2013 Art O'Neill Challenge

blackvalley

What are your thoughts on the origional rout from Billy Byrnes gap to CP2. That took you from the gap over to O:034 060 at the base of Silsean and on to Glenbride at 0: 038 042 . Most people now seem to stay to the east of the Ballinagee river but on a recent reccy I found the ground conditions very good on the origional rout. Granted its slightly longer.
Blackvalley.

Gravale

The original route is perfectly fine and the one that I've done about twenty times over the years. It has the advantage of no rivers to cross (maybe a small stream) and is safer when the rain swells the rivers on the east side of the valley. It's slightly more complicated route-wise, especially when you reach Glenbride, because you have to pass through a few fields and over a few gates and along a fire-break to Ballinagee. It's actually a little more interesting too, but that aspect may not be high on the agenda of runners.

See this map:

Glenbride Route.jpg

PvtPile

Gravale, (AON afficionado) I've a few more questions to annoy you with, I did the mountain section in 6 hours the other night. The viewranger put me at 3.8km per hour. This seems pretty slow to me is it. I'm not a runner now or anything but I don't want to be last either.

Anyway, my question is, what kind of speeds would be normal/quickish on the road section for the walkers.

What do you reckon will be the average time out to ballynultagh?

And would many 'walkers' run any or jog any part of the road section. I was wondering would i jog maybe the first ten k to improve my timing a bit. Worried about gettin cold after i cool down though.

Thanks a mil.

AON2013

PvtPile wrote: »

Anyway, my question is, what kind of speeds would be normal/quickish on the road section for the walkers.

What do you reckon will be the average time out to ballynultagh?

And would many 'walkers' run any or jog any part of the road section. I was wondering would i jog maybe the first ten k to improve my timing a bit. Worried about gettin cold after i cool down though.

Thanks a mil.

This year the first leg is quite a bit longer at 30km so it's vital whether walking or running to take it easy on this section or you won't have enough left in the tank for the tougher mountain sections.

Reasonable times for this at walking pace is 5-6km an hour. Any faster than that and you could be pushing yourself too hard.

For those that don't know Great Outdoors will be hosting information nights about the challenge this Monday(7th for Ultra/Hybrid) and Tuesday(Trekkers) at 7pm. Info at both will be similar so don't worry if you can't make the appropriate one. We also hope for pre-registration to be available after the presentation.

Hope this helps.

Gravale

Six runners and one walker were seen running/walking away from Dublin Castle last night at midnight on this year's first Art O'Neill. Lovely conditions with half a moon, clear skies for much of the exercise, and unseasonably mild temperatures throughout the night. No rain either. The sting in the tail at the finish was the 7km climb up and out of the Glenmalure Valley and down to Glendalough for the St. Kevin's bus home.

Friday nights in January may be busy on the hills.

blackvalley

That rout back to Glendalough ! Is it via the Wicklow Way or is there a shorter way

Gravale

From Baravore to Glendalough. Along the valley, straight up the side and down to Glendalough. See map below.

Glenmalure.jpg

Gasherbraun

Gravale wrote: »

From Baravore to Glendalough. Along the valley, straight up the side and down to Glendalough. See map below.

Glenmalure.jpg

That would be a pretty brutal way to end the challenge for most people :-)

I have gone up that side of Glenmalure onto Lugduff and it is about 450m of very steep tough ground as I recall. Certainly a lot tougher than the climb to Art's Cross.

Still interesting to see how you do it; I had assumed you followed the longer route over Wicklow way and had not even considered this more direct way.

Gravale

There are few things more tedious than the Wicklow Way from Glenmalure to Glendalough. I did it once after an Art O'Neill Walk and was in therapy for months.

Rick Dagless

Hello there,

Just wondering what gear those who are doing the hybrid and the ultra are thinking of wearing for the first part of AON up to checkpoint 1. I imagine there's a fine line between freezing and overheating in the first section!

Rogue Runner

I'll make the call on the night. But reckon if it's cold I'll will be wearing a Cantebury base layer, Under Armour mid layer, woolen hat, gloves, Northface winter running pants (tights) 1000 mile socks, Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s. High Vis Vest.

Outside

It's getting close now, legs are twitching with excitement for Friday night/Saturday morning!

Quick question: Art's cross isn't really and check-point so we just run pretty much straight past it. Is normal "AON Etiquette" to touch cross and off you go again or do people just take a quick glance and keep going?

Also in relation to sleep for this one, how do people find it? Get plenty of sleep the night before and do everything as normal? How does it feel for someone who has never done a "through the night" event before?

Rogue Runner

Reckon it's a personal choice. I'll be touching the cross myself. I have done any time I've reccied this stage.

In regards to sleep i'll be getting early nights in all this week.

squelch666

last year the hybrid runners left at 115am and the ultra runners left at 2am..will this be the same this year?

aigster

Didn't know about touching the cross.... But it has a touch of class to it ... So thanks for that.
Be glad to see it on night

Micilin Muc

squelch666 wrote: »

last year the hybrid runners left at 115am and the ultra runners left at 2am..will this be the same this year?

No, they both leave at the same time this year.

Gravale

This is important.

You walk from Dublin Castle by road for 22kms. Then you turn right into fields before coming out onto the road again to Ballysmuttan Bridge.

Attached are three maps showing you the route through the fields. It'll be pitch-black when you reach the fields so it would serve you well to study the route. The entrance into the fields is an obscure (easy to miss) small wooden gate. See attached photo.

Fields.jpg

Athdown - B'Smuttan (1).jpg

End of Road (a).jpg

Art O'Neill 032 (Large).jpg

Micilin Muc

Interesting info night tonight. Lots of questions asked, mostly "what gear should I bring" and "what's mandatory on the list" and "what gear should I bring" and "do I need everything on the list" ... :rolleyes:

In fairness, it was great to have Eoin Keith there giving us his tips Will he run, 12 days after running 300 miles over 3 days?!

nerraw1111

I collected my number 4 hours after hurting calf again after just 5km of running. Hoping for a miraculous recovery. I may switch to walking. Shame to miss out on the adventure.

aigster

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Interesting info night tonight. Lots of questions asked, mostly "what gear should I bring" and "what's mandatory on the list" and "what gear should I bring" and "do I need everything on the list" ... :rolleyes:

In fairness, it was great to have Eoin Keith there giving us his tips Will he run, 12 days after running 300 miles over 3 days?!

He's some man ... 300 miles.... And looked like he was relishing the run as he packed away his race number...I guess this could be a recovery run for him

Enduro

I'll definitely be running! Wouldn't miss this race. It's such a classic, brilliantly gnarly run

davidsatelle100

Gravale wrote: »

This is important.

You walk from Dublin Castle by road for 22kms. Then you turn right into fields before coming out onto the road again to Ballysmuttan Bridge.

Attached are three maps showing you the route through the fields. It'll be pitch-black when you reach the fields so it would serve you well to study the route. The entrance into the fields is an obscure (easy to miss) small wooden gate. See attached photo.

Drove up past the route on Sunday there are flags across the field which once your on the lookout for them are easy enough to spot. They seem to go right through to the far

Gravale

We went from CP1 at Ballynultagh to Ballinagee today. Because of the amount of water in the Ballinagee River we had to go downwards more than we normally would to find a suitable place to cross. It'll be dark when runners and fast walkers reach the river on Saturday morning, so be careful.

I avoided that concern last Saturday in the dark by taking the river-free descent on the west side of the Glenbride valley.

See these maps of today's descent on the eastern side AND the western side, from CP1 to Ballinagee.

To Ballinagee.jpg

From CP1.jpg

CP1 to B'gee (West).jpg

Micilin Muc

Any walkers have any idea what time they're going for?

I registered as an ultra but an injury has forced me to "downgrade" to a hiker. I suppose I'm hoping for something around 12-13 hours.

Gravale

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Any walkers have any idea what time they're going for?

I registered as an ultra but an injury has forced me to "downgrade" to a hiker. I suppose I'm hoping for something around 12-13 hours.

Walkers times will be as varied as the runners times. Some walkers will go below 12 hours while others will do 16 hours. I've walked 10hrs 15mins myself thanks to a jog down Table Track. Just get to CP1 in an efficient manner and you'll be assigned to a walking leader who'll get you to the finish well within 12-13 hours. Unfortunately sometimes one or two people join a group whose speed is too much for them and, as a consequence, everyone is slowed down. Hanging around unnecessarily at checkpoints doesn't help either.

By the way, I know one guy who'll be leading on the day who'll not be burning himself out in getting to CP1. However, he'll be doing some serious moving from there on and will get you to the finish in 12 hours. Just ask for Michael at CP1.

Micilin Muc

Gravale wrote: »

Walkers times will be as varied as the runners times. Some walkers will go below 12 hours while others will do 16 hours. I've walked 10hrs 15mins myself thanks to a jog down Table Track. Just get to CP1 in an efficient manner and you'll be assigned to a walking leader who'll get you to the finish well within 12-13 hours. Unfortunately sometimes one or two people join a group whose speed is too much for them and, as a consequence, everyone is slowed down. Hanging around unnecessarily at checkpoints doesn't help either.

By the way, I know one guy who'll be leading on the day who'll not be burning himself out in getting to CP1. However, he'll be doing some serious moving from there on and will get you to the finish in 12 hours. Just ask for Michael at CP1.

Cheers Gravale. It was a disappointment not to be able to run the Ultra and the Hiker option with self-navigation was compensation for that, so I'd prefer to do it with my mate who's of similar fitness/craziness rather than with a group. That's allowed, right?!

I'll have a word with Michael anyways :-)

Gravale

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Cheers Gravale. It was a disappointment not to be able to run the Ultra and the Hiker option with self-navigation was compensation for that, so I'd prefer to do it with my mate who's of similar fitness/craziness rather than with a group.

If you and your friend can self-navigate then that would be perfect. Hanging onto a group can cramp your style if you're hoping to get the best out of yourselves. No need to contact Michael then. You're perfectly capable of being independent.

roadrage73

Best of luck all on Fri/Sat!

Gravale

Early Saturday morning:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/ie/wicklow/211515/hourly-weather-forecast/211515?hour=73


Later Saturday morning and afternoon:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/ie/wicklow/211515/hourly-weather-forecast/211515?hour=81

Poc ar Buile

Rogue Runner wrote: »

I'll make the call on the night. But reckon if it's cold I'll will be wearing a Cantebury base layer, Under Armour mid layer, woolen hat, gloves, Northface winter running pants (tights) 1000 mile socks, Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s. High Vis Vest.

I presume we can travel light as far as CP1 and not carry the full bulk of the mandatory kit e.g. survival bag, foil blanket, waterproof bottoms, fleece etc. etc. These are surely only essential for the open mountain? I'm guessing this was asked at the info night!