WAR - Wicklow Adventure Race April 2010

Causeway

ChairmanMeow wrote: »

Cool, I'll have to have a think about that so, not sure I am mad on the thought of changing in and out of shoes but I do like the clippy ones.

As another complete noob quiestion, do people lock their bikes inbetween stages? or are there people minding the bikes in the transition area?

Cheers!

Most events of this type have marshals at these points who will keep an eye on your bike, can't imagine that WAR will be any different. Never seen anyone lock their bike yet.

L.Whack

Looking forward to the race but having to get a pair of trail shoes specifically for the day is a pain. Can anyone recommend a good, resonably priced pair of trail shoes and where one might get them?

Lifes An Ocean!

Hey Guys,

Myself and a college mate are taking part in the Sport option of WAR this year. We are doing it to raise money to buy an AED (defibrillator) for our college in Sligo. We attend S.C.F.E, Ballinode, Sligo and are Massage and Sports Therapy students.

Some of our classmates will be at the race and will be offering pre/post WAR massage at the start/finish(details of where and when have yet to be finalised, but we have the go ahead from organisers), obviously it will mostly peoples legs after the race.
They will be offering the massage in return for a donation towards the purchase of the defibrillator.

It is a great way to warm up your muscles before such a big event and also helps prevent injury, and stiffness after the race and it does make you feel a whole lot better particularly after being on the go for so long. (It's also for a good cause!)

If anybody is interested in this you can PM me or check out our facebook page and add us as a friend to keep upto date. Our contact details can be found there.

Also if anybody has any tips on training feel free to share them! We're newbies to this sort of thing, but hopefully it'll be something we'll continue to do in the future(provided we survive this one!!)

If anybody would like to sponsor us money, or equipment for the race please get in contact. Every cent counts!

If you've any questions don't hesitate to ask them

Cheers,

Ciara (one half of anitaciarasbigadventure!)

guapos

Poncherello wrote: »

I would agree with some sort of run at the end.
I felt GaelForce was a bit of an anticlimax with a descent on the bike in to the finish.

+1 to that. 30 km downhill cycle at the end will be a strange finish, not looking forward to all those road bikes flying by me. Still looking forward to it though, the 3km of downhill on spink will be fun.

Git101

guapos wrote: »

+1 to that. 30 km downhill cycle at the end will be a strange finish, not looking forward to all those road bikes flying by me. Still looking forward to it though, the 3km of downhill on spink will be fun.

Erhh! Why don't you use a road bike. Maybe you can fly past a few people yourself

guapos

Git101 wrote: »

Erhh! Why don't you use a road bike. Maybe you can fly past a few people yourself

Dont think i'm worth a new bike this year so my crappy mountain bike will have to do Next year i might splash out on something better than a penny farthing

Irishrm

Hi folks,

Not sure if anyone here is from the Cork city area but does anyone know what hills around Cork would be classed as a CAT 1 climb? Please don't say Patricks hill.

cheers,

GoHardOrGoHome

Lifes An Ocean! wrote: »

Some of our classmates will be at the race and will be offering pre/post WAR massage at the start/finish(details of where and when have yet to be finalised, but we have the go ahead from organisers), obviously it will mostly peoples legs after the race.
They will be offering the massage in return for a donation towards the purchase of the defibrillator.

It is a great way to warm up your muscles before such a big event and also helps prevent injury, and stiffness after the race and it does make you feel a whole lot better particularly after being on the go for so long. (It's also for a good cause!)

Cheers,

Ciara (one half of anitaciarasbigadventure!)

Excellent! Sign me up for 20 euro. I'll have a look around your facebook page tomorrow.

Lifes An Ocean!

GoHardOrGoHome wrote: »

Excellent! Sign me up for 20 euro. I'll have a look around your facebook page tomorrow.

Good stuff!
Spread the word.
We'll be down at the registration on the friday giving out info about it.
Once all the details are finalised I'll post them up here.
The Post massage will obviously be a first come first served, we'll have to see about the pre, due to the different waves. But the warm up wont take long so there should be a quick turn over of people.

blind_hurler

Lifes An Ocean! wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Myself and a college mate are taking part in the Sport option of WAR this year. We are doing it to raise money to buy an AED (defibrillator) for our college in Sligo. We attend S.C.F.E, Ballinode, Sligo and are Massage and Sports Therapy students.

Some of our classmates will be at the race and will be offering pre/post WAR massage at the start/finish(details of where and when have yet to be finalised, but we have the go ahead from organisers), obviously it will mostly peoples legs after the race.
They will be offering the massage in return for a donation towards the purchase of the defibrillator.

It is a great way to warm up your muscles before such a big event and also helps prevent injury, and stiffness after the race and it does make you feel a whole lot better particularly after being on the go for so long. (It's also for a good cause!)

If anybody is interested in this you can PM me or check out our facebook page and add us as a friend to keep upto date. Our contact details can be found there.

Also if anybody has any tips on training feel free to share them! We're newbies to this sort of thing, but hopefully it'll be something we'll continue to do in the future(provided we survive this one!!)

If anybody would like to sponsor us money, or equipment for the race please get in contact. Every cent counts!

If you've any questions don't hesitate to ask them

Cheers,

Ciara (one half of anitaciarasbigadventure!)

Sounds like a great idea...

I'll drop by for one as well

boxty

lads,

does anyone have a breakdown of the various stages of WAR (the distance in km for each section) - I can't seem to find them on the webiste.

Thanks

MadHatter

boxty wrote: »

lads,

does anyone have a breakdown of the various stages of WAR (the distance in km for each section) - I can't seem to find them on the webiste.

Thanks

In the FAQ section of the website
http://glendalough.wicklowadventurerace.com/index.php/faq/

WAR
Running/Walking: 18km Approx
Cycling: 53km Approx
Kayaking: 2km Approx

WAR Sport
Running/Walking: 9km Approx
Cycling: 31km Approx
Kayaking: 2km Approx

boxty

Hi,

Thanks for that info but I saw it already - I'm looking for a more specific breakdown of the race i.e what happens after we start? do we run a few km, or cycle or is it straigh into the kayaks.

In other similar events, there was a short run, the kayaking, more running, then the bike.

Does anyone know the sequnece of each stage? I have the map but its not very clear. A while back I thought the website mentioned that the race was split into about 6 stages but I can't find a reference to that now. I'm aware that there is some info on mapmyride but i can't access that site.

Its the full WAR which I am inquiring about.

Thanks.

nailer76

Hi Boxty

Spinc run first
Cycle to lough Dan
Kayak stage
Cycle to lough tay
Run
Finial cycle stage to finish

GoHardOrGoHome

boxty wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for that info but I saw it already - I'm looking for a more specific breakdown of the race i.e what happens after we start? do we run a few km, or cycle or is it straigh into the kayaks.

In other similar events, there was a short run, the kayaking, more running, then the bike.

Does anyone know the sequnece of each stage? I have the map but its not very clear. A while back I thought the website mentioned that the race was split into about 6 stages but I can't find a reference to that now. I'm aware that there is some info on mapmyride but i can't access that site.

Its the full WAR which I am inquiring about.

Thanks.

Hey Boxty here's my estimates of what's involved but it might not be 100% accurate.

Stage 1: Spinc Run. Approx 8.5k
Stage 2: Cycle from Glendalough to Lough Dan. Approx 16k
Stage 3: Kayak Lough Dan. 2k
Stage 4: Cycle from Lough Dan to Lough Tay viewing point (nasty cycle! Approx 12k?
Stage 5: Djouce Run. Approx 9k
Stage 6: Cycle from Lough Tay viewing point over Sally Gap and back to Glendalough. Approx 25k

The first cycle is grand. The second cycle is tough (that's the one with the mad climb in it). The third cycle starts off pretty tough but then it's plain sailing all the way back to Glendalough. I think! I haven't done the 3rd cycle.

If I get more accurate information either from clocking it myself or hearing from others I'll post up here.

It's getting close now!

MadHatter

boxty wrote: »

Thanks for that info but I saw it already - I'm looking for a more specific breakdown of the race i.e what happens after we start? do we run a few km, or cycle or is it straigh into the kayaks.

Apologies, only glanced at your original post, didn't realise you wanted the breakdown. This page has the 6 stages, click on the links to get distances for each, but GoHard has it pretty much covered up there ^^^
http://glendalough.wicklowadventurerace.com/index.php/course/war-course/

Just a note on the 3rd cycling leg, this post in cycling forum indicates the road is in a very dangerous condition on the decent from the waterfall when heading back to Laragh. I'd expect the organisers to highlight this if it hasn't been fixed in the meantime, but anyone checking out the route before then should be cautious.

themoney

I went up to have a look at the run on Sunday morning, it's nuts....:eek: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHxMxM0LX40&NR=1 This is a random clip I found on youtube and shows the trail in some detail.

Does anybody have any suggestion or tips on how to undertake a run like this? I am signed up for the WAR SPORT and my training is going well but the Spinc trail is a lot more extreme then I was expecting.

GoHardOrGoHome

themoney wrote: »

Does anybody have any suggestion or tips on how to undertake a run like this? I am signed up for the WAR SPORT and my training is going well but the Spinc trail is a lot more extreme then I was expecting.

Walk. Seriously. The climb to the boardwalk steps and the steps themselves are too steep to tackle with any aggression in my opinion. Walk to the top of the steps (probably 25 minutes-ish) and then you won't have wrecked your legs for the undulating route to the far end of the lake and back around through the miner's village. I find that if you've thrashed yourself getting up the steps quickly then you don't have the energy to run along the flat parts and you end up walking this as well. You'll pass by a load of people who started the race too enthusiastically.

interested

"Stage 6: Cycle from Lough Tay viewing point over Sally Gap and back to Glendalough. Approx 25k"

Something of note about the descent on that section based on the harsh weather. There a sections of road on the descent of the glenmacnass waterfall that are gone - they were hard packed dirt and small stone but with the dry weather recently and increased road traffic its a little loose. They are fine when ascending on a road bike but the descent on that side can push speeds well in excess of 50km/h so ....

Id imagine the race organiser will inform everyone of possible road condition problems on this section and others closer to the race.

Safe racing lads and lassies.

sfhawke7w

hi guys

my college mate ciara has already posted details regarding pre/post event massage, please support as we are raising money to purchase a defibrillator for our college, Sligo College of Further Education.

anyway Ciara would be quite fit and young!! well younger than me!!! my fitness level isnt good and have started back training but not going well, went for a run/walk yesterday and my two feet were like blocks of cement by the time i got back to my car, took me 40mins to do it and i would say poss 3-4k (help) anyway had a look at the video link mentioned, so quick question am i better just walking as much hills as possible and forget about actual running, i am carrying a good bit of weight too!!

any suggestions welcome!!! (or even maybe the offer of a strait jacket)

Anita

check us out on facebook!!! pm if you want more details!!

Poncherello

Hey,

Where do you park to do the spink run. Is it the Glendalough Upper lake car park ? Is the route easy to find ? Signposted ?

GoHardOrGoHome

Poncherello wrote: »

Hey,

Where do you park to do the spink run. Is it the Glendalough Upper lake car park ? Is the route easy to find ? Signposted ?

Yep, it's the upper lake car park. There's a very clear notice board which shows you about 4 potential tracks. I think the Spinc one is white. It is marked and once you reach the steps it's very hard to go the wrong way. You just follow the sleepers and keep the lake on your right hand side.

Poncherello

Thanks and how would one find the Upper lake Car Park sorry for the dumb questions !

Oryx

Lads, help. Signed up for this way back in November and I had hoped to have cracked the cycling nut by now. With the weather tho, I havent, and my cycling is pants. Been training on a turbo instead of getting out, so the legs are building strength (not much but still). Running is fine, overall stamina is good, but actually getting on a bike and staying on it is what Im concerned about. So I have two questions.

Should I actually go ahead and do this thing or am I risking life and limb? Dont know the route, but it sounds nasty.

Would I be totally off the pace, if I toodle around relatively slowly on my bike, cos I doubt Ill be able to hit it hard. Not so worried about the legs giving out completely, but I may have to be cautious cos Im inept.

Just wondering if I should knock it on the head or go for it and see. I dont mind being last, but I do mind being picked up by the sweeper squad after dark.... Advice would be welcome.

Poncherello

Stick 'Chopper Reid HTFU ' into Youtube !

U'll be grand

Oryx

Poncherello wrote: »

Stick 'Chopper Reid HTFU ' into Youtube !

U'll be grand

Ill see ya on the day then... Youll be the one going around telling the weeping beginners to Haaaden the Fcuk aaaap.

Lifes An Ocean!

Some posters I've put together for WAR.

blind_hurler

Lifes An Ocean! wrote: »

Some posters I've put together for WAR.

Great Posters... Well done and best of luck on the day....

Peterx

A few of us did the first run and all the cycling yesterday, WAR looks to be a very well balanced race between running and biking, as per usual kayakers get a raw deal but dat's life I suppose.

The split seems to be roughly 50-50 between running and biking ignoring the 2k kayaking time and the two runs feature descending that is in the main (there is one 5 minute rocky section of path on first run) technically easier then the descending in either Gael Gorce or the Achill ROAR giving non hillrunners a better chance for a change.

The biking is pretty steep in places and the Wickow road surface was slippy yesterday. The section around Glenmacnass waterfall has 3 or 4 gravel sections with only the last one really requiring any care.

Decisions decisions;

*with 3 bike run transitions do you change to bike shoes or just wear trail shoes all day
*Heavy puncture proof tyres or fast+light tyres
*Carry water on your back or hope that 2 bike bottles will get you through the day
*go hard at the start and get in with a good cycling bunch or go steady all day and hope the hard starters come back

Plenty of bike training for me for the next month:)

briano

Peterx wrote: »

*with 3 bike run transitions do you change to bike shoes or just wear trail shoes all day
*Heavy puncture proof tyres or fast+light tyres
*Carry water on your back or hope that 2 bike bottles will get you through the day
*go hard at the start and get in with a good cycling bunch or go steady all day and hope the hard starters come back

Not that I'd know anything (complete newbie when it comes to adventure racing) but I was considering the following:

1) Go with bike shoes, specifically my SPDs, which are good for off-the-bike parts between transitions.

2) Gatorskins 23s, but spare tube and C02 + mini pump just in case. I don't find them that heavy to be honest and I'd prefer to have them then any imaginary performance gain I'd get from different tyres

3) Don't you have to have water with you all the time? I thought it was on the list of things to carry (first aid kit, waterproofs, etc)

4) Hahahaha. I'm going for the tactics of "Try not to die at any point"

MushGSXR

Planning on doing the cycle routes on Sat week myself, I'll be able to give the point of view of the "beginner". I know for a fact ill be pushing the bike up the bad gradients.

Think the tactic for me will be save as much energy by walking/powering up the ascents on the run and cycles and then hammering as hard as I can on the way down.

Screwed up my time in GF last year going out too hard in the run and i was playing catch up all day.

I will sticking with my trail runners and bike bottles for the day. Anything else required will be stuffed in my cycle jersey. If conditions are bad ill bring my camelbak i reckon.

Good post Peterx. The more route info we see the better.

kitesurfingbum

I see the guy's are having a training day tomorrow. for more details follow the link below

http://glendalough.wicklowadventurerace.com/index.php/training/

see you there, not looking forward to the Cat 1 bike section!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dario28

I really want to enter - if anyone hears of them opening up the entry again for cancellations please let me know

sfhawke7w

hi guys

so 3 weeks to go and i am not doing good at all, have no training done this week at all as have a chest infection and cold.

but anyway will be getting stuck in soon.

couple of questions - am doing the War Sport

with regard to the run - i will prob walk a lot of it and on downhill parts will run a bit,

as for the cycle i will prob be walking up and rolling down hopefully i wont be the only one!!!

will be happy if i finish it.

couple of fellow college mates are travelling down and providing pre/post race massage so please keep an eye out for us!!

MushGSXR

Cycled the complete route of WAR yesterday folks. Hoping this will be a help to beginners and intermediates (I think i fall in the middle here but i am out in the beginner wave).

Spectacular is the word i'll use to describe it, I had never been up around Wicklow before so I am really looking forward to the race now.

First cycle to Lough Dan is 15K. Drags a lot of the way but pretty ok, then you turn left on to a short sharp climb. Once at the top of that you descend to Lough Dan. This is very quick and i'd recommend being careful here as (I think) traffic will be both directions here on the day.

Next cycle 8k, after Kayak. You climb back up that sharp hill, tough. Then you have about 4 k flat and handy.you get to a crossroads and then the fun starts. Id recommend having fuel on board at this stage. Basically the CAT1 climb starts. It is doable however. I had to jump off the bike for about 50m, but I was delighted with that.

Once you do the 10k run at that point you are on the final leg. I thought it would be handy from here but there was a wind howling up Sally Gap! I never had to push a gear downhill before. Once you crest Sally Gap there still is a bit of a drag to the cross where you turn back for Laragh. It caught me out to be honest.

From there on its pretty fast. Once you get to Glenmacnass however, throw out the anchors. The weather has wrecked about 1k of road on the descent from the waterfall. I met 2 guys there who werent aware of it and they both punctured. Once you have speed scrubbed out you can roll through it fine. It's not a big deal at all. Only about 8k into Glendalough then and its very quick. Dont know if any roads will be closed so due care will be required at the major crossroads.

One thing i havent figured out yet is gear. At times yesterday I was sweating like f**k, then on some of the descents absolutely frozen.

Thats all I got. For me, I will be taking it very handy on the first run, the first cycle and the kayak. It will be tough from there on in. If you push from the start you will be leaving yourself open to serious pain!

Oryx

I sat in a kayak for the first time last night. Turns out that the bit of WAR I thought would be handy, is not. Kayaking is hard! Hope the sit on kayaks are easier to steer than the one I was in, and that whoever I share with can paddle. I dont recommend that anyone wait till the day to try out a kayak for the first time....

GoHardOrGoHome

Oryx wrote: »

I sat in a kayak for the first time last night. Turns out that the bit of WAR I thought would be handy, is not. Kayaking is hard! Hope the sit on kayaks are easier to steer than the one I was in, and that whoever I share with can paddle. I dont recommend that anyone wait till the day to try out a kayak for the first time....

Cue lots of panicked WARriors!

Don't panic people. Kayaking a sit-on-top kayak is easy in the extreme. In fact it's so simple it's dull. They're very stable, there's two of you in the boat and you'll be doing a simple triangle shape on Lough Dan. Paddle in a straight line, turn a bit, paddle in a straight line, turn a bit, paddle in a straight line and you're finished!

Ask anyone who did the WAR training day. Many of them were worried about the kayaking part but came away relieved.

In a "normal" white water kayak which you sit into (as opposed to on-top) and has a spray deck they can feel quite tippy for the first few days. They are built to be very manoeuvrable so that you can navigate your way down a river in white water but they're not built for speed in a straight line. Oryx, you were probably in one of those kayaks were you?

If people do want to try kayaking before WAR give Kipper Maguire/Brian Keogh a shout. http://totalexperience.ie/total-experience-contact-us.php They might be able to sort you out.

Oryx

Yeah it was a very short sit in one, steering was hard. Im not saying it was impossible, just not the relaxing paddle I thought it would be. Relieved to think the two man sit ons are easier.

GoHardOrGoHome

Oryx wrote: »

Yeah it was a very short sit in one, steering was hard. Im not saying it was impossible, just not the relaxing paddle I thought it would be. Relieved to think the two man sit ons are easier.

Yes, they're definitely easier. It's a very short section of the race but what's this about a "relaxing paddle". It's a race goddamnit! No relaxing allowed!

Oryx

GoHardOrGoHome wrote: »

Yes, they're definitely easier. It's a very short section of the race but what's this about a "relaxing paddle". It's a race goddamnit! No relaxing allowed!

Race? What race? I thought the R in WAR stood for Recreation...

Irishrm

Hi folks,

Heading up to have a spin around the route on saturday to check it out, if anyone has done this already what have you done with your bike when on the second run? Is there somewhere to safely lock it up or is it a plan to get someone else to go with you and take a couple of cars and park one at the bottom of the second run?

Cheers,

guapos

Hi all,

Im trying to figure out how long each stage is going to take me and was hoping people who have ran or cycled the stages could let me know their time. Im down as intermediate.

Thanks

Peterx

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28520152



hopefully this link is ok.

We did the first run and then all the cycling as we didn't wish to leave the bikes at Djouce. Possibly the safest thing would be do the second run on the way home if your bikes were safe in a boot or a van.

First run 9.2k took us 55mins
Spin to Lough Tay 14.5k took us 39mins
(righthand offcamber corner into Annamoe can catch you out here)
Spin to Djouce 8.2k took us 27 mins
Spin from Djouce to Glendo 28,7k took us 60 mins
(sections of gravel on the glenmacnass descent)

guapos

Peterx wrote: »

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28520152



hopefully this link is ok.

We did the first run and then all the cycling as we didn't wish to leave the bikes at Djouce. Possibly the safest thing would be do the second run on the way home if your bikes were safe in a boot or a van.

First run 9.2k took us 55mins
Spin to Lough Tay 14.5k took us 39mins
(righthand offcamber corner into Annamoe can catch you out here)
Spin to Djouce 8.2k took us 27 mins
Spin from Djouce to Glendo 28,7k took us 60 mins
(sections of gravel on the glenmacnass descent)

Thanks very much Peter, i'd hoped to do the first run in about an hour but looking at your time i'll add 10 or 15 on.

Best of luck for the race

MushGSXR

cycling the route alone 53k took me the bones of 3 and a half, Id be over the moon with a sub 6 hr time on the day. if that run took you 55 mins peter must be pretty tough.

Green&Red

I'm getting really worried about this, it looks tougher than gaelforce & i'm nowhere near the shape i'd be in for that.
Could be a long day

danburke

Right guys i'm a bit worried about WAR

Rode the cycling route last sunday, bonked going over Djouce but that was my own fault, took us 2h5mins to do the whole cycling route..

my question is how slow should I take the run? for ref I've done a half marathon in 1h45mins...

Oryx

Guys, if you look up along the thread, youll see I got told to HTFU. And cheeky as it may seem, thats what I say to you. Do I feel prepared? No. Do I think Ill do badly? Probably. Can I even cycle well, let alone race? No.

But feck it Ill give it a shot and see. Anything sub 7 means hell, I finished and Ill be happy.

MushGSXR

what Oryx said!!!!

It took me 6 and a half hrs to get around GF last year. For WAR I am gonna take my time, get around in one piece and enjoy it. If I don't hit my target of 6 hrs I wont lose too much sleep!

oh and DanBurke if you can run a half in 1 45 and cycle the route in 2 and a half you are in a lot better shape than me!

Green&Red

Is anybody able to give their time in GF last year and their expected time for WAR?
Just to give a rough idea, i've no idea of the course at all.
GF took me 4.35 last year