Leenane 5 Mile, Sunday 21/11/10

Micilin Muc

Are any of you here running this race, or have any of you ran it before?

I've signed up, but I'm not too sure of the course profile. How hilly is the route?

DAVE_K

Ran it last year. Good tough run. Savage hill in the middle that goes on for a K...........we had a strong wind in our faces too though. Was about 30 or 40 doing it last year. Well organized and plenty of tea and cake afterward!!

Micilin Muc

4 stars (good)

DAVE_K wrote: »

Ran it last year. Good tough run. Savage hill in the middle that goes on for a K...........we had a strong wind in our faces too though. Was about 30 or 40 doing it last year. Well organized and plenty of tea and cake afterward!!

30 or 40 people?! Oh no, I'll be last!! Aiming for between 45-50 mins.

yop

4 stars (good)

Great event last year, the weather played hell with it and the wind and rain made it interesting.
As DK said there that there was a dog of a hill in the middle and the last 1.5km was tough incline but a nice route.
The hospitality along the route and after the event was 2nd to none. As for tea, cakes, buns and sandwiches were savage!

Looking forward to it already.

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

I mistakenly thought I'd be in England for that weekend, but I'm not off until the following weekend, so hopefully, I'll be there. Right now, post-marathon, I'm as sore as hell, but it'll all be forgotten about by November 21 (I hope :eek:)

marchino

Might do this one.
The date (21st nov) has a special meaning for me.
Iam a lucky man to be alive.

Any idea of results for last/previous years??

ploughon

Hi there,
I am one of the volunteers involved in organising the run so maybe I can answer some of your questions and good to hear you guys who joined us last year enjoyed the day, we appreciated your support.:)

The winning time last year was 31.28, we had a realy windy day,there seemed to be a headwind in every direction, so i'd say we could have a quicker time this year.

Dont worry Micilin Muc, there was a good few people around the hour mark last year so you will definetly not be last!

The course profile, I will see if I can borrow a garmin and stick up a link for ya, here is an old fashioned course profile; the first half mile or so is flat, then there is a gentle (honestly) climb up to the 1 mile mark, from mile 1 to 2 is flat or downhill, at approx 2.1 miles the dog of a hill the lads mentioned starts, it is steep for about .2 miles then levels off to a steady climb up to about 2.6 miles, from there on it is down hill or flat for over a mile, 3.5 ish there is a small climb again and most of the last mile is down hill. I bet if you ran this last year in the wind you might not recognise that description.:D

Loads of home made cake and a hot cuppa for everyone, but only if you beat the castlebar lads back to the community centre after the race!!!

Hope to see you all on the 21st Nov, any other questions get back to me

mo_bhicycle

Hey Ploughon,
is there any sign up on the day or is it all in advance on runireland?

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

Cheers for the description, Ploughon. I see from the description on runireland that the route heads out the Westport Road from Leenane. Does it go straight out on that road for 2.5 miles and turn back, or is there a turn off the Westport road at some stage? (That Garmin link would be great!!)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Hey Ploughon,
is there any sign up on the day or is it all in advance on runireland?

It says on the runireland site that you can register from midday in the community hall...

ploughon

Hi Mo bhicycle,
ya you can sign up on the day from 12noon on wards in the community centre, or on runireland , which ever is handier for you.

Ronanmac, there is a townland called glean, which is a horseshoe shaped road leading up off the main road and back onto it again. So you go into glean at approx 2.1 miles , and come back onto the main road at approx 3.5miles then back into the village for the finish line which is in the main carpark across from the sheep and wool centre.

Off in search of a Garmin...

Micilin Muc

4 stars (good)

Thanks for the info Ploughon!

Am I right in saying that this is a rough route for the race?

yop

4 stars (good)

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Thanks for the info Ploughon!

Am I right in saying that this is a rough route for the race?

Thats it ya.

ploughon

Hi Micilin and Yop,

ya thats it , sorry for not getting back to you sooner.

Just heard today that the hotel in Leenane (theres only 1) are offering a special offer on their new seaweed baths/sauna/shower to anyone doing the run, I will get back to this thread once I get the details.

Might be a good way to deal with the post race burn!

Mr Freeze

Hopefully will be there again this year!

And hopefully the conditions will be better, great course though and the tea and cakes were the best ever at the end!!

ploughon

Hi CKWPORT,

I am with you on that, I hope we get a better day this year too, the forecast looks ok ish from mid week on , so we live in hope, if the day is as good as today it would be great.

The Cake!!! The cake did make a big impression last year, we have a retired German baker living localy, and he and his wife are responsible for the cake, fair play to them.....all I can say on that is get back up to the community centre as soon as you can after the race...

Found out the story with the seaweed bath/shower/sauna deal in the hotel. Everyone who registers for the race gets a discount voucher, 20 euro for the seaweed baths+sauna+shower...might swing it for anyone who needs to keep their partner happy for an hour while they go off and have a run!

No luck with the garmin yet, ran the course this morning ,lovely run on a crisp autumn morning, the only steep hill is the one from approx 2.1-2.3 it levels out to a steady climb after that steep bit, I just kept thinking of all the down hill to come...

yop

4 stars (good)

Hope we get a good morning for it. Bit of frost won't harm us too much!

hot to trot

4 stars (good)

oooh. just spotted this.
Would be tempted to do this if I can swing it away from the kids for the day. Gives me a chance to suss out the lie of the land for the Connemara run as well. Fingers crossed I will make it . Now better go back and check the details.

yop

4 stars (good)

hot to trot wrote: »

oooh. just spotted this.
Would be tempted to do this if I can swing it away from the kids for the day. Gives me a chance to suss out the lie of the land for the Connemara run as well. Fingers crossed I will make it . Now better go back and check the details.

Bring the kids for sure, its short enough event so they will be sound and there will be plenty of others there also now if the weather is good.

Its a good event, the hill in the middle is a great one for "tough chat"

ploughon

Hi YOP,

the weather is looking good alright , fingers crossed, I reckon we are owed a break from last year anyway!!

Hi Hot to trot,
hope you can make it. There will be a good few connamarathon vets there too if thats the other run your mentioning? Be glad to have a crack with ya about it on the day.

yop

4 stars (good)

plougon, you mentioned the 20 euro voucher for the sea weed baths and that, is there any website for that place? People might want to view whats on offer.

Thanks

hot to trot

4 stars (good)

Ah how could I resist that. Will see you there.
Im due to do my last 10 miler before a marathon the following week so I might do two laps .

ploughon

Hi YOP,
good question, I will find out and get back with a link, its in the new part of the Leenane Hotel, leave it with me.

Good on ya HOT TO TROT, you are living up to your name!

ploughon

Hi there,

I checked about the website for the seaweed baths. I dropped in there today,they are working on developing one which should be up soon, the only info online now is on the Leenane Hotel itself, the new seaweed baths are next to the hotel. I took a peak at the seaweed baths today, veeeery nice, sauna and then seaweed bath looking out onto KIllary Fjord, I might give the cold spring water shower afterwards a miss though!

All systems go here for the race, we are realy looking forward to it, and the weather tomorrow looks like perfect running weather.

Good luck to you all tomorrow, my only advice is to get back to the centre early for the homemade cake, and if the going gets tough..ploughon!

yop

4 stars (good)

Good luck to all tomorrow, it should be a cracker

kippy

4 stars (good)

A few of us heading out to this. Lovely day. Not a serious runner so hope I won't be last in. Looking forward to it though. Lovely spot. Good luck all.

hot to trot

4 stars (good)

Am sooooo glad I went down for this. The cake really was as fabulous as everyone said ..and the race was a cracker as well.:D Well done organisers.

Didnt get to meet any connemara vets though. People were busy talking to people they knew and I didnt manage to get chatting to anyone who had done it . Had a drive around and though the scenery on such a fab day was awesome. I did get a shock at how far it seemed to be to even drive around that distance. Gulp:eek:

Murraythree

4 stars (good)

Excellent day, excellent race. Just back from this race and I have to say well done to all in Leenane. Real sense of community spirit at this race with all the locals involved. I particularly like supporting events like this as all money raised will go to the upkeep of the local ambulance service. Plenty of stewards and lots of encouragement throughout the race. Fantastic route, breathtaking scenery and top nosh refreshments afterwards.

Loved it, well done lads.

kippy

4 stars (good)

Agreed with the above. Lovely run. Lovely people, lovely food.
Cheers for the hospitality, will be back.

yop

4 stars (good)

Really enjoyed that today, knocked 4mins 28 off my time from last year so really happy with that.

Loved the cake!!! Well done to the winner, savage time 28 mins!!!

The hill in the middle was a nice suprise for some

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

Great race, really enjoyable. Not surprised that there was no elevation chart available beforehand... those hill would put anyone off!

The race was very well organised, and you'd go a long way to come across such friendliness and such strong community spirit as you would in Leenane today (oh, and the cake was great!).

Nice to meet Yop and Micilín Muc, didn't get to meet any other Boardsies. Personally delighted with my highest ever race finish of fifth, although, having never run a five mile race, it was always going to be a PB

A rambling race report here.

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

Another race report here at a friend's blog, with Yop caught in action at the finish line, and two messers finishing behind him!

catweazle

ronanmac wrote: »

Another race report here at a friend's blog, with Yop caught in action at the finish line, and two messers finishing behind him!

Big Ron????

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

catweazle wrote: »

Big Ron????

Ehh.... I suspect it's actually a reference to Ron Burgundy (long story!)

kippy

4 stars (good)

Anyone any idea where the times will be posted?

yop

4 stars (good)

ronanmac wrote: »

Another race report here at a friend's blog, with Yop caught in action at the finish line, and two messers finishing behind him!

Me caught up!! What did I do

Got to it, note my bowlaxed heading for finish line and them 2 boys as if they haven't started it!!!! Gas men, I was running beside them for most it.

The lad in that blog also I recognise from the Tuam 8km.

yop

4 stars (good)

kippy wrote: »

Anyone any idea where the times will be posted?

From my understanding it will be a few days as its a fully manual process

What did ye think of the medals, looking at them last night they were class I thought!

kippy

4 stars (good)

yop wrote: »

From my understanding it will be a few days as its a fully manual process

What did ye think of the medals, looking at them last night they were class I thought!

It looked manual alright - but thats not nn issue. Where will they be going up though? Is there a local website?

The medals are very good. I tell ya for the sake of a €15 entry fee you got a lot for it. A lot more than many runs you would pay more to enter. I wasnt expecting a medal to be honest.
The knees up afterwards was lovely. Will defo be back at the run next year to try beat my time.


Looking at the Tuam 8K now in Mid Jan - something else to train for.
Started back in April and got through a few events (Ballindine, Monivea,Achill,Maree,Streets of Galway, Inish Meain) this year. Going to try at least one a month next year and try ramp up the amount of running I do in them.
So far my favourite has been Inish Meain, purely because of the "island" nature of it. This one was well up there though.

yop

4 stars (good)

kippy wrote: »

It looked manual alright - but thats not nn issue. Where will they be going up though? Is there a local website?

The medals are very good. I tell ya for the sake of a €15 entry fee you got a lot for it. A lot more than many runs you would pay more to enter. I wasnt expecting a medal to be honest.
The knees up afterwards was lovely. Will defo be back at the run next year to try beat my time.


Looking at the Tuam 8K now in Mid Jan - something else to train for.
Started back in April and got through a few events (Ballindine, Monivea,Achill,Maree,Streets of Galway, Inish Meain) this year. Going to try at least one a month next year and try ramp up the amount of running I do in them.
So far my favourite has been Inish Meain, purely because of the "island" nature of it. This one was well up there though.

Ya there is a local Leenaun website that they will be up on.

The cake was top notch Is it any wonder I am slow

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

yop wrote: »

Me caught up!! What did I do

Got to it, note my bowlaxed heading for finish line and them 2 boys as if they haven't started it!!!! Gas men, I was running beside them for most it.

The lad in that blog also I recognise from the Tuam 8km.

From what Bren was telling me, their whole race was a conversation aimed at distracting themselves from the hills!

kippy wrote: »

It looked manual alright - but thats not nn issue. Where will they be going up though? Is there a local website?

The medals are very good. I tell ya for the sake of a €15 entry fee you got a lot for it. A lot more than many runs you would pay more to enter. I wasnt expecting a medal to be honest.
The knees up afterwards was lovely. Will defo be back at the run next year to try beat my time.


Looking at the Tuam 8K now in Mid Jan - something else to train for.
Started back in April and got through a few events (Ballindine, Monivea,Achill,Maree,Streets of Galway, Inish Meain) this year. Going to try at least one a month next year and try ramp up the amount of running I do in them.
So far my favourite has been Inish Meain, purely because of the "island" nature of it. This one was well up there though.

The results will be on www.leenanevillage.com on Wednesday apparently.

The medals were very nice, in keeping with the whole event.

I did Tuam this year, a nice race, two turns of a loop with a bit of a hill in the middle (nothing to compare to Leenane!). Nice get together at the end with scones and cake (I like the way that these races are turning into calorie replenishers!).

Of the races I've done this year, the Craughwell ten miler stands out in terms of organisation and post-race grub, but Leenane would push any race close.

Murraythree

4 stars (good)

kippy wrote: »

Looking at the Tuam 8K now in Mid Jan - something else to train for.
Started back in April and got through a few events (Ballindine, Monivea,Achill,Maree,Streets of Galway, Inish Meain) this year. Going to try at least one a month next year and try ramp up the amount of running I do in them.

Hi Kippy. Seen as you are planning racing once a month here is one for you next month;). Clarinbridge - 10Km on Sunday, 5th Dec 2010 at 12:30pm. All monies raised are in aid of the IHPCT Lourdes Fund 2011.
Check out Athenry AC website for more details.

kippy

4 stars (good)

Murraythree wrote: »

Hi Kippy. Seen as you are planning racing once a month here is one for you next month;). Clarinbridge - 10Km on Sunday, 5th Dec 2010 at 12:30pm. All monies raised are in aid of the IHPCT Lourdes Fund 2011.
Check out Athenry AC website for more details.

I had seen that (it was meant to be this weekend, wasn't it) however the one race a month will be starting in Jan.
I've three/four hectic weekends in December and unfortunately amn't around for that run. It does look good though!

Its actually very weird being at these runs (been at a good few which have been discussed here) and knowing people you have "spoken to" online are there as well.

I was the one who came in about 52 mins at the weekend with the blue top, red togs and totally un colour co-ordinated gear.

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

kippy wrote: »

I was the one who came in about 52 mins at the weekend with the blue top, red togs and totally un colour co-ordinated gear.

sounds like the Carlow GAA strip! Must keep an eye out for you at the next race!!

ploughon

Hi Folks,

heartwarming to read all your positive comments, I will make sure everyone involved gets your feedback, thanks .
Above all, thanks to you guys for coming down and making the day.

And What a day! Could'nt have asked for a better day for a run, and what a winning time 28.28!!!, congratulations again,unreal for a challenging course. Great battle for the top places and fantastic to see a lot of the people who took part last year here again yesterday.

I realy enjoyed seeing a few people who were making their debut yesterday, pinning on a number for the first time and making it around the course no bother, delighthed for them.First of many for them hopefully.

And people traveled from all over, when I said yesterday we really appreciated that, we realy do.

We had a strong turnout from Connemara yeaterday too, it was great to hear people speaking Irish, I wish I had more than a cupla focail so I could join in a bit more.

Thanks to the Fit for Beer Crew, K2 Crew, the Inlaws and the women with Prams (RESPECT !)

Ya Hope to get the results up onto www.leenanevillage.com by midweek,
I am a toatal technocaveman so I will be depending on help and prayer/swear to make that happen. Some great photos too from yesterday, will see if we can get them up too.

HOT TO TROT, sorry I didnt get to talk to you yesterday. I will be training on the connemara course every sunday morning from now on, if you want to meet up just let me know, I've done it twice and would be more than happy to give you the heads up on the course.

RONANMUC, thanks for the race report , and fair play to you, top 5 finish in a very strong field. The garmin link, your right , just as well I couldnt beg a garmin beforehand, that would have put me off too.

Thanks again guys for making the day, hope to see you all again next year.

The Cake was fantastic, and is'nt that why most of us run, me anyhow, so we can eat cake!

snailsong

Did this yesterday and had a great day out. It was my wife's first race, we've had this as a target since she took up running a few month's ago. She achieved her targets of running every step of the way and finished in 53 or so. I might have gone a little faster by myself. Delighted all round, the day, the organisation and the cake were all excellent. Well done to all involved.

Kippy, from your time I must have seen you on the way around. If I'm right we passed you on the steep part of the horeshoe and you overtook us again on the downhill. You may have noticed us, my wife has distinctive red hair, I'm pretty grey. I would have been doing the coach/ motivator thing (being a veteran of 5 events, 6 months!), probably just annoying her.

looking forward to another race soon as possible, Clarinbridge sounds interesting but it clashes with the Sean Kelly cycle I was kinda thinking of doing.

Anybody know of any other road races in the near future, not too far from Westport?

kippy

4 stars (good)

snailsong wrote: »

Kippy, from your time I must have seen you on the way around. If I'm right we passed you on the steep part of the horeshoe and you overtook us again on the downhill. You may have noticed us, my wife has distinctive red hair, I'm pretty grey. I would have been doing the coach/ motivator thing (being a veteran of 5 events, 6 months!), probably just annoying her.



Anybody know of any other road races in the near future, not too far from Westport?

I remember ye! - Fair play to her - thats good going.
Yep I had to walk the hill but managed to run the rest. Its getting psychological at this stage! Ah well, this time 7 months ago I coundnt run from here to the door. Slow and steady etc..... I am running about the same length as yourself and a similiar number of events.


Read this a few days ago.......

"Westport 5KM on Sunday 12th Dec at 12 noon. Race through the grounds of Westport House. " - Cant get much nearer than that!

Theres an Athenry 5K I think on Stephens day, meant to be a great run, doesnt suit me though. After that all I can see is Tuam 10K around the 16th of Jan.

Thats all that is up on runireland.com anyway.

yop

4 stars (good)

List of races here

http://www.runireland.com/


Westport 5km as mentioned and then the Athenry race, this is usually 10km, but they may have a 5km also.
Did the 10km last year but the weather dictated this last year as Stephens day didn't suit.

kippy

4 stars (good)

yop wrote: »

List of races here

http://www.runireland.com/


Westport 5km as mentioned and then the Athenry race, this is usually 10km, but they may have a 5km also.
Did the 10km last year but the weather dictated this last year as Stephens day didn't suit.

You're right, it is a 10K, my bad. Meant to be a great run though.

snailsong

kippy wrote: »

I remember ye! - Fair play to her - thats good going.
Yep I had to walk the hill but managed to run the rest. Its getting psychological at this stage! Ah well, this time 7 months ago I coundnt run from here to the door. Slow and steady etc..... I am running about the same length as yourself and a similiar number of events.


Read this a few days ago.......

"Westport 5KM on Sunday 12th Dec at 12 noon. Race through the grounds of Westport House. " - Cant get much nearer than that!

Theres an Athenry 5K I think on Stephens day, meant to be a great run, doesnt suit me though. After that all I can see is Tuam 10K around the 16th of Jan.

Thats all that is up on runireland.com anyway.

Thanks guys, I keep an eye on runireland but it doesn't seem to list everything that's on. I thought that the Westport one was christmas (was it later last year because of the weather?), I'll defo do that one. looking out for a 10k so Tuam seems a good bet.

hot to trot

4 stars (good)

Ploughon was that you on the chair?
I recognise setanta from Sunday but didnt see the others. Well done on a super finish Ronanmac.

Id love to join you for some Sunday runs but im sure you will be much faster than me. Id only hold you back.

Am I the only one that didnt think the hill in the middle was that bad? Even with my dodgy Achilles LOL
PB for me in my first 5 miler so will have to come back next year again and see if I can shave it down a bit.:)

Micilin Muc

4 stars (good)

hot to trot wrote: »

Am I the only one that didnt think the hill in the middle was that bad?

I didn't think so either! I've trained on steeper hills, but never at race pace.

ronanmac

4 stars (good)

hot to trot wrote: »

Am I the only one that didnt think the hill in the middle was that bad?

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I didn't think so either! I've trained on steeper hills, but never at race pace.

Yikes! You people are crazy!! I found the hills tough . That first long drag out of Leenane was a b*tch, I suffered all the way to the top and kept wondering what the hell I was doing in a race at all? As for the hill in Glann, that just felt like a head-down piece of gruesomeness. I think that if it was an incline like Croagh Patrick, I'd run accordingly, but I really felt it while running it as a five mile race. I now feel a bit wussy!