National Intermediate/Masters Cross Country 2011

brutes1

Next national cross country event on 6th February in ALSAA... Anyone familiar with the course/proposed course for this ??..Many takers out there for it, assume a lot of the novice field will don the spikes again ??
Masters now over 40s so the inter race could be quite competitive..

Speedy44

brutes1 wrote: »

Next national cross country event on 6th February in ALSAA... Anyone familiar with the course/proposed course for this ??..Many takers out there for it, assume a lot of the novice field will don the spikes again ??
Masters now over 40s so the inter race could be quite competitive..

nice one. So that means that all these young 30 somethings won't be crowding us old dudes out

Would love to know what the course holds as well. Last year in Boyle it was supposed to be 7K, but I think it was more like 5K!
If this weather holds, it should be pretty fast ..............

ecoli

brutes1 wrote: »

Next national cross country event on 6th February in ALSAA... Anyone familiar with the course/proposed course for this ??..Many takers out there for it, assume a lot of the novice field will don the spikes again ??
Masters now over 40s so the inter race could be quite competitive..

One of the flattest XC courses you are likely to run. Will be a fast one provided no major downpours between now and then

Burgman

ecoli wrote: »

One of the flattest XC courses you are likely to run. Will be a fast one provided no major downpours between now and then

So naturally I am hoping for a few major downpours in the coming week!

brutes1

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/timetable.pdf

Timetables up- what is the Celtic Cup race along with the Inters races anyone know..
Any one willing to tip likely winners, under 23 mens squad members who are around must be among favorites if they can run it?? ..

smmoore79

Anyone know the distance for this?

Forget that last comment, just seen it on the Athletics Ireland website!

Speedy44

smmoore79 wrote: »

Anyone know the distance for this?

Forget that last comment, just seen it on the Athletics Ireland website!

are you doing it smmoore?
I am entered in the Masters, which is syupposed to be a 7K, but last year it was more like 5K.
Are you familiar with the course, I heard that its supposed to be flat?

brutes1

Course map up

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/x_course_and_relaysunday_060211.pdf

7 laps...!

smmoore79

Speedy44 wrote: »

are you doing it smmoore?
I am entered in the Masters, which is syupposed to be a 7K, but last year it was more like 5K.
Are you familiar with the course, I heard that its supposed to be flat?

Yeah Im down to do it alright, though Id deffo be the slowest on the team and more towards the back of the overall pack! Have been resting the shins since Tuesday so im not 100% committed yet. Have been hobbling around work all week so not ideal..

I did a BHAA race there last year. It was quite flat but lots of turns, short enough loop as I can recall and we did 4/5 laps i think. Mentally it was a pain doing so many laps..

runnerboy

well lads anyone run today, seen some pictures on Rathfarnham site and it looks like it was a mudfest. top 3 were matthews, mckinney and harkin from tullamore. any other results or link to results please

bewleys berry

have run in some tough conditions but have never in my life encountered mud like today....obviously it didn't help that the intermediate was the last of 11 races off, but the only patch of grass that we ran on was in the 200m finishing straigh!! was fun really but the legs would be pulled off ya just trying to drag outta the ground:eek:

michael mulhare won the interdediate btw (lots of scottish and welsh lads running well in it too)

also, have never seen a runner in a 10k race (although one of the lads had it down as 7miles on gps) being attended to by first aid and foil blanket due to conditions....

cwgatling

I saw that guy too. Mud is too small of a word...

emerald007

Video of people running through muck,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii1kqsS_hf4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYtVwTX269E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QnHD0tM2_A

AJCOT

I fear some runners may still be stuck on the course!:D Well done to anyone who ran in that soup.

BeepBeep67

Brief update on the AAI site - no sign of full results yet.
http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=17452

heffsarmy

Well done Donore lads taking gold in the intermediate teams men

Burgman

Burgman wrote: »

So naturally I am hoping for a few major downpours in the coming week!

Sorry all. And today's first lesson is: Be careful what you wish for. I ran well but found the last lap quite an ordeal.

The second lesson is: Everyone has to run the same course. One of the leading group in the masters' race dropped out on the first lap. He told me he had lost the head. He knew at the start it wasn't going to go well - but he would have had a top 5 finish!

bewleys berry wrote: »

also, have never seen a runner in a 10k race (although one of the lads had it down as 7miles on gps) being attended to by first aid and foil blanket due to conditions....

This chap fell near me and I thought he had slipped. He picked himself up and fell straight back down again. A couple of us ran over to him. He said he was dizzy but he was recovering when first aid took over. I think he was just completely drained. That was the kind of day that was in it.

ocnoc

Today was a very very tough day at the office.

wgtomblin

Burgman wrote: »

The second lesson is: Everyone has to run the same course. One of the leading group in the masters' race dropped out on the first lap. He told me he had lost the head. He knew at the start it wasn't going to go well - but he would have had a top 5 finish!

Ha! Woulda Coulda Shoulda...
Fair play to anyone who stayed the course out there yesterday. It was hard going alright.

brutes1

results
http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?page_id=160

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/inter-men.pdf

Incredible course had to be ran to be believed! What a day.. lost one spike at 500m, had to stop and ditch the other shortly after, restarted about 150m behind the last man, managed to pick off nearly 60 spots by race end, was a testing course indeed..

flying_scotsman

It was my first inter-club cross country so you could say it was a baptism of fire!! Hats off to all who took park. As someone said to me afterwards, it should stand to you!

To the person running barefoot who ducked under the ropes and ran on the inside of the far pitch, shame on you. Thankfully you either had the good grace to pull out or were disqualified for cheating as I can't see your number on the results.

Condo131

Some bitch of a course! I'd put it in the top three of the toughest Xc I've run in (but a long way off the toughest )

Well done to everyone who slogged it out yesterday!

brutes1

@condo 131..what was the toughest..??..!
ran queens a couple of years ago interclubs , was very deep mud, sand, and hills of muck, but not for the entire course ..unlike yesterday...the times show how slow going it was..

climbhigh

ocnoc wrote: »

Today was a very very tough day at the office.

Well done OCnoc on skipping the IMRA hill race to be the vital fourth scorer on the Donore gold medal winning team. Keith Daly had a great run also and he looked to be relishing the conditions with a "what mud" attitude!

donothoponpop

climbhigh wrote: »

Well done OCnoc on skipping the IMRA hill race to be the vital fourth scorer on the Donore gold medal winning team.

Hadn't realized ocnoc was the important fourth scorer- well done Colm, (I retract my earlier slagging, you made the right call! We'll run Annagh again next year, you can try it then.)

marchino

Lord lads that was some mud bath. Words could not do it justice! it was like a cattle mart with a foot and a half pools of water in places!! Ran the mens 10k and i actually really enjoyed it yesterday, it seemed to fly by for me. 2 weeks good traing after the novices, stood to me and It was a real stamina test. Fair play to all who took part, you are all winners in my eyes.
I spoke to a sound guy i know after the race and he had it 10 and a half k on his watch. They were long laps but, in fairness, it was a nice course which helped and it wasnt cold really.
More rain would not have made any difference anyways, damage had been done, since last wednesday, it hadnt stopped, day or night but at least it better than the winter we had!

Is there any pics of this, theres only a handfull on sportfile, which is a shame, it was to good a mud bath to not take more around the course...
Any body have a link to more pics or even videos.??
The videos on here were good. be nice to show the inlaws!

Condo131

brutes1 wrote: »

condo 131..what was the toughest..??..!

Munster Masters, Borrisoleigh, Jan 3rd 1999. Indelibly marked on my brain!!

Deep mud for most of the course, including 200m of (high) shin deep, life-sucking, mud - 5 laps of this. Freezing conditions - strong wind, driving sleet, Devil's Bit mountain just about 1/4 Mile away, with a snowline about 100 feet or so above us.

Showers were in a hall back in Templemore (6 or 7 miles away).... and they were freezing!

....still gives me the shudders! :eek:

oldrunner

marchino wrote: »

Is there any pics of this, theres only a handfull on sportfile, which is a shame, it was to good a mud bath to not take more around the course...
Any body have a link to more pics or even videos.??
The videos on here were good. be nice to show the inlaws!

Rathfarnham have a good set of photos - obviously mainly of their runners but a lot of others sneak in. http://www.athleticsrathfarnham.ie/index.php/gallery/category/149-national-masters-and-intermediate-cross-country-alsaa-6-feb-2011

Ran the Masters - thank God I didn't have to do an extra 2 laps like the Intermediate race.

wgtomblin

Condo131 wrote: »

Munster Masters, Borrisoleigh, Jan 3rd 1999. Indelibly marked on my brain!!

Deep mud for most of the course, including 200m of (high) shin deep, life-sucking, mud - 5 laps of this. Freezing conditions - strong wind, driving sleet, Devil's Bit mountain just about 1/4 Mile away, with a snowline about 100 feet or so above us.

Showers were in a hall back in Templemore (6 or 7 miles away).... and they were freezing!

....still gives me the shudders! :eek:

:eek: Sounds nasty! They should have handed out T-shirts afterwards... "I survived Borrisoleigh 1999"

footing

flying_scotsman wrote: »

It was my first inter-club cross country so you could say it was a baptism of fire!! Hats off to all who took park. As someone said to me afterwards, it should stand to you!

To the person running barefoot who ducked under the ropes and ran on the inside of the far pitch, shame on you. Thankfully you either had the good grace to pull out or were disqualified for cheating as I can't see your number on the results.

He was dsq - he has form.

footing

oldrunner wrote: »

Rathfarnham have a good set of photos - obviously mainly of their runners but a lot of others sneak in. http://www.athleticsrathfarnham.ie/index.php/gallery/category/149-national-masters-and-intermediate-cross-country-alsaa-6-feb-2011

Ran the Masters - thank God I didn't have to do an extra 2 laps like the Intermediate race.

Some on Flickr

PositiveNegativ

Anyone able to offer a comparison to the 1999 National Seniors up in Stranorlar? That's always been my benchmark for mud.

Well done to oconc, flat runs can be hard too

sconhome

Folks, that looks rough!

I'd imagine in that quagmire it didn't matter what you had on your feet. I'd love to see the face on the groundskeeper this morning

Condo131

oldrunner wrote: »

Ran the Masters - thank God I didn't have to do an extra 2 laps like the Intermediate race.

Me too! ...and the course was even more churned up for them!

I had the Garmin on and found the course was 4.85 Miles = approx. 7.8k, instead of 7k. I know that I tracked well off the tap for much of the course, but I reckon the course was long......maybe trying to balance out last year's short course :rolleyes:.

107 photos here, mainly from the Women's Masters and a few from the start of the Men's Intermediate - I left to wrap up as I was freezing.

I always have a big gripe, with the AAI at County, Provincial and National level, over results and yesterday was no exception. This is not rocket science. Why can't the AAI get any software package to process the results faster? There are plenty of packages available. Failing that, just use Excel and get someone who can use Excel for data manipulation (I've seen AAI officials use EXCEL results in the same way as one would use a handwritten list - lads you can manipulate and search data with EXCEL!! :mad:)

Not for the first time, some of us didn't get home until after Midnight last night, so timely results are critical. We're now in the 21st century...can the AAI please, at least, move into the 20th century, where results processing is concerned.

tunguska

That'd put hair on your chest. Christ I never experienced anything like it. Met up with cwgatling before our race and we had a look at the mens masters. Alarm bells shouldve gone off when we noticed that all the runners seemed to be taking it handy, going pretty slow. Even Pauric mckinney didnt seem to be motoring at all(bizarrely enough pete matthews looked like he was actually enjoying himself......feckin' animal). But when our race started we quickly found out why it appeared like everybody wasnt firing on all cylinders. It was like running through a swamp. There wasnt one section on the course were you could get any kind of traction.
After 2km I was f u c k e d, the well constructed pre-race plans were out the fuinneog. All you could do in those conditions was hang on. At 5km I started to feel sorry for myself, wondering how the hell I was gonna get through another 5km of this crap, while at the same time trying to keep my position and hold off the pack of hungry wolves behind me. But then I spotted(well mostly just heard) PJ Carroll on the slidelines, screaming at me like a lunatic. Fair play PJ, that woke me up a bit, time to stop whinging, shut the **** up moaning and get on with it. Last lap was the worst, the legs were hanging off me, PJ had worked himself into an absolute frenzy, and Lads were trying to take my position all over the shop. But I held on, apart from one bloke from raheny who caught me off guard in the last 100. So shocked to be running on actual grass on the homestraight, legs were freaked out to hell by that stage, they didnt know what was going on.
Definitely one to remember. I know condo said he ran a race in 1999 that was worse.........that must've been some day condo, to beat that yesterday, that must've been like storming the beaches at Normandy.

bewleys berry

brutes1 wrote: »

results
http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?page_id=160

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/inter-men.pdf

Incredible course had to be ran to be believed! What a day.. lost one spike at 500m, had to stop and ditch the other shortly after, restarted about 150m behind the last man, managed to pick off nearly 60 spots by race end, was a testing course indeed..

well done brutes.....i had a similar experience although didn't run such a successful race.... one of my spikes split apart before halfway and i had to stop to throw it off (u wouldn't believe how long it takes u to pull a mucky shoe off ) and then i decided to run with one foot barefoot and the spike on the other foot (just for some bit of traction) - in another half lap i managed to fall going around a bend but was quickly up (covered in muck but couldn't stop laughing) and ran rest of race that way - there are saner people locked up:D