Dublin City marathon

echancrure

Bahanaman wrote: »

I thought initially it might be a faster course but having run large sections I think it's certainly slower. God, it pains me to say that.....

The other thing is under the N4 and heartbreak are a couple of miles further in, definitely a tougher course imo.

Say it ain't so lads, say it ain't so!:eek:

Where is that on the official map?

ecoli

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I've looked at the previous years profile versus this years... there isn't any extra climb this year. Previous years also went up Chesterfield (granted not as far); the vast majority of the route is identical. If people want to suggest banking time or whatever as race strategy's, well and good- but its disingenuous to suggest there are significant material differences between this years course and previous years. Be the judge for yourselves:

Previous years map with elevation.

This years course

This years elevation.

To be fair I should have put in a caveat with regards Chesterfield that even last year when pacing I aimed to ease off a little coming up Chesterfield avenue.

Overall you are right with regards the elevation the main differences being no respite coming back in from by the Zoo but rather a constant gradual drag, and the steep descent coming around the back of the park at castle knock

Again overall the elevation doesn't change too much but given how it changes my advice was more to do with dealing with these changes efficiently, like any race making wrong moves may cost and to me the highlighted points in the previous post were where people could make mistakes (working too hard to maintain MP on a constant 3.5 mile drag/ running downhill too quickly to make up for lost time, running too hard to early)

BeepBeep67

yaboya1 wrote: »

I'm sure there isn't. Unless you're talking about 2015?

I've a place going a begging

echancrure

As a newbie,
looking at the Dublin elevation grades (albeit the old course) at http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/101685959/

[click on Show elevation chart]

and having done the Connemarathon at
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/32672230/

I have decided not to worry about the climbs nor the descents...

nerraw1111

Some good insights.

You can have two courses with identical elevation but one course could be significantly more difficult.

It's how long the climbs/drag are, what comes after them, chances to recover and so on.

I thought Chesterfield Road was tough to maintain MP on the old course.

Presume those racing it, will be aiming for a negative split given the fast last few miles?

Kurt Godel

ecoli wrote: »

(working too hard to maintain MP on a constant 3.5 mile drag/ running downhill too quickly to make up for lost time, running too hard to early)

All good advice.

Marathon Pace IMO is something that averages best over 5km splits (on a relatively flat course like Dublin), not something that needs to be held uniformly over every single km. Its probably more useful to use the term "Marathon Effort" over km distances, so you use the same perceived effort running up a hilly km, as you would downhill. That means individual km's might be faster/slower depending on effort expended, but in the overall context things average out and a runner hits his goal time.

(So thats what the pacers will be doing for anyone interested- however its a different thing than banking time or negative splitting).

Bahanaman

echancrure wrote: »

Where is that on the official map?

Think it's not far past where the route comes up out of Chapelizod. That whole stretch after Chapelizod is one of my least favourite parts of the course. It has a good few little rolling rises and it can be hard to keep a good rhythm in this section of the race. (I'm no expert mind. This is just my impression from the two DCMs I've done!)

davedanon

I think the main problem with the Chesterfield Rd stretch is not the elevation; as some have said already, it levels out after the Azoo. The real issue is the 2.5 miles of ramrod-straight road. The demons can take hold when a route is that undeviating. Often it does a body good to be anticipating turns, bends and climbs. It forces you to concentrate on specific sections of a given run, rather than focussing too much on the big picture. As far as I'm concerned, the best thing anyone worried about Chesterfield can do is find a running buddy at the Conyngham Rd gates and have a good old natter all the way to Castleknock. There's nothing worse than boredom in a marathon.

tunguska

ecoli wrote: »

Wouldn't dismiss it as easily personally especially when how you approach the course can give you anything up to a 5 min swing between a very good day and getting on board the "sufferbus" irregardless of training.

Ran a bit of the course over the last few weeks and there are a few observations I would make in relation to the changes

- Don't be a hero trying to maintain MP up chesterfield, you will lose time in first half of the race between this and the stretch up Crumlin road especially as most likely where you are gonna have a head wind

- Don't try and make back the time on the down hill after Chesterfield/ Castleknock, all you are doing is shredding your quads which at the time you probably won't feel but later in the race this will kick in especially when you take into account....

-.... Roebuck hill is a bit later than usual, don't treat the first half of the course with respect and there could be some horror shows around here

This is not a comment on the difficulty of the course but rather take into account the most efficient way to run it, tactics play a role in all forms of running (sure even track races include best approaches to racing and they are completely flat )

Agree with this, its not about HTFU or any nonsense like that. Its about being tactically aware and getting the absolute best out of yourself on the day. I mean you can be an eejit and just tear into it but guaranteed you'll end up a slobbering mess by 20miles(or sooner).

Calvin Johnson

2006 Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4yvBcdoKM

Lex Luther

rovers_runner wrote: »

Definitely looks a tougher course than last few years, but personally am glad of the change as the first few miles through the O'Connell St and NCR were not very easy on the eye, that said we do have Meath St this year :rolleyes:

The main differences are the profile of the drag from Parkgate St -> Castleknock college in comparison to the slow climb from Parnell Sq to GHQ perviously.
Most of the gain is done in a short distance so shouldn't be too bad fingers crossed.

That and each subsequent hill later on is a mile and a half further in
-Under N4 to Ballyfermot Rd ( always a sickner that nobody speaks of...)
-Milltown
-Clonskeagh -> Fosters Ave

But then again once on the UCD flyover it's a nice easy finish like Cork.

I'm from out that neck of the woods...to be honest it could be worse ..the drag up Chesterfield is nowhere near as bad as the usual drag up the North Road. Also I'm sure there will be lots of support out through Castleknock village which will be nice. Once you get about 50 yards past Myo's it'll be pretty much downhill for the next few miles.
(having said that there will be a yucky little up-hill piece just after you go through Mount Sackville gate which might catch out some)
Lex

Endurancer123

How many more long runs are people doing before the Marathon? I was thinking 3 more 30k+ runs. I've Killarney adventure race in 2 weeks time so don't have time for any more.

polaris68

Two for me, 20 miles on Saturday and another 20 miler a fortnight later.

DublinDilbert

Lex Luther wrote: »

I'm from out that neck of the woods...to be honest it could be worse ..the drag up Chesterfield is nowhere near as bad as the usual drag up the North Road. Also I'm sure there will be lots of support out through Castleknock village which will be nice. Once you get about 50 yards past Myo's it'll be pretty much downhill for the next few miles.
(having said that there will be a yucky little up-hill piece just after you go through Mount Sackville gate which might catch out some)
Lex

I think there's a little drag from the castleknock gate up as far as the village too, but yea after moyo's its down hill.

The new course looks interesting not having to do the lap of pierse street near the end when you can hear the finish would be nice :-)

The only difficulty I see is hitting the hills at the back of UCD a mile or so later than normal, that's going to be character building

Murph_D

Ran the first 9 miles of the route during a recent LSR. The section in and around the Liberties is interesting; good to have a change of scenery. Couple of little drags in there too.

Toblerone1978

I'm a borderline sub 3 runner i.e. I ran 3h 5.5m last April and I'm hoping to do DCM in sub 3 hours. If I do manage it, it will be very tight. My tactic for the race was simple up to now - follow the pacers!

From a review of the course, are people saying that's a poor tactic?

RayCun

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

I'm a borderline sub 3 runner i.e. I ran 3h 5.5m last April and I'm hoping to do DCM in sub 3 hours. If I do manage it, it will be very tight. My tactic for the race was simple up to now - follow the pacers!

I would follow the pacers, but attach yourself to them with a long piece of elastic rather than a short rope.
A lot of people (including me last time I ran with them!:D) interpret 'follow the pacers' as 'run close enough behind to be hit on the head by their balloons' (flags now but you know what I mean) There's an awful crush in the 10m behind each one, but there's no need to be that close. You can be further back and use their pace to control your pace. Stay behind them in the early miles to make sure you don't get carried away, keep an eye on the gap during the race to see if you're falling behind or gaining, let them get a bit ahead of you on the uphills and regain the ground slowly, and so on.

Kurt Godel

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

I'm a borderline sub 3 runner i.e. I ran 3h 5.5m last April and I'm hoping to do DCM in sub 3 hours. If I do manage it, it will be very tight. My tactic for the race was simple up to now - follow the pacers!

From a review of the course, are people saying that's a poor tactic?

The three pacers scheduled to run :00 have pb's of 2:35, 2:36, 2:37. Two of them have paced sub 3 numerous times before. They are well aware of this course, will know when to push a bit harder, when to hold back a bit. They've taken large amounts of people under 3 hours before, there will be a lot of chat and banter and advice over the first half, which will obviously get more focussed in the second. Up to yourself if you feel this is for you, or you'd get more out of your race by running solo.

There's a lot of scaremongering on this thread about the "new" course, as far as I can see. The route and profile are practically identical. The slightly longer drag on Chesterfield is well within the capabilities of anyone to deal with, coming when it does early in the race. Personally I'd see the shorter flat section towards the finish as a benefit. Horse's for course's though.

TheTubes

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Horse's for course's though.

Wait, we're allowed horses?!

davedanon

TheTubes wrote: »

Wait, we're allowed horses?!

Nay.

ooter

There was a good discussion on the latest marathon talk pod about pacing.

nerraw1111

I ran just ahead of the three hour pacers in 2012. Lined up too far ahead of them at the start so when the race started, I was 20 seconds ahead.

Worked out pretty well. No crush for water, plenty of space ahead of me. They did catch me going up chesterfield. I felt they were going too fast on this section. I then went ahead of them coming out of the park and never saw them again. But they were always behind me. If I was to do it again, I'd do the same.

The pace groups are pretty packed.

amcgee

Hi

I have signed up to the Dublin Marathon and eveything has being going well until last week when i woke up and got out of bed and had a really bad pain in the base of my foot. It turns out that it is the dreaded Planter Facsistis.

I went to a physio and have gone to him 3 times now, and it is improving, but i am still not back running. Done a few water resistent training and cycling to keep the muscles moving
My previous run before the injury was 20 miles and the night before the injury was a 10 mile run with no problems.
Its very frustrating as i have being doing the correct training and everything was going well.

I know it is a question that the phsio will probably put to me on Monday..is it worth doing the marathon.
My goal time is realistically gone now, as even if i go back early next week, i will struggle to get back up to 20 miles,not worried too much on that but i am not giving up on the race. If i do go back, i will reconfigure me time expectation and training so as not to have a dnf next to my name. Its a race i have being trying to do for 3 years and always seem to get injured in august or september. I did the limerick marathon in May and did 3:26 and that was run as a stepping stone to Dublin and have run a few half marathons in the last few weeks with good times.
Walking is improving, but not sure if i am going to be ready in time, i know its the million dallor question, how many weeks of traing can you realistically miss in a marathon training guide before you have to say, well theirs no point in trying now!!

run_Forrest_run

I'm also aiming for a sub 3 (all going very well ) and we were only recently discussing what strategy should we take re pacers. I think I'll definitely hang around then with some loose imaginary rope, it beats trying to run it solo.

I must admit I'm getting butterflies even reading about it, I'm going to be a nervous wreck on the day, mainly because of the huge amount of work gone into training etc.
Just three very hard weeks left before taper begins..good luck all.

Lex Luther

.....for what its worth on my one and only sub 3 ( Dublin 11) I joined the pace group just after chapilzod having beena bit ahead and stayed with them until they left me ( i couldnt hand on) at Merrion Shopping Centre - after 40 minutes of anguish and dispair watching my three hour dream run slowly further and further ahead of me ( actually bobbing as I was watching the balloon through my tears ) I eventually realised at college green that actually the pacers normally come a minute or two below the mark - they finished at 2.58 something and (praise the lord !!) I finished at 2.59 something..
For the time I was with them i found the pacers incredibly helpful, motivational, sharing drinks and encouragement etc...i'd recommend trusting them...
Lex

xElDeeX

I'm not running the half tomorrow as I did Athlone last weekend but I'm going to the Phoenix Park to cheer on some friends. Afterwards I'm hoping to run about 10 miles of the marathon course as that's the mileage I have on my plan. I'm planning to run from around Crumlin to Merrion Road.
Is this going to be relatively easy to follow if I have the route map with me? Will there be lots of other runners around or should I bring the mace? The only time I've run this route is during DCM 2013.

Will be bringing taxi fare just in case

dublin runner

xElDeeX wrote: »

I'm not running the half tomorrow as I did Athlone last weekend but I'm going to the Phoenix Park to cheer on some friends. Afterwards I'm hoping to run about 10 miles of the marathon course as that's the mileage I have on my plan. I'm planning to run from around Crumlin to Merrion Road.
Is this going to be relatively easy to follow if I have the route map with me? Will there be lots of other runners around or should I bring the mace? The only time I've run this route is during DCM 2013.

Will be bringing taxi fare just in case

I would definitely bring a map alright. It looks straight-forward enough but from experience it's easy enough to make a wrong turn (especially when running as it can cloud the mind!). Just make sure you take the right exit off the Walkinstown Roundabout!

You'll be fine with a map.

xElDeeX

dublin runner wrote: »

I would definitely bring a map alright. It looks straight-forward enough but from experience it's easy enough to make a wrong turn (especially when running as it can cloud the mind!). Just make sure you take the right exit off the Walkinstown Roundabout!

You'll be fine with a map.

Thank you. Will take extra care at that roundabout.

Joleigh

Lex Luther wrote: »

.....for what its worth on my one and only sub 3 ( Dublin 11) I joined the pace group just after chapilzod having beena bit ahead and stayed with them until they left me ( i couldnt hand on) at Merrion Shopping Centre - after 40 minutes of anguish and dispair watching my three hour dream run slowly further and further ahead of me ( actually bobbing as I was watching the balloon through my tears ) I eventually realised at college green that actually the pacers normally come a minute or two below the mark - they finished at 2.58 something and (praise the lord !!) I finished at 2.59 something..
For the time I was with them i found the pacers incredibly helpful, motivational, sharing drinks and encouragement etc...i'd recommend trusting them...
Lex

These pacers are legends. Imagine giving up the chance of a pb so lots of other people can get a pb. Well done pacers!!!

ooter

Lads,what sort of time would the 3 hr pacers be going through half way in at DCM?