Run in the dark 5-10km 2013 Dublin/ Cork/ Belfast

outforarun

ultraman1 wrote: »

have u looked at ur garmin trace,,u seemed to have ran taken a short cut through the derilict site on the corner of benson street,taken another short cut through the building goin onto rogersons key,swam across the liffey and popped into the convention centre for a detour...

sssshhhhhh!

pah

official times are on the site now. why the discrepancy between race times and finishing position?

the guy with the fastest 10k time in cork is in 3rd position

paddyh117

I did this last night in Dublin, and whilst there are some obvious criticisms that can be made, and should be addressed, such as the 20 mins delay at the start, i think a distinction needs to be made between a "proper" road race and this, which is clearly a "fun-run"

Why anyone would want or need to do a PB in November, in the dark on a wet course is beyond me - there's dozens of better races up and down the country all summer long if time is a concern

Yes the goody-bag is rubbish - and there's no medal/t-shirt whatever, but it is for charity folks -

seamus

pah wrote: »

official times are on the site now. why the discrepancy between race times and finishing position?

the guy with the fastest 10k time in cork is in 3rd position

Start time -v- chip time probably.

The times displayed are probably chip times, the finishing positions probably the order in which you crossed the line.

Shedite27

pah wrote: »

the guy with the fastest 10k time in cork is in 3rd position

Some suspicious times on the Cork race tho - 1st place in Dublin would have come 19th in Cork.

opus

Shedite27 wrote: »

Some suspicious times on the Cork race tho - 1st place in Dublin would have come 19th in Cork.

Yeah I wondered about the results for sure, the first woman in Cork is less than 1:30 away from Sonia's Irish 10k track record despite running on a twisty, wet & slippy route with ~2000 people to run past

SomeFool

Ran cork, did it last year too, really noticed the increase in numbers. They do point out it's a charity fun run but then why have chip timing on what is basically a congested obstacle course. it was impossible to run a decent time when you're faced with lapping walkers so best to just treat it as some extra miles in your legs for a good cause! It's a novelty event rather than a serious one I suppose.

dublin runner

paddyh117 wrote: »

Why anyone would want or need to do a PB in November, in the dark on a wet course is beyond me - there's dozens of better races up and down the country all summer long if time is a concern

This is true, there are dozens of better races up and down the country but does not mean one cannot safely try and get the best time possible? Many races appeal and accommodate elite runners to first-timers so why is this race any different? It's a race after all. It's a great cause, don't get me wrong but the race was simply unsafe.

paddyh117

dublin runner wrote: »

This is true, there are dozens of better races up and down the country but does not mean one cannot safely try and get the best time possible? Many races appeal and accommodate elite runners to first-timers so why is this race any different? It's a race after all. It's a great cause, don't get me wrong but the race was simply unsafe.

Thing is most other races aren't at Night, and most other races don't have two loops - they're typically a single loop or an out and back, so back markers etc aren't usually an issue - it's probably logistically impossible to get a 10k single loop in the City in the dark!, which leads to the problems outlined - but if it wasn't in the city at night it wouldn't be the event that it is!

Just look at the times - it's clearly not aimed at Elite's and if times are people's main concern then I'd suggest not doing this event

dublin runner

paddyh117 wrote: »

Thing is most other races aren't at Night, and most other races don't have two loops - they're typically a single loop or an out and back, so back markers etc aren't usually an issue - it's probably logistically impossible to get a 10k single loop in the City in the dark!, which leads to the problems outlined - but if it wasn't in the city at night it wouldn't be the event that it is!

Just look at the times - it's clearly not aimed at Elite's and if times are people's main concern then I'd suggest not doing this event

Fair enough points. I like to think running is inclusive and that people of all standards can compete safely. Maybe a compromise would be a single distance i.e 5k. Two races together don't work, particularly on a looped course, as you say.

Skid X

I only saw Kilometre markings for 1km and 2km in Dublin. Maybe the other intermediate distances were marked but I didn't see them on either lap, which was poor.

Murph_D

Skid X wrote: »

I only saw Kilometre markings for 1km and 2km in Dublin. Maybe the other intermediate distances were marked but I didn't see them on either lap, which was poor.

Another drawback of running in the dark.

pah

My gps running app puts me closer to 9.7k

ChampionChip

We provided the timing systems at Cork and Belfast for the Run. Belfast was easy to do and I have had no negative feedback on it since.

Cork was much more tricky to time for several reasons. The start was moved for various reasons from the original spot at Princes Street jct with Oliver Plunkett Street to Marlborough Street. I had planned to use the start mats to record the lap times and thus allow me to know how many laps each runner had done so I know if they were a 5k finisher or a 10k finisher. The new start meant the runner did not cross the start point again and I only found this out too late to fix the issue and move the mats.

I am confident the times of each runner are correct but the if the runner entered 10k and then switched to 5k on the night then their placing may be incorrect. It was impossible to spot the leading females in the 5k and 10k such was the crowd but I believe the first would have been Orla Drumm in the 5km but she was given wrong directions at the end. Not sure who the first correct 10k female was as a number of 5k women finished early.

However to put it all in context, the numbers entered in Cork and Belfast were almost double last year and the cause is very worthy indeed, Mark is a sound, honest, highly motivated and principled man and well worth supporting.

Muff Richardson

ChampionChip wrote: »

However to put it all in context, the numbers entered in Cork and Belfast were almost double last year and the cause is very worthy indeed, Mark is a sound, honest, highly motivated and principled man and well worth supporting.

I've no doubt he is and no doubt that its a worthy cause worth supporting, however, this is all the more reason that he should be done justice with a events which are organised properly and should not be the calamity that they were where runners were put at risk and logisitcs impossible due to numbers being far too high to be adequately care for, all just to increase profits from participants. its just greedy.

You may not have been entirely responsible for it as time keepers but surely were involved in planning and had some idea of what was in store.

ChampionChip

I assume your comments are mainly about the event in Dublin in which I had no involvement. Cork was a bit chaotic at times but the atmosphere was light hearted and I had several runners who thanked me for my involvement and said they thought it was well organised.

wonderboysam

Hey so just remembered this, why were the guys giving out goodie bags (cork) saying "Heineken" and "Guinness" when passing out the bags!! wtffffff wheres my heino

Shedite27

Europcar have bout 1000 photos of the Dublin event on their site...
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.695808747096656.1073741836.142061765804693&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.695837520427112.1073741838.142061765804693&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.695807283763469.1073741835.142061765804693&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.695818837095647.1073741837.142061765804693&type=1

Hennybug

I enjoyed the Galway one. It was organised by a couple who were working out of the back of their car but they were well organised, had t-shirts for everyone who'd signed up early and it started on time. There were about 30 of us doing and it was cool watching all the sparkley lights on the Prom

audreyp

I actually got a PB on this course for 10K but I had never run a 10K race so probably not altogether surprising. I have only done 10miles/Halfs. I was so annoyed at the 30 minute delayed start. Really poorly organised. I know its a fun run so I won't mention all the jumping around people etc so besides from the delayed start I enjoyed it. Though not sure I would do it again.

ChampionChip

The revised placings for Cork have been posted on the site for each distance. As I said before the times at Cork were not the issue it was knowing who did which distance. Thanks to those who came forward and let me know which distance they did run so the placings are an accurate reflection of what people ran on the night.

Kwon

I will never participate in this event again! After they asked us to be there by 7.30pm the event didn't kick off until almost an hour later. Meanwhile thousands of people were left standing freezing in their pens in shorts and t-shirts in November, wondering what was going on. Some girl on a microphone was trying to entertain the crowd with mexican waves but everyone around me was getting extremely impatient having timed their fluid intakes and warm ups for an 8pm start. I had to change from my planned 10k to a 5k as I would have missed my bus. This was a disgraceful way to treat the thousands of participants who were generous with their time and money.

Shedite27

Kwon wrote: »

I will never participate in this event again! After they asked us to be there by 7.30pm the event didn't kick off until almost an hour later. Meanwhile thousands of people were left standing freezing in their pens in shorts and t-shirts in November, wondering what was going on. Some girl on a microphone was trying to entertain the crowd with mexican waves but everyone around me was getting extremely impatient having timed their fluid intakes and warm ups for an 8pm start. I had to change from my planned 10k to a 5k as I would have missed my bus. This was a disgraceful way to treat the thousands of participants who were generous with their time and money.

Been like that for years. They still get crowds every year. No idea why

average_runner

paddyh117 wrote: »

Thing is most other races aren't at Night, and most other races don't have two loops - they're typically a single loop or an out and back, so back markers etc aren't usually an issue - it's probably logistically impossible to get a 10k single loop in the City in the dark!, which leads to the problems outlined - but if it wasn't in the city at night it wouldn't be the event that it is!

Just look at the times - it's clearly not aimed at Elite's and if times are people's main concern then I'd suggest not doing this event

Parkruns are double loops and run better.
Bhaa races having several loops

efwren

Did the 10km in DUblin last night.

It was my first ever organised running event..really really enjoyed it. Actually enjoyed that it was at night I think it gave it a nice feeling.

THought the wait at the start was really poor...especially since the signs everywhere clearly stated roads would be closed at 7pm but at 8.15 traffic was still crossing the race route.

There were actually signs posted at the start saying, Start Here for 40-45 min 10km, Here for 45-50min 10km, 50-55min etc...however everybody ignored that, even thought the MC at the start kept telling people to move back if they were walking or expecting to do a slower time. I think part of the problem was that it was night, the signs were not illuminated, and the loudspeaker system wasn't good enough.

I really enjoyed it, but I am not a serious runner, it was first attempt at 10km...however really slow runners and walkers starting at the front really annoyed me.

I started towards the back which suited me, however was stunned at how many people I was passing in the first 3-4km .

I was especially stunned at the number of walkers I passed in the first 3km....given that I started the finish line about 15 minutes after the first group, any walkers I met after 2km must have been in the first wave.

I found that the most annoying part of the run. Its night time, the roads are congested having to constantly jostle to get past people was really painful (and I am not fast!!)...and quite often I came across people who refused to move even half a foot either to the left or right to make it possible to pass them and at times I thought it was dangerous...I am suprised I didn't see more people tangle or fall.

I ran the second 5km of the race about 2.5 minutes quicker than the first...which is amazing considering I have never ran that distance before. That will tell you how congested it was, and how too many walkers and slow runners started at the front.


Obviously its a charity event and not really a race so I have no problem with people of all abilities taking part, sure I am pretty slow myself, however for safety reasons and the enjoyment of all runners it would be better if people heeded to organisers request and started in the appropriate wave.

P.S. re the actual distance of the course, I tracked it using MapMyRUn and it measured 10.5km for me.