Connemara Half, Full and Ultra 2014

ultraman1

Saw one sham exploding at mile 20...wasn't pretty...

Tigerandahalf

Did the half in 1.35. The wind was something else at stages. Got blown from one side of the road to the other at one stage.
Well organised and thanks to all the volunteers. Got a lovely massage at the end. One of the Kenyans was on a table after doing the ultra. He must have done it in around 4.15.

skittles8710

After some time advice from people who had run Connemaea before I revised my target time for today to sub 2hrs 10 as first half. Think I came in around 2:05 so delighted!

The weather was something else, had all 4 seasons twice over. The wind was brutal in parts where you were completely exposed. I was ticking along nicely at 8:40 a mile pace until mile9 and then the hills broke me.

Fantastic atmosphere and thanks to the words
of encouragement from a couple of fellas at mile 11 got me going again and finished strong. Great experience. Hope everyone else is happy with their run.

ThebitterLemon

FBOT01 wrote: »

I finished full in 3:16:xx while Ferris B got through the Ultra in 5:32:xx....just enjoying Leinster game and dirty pints in clifden now. Harsh day out there.

Well done to all who got through it and in particular to the organisers and volunteers...I'd say they were colder than we were at times.

Reports will follow.

Well done FBOT & Ferris,

Great running, when I was leaving the house this morning the wind was really picking up, really impressive times.

TbL

Tigerandahalf

2 guys pulled up one after the other at the top of the hill. Just when they had the hard part done. Looked like hamstrings or cramp maybe.

Aimman

I had a ball of a time. Got to meet a few more boardsies as we lined up at the start of the Ultra.

Feck all ultra training done this year, so just went out to finish safe. Had a very handy half in 2:10, then passed the marathon point at 4:30 but got second wind and lashed up the hill at Leenane and didn't stop. Could have made my third split the fastest but needed some run/walkie moments on the HOTW and then struggled to keep pace on the last two downhill miles becuase the strong head wind did it's utmost to try to blow me back up the hill. I felt like the Grand Old Duke of York.

Did a big jump at the finished line and nearly wacked the clock off the gantry and forgot to stop my watch,so I'll have to wait for the official results.

Bob_the_dog

The wind was an absolute killer, I only did the half, I have the utmost respect for the full marathoners and i think ultras just need there heads tested.

Today I finally found a use for my extra bulk, I barely moved in the wind. I did see 2 quite light ladies end up in the ditch on the left close to the top of the final hill. The wind was mental at that stage.

Think I'll be using the lift in work tomorrow.

Bob

ThebitterLemon

ecoli wrote: »

Rumour is TheBitterLemon has been recruited as a runner to the local telegraph office for them with updates. Guess he must have been on the lash in Macau or Monaco (or one of his other secret agent hang outs) last night so might account for a lag on the "tracker" :P

FYP

I'll get the local "tracker" to hunt you down and sort you out Connemara style!

TbL

quinlivan

That was chronic! Ran the first half no bother (1:45) and was delighted with myself. As soon as I hit Mile 14 I struggled with the hill outside Leenaun. I didn't fully recover after that. Finished in 3:50 so I was happy as it's my best (2nd marathon) but from Mile 22-24 was desperate. I could just see how much further I had to go and it killed me to trudge on.

Difficult course. Delighted its done now

Emer911

Supping beer in Clifden with the gang after a feicin brutal windy half. It was funny it was that windy! The hailstones were fun too.

Krusty came home in an impressive 3rd place. I was very happy to finish in just over the 2 hours , given I'm still on the antibiotics for a chest infection
(Ya bold I know but the doc said I could...)

Enjoyed it actually -despite the weather.

echancrure

Great day, felt very good, thanks to the training I guess.
Wind and rain was f.u.n.
Verry happy for my first marathon: 3:14:xx I think.

Let's celebrate!!

ArtieFufkin

Question for the ultra runners. Which one of you killed the two badgers at around the 10 mile mark?
And also there were plenty of empty domestos bottles a few miles after the start for the half. Can you drug test for bleach? Is this something new to do with blood alkalinity that I haven't heard of? Gonna give it a try for the next one anyway.

Aimman

ArtieFufkin wrote: »

Question for the ultra runners. Which one of you killed the two badgers at around the 10 mile mark?
And also there were plenty of empty domestos bottles a few miles after the start for the half. Can you drug test for bleach? Is this something new to do with blood alkalinity that I haven't heard of? Gonna give it a try for the next one anyway.

I only seen one badger, so another one must have died after I passed. I did see a fairly 'Past Best Before' hare on the side of the road at some stage.

I have to own up to the Domestos because the shop was all out of Toilet Duck!

skittles8710

When official results expected guys?

opus

Emer911 wrote: »

Supping beer in Clifden with the gang after a feicin brutal windy half. It was funny it was that windy! The hailstones were fun too.

Jealous, had to head back to Cork as work tomorrow

Wow it's some event isn't it! My second time running the ultra & once again that b*stard of a headwind in the last section killed me. Last year I had an ambitious (perhaps overly!) target to get under 5:15 but the wind put an end to it, this year figured I'd try for under 5:10 but again the wind said no Still no complains pretty sure I managed last year's target.

Most amazing bit was the final downhill to the finish that still felt like a struggle with the wind blowing you back up!

TFBubendorfer

I had a few dodgy miles between 31 and 33 but rallied to have the kind of finish runners only tend to dream about - caught no less than 5 runners on the Hell of the West to finish on the top 10 apparently. 4:49:xx is a new ultra PB by over 4 minutes, despite the savage wind over the last few miles, so I'm absolutely delighted. Great day!

Tigerandahalf

opus wrote: »

Jealous, had to head back to Cork as work tomorrow

Wow it's some event isn't it! My second time running the ultra & once again that b*stard of a headwind in the last section killed me. Last year I had an ambitious (perhaps overly!) target to get under 5:15 but the wind put an end to it, this year figured I'd try for under 5:10 but again the wind said no Still no complains pretty sure I managed last year's target.

Most amazing bit was the final downhill to the finish that still felt like a struggle with the wind blowing you back up!

The wind in the last couple of miles was very tough. There was a bit of an incline but the headwind was just real tough.
It was lovely and cool to run in. Warm weather would have been really tough.

Tigerandahalf

From the connemarathon website results will be posted in the Indo tomorrow and then on the website. Scroll to bottom of link below.

http://www.connemarathon.com/frequently-asked-questions

eliwallach

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

From the connemarathon website results will be posted in the Indo tomorrow and then on the website. Scroll to bottom of link below.

http://www.connemarathon.com/frequently-asked-questions

Boo!

Outside

I expected a breeze but the gale force gusts were a bit of a surprise! Good auld Connemara, there's no met Eireann modelling software can predict what happens out there!
Epic pacing fail for myself. Through marathon in 2:52:55 then legs went going up hill from Leenane and jogged the last 13miles in 1:50 for a 4:43:15 finish. Goal was always sub 4:45 so happy with that, 35 min Conn Ultra PB and a 5 min Marathon PB (does it count?)!
I'm a broken man.

shane1981

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

From the connemarathon website results will be posted in the Indo tomorrow and then on the website. Scroll to bottom of link below.

http://www.connemarathon.com/frequently-asked-questions

Anyone find results in the paper? All I can see are the GIR results......in alphabetical order no less

ArtieFufkin

Outside wrote: »

I expected a breeze but the gale force gusts were a bit of a surprise! Good auld Connemara, there's no met Eireann modelling software can predict what happens out there!
Epic pacing fail for myself. Through marathon in 2:52:55 then legs went going up hill from Leenane and jogged the last 13miles in 1:50 for a 4:43:15 finish. Goal was always sub 4:45 so happy with that, 35 min Conn Ultra PB and a 5 min Marathon PB (does it count?)! I'm a broken man.

Sounds like we had very similar races. You were about 8 mins ahead of me for the marathon distance and finish. I had a PB marathon of 3hrs and also struggled with the final third of the race which was brutal.

I'm hobbling around today like a geriatric.

Cabaal

Seriously enjoyed the Ultra, even more then last years!

Managed to hit the 26.2mile mark in around 3hrs 46min (down from 4hrs 11min last year) and felt really good throughout. Finished in around 5hrs 52min* so I've knocked 37min off of last year.

I'd say without the wind especially on the climb and descent off of the hell of the west I would have definitely hit 5:40.

*Still need to confirm official time.

Race report to follow........

Ron DMC

Thoroughly enjoyed every single second of my first Ultra.

Might have over-paced myself in the first two halves as my marathon time came in as 3:30 on the nose (only 3 mins outside my Dublin PB last year!). The great conditions for those sections obviously helped (as did the company).

That wind in the third half combined with the Hell of the West almost killed me. Slowest halfer I've *ever* run/hiked/crawled, bringing me in at a total time of 5:56ish, just under the 6:00 I was hoping to break so still happy enough despite the sham of a 3rd half.

Room for improvement next year. Needless to say I'm now hooked on Ultras.

echancrure

I am asking for a re-race !

http://www.connachttribune.ie/breaking-news/29861-gardai-seize-cannabis-plants-in-maam-connemara

Ron DMC

echancrure wrote: »

I am asking for a re-race !

http://www.connachttribune.ie/breaking-news/29861-gardai-seize-cannabis-plants-in-maam-connemara

The spectators in Maam as we crossed the bridge did seem rather relaxed.

NameThatTune

When I got to about 25.8 miles I was practically stopped and then a guy ran past me with a few words of encouragement so it kept me going and as I approached the line to finish my first marathon with him beside me I could hear the MC telling the crowd that he was finishing his 300th career marathon. What a legend, never got his name

ultraman1

NameThatTune wrote: »

When I got to about 25.8 miles I was practically stopped and then a guy ran past me with a few words of encouragement so it kept me going and as I approached the line to finish my first marathon with him beside me I could hear the MC telling the crowd that he was finishing his 300th career marathon. What a legend, never got his name

Dave Brady..I'd say

Outside

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

ArtieFufkin

Excellent! I got 11th in my first Ultra

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