Wexford Half Marathon

eoin ryan

Yes to both
Medals and tops

pointer28

eoin ryan wrote: »

Yes to both
Medals and tops

Kudos on taking onboard the criticisms and working to improve them, much appreciated.

Any chance you can organise the weather as well ? ;-)

barryoneill50

eoin ryan wrote: »

Yes to both
Medals and tops

What colour are the tops this year eoin?

eoin ryan

She is red

Podge83

eoin ryan wrote: »

She is red

Hey Eoin, are you all set for MDS?? Ye might be a bit red yerself in a few weeks time - and that's without the tee shirt!!!!

Best of luck with it!

eoin ryan

Thanks Podge.
Now that Wicklow is over I can start getting my head into it
I'm as ready as i will ever be. Looking forward to it. 2 years since i entered
Once in a lifetime gig. Long and slow seems to suit.
Not sure what that says about me....

eoin ryan

A heads up before the weekend....
The online entry will close on Tuesday at 11.59pm
This is so we can do the number pick up in Dublin on Wednesday.

We have 4 x number pick up options where you can also enter (subject to avail)
Dublin Wednesday
Wexford Friday
Wexford Sat
Wexford Sunday

Dates and times on final info sheet click here

Thanks

pointer28

Well done at MDS but don't get any daft ideas for changing the Wexford route.

Any sand dunes and I'm demanding a full refund! ;-)

eoin ryan

Guess i'll have to remove this section so

Podge83

eoin ryan wrote: »

Guess i'll have to remove this section so

Isn't this the Clontarf Half? ::::-))))))

eoin ryan

Boom boom !!

tommycahir

Hi
I'm starting to taper for this now and of course starting to over plan everything as normal, I am aiming for a sub 2 hour time and am wondering does anybody have any advice on what is the best way to approach the course for optimum time?
my initial thoughts are to sacrifice 10 seconds per KM for the 1st 7ish KM until to the top of the initial hill, then try make that time up on the downhill side.

Any advice?

pointer28

Find the 2 hour pacers and follow them. They will probably have a large balloon or fluorescent vest or something to identify themselves.

They're all experienced guys and will look after you and help you to your goal. They'll speed up / slow down when appropriate while keeping a close eye on the goal time. They really are a super help and they even kept us entertained on the way round last year.

tommycahir

pointer28 wrote: »

Find the 2 hour pacers and follow them. They will probably have a large balloon or fluorescent vest or something to identify themselves.

They're all experienced guys and will look after you and help you to your goal. They'll speed up / slow down when appropriate while keeping a close eye on the goal time. They really are a super help and they even kept us entertained on the way round last year.

Thanks had somehow forgot about those despite asking about them a few posts back
To be honest I am debating with myself on whether to follow them or not as have been running my longer runs 2 x 18.2KM runs @ 5:35 pace and some of my shorter 8km runs have been at 5:15-5:25 per KM pace.
Ultimately I don't want to get to 18/19KM and have nothing left in the tank or to have to drop pace and miss the 2hr mark.

pointer28

AFAIK the pacers usually aim for 30 seconds faster than goal ie 1:59:30 which is 5:39 mins/km

The atmosphere and the crowd will carry you along and the pace will feel a lot easier on the day than in training. I would follow the pacers to the 18/19km mark and if you feel strong at that point try and push on.

That's exactly what I did last year, I followed the 1:45 pacers until 18k, still felt strong at that point so I kicked on and finished in 1:43:xx

Also, I did 7/8 HM's last year and find Wexford to be a fast course. The only hills are all at the start when you should be full of beans and may actually help you to hold back and not go off too fast. Then it's every so slightly downhill for 14k, just enough to make you run easy but not enough to thrash your quads.

Anyway, in case I have been clear enough, PACERS !!!

They really are a godsend, kind of a cross between Haile Gebreselassie and Mother Theresa :-)

donnacha

Any folks here doing the pacing for this? I'm hoping not to run into any of ye as I aiming for a sub 1:39 ... the Mrs however is running also and if she is on form on the day should be able to stick with the 1:45 pacers.

beertons

It said in an email that the pacers are from boards ac, so they must be. Own up .

Ross Runner

Hey Eoin is the 10k soldout? cos i know someone who is down the wknd and is thinking of doing it but wont decide until the last minute....cheers

eoin ryan

Hi,

No - we have 100 places left in total. Unless it goes beserk...

Lots of enquiries tho !!

beertons

Best of luck everyone.

Muppet Man

Great day for the race... seemed to be well organised... the km markers were spot on.

That head wind though on the last 7 km was cruel and unrelenting. It seemed to negate any gains to be had on the "downhill" part.

No PB, but happy enough given the profile and headwind.

Well done to the organisers, I will be back next year.

Muppet Man.

beertons

Some heat towards the end. Home in about 1:59. Will do a bit if hill training before I go down again.

hillsiderunner

1:57:32 for me, a long way off my sub 1:50 goal for 2014. I missed a lot of training due to cough/foot problems these past months, so I was doing this one as a training run (the first run over 10 miles in months...).

For all of us with less than perfect times, there is Enniscorthy half on 8th June to try again after 6 weeks of proper training :-)

tommycahir

great race, loads of support around the course but feck me that hill for the 1st ~7KM was a killer on the quads.. (need more quad work after that experience)

According to Garmin I made it back @ 1:59:17 so am delighted with that (am anxiously waiting on chip results to confirm it though) but knees were bet from about 6 KM out so ended up absolutely sprinting my bollix off to get over the line before it struck 2:00:00.

nop98

Great race - really enjoyed my first half marathon. Home in about 1:52:30, I was aiming for sub 1:50, but it is what it is. I forgot to stop and save the Garmin so not sure about the exact time yet.

The last 6-7km were tough, I have to say I found the uphill parts during the "downhill" section back into Wexford much, much harder than the "uphill" part during the start. However, this may be due to my pacing (or lack thereof) - the first 13-4k flew by, the last part was hard.

Special thanks to an unknown kind runner who gave his finisher medal to my 5yo daughter who was waiting at the finish. She was absolutely chuffed with herself and is keeping it in her "special box" in her room.

mylifetoday

Muppet Man wrote: »

Great day for the race... seemed to be well organised... the km markers were spot on.

That head wind though on the last 7 km was cruel and unrelenting. It seemed to negate any gains to be had on the "downhill" part.

No PB, but happy enough given the profile and headwind.

Well done to the organisers, I will be back next year.

Muppet Man.

I'll echo that Muppet Man... thought I was heading for a great PB until we turned into that section of the course... absolutely no let up. It just drained away my hopes of a PB until a few blokes passed me at 19k and I was able to get some shelter behind them. A great day overall... 25 second PB I hope...

Any link to official results available

Aimman

tommycahir wrote: »

great race, loads of support around the course but feck me that hill for the 1st ~7KM was a killer on the quads.. (need more quad work after that experience)

According to Garmin I made it back @ 1:59:17 so am delighted with that (am anxiously waiting on chip results to confirm it though) but knees were bet from about 6 KM out so ended up absolutely sprinting my bollix off to get over the line before it struck 2:00:00.

I was doing the 2h pacing. I presume that was you that ripped past me in the finishing chute to go sub 2, brilliant finish!

The rain stayed away and the sun came out, but the wind did make it a bit challenging for everyone. Was glad to have so many people in the 2h group that stayed all the way. This is my 4th time to pace 2h in Wexford and was definitely more people getting sub 2 this year.

xElDeeX

hillsiderunner wrote: »

1:57:32 for me, a long way off my sub 1:50 goal for 2014. I missed a lot of training due to cough/foot problems these past months, so I was doing this one as a training run (the first run over 10 miles in months...).

For all of us with less than perfect times, there is Enniscorthy half on 8th June to try again after 6 weeks of proper training :-)

And Athlone Flatline in September if that doesn't quite get you under the mark!

beertons

Aimman wrote: »

I was doing the 2h pacing. I presume that was you that ripped past me in the finishing chute to go sub 2, brilliant finish!

The rain stayed away and the sun came out, but the wind did make it a bit challenging for everyone. Was glad to have so many people in the 2h group that stayed all the way. This is my 4th time to pace 2h in Wexford and was definitely more people getting sub 2 this year.

We're you the big lad who pulled up beside me at the petrol station? I was fading a bit, and you told me to hang in, then go with a k to go.

Aimman

beertons wrote: »

We're you the big lad who pulled up beside me at the petrol station? I was fading a bit, and you told me to hang in, then go with a k to go.

Guilty. I had the three balloons stuck to my back because the wind just kept turning them around until they wound into a tight knot. lol.

Well done on pushing ahead to get sub 2h. It's amazing how people find an extra burst just at the end. The finish is usually a bit more enjoyable, but the headwind was doing it's best to make everyone work right up to the end.