Wicklow Adventure Race 18/6/2011

WithCheesePlease

Really great event yesterday, so well run and organised. Massive thank you to the organisers, marshals, photographers and everyone else involved and out there.

If yesterday showed me anything it's that I'm crap on the bike! Really enjoyed coming down Spink and Djouce though, great craic. I think it's about time I finally starting getting out on some of those IMRA runs...

Adi CkonSh

Well done everyone, was a great day, really enjoyed the course, that 3.5k was hell but I felt like I'd earned the finish line when I got there after that. Got my sub 4 for the sport 3 41, lots more training to do!

nerraw1111

Split times.

http://www.obasen.nu/winsplits/online/en/default.asp?page=classes&databaseId=16647

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

The splits are depressing reading for me. First of all fair play to all those who did expert, I was originally to do it myself but due to injury and therefore lack of fitness I dropped to sport, and I was bloody glad I did so at the turn off after the kayak !

I only managed to get out four times on the bike this year so I was never going to do well but the extent of the time lost was unexpected. Starting on the bike I was basically in the top 25 after the run but I was in the 70s and the 80s for each bike stage, that's some time lost !

The time evened out so I just about crept into the top 50 overall but let that be a lesson to all you boys and girls, get your cycling practise in ! Good day though and very well organised as always.

adagio

Jasus... that was one tough race.. the feckin cycling was a killer!!
Myself, Marty and Ben (53 Degrees North) thoroughly enjoyed the pain..erm.. I mean race
I finished 4:45:13.. Marty finished 4:46:20.. Ben (who did no training nor knew what was involved) finished 5:41:23
The highlight for me was the brilliant banter w/folks during the race.. fantastic spirit.
Well done to all organizers and marshals.. brilliant event.
Ambrose.

Slogger Jogger

Daithi BC wrote: »

Well done to everyone who took part yesterday, and a big thenk you to all the organisers and marshals. I had a great day, though I found it pretty hard going in places in places. Despite a running background, I was much happier on the bike yesterday, though I did really enjoy that last 3.5km run.

You made some speed on that last run considering what you'd come through. Well done.

Peterx

Another great event from WAR productions.
Fair Play to Noelie Kavanagh, I thought Padraig was a cert yesterday after mr. consistent Eoin Keith unfortunately had his break in training.
Noelie was telling me before the race he ran 15.15 for 5k during the week and whilst congratulating him on such speed I was wondering if he'd have the stamina for a 4 hour race. No need to worry!
Lovely to be in the lead in front of so many of your friends and family.

Adrian raced strongly and tactically well but the lads in 3rd and 5th showed that the new blood coming into one day adventure racing in this country is upping the game all the time and that can only be a good thing.

I was in a good position to watch the race and it striking how many times positions chopped and changed (apart from Noelie) with that second run up Djouce really being the moving stage of the race after the softening up of the earlier stages.

I started to die a slow death climbing up Djouce and was nearly happy when caught on the bike as I then had someone to draft back to Laragh:p
The new last run is brilliant, every time I tried to up the pace and keep up with the sports racers pulling away from me my legs started to cramp and it's much much safer from an organiser's point of view.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79743705
(I somehow managed to stop the watch for the climb from the river most of the way up the flank of Djouce to point Slogger Jogger)

Daithi BC

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

You made some speed on that last run considering what you'd come through. Well done.

I obviously hadn't been going hard enough up until then!

Rinker

All in all a good day out for me. finished in 4.37 which was on target but my bike times were dreadful. I think Djouce saved me as I only got into my stride on that leg. Picked up a few places on the new section which wouldn't have been possible on the sleepers. Final run in nearly finished me but I think it was a good idea. Well done to all the organisers.

(BTW- if you were the person who I stopped to lend my pump to on the road to Lough Dan pm me to arrange its return. Thanks)

nerraw1111

Great race and well organised, couldn't fault the event.

I had a reasonably decent race, I'm looking at the postives rather than the negatives, first big race of the season, so a decent indicator of where I'm at, which is better than any previous years.

Went off in the second wave on expert. Worryingly, I found myself leading the wave for a brief period before settling in third which is were I stayed till transition.

My cycling is my weak spot but felt good on the (brand new) bike. Usually I'm passed by dozens on the bike leg but that never happened. Got to the kayak which was ok. Wasn't particularly quick, my kayak partner was never in a kayak before and had the oar the wrong way round.

The cycle out from the lake was ok but the cycle to Djouce was a killer. Felt surprisingly well on Djouce run and made up some places. Was on the descent that I started to feel a bit crap. The last bike section was tough and lost few places. The downhill from Sally Gap never felt like a downhill to me.

Last 3km was a sufferfest and lost more time as at this stage was just about to 'bonk.'

4.48 ish.

The splits paints a different picture than that I thought was the story of my race. Average position on run was in the 40s. The cycle splits were in the 90s to 110s. Ho hum. I think I had a sugar crash from the gels. I usually have a mars bar or some other from of energy bar. I relied solely on gels and sports drink for this which didn't work particularly well.

Great race though, really enjoyed it, particularly the new section of Djouce descent. Thanks to all the volunteers, Gardai etc.

And nice one for the photos Slogger. I usually make an effort to run in front of the camera but was fecked by the time i got you to you.

fishboy1974

Cramp, Cramp and more Cramp resulted in a slower than expected time, had hoped for under 5.15, eventually stumbled across the line in 5.47. Very tough race, thought tougher than Glenamlure. With that in mind think i'll have to sign up for that one. Onwards and upwards. Well done to all who finished what truly is a WAR.

Mumford

Great race and well organised - well done and thanks to Brian, Paul and all the other support/volunteers.

Great course with fantastic scenery and comraderie with fellow competitors. Last 3km were tough though!

makl

Rinker wrote: »

All in all a good day out for me. finished in 4.37 which was on target but my bike times were dreadful. I think Djouce saved me as I only got into my stride on that leg. Picked up a few places on the new section which wouldn't have been possible on the sleepers. Final run in nearly finished me but I think it was a good idea. Well done to all the organisers.

(BTW- if you were the person who I stopped to lend my pump to on the road to Lough Dan pm me to arrange its return. Thanks)

get their race number? http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BKAOwemr1tMJ:glendalough.wicklowadventurerace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/WAR-glendalough-entries-2011.xls+glendalough+entries&cd=6&hl=ga&ct=clnk&gl=ie&source=www.google.ie

great race, that last run was filthy alrght.

makl

this fella has photos of everyone who did it.

www.actionphotography.ie

glasshopper

Rinker wrote: »

All in all a good day out for me. finished in 4.37 which was on target but my bike times were dreadful. I think Djouce saved me as I only got into my stride on that leg. Picked up a few places on the new section which wouldn't have been possible on the sleepers. Final run in nearly finished me but I think it was a good idea. Well done to all the organisers.

(BTW- if you were the person who I stopped to lend my pump to on the road to Lough Dan pm me to arrange its return. Thanks)

Hey Rinker!
I have your pump. I tried to catch up but finished 10mins after you. I circled the finish area looking for no. 23 but only got as far as finding out your name. Found you anyway! BIG BIG thank you mate. you saved my day. I felt terrible and was praying you didn't need it yourself. I even carried it on the djouce run as I could't risk someone lifting it and the possibility I caught up with you. e-mail me

glasshopper

I was going very well till I got a puncture over half way into the first cycle. It was a slow one, and I soon figured out my pump was doing more sucking than blowing (someone messing with it). got a pump from a kind fellow competitor (Rinker) and thought i'd get to transition with about 20 shakes of the wrist . I couldn't bribe anyone at transition to fix it for me despite a generous offer knowing I had at least 10 mins on the kayak. with that, I lost 12 places before the kayak but took back 20 on the water (my sport ).
I then thought another pump up would get me to the next transition, but I was wrong and resigned to fixing it. total armature made a dogs dinner of it and nicked the tube and had to start again after another kind competitor threw me a tube. Lost another 82 places but pulled back 49 before the finish. 4:47 but should have been about 4:20 - 66th
Gator Skins (tyres) are not puncture proof and a bit of puncture practice is required.
But a great event. Still buzzin! And massive thanks to No. 23 for the pump and No. 50 for the tube. everyone passing offered help which goes to show the caliber of people involved. oh, and thanks also to the organisers and marshals despite not taking up my offer to fix the puncture - offer was a bj :eek:

Fi H

With ya on the kayaking front Glasshopper! I reckon there is a need t o make these sections a lot longer! Overall I was slow - as to be expected! Was hoping to do it sub 5 hours given the last person finished in 5hours 15 mins last year (yes i know this is really slow for sports class)!
Was delighted to do it in 4hours 19mins. Definitely a sign I am getting a bit faster.
Overall finished in 261 but was 43rd in the kayak section! its just not long enough to really influence the race results. I think a 6 - 10km kayak section would really make it interesting and even things up for the non triatheletes

glasshopper

Fi - Wicklow Roar will have a 3K Kayak. any longer would require more boats and gets harder logistically I guess.

jedistev

3 stars (average)

Hi

As i am newbie, been cycling over years and running for 3 years, and i am entry my first time in Glenmalure,

and read the course and it mention that road tyre is not recommend

here is details from website

===========
You will also have to ford a stream and cycle over rocky mountain roads on the climb, so this is not one for lightweight road racing tyre.

About 1.5km of the climb is on rocky mountain roads like this.

You have a number of bike and tyre choices here. Do you go for durability with a winter training tyre (eg. Gatorskin or Armadillo) and cycle through? Maybe stick with a full road race setup and run through

=========================

so i am not sure, maybe you can advice with tyres, should i change it or leave it on road tyres. ... (is tyre is similar as cyclo-cross tyre?)

as i am using Felt Z100 road bike?!? so would be great if i buy it before race start and get pratice on it

Q7

Did this last year. Used road tyres (700 23c Gatorskin). All of the cycle is on sealed tarmac roads. There's a small section (about 1km) where the road is not sealed, you also pass a stream at this point - just keep it handy and you'll still be able to cycle this road. Was able to cycle most of this except 200m or so that was very steep so had to walk.
If you want piece of mind go with a puncture resistant tyre such as Gatorskins. Otherwise you existing road tyres should be fine.

Head The Wall

Gatorskins are no good for pinch punctures only glass/thorn type punctures. A larger tyre is probably the best bet along with riding out of the saddle on the off road sections

Kander

Anyone have the gps profile for the Glenmalue full course? It'll make recce'ing it much easier for me thanks.

nerraw1111

Those that did the Glenmalure expert last year, toe clips or SPDs?

Q7

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Those that did the Glenmalure expert last year, toe clips or SPDs?

Used toe clips last year, but I suffered on the hills. I'd use SPDs if I was doing again as there's not too much changing of shoes when there's no kayak section.

GoHardOrGoHome

Q7 wrote: »

Used toe clips last year, but I suffered on the hills. I'd use SPDs if I was doing again as there's not too much changing of shoes when there's no kayak section.

Well it's run, cycle, run, cycle, river-run/obstacle course. So there's a fair few changes. I was cycling behind someone who had a pair of running flats stuck into his jersey during the cycling sections. Seemed to work for him. For most people though it means carrying a larger than necessary backpack instead of a camelbak or bumbag.

I wouldn't use cycling shoes unless you're a proper cyclist who would suffer without them.

nerraw1111

Cheers.

How much time would you expect to make up using spds? I've yet to pick up a pair but it 'appears' that SPDs will recover whatever time lost changing shoes and then some.

DogSlySmile

3 stars (average)

All this talk of changing shoes has got me thinking about the river run/obstacle course. Is this part of the race doable in cleats or is it worth changing back into runners???

The river run/obstacle course looks quite short so I dont know whether to stop and change shoes beforehand or leave the shoes and risk cramping

nerraw1111

DogSlySmile wrote: »

All this talk of changing shoes has got me thinking about the river run/obstacle course. Is this part of the race doable in cleats or is it worth changing back into runners???

The river run/obstacle course looks quite short so I dont know whether to stop and change shoes beforehand or leave the shoes and risk cramping

You could do the obstacle course in your barefeet. It's all on grass, jump in the river, back onto to grass and finish. It'd take less than five minutes. If I was using SPDs, I'd do it in my bare feet.

kerinsp

I done the river run in bare feet last year and I wouldn't do it again. The stones on the riverbed were sharp little feckers. You pass by your car in the carpark just before this section so you could stop at the car and dump the cycling shoes and put on a tatty old pair of runners if you want.

fluboy

Yea thats my advice also. Leave an old pair of runners in transition 1 and use them for the river run. Dont use your cycling shoes