Connemara Half, Full and Ultra 2014

TFBubendorfer

Outside wrote: »

Well done all,
Their up http://www.redtagtiming.com/

OHMYGODIAMFIRSTO40!!!!!

Sorry, got a bit excited there for a moment

Ron DMC

Outside wrote: »

Well done all,
Their up http://www.redtagtiming.com/

Yay, 77th out of 193. Delighted with that for my first one.

TFBubendorfer

ArtieFufkin wrote: »

Excellent! I got 11th in my first Ultra

11 39236 Alastair Higgins Male O40 4:51:23 4:51:23

The standard is improving year after year and is starting to get scary. 16 runners under 5 hours for the ultra is unheard of!

Sub-5 used to practically guarantee a top-10 finish, apart from 2012 when there were 11. 16 this year in fairly tough conditions is a massive jump in quality yet again.

menoscemo

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

The standard is improving year after year and is starting to get scary. 16 runners under 5 hours for the ultra is unheard of!

Sub-5 used to practically guarantee a top-10 finish, apart from 2012 when there were 11. 16 this year in fairly tough conditions is a massive jump in quality yet again.

There is a definite Improvement in standards throughout the ultra field.

I did it 2 years ago and came 35th out of 209 finishers
This year that time would have only got 48th out of 193
2012 had pretty much perfect conditions as well.

I really can't wait to go back some time and do it again, the two times I have done it the last third of the course has chewed me up and spat me out.

Bladeserver

Great experience. It was my first marathon and my time was 4:22. I did the first half in 1:55 and I think that ruined me for the second half! The hill at mile 22 was degrading to say the least! My legs refused to run up it so i walked for a mile!! Credit where credit is due but they run an excellent event. I know have a pb so I'm gonna woop it in October in Dublin.

RegisteredMice

Really enjoyed it ... Brilliant day and really well organised.
Two things that were disappointing was
1. The times- I don't understand why it took 24+ hours to get results online.
2. The t-shirts- noticed they didn't print the year. Assume the left overs will be used next year. Considering the price, I was surprised by that.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be there again next year!

Tigerandahalf

I noticed there were a good few walkers doing the half.
It is actually a lovely walk/hike for someone to do.
One thing that would have been nice was a shower at the end. The weather was tough yesterday but if it was very cold or warm a shower afterwards would be very welcome.
The buses also probably leave too early. A lot of people were looking for shelter at Leenane before the race.
Overall a good experience.
Seemed to be a good few internationals doing the race too.

brownian

Bit on the wet and windy side, folks 8-). One of the tougher years, for sure.

Some savage running in the half - nice going by Krusty in third, sub-80 mins in that wind.

Timfy

Great to see the huge amount of runners and walkers pass our house on the Maam side of Leenane... not so great to see all of those participants that thought our already sodden front garden was a public toilet :mad:

And a special thank you to whoever it was that left their soiled knickers in our neighbours front garden... :eek: It has to be said that she was not overly appreciative of the gift.... it was scant compensation for the fact that we were prisoners in our own houses for the whole day.

Don't get me wrong, I love these events but some of the participants really need to have a bit more respect for those of us that live on the route.

goalscoringhero

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

The standard is improving year after year and is starting to get scary. 16 runners under 5 hours for the ultra is unheard of!

Sub-5 used to practically guarantee a top-10 finish, apart from 2012 when there were 11. 16 this year in fairly tough conditions is a massive jump in quality yet again.

Totally agree conditions were not perfect (they were pretty much in 2012), but I don't think they were particularly tough, especially not for the ultra runners:
10 miles against slight (albeit constant) headwind
16 miles tail wind pretty much throughout
8 miles slightly swirly wind and a wee bit of rain
5 miles strong head wind

Certainly not worse than I was expecting, the course being a loop after all.
The poor halfers probably got the worst of it.

If anything the favourable conditions on the first 26 miles contributed to my big positive split (26m at 3:31 with 2 equal splits) which I couldn't maintain after the hill out of Leenane, and my final split was a disappointing 2:19.

Not sure whether I would have been able to keep faster pace in the final third had I gone out slower - I just had no idea what would hit me after 26 miles this being my first ultra.

Miles 30-32 were mentally the toughest where I didn't have much joy, but dug deep and found something that I didn't know was there. It was worth doing it alone for that reason, and I'm sure it won't be my last ultra.
Delighted with my finish from Maam onwards, particularly the final 5 miles.

goalscoringhero

Timfy wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I love these events but some of the participants really need to have a bit more respect for those of us that live on the route.

Sorry to hear about this, that's really poor behaviour. Especially since there were a number of portaloos almost every 3 miles. Unfortunate that such incidents give the other runners a bad name, and leave a slightly sour taste.

Timfy wrote: »

it was scant compensation for the fact that we were prisoners in our own houses for the whole day.

I wonder was it really the whole day though? The bulk of runners would have been on that stretch of the road between 12pm and 2pm, give or take. That's hardly the whole day.

Timfy

Road officially closed from 11:30am to 4pm, however when we went down the hill to the shop that morning at 9:45 we were stopped about a mile outside the village and asked about our business. Explaining that we feckin lived here and our business was our own we were finally allowed on our way.:o

We then had to wait to try and pass around 12 coaches which the organisers decided to park up on a blind bend just outside the village - not quite a single track road but close! No one directing traffic. Returning 5 minutes later was virtually impossible!

A good few of the "auld wans" around here were unable to get down to mass.

between 12pm and 2pm, give or take. That's hardly the whole day

Thats when the pub opens!!!!! In all seriousness, Leenane is a tourist destination and having the roads closed for any duration means that day trippers (of which there are many) will just drive on past the turning and spend their money elsewhere.

Again I reiterate that I love these events... but other than the hotel, it brings feck all real business into the area and there is a widespread feeling that someone, somewhere is making a lot of money out of our little bit of countryside without a cent of it filtering back into the local communities who have been disrupted.

Perhaps I just need a nice cup of tea!

goalscoringhero wrote: »

Sorry to hear about this, that's really poor behaviour. Especially since there were a number of portaloos almost every 3 miles. Unfortunate that such incidents give the other runners a bad name, and leave a slightly sour taste.



I wonder was it really the whole day though? The bulk of runners would have been on that stretch of the road between 12pm and 2pm, give or take. That's hardly the whole day.

echancrure

My first marathon was great yesterday in Connemara, the forecast were changing all week, but on Saturday night is was clear that showers and wind would be factor: a typical April day in Connemara I guess.

I was aiming for 3 hours 20 i.e. a 7:30 pace with a few minutes added for the hills, but with the predicted wind I wasn't so sure...

I did what everybody says not to: I brought 2 gels in Elverys (I never had a gel before) to bridge the gap between breakfast at 7:30 and the start of the race at 10:30. I make my own gel but my pouch can only contain 4 portions which I think is just about right for me for a marathon. I ate the two I bought an hour before the start and just before the gun: I can confirm that they taste rank. Thankfully it seems I can eat pretty much anything while running (the only thing that repeated on me a little was the black pudding from breakfast...). I also carried my own drink and I don't regret doing so.

Anyway, waiting for the start felt a bit cold but the buses provided some good shelter.

With no warm-up (again) I managed to be near the front for the start.

It didn't feel cold at all after a mile and settled pretty quickly if slightly too fast at a 7:15 pace.

I really enjoyed the scenery of the first half and I know that we had the wind at the back from time to time but frankly I thought it was swirling around quite a bit too.

I was well in advance of my plan: I seemed to catch a lot of people on the descents and not many people were taking the shortest route (why I have no idea as there was not much traffic and it was safe to do so).

Caught the first female before Leenaun and really felt great. I had about 2 or 3 minutes in advance of my planned 7:30 pace, and felt really good but did try to retrain myself as I knew the hills were coming after Leenaun.

Leenaun ... I was not expecting the mess in Leenaun : I think I arrived there a few minutes after the start of the half and the road was thronged with walkers, joggers 4 or 5 abreast with nowhere for me to go. I really did not enjoy those 2 or 3 miles zigzagging and trying not to shove people too much. I one point I was running in a ditch full of stones. I don't know what the solution is to this problem is, but I probably lost a minute and definitely my rhythm in the chaos.

Then came the rain (or was it hailstones?) and the wind definitely in the face this time: it felt good when it stopped as I was tired looking at my feet.

As per my usual I missed a couple of the mileage signs so I was not too sure of my pace but by mile 20 I had 4'30'' in the bank from a 7:30 pace (by the way a 7:30 pace is a nice little number to do mental maths with). All that was left was basically 2 easy miles, 2 tough miles and 2 miles downhill.

The wind felt much stronger in those last 6 miles: the road is more exposed I guess... I passed many people but I could not tell if they were doing the half or the full: apparently there was a blue, green (and pink!) numbering system but they all looked the same to me.

The climb was tough enough, as expected, especially with the wind either full face or sideways. But, never stopped, did baby steps at times and the top was reached in a not too bad shape.

I reached the 24 miles marker just under 3 hours: a little mental maths with whatever neurons I had left told me that I had to do better than 7:30 or there about to be under 3:15 and beat my target; the worse was over I could give it all I had left!

I did not feel any descents in legs during the last two miles: the wind more than compensated the course profile apparently. Missed the 25 miles marker.

Hearing the MC in the distance felt going back to civilisation, the support, the barriers, my son shouting in his phone to his mum that I was coming, my daughter encouraging me over the PA system (I really wasn't expecting that).

And finally, there they were, the blue mats of deliverance...

But, wait a minute. Why are those guys in front of me still running flat out after passing the blue mats? Confusion in my mind.

And then, just as I reached them myself, I saw the finish frame with its three clocks (it did say finish on it: duh !). One more effort then. Raise the arms. It's all over.

I finished 30th in 3:14:17 (a chipped time of Pi: 3:14:16 :P) and felt really great (thanks to Ann for the lovely massage!).

I wouldn't change anything apart from the stampede in Leenaun.

Very happy, a great day.
Thanks to all the volunteers.

Chris

opus

menoscemo wrote: »

There is a definite Improvement in standards throughout the ultra field.

I did it 2 years ago and came 35th out of 209 finishers
This year that time would have only got 48th out of 193
2012 had pretty much perfect conditions as well.

I really can't wait to go back some time and do it again, the two times I have done it the last third of the course has chewed me up and spat me out.

I was happy with a small improvement of 2.5 mins but noticed that even so I'd dropped 14 places compared to last year. Guess everyone else improved a lot more than me

Ferris B

Just a word of thanks to all the support from fellow runners, volunteers and spectators yesterday for making it a memorable day. It was a very tough last 9 for me after a sniper got my calf about mile 30m. Managed to hobble home for 39th place (12th in the aul fella's category) in my first go at this distance. Initially I was a little disappointed at being 3 mins outside my target but after some mature reflection today I'm chuffed to bits with my performance.:):):)

Not looking forward to the arrival of the DOMS in a few hours:mad:

martyboy48

Ran a few miles (heading into Leenaun) with a cork ultra runner. Was telling me he's doing an ultra in South Africa next year.
On the off chance he's on here, cheers for the company. I wasn't saying a whole lot but was a nice to run with somebody to pass some time away...

doctorchick

Timfy wrote: »

We then had to wait to try and pass around 12 coaches which the organisers decided to park up on a blind bend just outside the village - not quite a single track road but close! No one directing traffic. Returning 5 minutes later was virtually impossible!

At no point at ANY TIME was there more than 5 coaches parked outside of the village, and I know this for an absolute fact because I was the one coordinating buses entering and leaving the village. These coaches were parked in a layby which pretty much puts them off the road and there is excellent visibility both in front of and behind the layby - it is not a blind bend. It was occasionally necessary to ask cars to hold off from entering the village as a bus was leaving the village to return to Maam Cross and as you rightly say the road is narrow and we didn't want anyone run off the road.

menoscemo

martyboy48 wrote: »

Ran a few miles (heading into Leenaun) with a cork ultra runner. Was telling me he's doing an ultra in South Africa next year.
On the off chance he's on here, cheers for the company. I wasn't saying a whole lot but was a nice to run with somebody to pass some time away...

I'd imagine that's probably OPUS??? He posted just above ^^^^^ he normally does Comrades...

Timfy

This is the lay by in question (it's not actually a lay by, the council put the rock down when the bank subsided)... coaches parked there were across to the white line and then several people were on the road talking to the drivers.

http://goo.gl/CfTWMe

The photo flatters it, its about 2'6" - 3'6" across.

Looking up the hill, the coaches were up and around that bend when we came through... I know that for an absolute fact too

Lets not get carried away here... I did say I enjoy the event and the spectacle of nearly 4000 runners going past my door and I do not mean to stir anyone up, however it is a major imposition on many residents on the R339

This weekend was the Connemarathon, the next two weekends see the road used for cycle races and I'm not kidding when I say the road is choker every two or three weeks with some race or other.

I'm lucky enough to live in the most beautiful (if somewhat lumpy) parts of Ireland and I am more than happy to share it with as many people as I can... but as I see it some large companies are simply using it for their own gain with very little thought for those of us who live there.

Now... lets shake hands and go for a pint

doctorchick wrote: »

At no point at ANY TIME was there more than 5 coaches parked outside of the village, and I know this for an absolute fact because I was the one coordinating buses entering and leaving the village. These coaches were parked in a layby which pretty much puts them off the road and there is excellent visibility both in front of and behind the layby - it is not a blind bend. It was occasionally necessary to ask cars to hold off from entering the village as a bus was leaving the village to return to Maam Cross and as you rightly say the road is narrow and we didn't want anyone run off the road.

Canine Marathoner

I came in with a 5.13 in the Ultra in the end - 3 minutes off my hoped-for time; I can't complain though given that it's a PB of 8 minutes. Inevitably it was the last third of the race that caused the difficulty - I did a relatively even-split slightly sub 3.20 marathon, so a 1.53 or thereabouts for the final 13.1 miles. Completely out of the blue, I developed an abrupt & intense cramp in my right leg on the descent after the Hell; I stopped & stretched for a minute & then walked for a timed minute & then gingerly made for home - it was this that scuppered my 5.10 hopes. Last year a 5.21 got me 15th place whereas this year I'm 7 places lower down in the placings despite having been slightly more than 8 minutes faster - so as previous posters have already said, standards have definitely & significantly improved. Looking forward to next year's edition, & better up the training to stay in touch with the ever-improving times!:)

Bob_the_dog

Just noticed my time doesn't appear on the results for the half

I got my medal, T-shirt and a whole lot of muscle pain so I'd like to get it sorted.

Anyone got details who to contact?

Ferris B

Bob_the_dog wrote: »

.

Anyone got details who to contact?

From the connemarathon results page:

If your name is missing please email cnm@redtagtiming.com with your number and approximate finish time.

skittles8710

2:00:54 for my first half. Happy days!! Delighted with that taking into consideration the battle against the elements

Animella

It was my first half too and was happy with my 2.05:11 ( I'm well into F40 category:-( ) . I wonder how much of an impact the wind made to my time? Found the last couple of miles really tough. Don't know how some of you do three times the distance!

. Glad someone else mentioned the hailstones, I half thought I had imagined them in my delirium! Great event though, fab scenery and good organisation considering the numbers and general logistics.

hollypink

Delighted with 1:58 for the half, a tough day and I found it hellish at times! It's a privilege to do a race in such a beautiful place, although I was more focused on putting one foot in front of the other towards the end . I was sorry to read on this thread that some locals had a negative experience on the day, hopefully the organisers will take the feedback on board. As in previous years, I was in awe of the ultra and marathon runners who passed, it seems like a huge feat to me. One memorable moment was when the rain was lashing down and the wind was howling, someone let out a huge roar of yeeeeaaahhh and we all laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. I suppose you never know what weather you'll get in Connemara.

jim0

hollypink wrote: »

One memorable moment was when the rain was lashing down and the wind was howling, someone let out a huge roar of yeeeeaaahhh and we all laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. I suppose you never know what weather you'll get in Connemara.

Nice one - that's the spirit - I wish someone had done that near me. I had to be content with venting my own spleen into the hail. It didn't have much of a physical effect, but I felt better for a few seconds.

That was a great day - thanks to everyone involved - although I now feel like I took everything for granted yesterdat and focused too much on the road, and not enough on Connemara. I might think about upping things next year to the marathon - apparently the Inagh Valley is nice this time of year.

Bladeserver

I am in absolute bits! Didn't sleep well at all last night!! The foam roller is getting hit big time today.

NameThatTune

Does anyone know what photography company did the photos? Is there a link?

opus

martyboy48 wrote: »

Ran a few miles (heading into Leenaun) with a cork ultra runner. Was telling me he's doing an ultra in South Africa next year.
On the off chance he's on here, cheers for the company. I wasn't saying a whole lot but was a nice to run with somebody to pass some time away...

Small world eh! That was me, there was no way I was going to keep up with you on the hill out of Leenaun so watched you disappear in the distance

Nice meeting you & guessing you made that goal for the marathon handy enough?

Cabaal

Race report up - http://runninginkilkenny.blogspot.ie/2014/04/connamara-ultra-marathon-2014.html