WAR - Wicklow Adventure Race April 2010

Slogger Jogger

You could see as much from the photos I think...

Oryx

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I have those flickr photos as public accessible so can't see what the problem might be I'm afraid. Others appear to see them okay

Sorry I should have explained, only have boards mobile right now, cant see till Im at my pc. It was you then I take it.. Thanks for goin out that far just to capture the pain.

As for the kit or lack of it, most people around me had theirs, but not all. One girl ran in tshirt and shorts. No pockets, no kit. Saw a few lie that but was *ahem* quite a bit back from the elites...

donothoponpop

I was up chatting to the two manning (and womanning) the Control Point on the run. They were doing a great job of getting everyone to dip their control stick. A guy wearing headphones, woosh!, ran right by, seemingly oblivious to instructions being shouted at him. Another guy with headphones... woosh! ran right by too.

Enduro

donothoponpop wrote: »

I was up chatting to the two manning (and womanning) the Control Point on the run. They were doing a great job of getting everyone to dip their control stick. A guy wearing headphones, woosh!, ran right by, seemingly oblivious to instructions being shouted at him. Another guy with headphones... woosh! ran right by too.

Anyone running in that kind of race with headphones just doesn't get it anyway. What is it with these people! Still, if they DNFed because of it, maybe they'll learn and accidently discover the joy of the technology free mountain environment.

Slogger Jogger

There was a nice article in the Irish Times today on the WAR by Ian O'Riordain...

Ra1ph

patrykeith wrote: »

I was in the elite start and reckon i was around 10th , didnt hang around after. i carried a bag weighing over 3kg around the whole course but most of the guys in front of me had no bags and cycling pockets dont hold first aid kits, whistles , fleeces, jackets etc, i was told that the carrying of the bag had to be done at sign on and would be disqualified if not carrying, i seen 2 guys at the start line who finished in top 10 and unless they had magic pockets they where carrying nowt but an energy gel.

You could defiantly fit all of the mandatory kit in the 2 pockets of a cycle jersey. I did and am far from an elite athlete (5hr17min). I got the tip reading through this thread.

Having said that I did think that the elite were not carrying drinks on the spinx run but looking through sloggers photos Eoin Keith is clearly carrying a drink and as someone else has said all the top guys and girls were check for mandatory kit crossing the finished line. Next year play smarter!

theduke1

Having said that I did think that the elite were not carrying drinks on the spinx run but looking through sloggers photos Eoin Keith is clearly carrying a drink and as someone else has said all the top guys and girls were check for mandatory kit crossing the finished line. Next year play smarter![/QUOTE]


what about your fleece did you have that in your pocket too? next year everybody should obey the rules do you not think?

Ra1ph

It wasn't a fleece jacket the you were to carry. It was a fleece shirt. I wore a North Face mid layer around my waist. In fact I wore a base layer, a cycle jersey, the mid layer around my waist and my water proofs in the pockets of the cycle jersey. You didn't need to carry 3kg of gear to meet the mandatory requirements.

theduke1

The fact of the matter here is that not everyone obeyed the rules including the elites

ocnoc

I'm pretty sure that the organisers would have DSQ'd anyone who didn't have the kit.

You gotta remember that runners can squish kit for a mountain marathon into a 10-15L bag.... so surely two big cycling pockets would do the job for a short multi sport race.

@Endro.... technology free? look at your bike set up and all the light weight kit floating around for the record I hope they get DSQ'd for ignoring the marshals- although they aren't always right :P

*cough* bray *cough*

Slogger Jogger

Lets have some positivity for the day thats in it...

Congrats Enduro. You are improving with age. Lookin forward to a rare race report Haven't seen official results but I believe you and PeterX were in close attendance. 1 up for the hill runners. Wonder what delights are promised in the Glenmalure AR planned. Something offroad would be nice.. Lug perhaps. Croaghanmoira. Ballybraid... Shay Elliot's hill. So many options...

Slogger Jogger

Incidentally whilst standing outside the Brockagh centre early today I was thrown by how many cyclists didn't know the way... Quite a few asked should they turn left there (into the Brockagh Centre???) Cmon :rolleyes:

Enduro

Having said that I did think that the elite were not carrying drinks on the spinx run but looking through sloggers photos Eoin Keith is clearly carrying a drink and as someone else has said all the top guys and girls were check for mandatory kit crossing the finished line. Next year play smarter!

Well spotted that I was carrying a bottle on the spink run. I purely had that with me for the kit requirement. I wouldn't have been carrying it otherwise. We were all checked. Your last 4 words there are the key ones!

I've raced with Excuseless, one of the two main race organisers in quite a few adventure races (big multiday events with huge kit requirements), and we've always been careful to meet our mandatory kit requirements. We've both been frustrated as seeing other teams not meeting the requirements and getting away with it. So as a result I, for one, knew that he would be a stickler for gear checking, and would more than likely check all the top finishers, which he did.

You gotta remember that runners can squish kit for a mountain marathon into a 10-15L bag.... so surely two big cycling pockets would do the job for a short multi sport race.

Indeed. And I've been doing MMs since about 1995, so I have a lot of experience of light weight kit, and how to use it effectively to meet minimum requirements. I've seen lads turn up to MMs with fully laden 100litre rucksacks. I've been competitive in them with three quater filled 30l rucksacks, which would have included the odd luxury (in MM terms).

@Endro.... technology free? look at your bike set up and all the light weight kit floating around for the record I hope they get DSQ'd for ignoring the marshals- although they aren't always right

*cough* bray *cough*

Bray could have been a disaster alright, but thankfully it was only a minor blip.

Which of my bikes should I look at Anyway, I know you know what I meant!

Enduro

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Lets have some positivity for the day thats in it...

Congrats Enduro. You are improving with age. Lookin forward to a rare race report Haven't seen official results but I believe you and PeterX were in close attendance. 1 up for the hill runners. Wonder what delights are promised in the Glenmalure AR planned. Something offroad would be nice.. Lug perhaps. Croaghanmoira. Ballybraid... Shay Elliot's hill. So many options...

Agreed on the positivity. The race went off incredibly well.

I do the odd race report... they just tend to be essays! (Did you read my one from the Wicklow way, by the way). It was a real race at the front of the field, with lots of to-ing and fro-ing. The podium positions went right to the wire. Defintely a good result for the hill-runners/adventure racers. Both Peter and myself were fairly maxed out at the end.

ocnoc

What was in it in the end?

Course good for head to head racing?

groovyg

Some people seem to have a very different ideas of what rain jackets are meant to look like, you can get some expensive light weight jackets like this one http://www.salomon.com/us/#/apparel/clothing/jackets/minim-ii-paclite-jacket-m (Check out the weight) or some of the cheap ones that Lidl were doing a few months ago for 15 yo yo which pack up very small and definitely fit into the pocket of a cycling jersey as I have one. As regards first aid kits http://www.outdooradventurestore.ie/products/travel/first_aid/pocket_first_aid_kit-356.html this would be more than sufficient for a race like today.
I think if anything – people should learn from the elites and the gear they carry, as people do more of these races they find out works best and what doesn’t.

Well done to everyone who completed the event.

Oryx

Anyone see the poor guy who punctured 100 yards up the road from T1? Awful luck. I was surprised at how good the roads were too, I expected roads like beiruit, same as we have at home, but they were perfect.

Git101

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Enjoy...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickhanney/sets/72157623875009798/

Thanks SJ, great photos.

Found some of myself, must be something wrong with your camera, I actually look like I'm enjoying myself in one of them

Peterx

Great race, dominated by Eoin and superbly organised by Paul and Brian.

There's no arguing with a 5 minute victory and when we see the splits we'll see the winning of the race was in the bike climb from Lough Dan up to the Djouce and on that second hillrun. super stuff.

Only Enduro would suffer an achilles injury and come back a better uphill runner and cyclist - fair play!

From my point of view I had a super day, I maximised my potential on the day and was very happy with a time of 3.38. I had thought the second run would be the "moving" section of the race and that's how it turned out for me, the climb up the flank of Djouce was a happy place where I moved from 4th to 2nd and I really enjoyed the final cycle - a tailwind and net downhill will do that ofter though:)

The first run was a little too quick for the everyone except Eoin, I couldn't believe all the lads were going with that pace so early in a 4 hour event. I briefly found myself in a lead pretty much by default as no-one else around me wanted to run quick through the rough ground and then on the flat by the lake Eoin again showed the pace that was going to win the race and easily glided past. Noelie went past too and I was a bit surprized more didn't follow as I hate flat fireroad.
The first cycle found Eoin and John working together a consistent 100m ahead of Noelie and me and on the water John showed his credentials with a silky demonstration of how to kayak much quicker then everyone else - that stage was too short in the context of the overall race.
I was crap getting into the water and slow on it and then had probably my worst section of the day on the cycle up to Djouce. Once I hit Djouce I was pretty slow on the fireroad and had reconciled myself to 4th if I could hold off the lads behind.
The open mountain (and the gels) lifted my hopes again though and I really enjoyed it from there home.
I could see John and Noelie ahead on the flank of Djouce but there was no sign of Eoin, when last seen John was in the lead so I hadn't a clue where Eoin had gone. There was a white top off in the distance and I assumed that was a walker before realising it was moving way too quick for any pedestrian!!! At that stage I took my hat off to Eoin and settled down to steady plod I employ in the hillruns - it feels slow but chews up the climb and thankfully the two lads came back to me.
The last cycle was class, I felt like I was flying (go on the tailwind) and a glance to the left when rounding Sallygap showed a beautiflu sight behind - an empty road and the same empty road ahead showed Eoin was well away.
On the other posts - it seems hard to believe all the lads in the top ten were carrying everything they required. I don't really know how you carry full waterproofs, a spare full sleeve thermal top and the other bits without a bag of some description but that just shows I've more to learn:)

Gerrf

The mandatory kits listed on the WAR website was the basic First aid (Dressing and Plasters) Foil Blanket, Whistle, Gels and energy food, Helmet and Trail shoes. All of which can be carried without a bag.
The fleece top among other items listed that were marked on their website with an asterix meaning that they "may not to be required in the unlikely event of a heatwave". I think this is fairly clear because saturday was so warm that fleece tops and the other items were not mandatory. Well done to all.

MREGAN

Congratulations Enduro and Peterx. Top Top Racing. There was a few of us chatting on the run up Djouce thinking about you guys running up all of it. Savage stuff just wondering how you do it. Dedication and hard training?

Well done everyone else on here who took part. Brilliant bunch of competitors that chatted all the way around. Had a laugh and a joke and kept spirits up at tougher times. Great weather and a stunning location made for a great Race.

Not sure if the guys I was with most of the day are board users or not but big thanks to Rob and Dave for the banter on the way round. Also a big thanks to Ken who doubled up with me in the kayak and cycled the roads home together. Good paddling with you.

Daily Bread

Agree this was a well organised race, great course with plenty of signs, marshals, water stations, first aid after all the tricky sections, great weather for it too. Hopefully it will be back in 2011. Also nice to hear what happens at the front because I will never be there to see it for myself.

MushGSXR

a super day out. I dont know the organizers personally but a big hats off to Belpark and Paul/Brian (ithink).

The folks over at Gael Force would do at taking a good look at how to run a race professionally.

As regards mandatory kit, people who dont take it are only gonna catch themselves out some day. I would fancy getting caught on Djouce if I was injured and the weather turned. I noticed a lot of guys not carrying kit but that didnt take away from my enjoyment of the day. If Enduro, PeterF and co had to push a wheelbarrow around I woulldnt have been able to keep up!

It was my 3rd adv race and now i want more! Long evening on the internet tomorrow to pick my next one!

fluboy

Gerrf,

Not that it really matters anymore, but on the morning of the race they said that we had to carry everything, all mandatory items plus a fleece, waterproof top and waterproof leggings. I couldn’t believe it so I asked the main man in the yellow jacket and he again confirmed that we had to carry all items. As I said it doesn’t matter anymore because it was a great day, great weather and well done to everybody who took part

PositiveNegativ

At 6:45am when heading out to setup CP1 it was -2 degrees C with icy patches on the boardwalk descent to the bridge.
Hindsight unfortunately isn't available to the organisers when gear requirements are stated before the race. Little point arguing about it afterwards, better to keep good memories and prepare for the next race.

Slogger Jogger

I can vouch for that having had to deice the windscreen before heading for Laragh. A smashing event though and I'd be curious whats planned for Glenmalure later in the year.

MREGAN

Has anyone got the full route on gps? I have the route, times and distances but would love a break down of the altitude gained and lost at each section. I am doing my race report and would love to add this. Cheers.

sfhawke7w

well what a weekend, would just like to say on behalf of Sligo College of Further Education, the massage guys and Myself and Ciara thank you for the support.

Ciara had a great race and her time was in under the 4 hrs she was hoping for.

to all who visited us at the massage tent!! thanks for donating and helping is towards our funds to collect for a defibrillator for the college.


to brian and paul and all others involved in the organising and holding of an event, well done and congrats, as a person who worked at many motorsport events over the years it can be very frustrating at times but when it all comes together it can be great, so well done, look forward to seeing you all again next year!

for anyone who didnt get a chance to make a donation and would still like to join us on facebook and we can give u the bank details, u can find us with this email address anitaciarasbigadventure@yahoo.co.uk


thanks again Anita

Ra1ph

For anyone who doesn't already know, results with split times are on the WAR website

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

Excuseless

Well done to all the boardies who took part in the WAR yesterday and good to see that the top two (Enduro and Peterx) managed to keep the laurels for the hill runner n adv race sorts ahead of the posse of triathletes aiming for some adventure race success.
Hats off in particular to Tom Kelly who surprised many (myself and himself included he told me in the bar last night) with a podium finish helped by his sensible pace early on and a flying finish with the fastest split in the last two legs which brought him from 6th to 3rd passing John Caffrey who had led the race from Glendalough to almost TA2.
The hard pace from the off had several others in trouble with cramp on the Djouce run and final cycle sections and in the end the experience of the top two in this type of race shone through and with a tail wind the long haul back to the finish from Sally Gap meant the 3.40 anticipated best winning time was well beaten.
Guess the new target will now be 3 30 :rolleyes:!

In the ladies the consistent and steady paced duathlete Derval Devaney had a great win over the olympian mountain biker Jenny Mccauley and international mountain runner Donna Mahon (who's kayak time was the fastest of all the ladies thanks in some small part apparently to Go Hard or Go Home!) with recent mountain running recruit Suzanne Kenny close behind.

In the sports section the winner was a real modest lad Andrew Trafford who told me had never won anything in his life, second was the evergreen Kevin Grogan (mid fifties long distance hillrunner), third Aiden Cambell, fourth Bryan Hyland and fifth was the Irish Times Athletics Columinst Ian O Riordan.
The ladies section was won by well known hillrunner Laura Flynn in an impressive 6th overall ahead of Swords based Susanne Sheehy, Beth Harding and Roundwood's Joanne Cullen who bought her entry at the Charity Auction after the Roundwood Biathlon last Christmas.

Preliminary Results are now posted on the WAR site


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

The placings for some of the splits are a bit off in some cases but the overall times should generally be correct.

The importance of having your own kayak for the elites are clear from these splits especially for the likes of Niall Somers who had a long wait for a partner for the kayaking which effectively blew his chance of a podium.

In retrospect we could have had the paddling a bit longer but we were worried that we might run out of kayaks for the middle of the field and wanted everyone to have a true run race.

In the end with the efficient turnaround system in place we had 35 kayaks that were not used but we will know better for next year and extend that section so the message is to get out and buy a single boat and get practicing if you want to be at the races at the top end of the field.
Will will have this Bring Your Own Boat option in the Achill Roar too so double incentive there.


We were well pleased with how things went in general and thanks for this must go to the marshals, Gardaí, Wicklow Co Co for repairing the roads, the locals for being patient with our imposition on their Saturday and of course everyone that competed who took care on the course.
Thankfully there were only a few minor casualties.

We made the call on the mandatory kit the night before at registration when the forecast was for freezing conditions at valley floor level overnight. With the possible condition of the boardwalk being icy and cold ambient conditions we had to play it safe and count all mandatory kit in at that stage.
In retrospect the waterproof trousers was probably overkill but Brian of Total Experience who took charge of the kayak leg confirmed to me after that many got cold on the lake and needed their rain jackets and some wore their waterproof trousers too.
Folk have to remember that if it had been cloudy (Real or Ash derived) in the morning it would not have warmed up as quickly and for those competing at a slower pace there is far more requirement for gear as you don't generate as much body heat, may have to stop to rest or walk some sections, etc.

Some great photos up form John Shields of Action Photography at

http://www.actionphotography.ie/events-RAW-042010.html

Let's hope my good luck as an organiser with the weather for the 2009 Achill Roar and 2010 WAR hold for the West Wicklow Roar on May 22nd :cool:

MREGAN

Just finished my race report. I know everyone has their own memories but if you can be bothered heres mine.

http://acunamatadaar.blogspot.com/

Hoping some of the snappers got a few pics I can add at a later date.

c montgomery

I just want to say congratulations to all the organisers for one of the best races i have competed in.

Excellent weather which only added to it. I also want to say well done on fantastic traffic management before, during and after the race.

I will defiantly be doing this race again next year and will highly recommend it.

Congratulations to all the guys at the top of the field, dont know how ye do it.

As regards kit, i had all mine in a bag. Since reading all of the posts regarding kit here i tried and succeeded to get all the kit into my biggest cycling jersey. This was only possible if i was carrying my bottle of water in my hand but it was possible. I will be reviewing my bag vs jersey options for gf6 and the dingle adventure race.

To conclude, well done to everyone involved from the organisers to the competitors, the marshals to the guards.

trinewbie

Excuseless wrote: »

The importance of having your own kayak for the elites are clear from these splits especially for the likes of Niall Somers who had a long wait for a partner for the kayaking which effectively blew his chance of a podium.

Bad planning on my part left me sitting on the shores of lough Dan, with no boat or no partner to paddle with, watching places paddle away from me - incredibly frustrating , but thats racing I guess Will definitely be back for more next year, hopefully with my own boat.


There is a good shot of me in the actionphotograpy album sitting on the boat waiting...the anger / frustration building inside....

Congratulations on such a class event, it put lot a lot of multisport events around the country to shame.

eamonn1980

Hi,I did the sport version and was wondering how fast people were going up the Spink...I walked the steps, ran the flat and ran downhill? my split was 1:04 for the runThe big thing I learned was that I need to do more cyclinga brilliant event and very well organised, well done to all involved

Mr Freeze

MREGAN wrote: »

Has anyone got the full route on gps? I have the route, times and distances but would love a break down of the altitude gained and lost at each section. I am doing my race report and would love to add this. Cheers.

I have the sports on GPS if thats any use to you?

pgibbo

My first AR and a very memorable one it was too. Congrats to PeterX and Enduro. Savage going guys.

Personally I'm looking forward to trying a couple more of these events. 2 very important lessons learned for me:

1. Don't wait until the week of the race to buy your trail runners.
2. Always clip your toenails before a race.

The second run was hell for me as the new runners were a bit tight and I now have 1 very black big toenail and the other big toenail is still weeping puss. Lesson learned though. Was delighted to go sub 4:30 and conquer the cycle from kayak to the 2nd run comfortably enough.

Great event. Congrats to Paul and Brian for a great event.

MREGAN

I have the sports on GPS if thats any use to you?

Thanks for the offer tho I got it sorted.

Many Thanks

pgibbo

MREGAN wrote: »

Just finished my race report. I know everyone has their own memories but if you can be bothered heres mine.

http://acunamatadaar.blogspot.com/

Hoping some of the snappers got a few pics I can add at a later date.

LOL...Great to put a face to the name and realise what a small world it really is - thanks for swapping rooms with us on Friday evening. :cool: Well done on Saturday. Hope you enjoyed Saturday night.

WithCheesePlease

I've gotta say I really enjoyed this event from start to finish. I can't say enough about how well organised it was too. I hate to compare but Gael Force wasn't a patch on this!! Has me doubting whether I'll actually do GF again later in the year as a result unless they really pull their socks up after the mess that last year was.

Already considering signing up for the West Wicklow ROAR now...

Thanks again to all involved for making WAR such a great day out.

MREGAN

LOL...Great to put a face to the name and realise what a small world it really is - thanks for swapping rooms with us on Friday evening. Well done on Saturday. Hope you enjoyed Saturday night.

Aw no worries at all. Me and the missus only needed the double. Wouldn't have been nice one of you having to kip on the floor when there was an empty bed in that room. Had a great weekend and enjoyed the craic. You's will have to get up north to some of the events. http://www.eventelephant.com/diamondquestireland or if you want a tougher challange try the http://26extreme.com for the coast to coast two day event.

Hope you all had a good one.

Robertd_07

To all involved in organising and marshalling, well done and thank you.
My first race. Had a ball. Still feeling buzzed after.
Thanks also to the guys doing the massage. I'm now walking thanks to you.
Looking at the splits, I can see I need to work on my mountain running.
Looking forward to the West Wicklow ROAR.
Robert

pgibbo

MREGAN wrote: »

Aw no worries at all. Me and the missus only needed the double. Wouldn't have been nice one of you having to kip on the floor when there was an empty bed in that room. Had a great weekend and enjoyed the craic. You's will have to get up north to some of the events. http://www.eventelephant.com/diamondquestireland or if you want a tougher challange try the http://26extreme.com for the coast to coast two day event.

Hope you all had a good one.

Cool. Thanks for the links.

Yes, the 5 of us that travelled up together really enjoyed the event. Savage craic. Thanks again

MadHatter

I'll echo what has been said above, great day out. Cracking weather, well organised and well marshalled - can't ask for any more than that.

It was my first adventure race and I'm happy enough with the way it panned out. Unfortunately I had a couple of falls on the rocky sections on the first run, skinned both shins and whacked both knees in the process. When I finished the first cycle I started to run for the kayak and found the legs were not working properly at all, knees had swelled up quiet a bit by then. Ended up walking most of the Djouce leg as a result.

Cycling was great, really enjoyed the hills. Kayaking was okay, but ended up with someone with even less kayaking knowledge than me resulting in a very slow time.

Lessons learned:
1. I can hold my own on the bike legs, put in good times but still had more in the tank.
2. No amount of running on road or grass prepares the body for running on rocks and loose stones - need to practice on that terrain if doing similar event again
3. It's better to take your time and stay upright than risk falling and injuring yourself :rolleyes:

MREGAN

Does anyone know who the other photographers where on the day? Marathon-Photos and John Shields of Action Photography, I also seen Mick Hanney's Photos. Didnt get many of me tho.

There was someone at the top of Spink taking photos of us. We were on the 8:30 Start wave. Also at the end of the upper lake run just before the transition area. Also someone on the road section after Laragh I remember waving at.

tommysparks

have to add my congrats to the organizers of this race. from a participants point of view it went really well. well done guys, good job all round.
and talking to people after the race, there seemed to be loads of first times to AR, like myself. hope to see you all again at ROAR, Glenmalure etc.....

briano

Agree with everyone above, Well done on the organisation and to everyone who took part!

Now, I just need to go and find where I can get those powerbar gels. I believe at one point in the race (specifically the point after the Djouce run) I was about ready to propose to the man who gave me a handful of them. I don't think I was his type though.

Seriously though, can you get them in Dublin?

Oryx

Ive seen them all over the place, our local bike shop and sports shop sell them, I think I saw them in 53 degrees north too. You should have no prob getting them. The jellies nearly choked me tho

rainbow kirby

briano wrote: »

Agree with everyone above, Well done on the organisation and to everyone who took part!

Now, I just need to go and find where I can get those powerbar gels. I believe at one point in the race (specifically the point after the Djouce run) I was about ready to propose to the man who gave me a handful of them. I don't think I was his type though.

Seriously though, can you get them in Dublin?

I think the health food shop in Grafton St sells Powerbar gels.

sfhawke7w

robertd07 - no bother that was the whole purpose of doing the massage.

very well run event looking forward to the next one!!!

Enduro

Excuseless wrote: »

with a tail wind the long haul back to the finish from Sally Gap meant the 3.40 anticipated best winning time was well beaten.

There was a tailwind!!!! It felt like frigging headwind to me

Excuseless wrote: »

The importance of having your own kayak for the elites are clear from these splits especially for the likes of Niall Somers who had a long wait for a partner for the kayaking which effectively blew his chance of a podium.

Hopefully it shows to everyone that there easy time to be made by improving your kayaking skills. I used the kayak leg as a bit of rest and recovery, but still managed to make time on almost everyone. It's generally the one sport in AR that most people have most scope to improve in.

Excuseless wrote: »

In retrospect we could have had the paddling a bit longer but we were worried that we might run out of kayaks for the middle of the field and wanted everyone to have a true run race.

In the end with the efficient turnaround system in place we had 35 kayaks that were not used but we will know better for next year and extend that section so the message is to get out and buy a single boat and get practicing if you want to be at the races at the top end of the field.
Will will have this Bring Your Own Boat option in the Achill Roar too so double incentive there.

That's great to hear on both fronts. The kayaking leg was very short indeed... t'would be nice to use the full length of the lake. It looked fantastic from the water. Adding BYO to Achil should make the kayaking a competitive option now.

Excuseless wrote: »

Folk have to remember that if it had been cloudy (Real or Ash derived) in the morning it would not have warmed up as quickly and for those competing at a slower pace there is far more requirement for gear as you don't generate as much body heat, may have to stop to rest or walk some sections, etc.

Maybe it should be recommended as opposed to mandatory, with the above information spelled out for people to assist them in making their own judgement calls. IMHO the whistle and the rain jacket are the only two things that should need to be carried (They are easily usable by anyone who get into trouble, and more importantly, are actually likely to be used when needed).