Plassey 10k (Limerick) - Short Course?

--amadeus--

Hiya,

I ran the Plassey 10k around UL this morning and I'm delighted with my time. Trouble is that my Garmin is only showing up 5.81 miles, leaving the course about 650m short.

My Garmin has mis-measured before and has gone on the blink in that area before but it's reading coupled with a much faster time than expected for me leaves me a bit suspicious. Anyone else run it? Anyone else think it was short?

redved

ran it yesterday also, three people I know had GPS devices with them, all showed the course to be short.
Unless there was some mass satellite blackout over Limerick on Saturday morning:)

Amazotheamazing

Had my GPS with me and it measured 5.81 miles too, odd that we got the same distance though, would have thought twists and turns in the road would have thrown my measurement out a small bit.

ballinasloe

I thought the same thing...

I didn't have any GPS device with me but I was measuring my times every kilometre and I was averaging just over 5 mins, but I managed the last km in about 3.5 which surprised me even taking into account the sprint to the finish, I'm not that fast.

--amadeus--

I've e-mailed the organisers about this so if I get an answer I'll post it up here.

Looks like it was short and I'm not as fast as I'd hoped!

Amazotheamazing

Cheers, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a little short, but all in all, it was still an enjoyable run.

Pity about the bottleneck by the river, still I guess the organisers couldn't have been sure how the course would work until it was run on the day.

--amadeus--

I think that section by the river is used for a tri as well. I was lucky and got through early and didn't get caught there but it was quite narrow going through that gate. I thought the start was a bit manic - turning the field around left a lot of people who wanted to be at the back quite far up the front and it was a bit of a mad stampede down that hill. Good fun though!

I would agree that it was a good run overall, well marshaled, plenty of water and they cured my gripes about last years route (in particular coming back over the bridge where you had to cross in front of other runners).

Just a shame that I can't count my time as a PB - 37:52, that would have made my year!

topper75

God love the students who organise it but in fairness it is not a real race. It is almost always short. I gave up on it altogether. Shame cos there are very few road races in the immediate Limerick area.

If you want a real 10k, make sure the race is sanctioned by a proper body (eg AAI permit) and that it is measured by Jones counter. If they cannot claim this - chances are it is a joke.

The Adare 10k is accurate. Upcoming ones to consider are Quilty 4m at 2.00 on Sunday 6th April, or Kilnaboy 10m the following Sunday in the Burren.

Amazotheamazing

Afaik, this year it was run as part as a student project, so maybe they are starting to take it more seriously, I'd be disappointed if the same problems occured next year but would file them under "teething problems" that any run with a new course etc might have.

--amadeus--

There was a project on music and how it affects you when running. I knew that the students had an involvement but I thought it was principally organised under the aegis of the University Arena. Certainly the two main contacts listed on the website have "proper" UL e-mail addresses, rather than the numeric ones issued to students.

I agree to an extent about teething troubles and with all of teh building work going on it can't have been easy nailing down a route. Being a bit short or long I could live with - it's not like it's the Olympics. But short by over 600m is fairly poor.

I agree with Topper as well - a city that is as sporting as Limerick and that has so many runners (judging by the people I see out and about) could probably support far more road races than it has.

hunnymonster

does Limerick have a BHAA set of events? I only know them in Dublin and Cork but they are a great set of events.

topper75

No BHAA in Limerick I'm afraid. I suppose all those active in athletics are generally attached to the few local clubs in the city/county so there are no personel outside of this club setup who would operate a BHAA series.

--amadeus--

Results now up on the official website

In keeping with the chaos though I wouldn't put a lot of faith in them - they only list the top 50 with a 50th place time of 39:47. Even though I self timed at 37:52 I'm not listed (maybe I don't exist? Or I didn't finish but just thought I did?)

On another grumbly note... I saw (and passed) a lot of people who were jogging at no great speed as I ran around. Is it just me being cynical or did people who started out with the walkers jog round? And how did they tell runners apart from those who started 30 mins ahead of us?

I enjoyed the run on the day but I'm starting to agree with Topper that it shouldn't be considered a "race" as such.