Kinvara Half Marathon

eliwallach

Was hoping to do this but it clashes with (well, the same weekend) as Ballycotton.:(
Think they may suffer numbers-wise as a large Galway contingent come to Ballycotton each year.

DULLAHAN2

38 euro to enter. Is this not a bit expensive?

ger664

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

38 euro to enter. Is this not a bit expensive?

I have seen/paid more for a half.

baza1976

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

38 euro to enter. Is this not a bit expensive?

yes it is expensive

ger664 wrote: »

I have seen/paid more for a half.

Doesn't make it right.

ger664

I am not in anyway affiliated with this event.

But for me considering that its only a 20 min drive away €38 is reasonable. There are very few club run half marathons in this area, and I have spent more on entry fee and petrol in races of this distance further a field.

I do not think the entry fee should be judged until after the event when at which point it should be determined if people got value for money or not.

For example the Longford Half is more expensive then this but you get a huge goodie bag, a very well Marshalled and organised event and decent bit of grub afterwards, so no one has a problem paying €40 for it.

DULLAHAN2

ger664 wrote: »

I am not in anyway affiliated with this event.

But for me considering that its only a 20 min drive away €38 is reasonable. There are very few club run half marathons in this area, and I have spent more on entry fee and petrol in races of this distance further a field.

I do not think the entry fee should be judged until after the event when at which point it should be determined if people got value for money or not.

For example the Longford Half is more expensive then this but you get a huge goodie bag, a very well Marshalled and organised event and decent bit of grub afterwards, so no one has a problem paying €40 for it.

How big is the goodie bag for this event?

ger664

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

How big is the goodie bag for this event?

It was biggest bag I ever got, take Dublins goodie bag and add as much again.

Runonewon

If you think this race is expensive check out Connamarathon half,Galway City half marathon and Achill half to name but three these are"proper" expensive:eek: all between 65 and 70 euros.

DULLAHAN2

ger664 wrote: »

It was biggest bag I ever got, take Dublins goodie bag and add as much again.

Cool i'm not even sure what a bad bag is as i never done a half something i will be doing this year.

Runonewon wrote: »

If you think this race is expensive check out Connamarathon half,Galway City half marathon and Achill half to name but three these are"proper" expensive:eek: all between 65 and 70 euros.

If people pay these prices every year they wont come down. I will prob do this half as a training run and enjoy the experience as my first proper half will be kildare.

catweazle

Runonewon wrote: »

If you think this race is expensive check out Connamarathon half,Galway City half marathon and Achill half to name but three these are"proper" expensive:eek: all between 65 and 70 euros.

Good point....but its a bit unfair to lump Achill in with the other two races, its organised by the Achill Tourist board and most if not all of Achills profits go to local charities

http://www.achillmarathon.com/fundraising.html

Runonewon

catweazle wrote: »

Good point....but its a bit unfair to lump Achill in with the other two races, its organised by the Achill Tourist board and most if not all of Achills profits go to local charities

http://www.achillmarathon.com/fundraising.html

Fair point.I've ran it 3 times and had planned not to run this year because of the entry fee,may reconsider.

RedPeppers

Is anyone here planning on doing this? its not that far for me so barring injury i will be running it. Anyone know anything about the course profile? Thanks

petermijackson

Yeah I plan on running this as part of my London training, I know nothing about the route so any advice is welcome

BrokenMan

going to run it as part of my training for Connemara. According to the website its a flat course but there are a lot of hills around Kinvara so Im not sure what their definition of flat is

sconhome

http://www.rockandroad.ie/raceinfo.html

Thats the weblink for the route. I cant see in on MapMyRun to get a better idea of the ups and downs. If time allows I mights cycle the course to map it off Garmin later in the week.

Speedy44

amphkingwest wrote: »

http://www.rockandroad.ie/raceinfo.html

Thats the weblink for the route. I cant see in on MapMyRun to get a better idea of the ups and downs. If time allows I mights cycle the course to map it off Garmin later in the week.

A buddy of mine lives next door to the organizer and the course is his regular training loop and he says that its actually not too bad at all.
You would imagine with Kinvara been beside the Burren that it would be hilly, but he says that it somehows avoids them for the most part.

OuterBombie

Howdy,

I live in the area as well but don't know the organizers or have anything to do with the race.

When I was training and not stuck in parenting retirement the route was on my regular run route. It's mainly flat, couple of rollers, country roads. The course runs parallel to the Burren foothills so scenery is good without the hills. If you want hills, sign up for the Burren marathon and half marathon from Ballyvaughan in May. I ran the marathon of that last year and its a cool down to earth event.

Anyhow, course flat, price not too bad in my opinion, Kinvara great option for a weekend stay, good pints of sauce in quality public houses. Hmmmm, Guinness

sconhome

I took a trip around the course yesterday. I have it done on Map My Run but having a few issues with publishing the route.

It is a smashing course across the Burren and it's going to be really great going off the Quay at the end to ease the legs!

Start and Finish are right in the heart of the village / town. The only possible problem I could see would be parking but this will depend on the overall numbers.

Looking forward to it!

seanin4711

Looking forward to it!
only over the road for me!
happy days!
c u there!
s

RAL3

I'm entered in this race at the weekend as it fits in with my training program.

Does anybody know what kind of numbers are expected?

central park

Check the website and under "enter here" there's a link that says go to start list. It tells you who's entered in each race, so far over 150 for Half and over 180 for 10k so should be good weekend. Worried about the course though, as I drove that way recently and there are some serious "hills" alright. Just hope I was on the wrong route! Can anyone clarify for me?

central park

Forgot to say, I'm doing the Half!

RAL3

I'm doing the half also.

Previous posts have described it as relatively flat - they must have been IMRA runners!!! All part of the fun though............

petermijackson

I'm also running the Half. Will it take me long to get to from Dublin?

Bugsy2000

petermijackson wrote: »

I'm also running the Half. Will it take me long to get to from Dublin?

The motorway will get you to Galway in 2 hours now. Kinvarra is about 20mins from where you exit the motorway. You can't miss it, go to the end of the motorway and take the left exit for the Limerick Road, 10min out to Kilcolgan, take a right and a straight 10min drive into Kinvarra. Lovely spot too.

See you there:)

RAL3

petermijackson wrote: »

I'm also running the Half. Will it take me long to get to from Dublin?

Nice to meet you there today Peter, and to run with you for the few miles at the end (it was pretty tough to try to catch up to you!).

Congrats on a great run and best of luck in London.

Bugsy2000

Was it just me or did the 4mile drag at the start of this race seem never ending?

All in all it was a good day. Race was very well organised. Only downside was the registration was a bit manic. The Pier Head is a tad bit small to hold a race registration me thinks. Apart from that it was all positives. Well done all.

dev123

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

Was it just me or did the 4mile drag at the start of this race seem never ending?

All in all it was a good day. Race was very well organised. Only downside was the registration was a bit manic. The Pier Head is a tad bit small to hold a race registration me thinks. Apart from that it was all positives. Well done all.

To me it felt that I travelled more up hill than I did down hill. There must be a 4th dimension that brought me back down to sea level for the finish.

Was my first half and learned a lot from it. Will definitely be back next year.

alitoast

My first half as well, wonderful event to start with, well done to the organisers.

central park

Yes, I felt we would never reach the first turn right, it was only over four miles but felt a lot longer! It couldn't have been a better day weatherwise and well done to the organisers. It was a fantastic success for a first event and long may it continue! When I arrived at the third water station, they had run out of water but later on a car came towards the runners handing out bottles of water so someone was thinking of the slower runners and it was much appreciated, thanks a million!

Boyler1971

Yeah, Nice course and good event overall,BUT(and its a big BUT) a little bit disappointed with the prizes considering the entry fee.It never fails to amaze me how race organisers let their event down by to failing provide prizes that reflect the income generated for the event, which was somewhere in the region of 15 thousand euro for this race.I think the lads organising these events should look at the prize structure of the successful club races around the country,Dunshaughlin,Raheny,Dunboyne etc, and maybe consider modelling themselves on these hugely popular fixtures.I know this topic has been flogged to death on Boards, but to be handed a (sponsored) running top as a prize in a half marathon is a bit of a downer.Sorry for the rant BUT!!

Huff n Puff

I want to echo the thoughts of Boyler1971. The prizes were pretty shocking for such a large event. When you pay a large entry fee you would expect the prizes to be better.

The race itself was enjoyable, but the prizes leave a lasting impression for me. I was prepared to overlook the lack of toilet facilities, the long queues for everything, the large entry fee, the starting delay, cos I actually enjoyed the race and the scenery and the organisers were a friendly lot, but the prizes were the last straw for me.

Sorry for the moan, but there are just too many races out there looking to make a quick buck these days and they need to be called out on it. Entry prices should be coming down at this stage (the country is bankrupt) and prize money should be more than it was 20 years ago.

I don't think the fact that it is a first time event should mean competitors should expect anything less. If you are charging a high entry fee then you need to organise your race as well as other similar races. If you want to be forgiven for being a first time event with plenty to learn then you should have started off with a lower entry fee and raised the price of the event in year 2 or 3 once you know you have a quality event.

seanin4711

Better prizes e.g.medals(craughwell 10 etc)
Bigger registrations area eg community centre
Portaloos
Water on course (nice gap from mile 6 to when i saw the guy handing out the water from the car)
Start on time plz.
After that,the course was great and testing and look forward to it next year.