WW 25km (IMRA race)

Peterx

Well this has certainly gone up a notch in distance and more importantly difficulty. Circa 25km and an additional 200m of climb, it's a great addition to the IMRA stable of races as most of them are relatively short.

The new start position is less scenic but will have more passing human traffic for the lonely 50km turn marshall to chat to so pluses and minuses there. As a former marshall I know I prefered the views over Luggala but sweaty mountain bikers will have to do in the future:)

Slogger Jogger

Looking forward to it. One of my favourite runs. Almost reluctant to mention it here as it benefits from the right scale. It falls just at the right time in the taper towards Conn too

Krusty_Clown

Really enjoyed this race last year, and would really like to do it again this year, but might be a bit close to Barcelona marathon. Three weeks could be enough recovery time, if I take the race easy. Can someone post a reminder when the bus seats become available?

nerraw1111

is this anything to do with the DEBRA wicklow half marathon?

Read in Outsider about it, round the same time in March

Krusty_Clown

Nope. completely separate events, and thankfully a week between them. The idea of two packs of runners heading towards one another at breakneck speed along the Wicklow Way has more in common with Braveheart, than it does a race. I think the IMRA lads would win in a fight though.

Slogger Jogger

nerraw1111 wrote: »

is this anything to do with the DEBRA wicklow half marathon?

Read in Outsider about it, round the same time in March

The imra version is a tad cheaper as well, much as I'd like to be able to support Debra Ireland.

Slogger Jogger

Any boardsies up for this challenge? HIGHLY recommended.

BeepBeep67

too lazy to navigate to IMRA - when is it?

Slogger Jogger

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

too lazy to navigate to IMRA - when is it?

Saturday 27th March. A natural LSR for me 2 weeks before Conn

Finish line is at Johnny Fox's. What more could you want

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Saturday 27th March. A natural LSR for me 2 weeks before Conn

Finish line is at Johnny Fox's. What more could you want

Duathalon 25k follow by a game of pitch and putt - the winner pays for the seafood chowder

christeb

This is one race that I might just go out of my way for, a good race to pop my IMRA cherry??!! :eek:

stmochtas

I am going to do this one. Furtherest race I have run to date is a 10 miler so should be interesting :eek:.

A questions for those who have raced

~ Any need for a water bottle along the way or is there a drinks table somewhere?
~ Is there shuttle buses from town/finish to start?

shels4ever

How hard is this race ? Will be doing some hill work but not sure if it woudl be ideal for me to do this but the date is almost perfect for a hard long run.

Peterx

There is usualy a marshall in Crone Wood (about 30 mins in maybe) and again at Curtlestown(another 30 mins on maybe). As far as I know they won't have water for runners, only for first aid. You can leave bottles with them though (and with the halfway marshall on the 50km)

There is sometimes a bus from the start, this is booked in advance on the IMRA forum when it is organised - check the event page for details.

The race will hammer your quads should you go hard on the descents no matter who you are. If you unused to running downhills your quads will be hammered no matter how you take the descents:) You will be too sore to train hard for 4~6 days after.

shels4ever

Peterx wrote: »

you unused to running downhills your quads will be hammered no matter how you take the descents:) You will be too sore to train hard for 4~6 days after.

Thanks, ok a week would be too much training to miss , so i'll stick to my little hills for now.

Krusty_Clown

They had two drinks tables last year, but they were manned by volunteers, so there's no guarantee that they'll be available this year. I carried a water bottle last year was glad of it, as it turned out to be a hot sunny day.

Definitely a lot tougher than your average half-marathon, but a fantastic race all the same. So as long as you don't have any pre-defined notions of hitting a particular time, you'll be fine. There were 85 entrants last year, with finishing times ranging from 93 mins to 167 mins. It's a slightly longer course this year, but as a guideline - last year I finished in 117 mins, and I reckon at the time would have completed a flat half marathon in around 87 mins.

Peterx

it's a great event/race though, so unless you are racing an important race within 2 weeks go for it. A bit of cycling and swimming for 4 days might be a nice change..

stmochtas

I think I will bring some fluids so as I will be out there for a couple of hours based on the new difficulty and Krusty's times.

nerraw1111

Are trail shoes necessary? I know they would be preferable.

Peterx

In dry underfoot conditions roadshoes would be fine, in wet weather trailshoes would probably be preferable, especially for the grassy descent off the side of Djouce and the new grassy climb up from the river.

belcarra

Peterx,
I'll be doing the Ultra in connemara 2 weeks later and was hoping to do this also. I did the Leinster League last year so I'm familiar with the ups and downs of hill running both mentally and geographically! However, I'm wondering would I still feel the affects of this in the lead-in to Conne even if I take this event easy?
Basically, should I go for it or not??

Peterx

Hi Belcarra,

Can't really answer that, at a basic personal level it depends on how well you wish you perform in each event and how well you recover from race pace. Some IMRA stalwarts do every single event on the calendar and other choose to race just a few.
So if you have good recovery go for it and if you are targeting a time in the Ultra a training run instead might be better.

belcarra

Thanks for the response Peter.
The Ultra is my target race, but to simply get around is the only aim for it.
The wicklow Trail will be nice and it's cheap so I think I might run that leisurely and I should be good for the Ultra in 2 weeks time...hopefully!

Slogger Jogger

Hi Belcarra.. I've done it the other way around. Last year I had a 'mare at Rotterdam but 5 days latter managed to run a good trail race :rolleyes:. If you run the trail you'll be perfectly fine. Good luck. See you at the start!

ultraman1

how easy is(or hard) is it to get lost ala ww relay at this race....

Slogger Jogger

The 1st 2k or so are on forest trail in Ballinastoe but you should be amongst a field of runners all heading the same direction. After that you are on the Wicklow way heading north and its all way-marked trail with the signs to go with it. If you keep your wits about you and keep an eye out for the signage you'll be fine. Think we had this conversion before Wicklow way leg 7 last year though UM In fairness the signage on the WW trail part of the WW is better than the southern parts.

Nialloooo

HI All, i have ran the last two races and am happy the way the when (63 in 59min an annacurragh and 48 in 58 in the woods last saturday) but is this race a hard step up? the distance is not my really worry i can do it on the roads but its the hills etc take much more out of you, should i pass on it this year and get some more experance or give it a lash? any info would be great

Thanks

Krusty_Clown

To give you an idea, I suppose it would be similar to doing Annacurra followed immediately by Tibradden, followed by a couple of miles on the road to the finish (albeit at a slower pace). If you're comfortable enough running 15 miles with some hills you'd be fine.

Slogger Jogger

Couldn't have summed it up better Krusty. You'll be on your feet for quite a while Niall, so if you're prepared for that my doing the miles in training you'll be fine. The worst of the uphills can be walked. I've been out on my feet at the end of this race before, and this year its 3k longer :rolleyes:

Enduro

You'll only find out what you're capable of by giving it a go.

Peterx

Enduro wrote: »

You'll only find out what you're capable of by giving it a go.

That is not very useful advice although it is encouraging, to be fair.

Nialloooo

Hi All
Thanks for the great advice, im training well so im going to see how i fell closer to the date but its deafo my aim at the moe hope to see you all there

Enduro

Peterx wrote: »

That is not very useful advice although it is encouraging, to be fair.

Thats not a very fair critism Peter. That's advice I give all the time, and a mantra I use myself all the time. There is no way I would have participated in all the fantastic races I've done if I sat around and pondered whether I should or shouldn't. I just got stuck in and gave it a go. Theorising will only get you so far. Theoretically I was an idiot to even contemplate doing my first adventure race, and look where that got me.

It's actually an extremely useful and pertinant piece of advice for life in general. I'd rather try something and not suceed than not try and regret not knowing whether I could have succeeded or not.

Peterx

Enduro -
On this forum you are very helpful.
I did say you were being encouraging, merely not particularly useful. The question was not about life in general.
In this race showing up and having a go regardless will lead to problems, it's a very hard race.

The longer races probably require published cut-off times then prospective entrants can see exactly how much effort they will need to put in before being confident of finishing. The marshalls at Crone Wood AND the race entrants need to know they will be pulled if they exceed the cut-offs.

The current situation where the Crone Wood and Finish marshalls can be waiting over 2 hours from the second last to the last entrant in the WW50km is not very fair.

Enduro

Ah now... the WW trail isn't that hard. It's a good step up from the regular IMRA runs which the vast majority of people should be able to finish by the simple method of running more slowly, and walking parts if necessary.

And I was referring to this race in my comment... I only brought in the life in general bit to, well, generalise (And make it more starkly clear, I think).

You're absolutely correct about cut-offs for the Trail and Ultra, and the matter is already in hand. Cut-offs will be publish on the IMRA site in the next day or two.

Nialloooo

HI Guys,
Thank you very mush for your advice it has helped me, as for the give it a go comment i like this i started running in Jan 08 and finished belfast marathon in june that year so im a give it socks and see how it turns out person, but i also have to have to be realstic about my own abilitys and the info in this therad is very good for me as a newbi to trail running. Just my two cents
thanks again

Krusty_Clown

Hi Nialoooo, based on your IMRA times so far, you'll have no worries with at least a mid-place finish. If you compare your times against others who ran in Annacurra/Tibradden and also did the trail race last year, you'll see that you should theoretically comfortably finish in the top half of the field. If you were talking about doing the Ultra, different story. A reccie of the route beforehand (even spread over two days) would give you a good feel for what is required on the day.

Nialloooo

Hi Krusty,
Thanks for that ill have a look over the passed results, no im only going for the 25k this year, was hoping to do conn ultra but fell in the ice and was out for 4 weeks so im only getting back at it now. What are the under foot condisons like? really looking forward to it now, think the imra is great so well run and very cheap for each race

Krusty_Clown

It'll be very like Annacurragh. Some road, some mud, some grass, some fire trail, some rock, some gravel, some railway sleepers covered in chicken-wire, some more road and some more mud! I do remember flying past a number of runners on the downhill at the back of Djouce, as I had trail shoes, versus their runners (they were slipping a lot). The last mile or two is on the road though, so it's a compromise.

donothoponpop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Can someone post a reminder when the bus seats become available?

Reminder.

Krusty_Clown

Thank you, and done....

GoHardOrGoHome

At the moment I'm aiming for the ultra. Might end up doing the trail though. Can't really take a place on the trail bus yet I suppose.

hunnymonster

<lurk>

Krusty_Clown

hunnymonster wrote: »

<lurk>

There was only one female finisher in the Ultra last year. Wonder if there'll be any female entrants in the Ultra this year. *cough*.

hunnymonster

<lurk lurk>

hunnymonster

just wondering if anyone might be around to run this next Saturday (6th) or even Friday 5th? I can probably organise a car to drop us one end and pick up at the other.

Dunebuggy

Just for those who are debating doing the trail for the 1st time. I did this as my second Mountain run. Didn't have much running experience behind me. Zero race experience.

Its very doable and a great race. This was the one that got me addicted :-)
One piece of advise i would offer is a RECCE.
Please run it. Especially the parts between Crone woods and Prince William seat.

All along the wicklow way makes it easier, but don't forget to turn right up to Johnny Foxes rather than follow it back to Marley Park .... Enjoy it!!

Dunebuggy

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

There was only one female finisher in the Ultra last year. Wonder if there'll be any female entrants in the Ultra this year. *cough*.

There were two females in the Ultra last year, Moire and Mary Jennings F50 (Previous record holder)

Beside gohard running in his compression socks, I know 2 other female runners planning on running this years race.

There seems to be a good interest this year.

Will Enduro make it , thats the question.

nerraw1111

Planning to run the WW25.

Regarding trail running.

I ran part of the Howth IMRA course last week. While I enjoyed the run at the time, the following day, the left side of my foot was pretty sore and stiff to walk on.

Is this down to simply getting used to running on uneven loose terrain? As in, eventually my feet will become accustom to the constant twists and turns.

I've ran two sets of 4 miles runs since and it's not sore to run on at all, just But still stiff to walk on. I haven't ran trails before besides the odd run on the grass in the Phoenix Park.

Slogger Jogger

nerraw1111, its hard to say. You could have had a mild twist from the rocky mucky trails but in general running on this kind of terrain will stand to you and will be much better than road running. Build up slowly but do try to stick at it.

Stark

Takes a while for the various muscles to get used to the demands imposed by rough terrain. It's worth it in the long run though and in my opinion, you become less injury prone due to having more strength and flexibility in your joints. I haven't been injured since I started off road running anyway and I used always suffer from various overuse injuries when training on road/grass.