Art O'Neill Challenge 2011

Helicon1

This is a great event. The night time training and getting to Wicklow for recces on weekends just adds to the enjoyment.

The recces are a huge assistance because you can make your route choices in daylight on a relatively short outing. On the recces you can also save important waypoints on your GPS watch for the event itself.

This year there will be a close to full moon which could help a lot (weather dependent) and make for an even more enjoyable night.

RacoonQueen

donothoponpop wrote: »

feck the kit for the moment, get yourself an Eastwest map of the region and recce the offroad parts in daylight. You've been talkimg about hillrunning for years, time to get out there and start running. You'll love it

Ah Reccemaster.

Well if I can't afford the essential kit for the race there will be no race. :pac:

If I do recces that'll take away one of my excuses! I was kinda planning on getting to the hills on the night, playing the damsal in distress card and getting someone to be my navigator. Do you think that would work? I think a few of the guys did some group recces last year, might be a good idea this year, hopefully there won't be inches of snow putting a stop to outdoor training...

kingQuez wrote: »

Aside from training to run that far I need to brush up on my navigation skills, working out the northings and eastings with the scouts was a long time ago for me. By the sounds of things relying on GPS isn't the best of ideas

Getting you to leave a breadcrumb trail for me is probably not going to work then?

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

From what I can remember the cost of mandatory kit wasn't that expensive but it depends on what you have to buy.

You should have a lot of the stuff from running. The only thing I had to buy was a survival blanket jacket which was about €20 and goretex trousers. I spent about €100 on the trousers which was money well spent. I picked them up in the 53 North Degrees sale in January.

donothoponpop

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Ah Reccemaster.

Well if I can't afford the essential kit for the race there will be no race. :pac:

Jeez I don't want that moniker to stick:D

What I mean about the kit is, you can forget about it for the short-term. Get yourself into the hills, and run in some of the terrain, get a feeling for your surroundings: that's the more important part. If it's for you, you'll start picking up pieces of kit piece by piece (hill running shoes, compass, map, etc.) as your runs require more equipment. There's lots of hill routes you can practice on that are only a 44b bus route away.

This map will be the best €11 you can spend, when you want to practice on the route itself.

ezikel

HI All,

Apologies for the delay in the site. We should be going live by the end of the weekend. Clearing final bit of red tape etc.

Also, there is a change to the date. Originally we had planned the 6th of Jan but we are pushing it out a further week to the 13th of Jan. I hope this does not inconvenience people too much. This was requested of us this week.

Other thing to note is that there are environmental restrictions on the event this year as the route passes through areas which are not usually walked on, so our numbers are limited. It is advised to enter early if you are thinking of doing the challenge.

I will start a new thread on here when the site goes live. This time I am goign to have a strong emphasis on the Facebook page as a resource for challengers to get tips and hints etc, rather than having a FAQ. We will se how it goes!

G

Fi H

4 stars (good)

This is turning into an interesting thread

I did this last year but was one of the unfortunate ones who had to drop out at Kippure House. I put this down to trying to go a good bit faster than my usual pace to keep up with a specific group which then led to blisters from being in the wrong shoes and socks for the first part of the challenge. I would say I would have been able for the distance but not the weather conditions which led to my usually comfortable gear being uncomfortable- lesson learned for this year. The trek out on tarmac is tough going - IMO I would love if we could do this on a bike instead wishful thinking i know

Having to drop out does not mean you didnt have the gear or werent capable of the challenge or are an idiot, I was offered the chance to go out in a group at Kippure but I decided it was best to stop rather than becoming a hinderance for a group in better condition. Theres nothing more demotivating than knowing you are holding a group of people back or listening to one person moaning their way along In terms of not being physically prepared, i doubt there were many people ready for snow, ice, overnight, freezing etc conditions! The conditions were not ideal and i think the guides who offered their services were really impressive.

This challenge from everything I've seen is aimed at being positive and open to anyone who wishes to give it a go. Its not really a race so it shouldnt really be viewed competitively. It is also set up specifically to allow people to give it a go and then drop out if they cannot continue. In a challenge things dont always go as planned and being negative doesnt help. If you cant accept that guides get lost and sometimes people are tired and make mistakes then I dont think this is the challenge for you! Either learn to navigate yourself or dont enter - simple as!

Gravale

Head over to here where the main discussion is taking place:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056395270