doesn't place at all and there's a completely different result. My time was ordinary enough, but not at all unusual historically for a third scorer. I can't understand how the powers that be could not get together and at least base the GFA times on historic results of all three competitions, rather than cut and paste London times (modified only for the M/F 35-39 category) that have been designed around a completely different purpose.

Agree 100%. Entry standards could be used for individuals/club members not entering as part of a club team, or if a club has used their up allocation.
If anything the competition between clubs needs to be encouraged, more rivalry and club pride would be good for the sport.

Does each club get a certain number of guaranteed entries, based on member size or volunteer numbers? Surely these are people that should be looked after first.

KSU · 30-10-2019 12:25pm

On the bright side for people. The tougher standards for GFA the less spots taken away from the lottery so less people disappointed from that side of things.

Standards being raised is not a bad thing it pushes people to improve and rise to that level.

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 12:32pm

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

If they avail of a refund, they lose out on a percentage (cant remember figure), why not charge 15-20 euro for a transfer of a number then? I understand some marathons do it for free, but if its money they are 'worrying' about, then just charge for the facilities to transfer.

The refund is 70 per cent.

Itziger · 30-10-2019 12:42pm

Lads, one minute now, there's a lot of codology goes on with these National Champs. To find the best runners in male and female, yes, that's their purpose but in all fairness to find the 3rd best club with over 55's, with all respect like.......... And I speak as a 54 year old plodder now.

Let it go. It's not the end of the flipping world if Athenry pips Ballina to the Over 50's bronze medal 'cos of the lottery system.

Not saying I like the lottery system mind. But the argument being 'waged' here about age categories and all..............

Murph_D · 30-10-2019 12:57pm

Itziger wrote: »

Lads, one minute now, there's a lot of codology goes on with these National Champs. To find the best runners in male and female, yes, that's their purpose but in all fairness to find the 3rd best club with over 55's, with all respect like.......... And I speak as a 54 year old plodder now.

Let it go. It's not the end of the flipping world if Athenry pips Ballina to the Over 50's bronze medal 'cos of the lottery system.

Not saying I like the lottery system mind. But the argument being 'waged' here about age categories and all..............

You have a point, but you're also missing one. Ballina might have ended up with no team at all. There are only two masters team categories, by the way, O35 and O50. The rest of the categories are for individuals.

dublin runner · 30-10-2019 1:07pm

Itziger wrote: »

Lads, one minute now, there's a lot of codology goes on with these National Champs. To find the best runners in male and female, yes, that's their purpose but in all fairness to find the 3rd best club with over 55's, with all respect like.......... And I speak as a 54 year old plodder now.

Let it go. It's not the end of the flipping world if Athenry pips Ballina to the Over 50's bronze medal 'cos of the lottery system.

Not saying I like the lottery system mind. But the argument being 'waged' here about age categories and all..............

So a National Medal isn't important? When do medals become important so?

I think many people in those age categories would strongly disagree.

Itziger · 30-10-2019 1:39pm

dublin runner wrote: »

So a National Medal isn't important? When do medals become important so?

I think many people in those age categories would strongly disagree.

I know they'd strongly disagree and they have a right to an opinion. I'm just a bit old school in my way of thinking.

National Champs are National Champs. Find the top 3 male and female runners at any given time/year in the country. Some of this AC stuff just seems to have gone too far.

I know a guy who wears a rainbow jersey out cycling 'cos he came first in the O55 Long Form Duathlon World Champs. There were about 6 participating. A colleague tells me about his sister who does Ironman events at a WORLD level. She often podiums. It helps that there are sometimes fewer than 4 in the AC!!

I like to see the Scullions of this world compete and when it's my time to run I do my best too but I don't think we can be drawing too many comparisons.

Burkie1203 · 30-10-2019 1:50pm

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I have friends who entered the London for the crack and got in, several wouldn't run a bath but take great pleasure in saying they are in. The lottery will only encourage the 'wasters' as you put it. They have nothing to loose except 15 euro if they refuse a place.

If 22500 entries are sold by Nov 30th, at least 4500 of those wont be used and of that how many will actually go for a refund because they were forgotten about by xmas?

How many returned entries went on sale in July 2019 with the extra 2500 entries?

DCM need to release those numbers of returns this year as I can't find them anywhere. Was it officially released

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 1:55pm

Burkie1203 wrote: »

If 22500 entries are sold by Nov 30th, at least 4500 of those wont be used and of that how many will actually go for a refund because they were forgotten about by xmas?

How many returned entries went on sale in July 2019 with the extra 2500 entries?

DCM need to release those numbers of returns this year as I can't find them anywhere. Was it officially released

I've searched too the figures weren't released. If Dublin was really concerned about fairness they would allow a deferral or name change option. It's quite apparent to me since someone like KBC is on board it is now corporate and money takes centre stage.
I know like others I won't be missed but I won't be running Dublin again.

chris85 · 30-10-2019 2:09pm

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I've searched too the figures weren't released. If Dublin was really concerned about fairness they would allow a deferral or name change option. It's quite apparent to me since someone like KBC is on board it is now corporate and money takes centre stage.
I know like others I won't be missed but I won't be running Dublin again.

One observation is that they pushed so much the people who have done all 40 previous Dublin Marathons and now from this year the chance of getting multiple in a row will be diminished and the clubs/groups which come out in force for this event every year will be much lower. The event was great and was a real event with the whole city coming out to support. The crowds were incredible this year. I fear doing this it will lose the support of the running group and supporters in the city and dilute the "friendly" marathon tag which it has been given.

I don't like chance. I said to myself last night I dont like it and wont probably enter the lottery. However I think now I probably will anyway but I will target another race as my main marathon for 2020. Pity as Dublin for me was always a nice way to round out my running year. After this I usually take few weeks off and see what the goal is for the following year.

PhilOssophy · 30-10-2019 2:47pm

chris85 wrote: »

One observation is that they pushed so much the people who have done all 40 previous Dublin Marathons and now from this year the chance of getting multiple in a row will be diminished and the clubs/groups which come out in force for this event every year will be much lower. The event was great and was a real event with the whole city coming out to support. The crowds were incredible this year. I fear doing this it will lose the support of the running group and supporters in the city and dilute the "friendly" marathon tag which it has been given.

I don't like chance. I said to myself last night I dont like it and wont probably enter the lottery. However I think now I probably will anyway but I will target another race as my main marathon for 2020. Pity as Dublin for me was always a nice way to round out my running year. After this I usually take few weeks off and see what the goal is for the following year.

Supporters won't care or know about the lottery, people come out to cheer on those running.

For me the big thing is the influx of time wasters into the lottery, nothing like saying "Oh I came out in the lottery", for me if you come out of the lottery you should be paying the whole amount straight away to ward off these time wasters and getting only people who are genuinely looking to run.

corcaigh07 · 30-10-2019 2:59pm

If someone refuses an entry from the lottery, does that 15 euro just “disappear”?

Cona · 30-10-2019 3:09pm

Should be like New York (and assume others lottery majors) that you need to give credit card details to enter the lottery. Then if your picked, the money is taken ASAP, kind of like a contract once you enter the lotto. Unfortunately, that goes against the actual reason for the Lottery in the first place, which is to get as many people as possible showing interest so that they can drum up artificial numbers to show to Council/Gardai in order to grow the event to 30,000 entrants.

It may well depend on how this actually plays out but they could be running a very fine line here. If they disappoint enough club/serious runners and Dublin ends up becoming a circus show, other club members could begin taking their business elsewhere. I highly doubt that this would be the case, but who knows...

solidasarock · 30-10-2019 3:11pm

I was just talking about great past decisions by the DCM management.

Was the year of the disastrous Donabate half marathon the same year they rented out half the marathon expo one year to Scientology?

adrian522 · 30-10-2019 3:17pm

Cona wrote: »

Should be like New York (and assume others lottery majors) that you need to give credit card details to enter the lottery. Then if your picked, the money is taken ASAP, kind of like a contract once you enter the lotto. Unfortunately, that goes against the actual reason for the Lottery in the first place, which is to get as many people as possible showing interest so that they can drum up artificial numbers to show to Council/Gardai in order to grow the event to 30,000 entrants.

It may well depend on how this actually plays out but they could be running a very fine line here. If they disappoint enough club/serious runners and Dublin ends up becoming a circus show, other club members could begin taking their business elsewhere. I highly doubt that this would be the case, but who knows...

Not only that but they rely a lot on club runners to volunteer around the course on the day which is part of what makes it such a great race, I'm not sure club runners will be as eager to volunteer in future either.

ligerdub · 30-10-2019 3:19pm

solidasarock wrote: »

I was just talking about great past decisions by the DCM management.

Was the year of the disastrous Donabate half marathon the same year they rented out half the marathon expo one year to Scientology?

Yes. 2017.

BeepBeep67 · 30-10-2019 3:26pm

Itziger wrote: »

I know they'd strongly disagree and they have a right to an opinion. I'm just a bit old school in my way of thinking.

National Champs are National Champs. Find the top 3 male and female runners at any given time/year in the country. Some of this AC stuff just seems to have gone too far.

I know a guy who wears a rainbow jersey out cycling 'cos he came first in the O55 Long Form Duathlon World Champs. There were about 6 participating. A colleague tells me about his sister who does Ironman events at a WORLD level. She often podiums. It helps that there are sometimes fewer than 4 in the AC!!

I like to see the Scullions of this world compete and when it's my time to run I do my best too but I don't think we can be drawing too many comparisons.

A quick glance shows there were 154 F35 teams and 118 F50 teams, so it's not a show up and get a medal sceanario.

Singer · 30-10-2019 3:31pm

solidasarock wrote: »

Was the year of the disastrous Donabate half marathon the same year they rented out half the marathon expo one year to Scientology?

"half the marathon expo":

https://twitter.com/aidancurran17/status/924284124688502784

Singer · 30-10-2019 3:34pm

corcaigh07 wrote: »

If someone refuses an entry from the lottery, does that 15 euro just “disappear”?

No.

http://kbcdublinmarathon.ie/2020-entry-process/

What happens to the 30% of my fee that I do not get back if I seek a refund?

30% of your fee is to cover the administration cost of processing.

PhilOssophy · 30-10-2019 3:38pm

corcaigh07 wrote: »

If someone refuses an entry from the lottery, does that 15 euro just “disappear”?

I sure hope so and think more than that should disappear.

Slow_Runner · 30-10-2019 3:53pm

Don't see much of an issue with lottery system itself if it is over subscribed, based on current numbers there is a high chance of getting in unlike London and it is the fairest system imo. I would charge full amount for successful applicants tough instead of €15 to stop duplicate entries.
Wrt the national championship however this really needs to be looked at, an AI race needs to be open to all club members to enter, if not then there would have to be strict eligibility criteria (ie you need to specifically enter the championship for your results to count) which is not practical nor fair to clubs around the country.
With the system for next year could a club make a complaint against AI if they don't medal because one of their runners did not get in via the lottery but would have a time better than a runner who scored for another team? -(possible based on historical times of scoring teams)

adrian522 · 30-10-2019 4:12pm

Slow_Runner wrote: »

Don't see much of an issue with lottery system itself if it is over subscribed, based on current numbers there is a high chance of getting in unlike London and it is the fairest system imo. I would charge full amount for successful applicants tough instead of €15 to stop duplicate entries.
Wrt the national championship however this really needs to be looked at, an AI race needs to be open to all club members to enter, if not then there would have to be strict eligibility criteria (ie you need to specifically enter the championship for your results to count) which is not practical nor fair to clubs around the country.
With the system for next year could a club make a complaint against AI if they don't medal because one of their runners did not get in via the lottery but would have a time better than a runner who scored for another team? -(possible based on historical times of scoring teams)

Agree with this, they should probably run the championships at a different race rather than linking up with the Dublin marathon if people can't get an entry.

nannerby · 30-10-2019 4:16pm

Yes putting it in another race would be the best the DCM will still sell out and another marathon will benefit from hosting the National Champs.

RacoonQueen · 30-10-2019 4:19pm

PhilOssophy wrote: »

Supporters won't care or know about the lottery, people come out to cheer on those running.

For me the big thing is the influx of time wasters into the lottery, nothing like saying "Oh I came out in the lottery", for me if you come out of the lottery you should be paying the whole amount straight away to ward off these time wasters and getting only people who are genuinely looking to run.

Time wasters :rolleyes: I don't know if I will want to run the marathon next year, it's a long way away, so I'd consider going for an entry and then decide next summer based on what else is going on or what my goals are whether I was going to run. Most people wouldn't be setting major goals a year in advance. I could have gone out and run on Sunday but I didn't see the point plodding around, that's just me, so my entry wasn't used.

Where are people getting this rubbish that people who don't use their entry are the reason this happened, all races bank on no shows. If 20,000 people had collected numbers and turned up on Sunday the organisers would have been under a serious amount of pressure.

HelenAnne · 30-10-2019 4:19pm

I know it’s really annoying when someone comes onto a thread and says ‘I don’t have time to get into this’ or ‘I haven’t read it all …’ but I’m sort of doing that now (sorry!)

I haven’t read the fine detail of the lottery system; from the quick overview I’ve read, I’d be inclined to agree with the people who say maybe the first step should have been to get a better entry platform / website before deciding ‘first come / first served’ wouldn’t work anymore, and I would agree with a lot of the concerns people are raising about club championships etc. I also know that it’s only a few days since people ran the marathon, and that they may be on a high which has now been marred by the lottery announcement and that’s where all their anger is coming from …

However, I’d just like to say (& I’m not pointing the finger at anyone in particular, nor am I saying that people can’t express their opinions on a public forum) that SOME (not all) of the posts on both this thread and the ‘doper’ thread have been unnecessarily vitriolic, unnecessarily personal and have imputed motives of greed and corruption to a group of people (the Dublin Marathon Committee and organising team) who have never shown themselves to be anything other than runner-focused and inclusive.

It’s no mean feat to try to organise a marathon that is at once friendly and inclusive to all abilities AND aims to bring up the standard of Irish running. But that’s what the Dublin team try to do. I’m not saying they always get things right (who does?) but I do think that they take feedback onboard and answer questions and criticisms in a straightforward way.

Of course posters are entitled to their opinion about the marathon, the organisers, changes to the entry system, the elite start list – whatever. But I’d suggest people wait until the full detail of the club / AAI entry system is released before panicking, and I also think we should give the Marathon team the benefit of the doubt and not immediately jump to the conclusion that there’s corruption or money grabbing at work (& I know I’m conflating two threads here, a lot of the personal comments were over on the other thread).

I don’t at all want to try to shut down discussion, I just wanted to give my 2 cents worth and my appreciation of what the Dublin marathon has done for mass participation running AND for standards in marathon running.

As you were :-)

Dublin Marathon moves to lottery entries!

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