Meath Spring Half Marathon 2014 (Bohermeen) - March 2nd

blockic

belcarra wrote: »

Johnny, this post is the definition of not knowing what you're talking about!
That is all.
;-)

My trolling attempt backfired..OK!

chinguetti

belcarra wrote: »

Yep, I did both courses this morning and the 10k course was a surprise to me too. What time did you do Matt? Conditions were very miserable throughout.

Twas bloody cold and miserable alright. Sub 41 so glad with that as only back running after been off the road for a couple of months after a bike accident. Found 6 to 8 k bloody tough. How did you get on in both races?

Young Blockic, ya need to practice on the trolling:D

Muppet Man

Tough race conditions today, but very well organised . Couldn't fault it. It wasn't as flat as I was hoping for, but still a nice run. Grub afterwards was very welcome. Eventually got home in 1:36- not quite get a pb, but not bad for first race of the year.

The car park was fun!!!

Muppet man.

belcarra

Muppet Man wrote: »

The car park was fun!!!

Muppet man.

I got out to push a car and ended up getting caught by about 6 others having to push them before i got back in my own car.
Which needed a push!:cool:

RayCun

Still on the whole a good race, and the start line/start direction was an improvement, but it was a pity there were no massages afterwards.

More seriously, there seemed to be a lot more cars on the course this year. I would have to think about doing the race again unless this was improved. Two things in particular - as I arrived at the race, the 10k was on, and I was driving on the opposite side of the road along with a few other cars. There were also cars travelling with the race, in between the runners! And at the finish line , people should not be allowed park their car at the race start unless they agree to leave it there until the race is over. There were cars leaving from 1.45 and later there were cars pulling in to the centre as well, while loads of people were trying to finish.

AJAYC

As ever, really well organised with a great atmosphere, there's something magical about a small community getting together to organise such a big event. Like RayCun, I missed the mighty massages this year but the food was plentiful & filled the gap that running in such awful weather creates. Will be back. Getting out of the field was fun having got the car washed on Friday plenty of pushers in Bohermeen!

ecoli

AJAYC wrote: »

As ever, really well organised with a great atmosphere, there's something magical about a small community getting together to organise such a big event. Like RayCun, I missed the mighty massages this year but the food was plentiful & filled the gap that running in such awful weather creates. Will be back. Getting out of the field was fun having got the car washed on Friday plenty of pushers in Bohermeen!

Wish I had known that I had to bring my own (thank you Tunguska and dublinrunner :P)

Alicano

Satisfied with a PB but can't echo all the previous complimentary comments. By the sounds of it I missed all the sign posts for great grub, t-shirt collection and bag drop. I didn't feel there was any atmosphere at all? Pretty dull race and I would agree with RayCun regarding traffic. I also thought the tight right hander before the finishing straight was asking for trouble. Kind of cuts your momentum? All that positive stuff aside I have to hand it to the locals in the field giving great help with cars in poor weather.

RedRunner

Enjoyed this today. A big PB for me. Well done Bohermeen AC.

Traffic on the roads wasn't that bad I thought, and once you kept on one side of road I thought it was ok. I'd imagine it is very difficult to close a road off entirely in a country environment like that. Much easier in a big town or city where there are lots of alternative routes for traffic.

Soup was the business in Race HQ afterwards, warmed me up nicely after the race.

mylifetoday

Ran this today.... First time in my life that I decided to wear 3 layers just in case the start might be delayed. It wasn't..... Bohermeen is Definitely a PB course but not for me today.... I just didn't have the mojo....

The course direction has obviously changed since previous years and I had noted this from the webpage, So I can understand the frustration of some of the previous comments. I didn't see any 1 or 2 mile marker to reflect the change on the course and on mapmyrun course elevation profile... Apologies if I missed them. But, I have to say you couldn't call anything on that course a hill.... It is a PB course IMO

Also,IMO...Running the 10k prior to the half needs further consideration, given the traffic expected to be arriving later for the half-mar, the narrowness of the roads, parking options....and safety of those running/finishing the 10k.

In relation to grub.... I finished the race... got water, bananas, crisps ...
Was there a sign for more???????(Tea,cake,sandwiches,buns... ah feck)
I'm happy.... I got enough... some races you get feck all to recover:-)

Stewards/stewarding/Water stations.... Yes, could be better at the finish area.... but sincere thanks to any steward that stood out in that weather today... I was running so eventually I warmed up. Standing on a course for 3hrs.... THANK YOU

Thank you BohermeenAC....
You have a PB course, sometimes that's the priority.
Value for money... def... €25 with T-shirt included

And yes Muppet Man... the car park was fun.... but I got out early.

Recommend to a friend.. Definitely.:-)

mylifetoday

RedRunner wrote: »

Soup was the business in Race HQ afterwards, warmed me up nicely after the race.

Make that soup sign BIGGER next year.... would've enjoyed it.

RayCun

RedRunner wrote: »

Traffic on the roads wasn't that bad I thought, and once you kept on one side of road I thought it was ok.

Was the race measured on one side of the road?

RedRunner

RayCun wrote: »

Was the race measured on one side of the road?

Ive no idea how it was measured. Thankfully it didnt affect my race. I have sympathy for those who were affected by it. I was simply articulating my own experience.

statss

Felt very bad on the leading 10k competitors having the weave past people & cars in the final 800m. That was a big error. Agree there was also more traffic on the route, not sure what they can do about that. I don't know what way they organised the car park, my car was to the back of the field and trying to get out was like a maze.

Minor quibbles really, the main thing was a good course and I've no complaints there. It's good value overall.

Krusty_Clown

Very well organized race from my perspective. Super flat course (flattest half-marathon course I've been on (though I've never been to Charleville) and judging by the number of PBs over the last two years, the elevation profile is perfect for an assault on your best half marathon time. I was pacing the 90 minute group and managed to assist around 10 people to hit their target, with around another 10 runners falling off the pace over the last couple of miles (which is pretty typical of a 90 minute half target). We seemed to lose a bit of time (arounnd 15-20 seconds) between miles 7 and 8, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. Was that stretch particularly windy?

The only suggestions I'd have would be:
1) If you can't close the roads, at last make it a one way system with the direction of traffic flowing running against the directions of the runners. With the two way traffic on narrow roads eventually an accident will happen.
2) The poor guy on his own at the water table at mile 4 couldn't cope with the load, particularly during the first lap. Hard to get volunteers on a day like yesterday, but he could have done with some assistance.
3) Put some matting over the grass just before the finish line. Another accident waiting to happen!

Will hopefully be back to race it next year. Might bring the tractor though.

belcarra

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Very well organized race from my perspective. Super flat course (flattest half-marathon course I've been on (though I've never been to Charleville) and judging by the number of PBs over the last two years, the elevation profile is perfect for an assault on your best half marathon time. I was pacing the 90 minute group and managed to assist around 10 people to hit their target, with around another 10 runners falling off the pace over the last couple of miles (which is pretty typical of a 90 minute half target). We seemed to lose a bit of time (arounnd 15-20 seconds) between miles 7 and 8, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. Was that stretch particularly windy?

The only suggestions I'd have would be:
1) If you can't close the roads, at last make it a one way system with the direction of traffic flowing running against the directions of the runners. With the two way traffic on narrow roads eventually an accident will happen.
2) The poor guy on his own at the water table at mile 4 couldn't cope with the load, particularly during the first lap. Hard to get volunteers on a day like yesterday, but he could have done with some assistance.
3) Put some matting over the grass just before the finish line. Another accident waiting to happen!

Will hopefully be back to race it next year. Might bring the tractor though.

Speaking about accidents I noticed some girl must have faceplanted the road at the start line as when I passed her there was blood trickling from her eye and nose. Looked pretty nasty.

statss

belcarra wrote: »

Speaking about accidents I noticed some girl must have faceplanted the road at the start line as when I passed her there was blood trickling from her eye and nose. Looked pretty nasty.

was she wearing a Drogheda and District vest?

vinny1313

I thought the half was a very good and pretty fast course, I suppose I'd have to having ran a significant PB of 1:32.

I didn't hang around for what looked like a fine spread afterwards as I'd made getting out of the car park a priority, having got seriously stuck on the way in! Thanks to the Bohermeen lads for the pushes!

Whilst I can't say I noticed any more cars than usual (on similar races), there was a crossroads, somewhere around 9-11 miles that was a bit hairy. A car and a van were trying to cross over the road we were running on (from opposite sides) and ended up blocking the way.

The marshals were in the middle of it, obviously trying to do their job, but what can they do if the motorists refuse to take directions? Whilst it was a lovely day for running (IMO), it can't have been nice standing around in it for several hours, so fair play to them.

belcarra

statss wrote: »

was she wearing a Drogheda and District vest?

Not sure, didn't notice.

overpronator

Thanks to all at Bohermeen and those who braved the rain to make this event happen in tough conditions. There were some traffic issues alright which need sorting but hopefully these will be ironed out by next year. It's a really nice event and I'll be back again.

ultraman1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/12883380893/in/set-72157641717197563

fotos r up....with a very happy chingutti meetin his hero:P

belcarra

ultraman1 wrote: »

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/12883380893/in/set-72157641717197563

fotos r up....with a very happy chingutti meetin his hero:P

Looks like a civil service 'celebration'!!
Congrats you guys!

vitani

belcarra wrote: »

Speaking about accidents I noticed some girl must have faceplanted the road at the start line as when I passed her there was blood trickling from her eye and nose. Looked pretty nasty.

I saw her briefly afterwards. From what I gathered, she was wearing glasses and they broke when she fell. She still went on to race though.

belcarra

vitani wrote: »

I saw her briefly afterwards. From what I gathered, she was wearing glasses and they broke when she fell. She still went on to race though.

Yeah, I did see a pair of glasses amongst it all. Not sure if they cut her or if it was the impact on the road...

belcarra

Krusty searches frantically for his pacing group...

Krusty_Clown

belcarra wrote: »

Krusty searches frantically for his pacing group...

The balloon went awol after 6 miles, but I'm glad to see that I managed to hold onto the string until the finish.

TRR

I enjoyed yesterday. Great value at 25 euro. Decent fast course. Not usually a fan of multiple laps but it wasn't an issue. Great spread although was a little chaotic. Was worried about not being able to get my car out of the field so moved it immediately after finishing and it was messy but not too bad.

Major flaw was the running of the 10k. Felt really sorry for the runners, we were all warming up while they were finishing and without meaning to we were literally in their way. 10k seems to be an after thought and a way to generate additional money, that's fine but if the organisers could somehow set all runners off together that would help. 10k runners with a number on the front and back so half runners know what the score is. Would require two finishing gantries obviously. Bohermeen have found a great gap in the market. Very few half marathons in Leinster in lead up to Spring marathons. The fact the 10k was taken place added additional logistics for me personally as I left a little earlier to make sure I didn't have issues with parking etc because of it.

Other issue for me was the traffic on some of the roads. I think I noticed more than usual as there were a lot of puddles in places so was running wide to try and avoid them. This put me out further into the road than I would have liked. Would not have been an issue if puddle free so I may be nitpicking here.

Oh and one other thing, the organisers changed the direction of the start so that late comers would be coming from the community hall into the back of the field so not to delay the start like previous years. That being the case, why did they delay the start by a couple of minutes? Us runners who had arrived on time, had to wait in the cold and rain until late comers were allowed join the field. They have chips, they still would have got a time. That really pissed me off!

wowzer

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The balloon went awol after 6 miles, but I'm glad to see that I managed to hold onto the string until the finish.

Cheers for the top notch pacing job yesterday Krusty, I was the guy in the dunboyne vest. I was thrilled to have finally gone under 90 minutes, that was my third attempt yesterday.

tunguska

Even though I had to drop out just after 7miles I really enjoyed this race. It pissed rain and was pretty cold but its a really nice course. I was able to see the leaders come in though and that finish was a disaster. Nearly everybody in the top 30 or 40 didnt know where to go. Some turned too early and ran into the car park, some ran straight ahead past the finish and had to double back. It was kind of comical, but honestly if I had made it to the finish I wouldnt have laughed. They needed to clearly identify the turn into the finish and that just wasnt done. Plus there were cars coming out from the clubhouse car park directly into runners, it was nuts and pretty dangerous.
Like I said though its a good race, great atmosphere, fair play to all those people who came out to support even though they lashed out of it by some horrible weather. It was a real community race, something you just dont get in dublin(other than raheny). If they could sort out the finish it'd be perfect.

chinguetti

ultraman1 wrote: »

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/12883380893/in/set-72157641717197563

fotos r up....with a very happy chingutti meetin his hero:P

Can I say that I was looking for a free entry to next year's Donadea 50k:pac: