Waterford AC Half Dec 6th, 2014

run_Forrest_run · 06-12-2014 4:30pm

A very well organised race with lots of friendly stewards. A fast (not scenic!) course resulted in a pb for me today.
Great spread after and lots of showers with ample changing facilities.
Well done to WAC.

It wasnt me123 · 06-12-2014 4:37pm

Great and friendly stewards but I didn't like the course, way to hilly for me. I also got a PB, but unfortunately no food left when I went upstairs. Quite disappointed with that. Love the bling!

Slow_Runner · 06-12-2014 4:38pm

Really good day today. Well run and marshelled as usual big thank you to all involved. Some hairy moments at the start and going into the ind estate - everyone corralled through a narrow gate!!!! The drag through Ballybeg after mile 10 brought horrible memories of Crumlin in DCM this year back with the wind.
delighted with 1:40:51 an almost 4 min PB. Choccy milk was a nice touch altough q for tea was a bit mental so I left it. Hope everyone did well today, time for well deserved scoops!!!!

skeleton_boy · 06-12-2014 4:54pm

As other have said, fast course, well organised and great facilities before/after. For those that are interested in goody bags, a hat and chocolate milk makes for a pleasant difference. Thanks and well done to all involved.

Andalucia · 06-12-2014 6:53pm

skeleton_boy wrote: »

As other have said, fast course, well organised and great facilities before/after. For those that are interested in goody bags, a hat and chocolate milk makes for a pleasant difference. Thanks and well done to all involved.

Great event.fantastic organisation.as others have mentioned,not the most scenic course but very fair.what goes up must come down,so plenty of descents to make up for hills.

Oryx · 06-12-2014 7:53pm

I thought it was a very fair course, nothing too extreme. The industrial estate was a bit of a weird section, but the country roads were nice. Brilliant facilities afterwards and of course, the choccy milk.

rom · 06-12-2014 10:36pm

As someone that finds fault with almost every race I can say that this race was the 2nd best race I have ever been too. The first being the Berlin marathon which had the start lined with portoloos on both sides of the road. Really enjoyed it and great that marshalls made an effort to cheer people on. Could not recommend this race enough. I drove 4 hours round trip when there was a local race I could have gone to and I am glad I did. This was close to perfection. Berlin wins as there was a rickshaw to bring me from the finish back to my hotel. Well done WAC. Chocolate milk at the finish is great. Close to perfection. This is yes how anal I am but if you keep the water inside for the race prior to shipping it to the water stations it would be better. Cold water is hard to drink. Being able to have a shower without a queue afterwards was savage. The parking stewards were so professional. Sign me up for next year.

dintbo · 06-12-2014 10:54pm

I'm no Krusty_Clown or tunguska when it comes to race reporting but I really enjoyed this race today so I figured I'd give it my best shot.

To give a very brief history, this was my third HM having run a 1:45:15 on my first attempt and 1:45:47 on my second (Waterford Viking 13 and Wexford 14 respectively). Up until about four weeks ago my 'training' consisted of running lots and not really giving a dam about pace, intervals, quality sessions etc. I recently started trying a few proper sessions to see if I'd enjoy it and if it would really make a difference.

1-3: So the start was a bit mental, and much further away from the dressing rooms than I first realised. Queueing for the toilets with 10 mins to go I figured I was fine. Made it on time but ended up a little further back than I would have liked. No problems though as a slower start would suit me anyway. Managed to get in between the 1:50 and 1:40 pacers just before the end of the first mile, which was where I wanted to be. Settled into a nice rhythm here for a bit and oddly enjoyed the industrial park bit!
Splits: 8:11 8:09 7:28:

4-7: Having run a faster than planned mile 3 I was both delighted and worried! I just figured I had a few spare seconds in the bank and carried on. The section through ballybeg here was nice and fast again without feeling difficult. I got a little confused why there was two water stations so close together (less than a mile apart) but realised later that one was really for the way back! Probably went a little fast up the drag on the Lacken Road but didn't pay too much for it. I don't know why but I do enjoy running on fly-overs!
Splits: 7:54 7:32 7:28 7:56

8-11: I don't think I've ever enjoyed a section of a race as much as I did on the downhill just after the fly-over, though i doubt I did my quads any favours. The Green Road section was tricky with the busted up road surface. At the roundabout after that I met a Mullingar Harriers runner and started chatting for the next mile and a half or thereabouts. He was recovering from a stitch so for a while our paces matched. Once he came around though the pace got a little too much for me so I had to leave him go. Shame in one way as its amazing how much quicker the miles go when you have someone to chat to. I imagine I would have been flagging at this point if it weren't for that guy so cheers stitch suffering Mullingar Harriers dude!!!
Splits: 7:22 7:41 7:31 7:34

12-13.1 My A goal was 1:43xx and B goal was to PB so I knew at this stage I had goal A in the bag unless something went horribly wrong. I slowed it down just a little for mile 12 just in case but couldn't help upping the pace a little for the last mile. I did my best to sprint to the finish but the legs had nothing left. I took that as a sign that I gave it everything I had, so very happy with that.
Splits: 7:41 7:16 (wohoo!) :40 (for the .1)

Gun Time: 1:41:33 Chip Time:1:40:40 Position 509

I know this would be a boring slow jog for lots of posters here but I can't help feeling quite proud of myself (and a little drunk if I'm being honest!!).

Looking back on today's race now I realised I've learned two very important things. Firstly having a plan and knowing your pace can really help. I ran all my previous races with no plan or watch, just run until it's time to stop. I haven't gone gps just yet but a stopwatch with a splits button really helped me today. Secondly, I really love chocolate milk!!!!! Seriously, why have I not realised this before.

dintbo · 06-12-2014 11:03pm

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|
TBC|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.59|
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|
16xx|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|

Chuffed!!!

Calvin Johnson · 07-12-2014 12:27am

Excellent stuff Dimtbo!

What are your plans for the future?

TRR_the_turd · 07-12-2014 9:32am

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Excellent stuff Dimtbo!

What are your plans for the future?

Brilliant race and setup from WAC. Was expecting a slow course due to hills etc but it was actually quite fast so that was an added bonus. Definitely will be back.

dintbo · 07-12-2014 9:59am

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Excellent stuff Dimtbo!

What are your plans for the future?

Cheers! Next race is the Ferrycarrig 5 mile in Wexford. After that I'm thinking of following a P&D style plan for the Cork City Marathon.
however today I'm gonna be lazy and eat too much

Murph_D · 07-12-2014 10:37am

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
TBC|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.59|
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|
16xx|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|

Found the course tough so delighted with the time. Glad I got upstairs for my blaa before the rush! Very well organised - great work from the stewards keeping the race moving through the traffic. Pity the route doesn't take in any of the city but I understand the logistical difficulties.

MacSwifty · 07-12-2014 6:48pm

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
TBC|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.59|
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|1:38:08
16xx|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|

Last 3 were tougher than i expected even though I had ran them a few times!!! but outside of that all good - thanks WAC

RegisteredMice · 07-12-2014 8:18pm

I'd like to congratulate Waterford AC for a fantastically well organised event and for me personally, one of the best half marathons I have competed in. Not only was it well priced (25 quid), but had excellent facilities, results and pictures online with a couple of hours (No waiting for newspapers to print them first) and the best pacers that encouraged and spoke to everyone (not just the group but the supporters and volunteers)
For me it was brilliant, 5 stars ... I will be back and I'll be encouraging all my friends to do the same.
Well done to everyone involved.

Toblerone1978 · 07-12-2014 11:45pm

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
645|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|1:24:23
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.5xx
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|1:38:08
16xx|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|

A PB for me, which wasn't something I expected nor intended. I just had the Garmin set to the HR and followed that. I ignored pace, time, etc, distance was only placed by the mile marker. Ran hard when I felt I could, backed off the hills and it seems to work well for me. One of my objectives for 2015 needs to be reviewed!! Also nice to see that my time has improved by over 10 mins compare to when I ran this last year.

The race was again superbly organised by Waterford AC. The course was well set out, very fair, really well marshalled and made for a great atmosphere. The new medal is really nice too, I'm a sucker for them!! Thanks to all who organised and helped out on this - its no surprise its a sell-out. They really have nailed this thing and even though its one of the last races of the year, it's usually the first to go into the calendar at the beginning of a year.

Stats: 1h 24m 23sec (PB), ave HR 169

TCDStudent1 · 08-12-2014 12:16am

I enjoyed the race a lot. But I am not sure it deserves as much praise as it is getting on here.

Positives

1) Very professionally stewarded and marshalled.

2) Start out of a sports campus so facilities are top notch.

3) A challenging but fast course.

Negatives

1) I arrived early at around 830. I was directed to a car park that was further away from the changing rooms than anywhere else. I understand why the early cars were directed there based on where the starting line was. However, it seemed a bit harsh on the people who made the effort to get there early to make them park further away. I actually got changed in the car because I thought going up to the changing rooms and then back down to the car with my bag would be too time consuming, despite arriving 90 minutes early!

2) When I passed the water station at mile 10 (or was it mile 9?), there was no water left. Not sure if that was rectified after I went by but the kids told me "No water left!" as I struggled by. And I definitely could have done with some water at that point!

3) At mile 4, entering the industrial estate, there was a major bottleneck that resulted in a number of us having to stop to get through the narrow gate. At that point in the race, there should not be any bottlenecks and it certainly had an impact on my race.

4) There was an announcement at the beginning to be careful of the surface between miles 6 & 8 I think. It became very apparent why such an announcement was necessary. The surface was simply awful along that stretch and you could easily injure your ankle along there if you were not paying close attention to the ground.

5) I felt there was more public support along the route last year than this year. Maybe that it is just my imagination.

Despite those negatives, it is a very well managed race and I hope to be back doing it next year. I understand that logistical reasons impact on a lot of the above. The one that really annoyed me was the bottleneck at mile 4. At that stage, you should be well past any bottlenecks.

Oryx · 08-12-2014 12:35am

There was an announcement? I was halfway back in the crowd at the start, and we knew someone was talking over a speaker, but noone could make out a word of it. So if there was a race briefing, the majority of the crowd missed it completely.

Fiftyplus · 08-12-2014 11:01am

Agree with many of comments here re good organisation, facilities and top-notch grub + choc milk (first time and probably hooked on it). Two points of discontent mentioned previously - race briefing inaudible due to Santa music blaring out at start line and the bottleneck which was crazy and potentially dangerous. Both will, I am sure, be corrected next year when I will be back!

Slow_Runner · 08-12-2014 11:28am

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
645|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|1:24:23
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.5xx
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|1:38:08
1642|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|1.40.51

Delighted with nearly a 3:30 min pb. First time I've gone just on feel and not by time. I checked my splits at each mile marker (which were bang on the money with my Garmin) but never once looked at overall time. Felt really strong at the end and made up around 15 places in the last mile. Looking forward to coming back next year.

As for the bottleneck I'm sure that will be sorted for next year, this race seems to take on board the feedback (I said it last year about the cattle grid being slippy at the ind estate and this year it was covered) so I'm sure it'll go from strength to strength - well done WAC

Dukie · 08-12-2014 11:46am

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
645|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|1:24:23
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.5xx
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|1:38:08
1642|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|1.40.51
|Dukie|1.30.21|1.29.59|1.29.56

Dukie · 08-12-2014 11:47am

Dukie wrote: »

Bib No.| Username | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
999|skeleton_boy|1.21.47|1.22.30|
|overpronator|1.28.04|1.27.xx|
649|dintbo|1.45.15|1.43.xx|1.40.40
559|Murph_D|1.46.25|1.42.xx|1:41:00
645|Toblerone1978|1.25.10|1.29.xx|1:24:23
1654|Duanington|1.32.21|1.29.5xx
743|MacSwifty|1.34.38|1.37.xx|1:38:08
1642|Slow_Runner|1.44.18|1.39xx-1:43xx|1.40.51
|Dukie|1.30.21|1.29.59|1.29.56

Hope I didn't mess up the table. Finally managed to sneak in under the 90mins on chip time (after 7 attempts!)

menoscemo · 08-12-2014 11:53am

Dukie wrote: »

Hope I didn't mess up the table. Finally managed to sneak in under the 90mins on chip time (after 7 attempts!)

Well done Dukie, looks like you finished right beside me (about 10-15 seconds behind the pacers?)

Have to chime in with all the positives about his race, it really is super. The new course looks slow on paper but is actually surprisingly fast, the weather was perfect I guess which must have helped. I was delighted just to sneak under 1:30 as I entered the race with no idea of what shape I was in and just ran by feel the whole way and managed to just hang on at the end...

Dukie · 08-12-2014 12:13pm

menoscemo wrote: »

Well done Dukie, looks like you finished right beside me (about 10-15 seconds behind the pacers?)

Have to chime in with all the positives about his race, it really is super. The new course looks slow on paper but is actually surprisingly fast, the weather was perfect I guess which must have helped. I was delighted just to sneak under 1:30 as I entered the race with no idea of what shape I was in and just ran by feel the whole way and managed to just hang on at the end...

Yeah I had a Waterford AC vest on.
Managed to stick with the pacers until just before the Ramada hotel but that final little drag killed me & couldn't get back on to them.
Delighted with the time & going to take it easy for the next few weeks. Next up is the John Tracey in Jan

menoscemo · 08-12-2014 12:17pm

Dukie wrote: »

Yeah I had a Waterford AC vest on.
Managed to stick with the pacers until just before the Ramada hotel but that final little drag killed me & couldn't get back on to them.
Delighted with the time & going to take it easy for the next few weeks. Next up is the John Tracey in Jan

Yeah, going by the photos you finished right beside me. I had the Donadea 50k Tshirt on.

Whatsthisabout · 08-12-2014 12:21pm

On behalf of the committee I want to say we are elated with the positive feedback we have received so far. It was great to see such a strong field of runners clocking 6 sub 70s in the men's race and 2 sub 80s in the women's race and the top 40 all coming in under 80 minutes. Lots of people also grab PBs in what most have mentioned was a fair but not easy course.

Conditions were as close to perfect as you could get. We spent a bit extra this year adding a bespoke medal and chocolate milk to the goodies which we feel both went down a treat.

There are a few areas on which we would hope to improve, as mentioned; the bottle neck at the industrial estate entrance was definitely avoidable so we will look at that.
The road surface between mile 6 and 8 will hopefully be fixed by next year and we will be working to see what we can do to expedite that.
We will have to look at the refreshment distribution as the blaas and choclate milk ran out despite having milk for 2000 people and blaas form 1800 with only 1500 finishers
Bigger PA at the start.
The mile 11 Water stop ran out of water for a short period, this was because this stop was passed twice on the way out a lot of people had mistaken this as the mile 6 stop and crossed the road to get water once we found out what had happened we moved the then surplus Water from the actual mile 6 stop back up.

We are committed to trying to provide the big race feel for the small race price and welcome all feedback both good and bad. We will sit down this week and pick through the race and feedback. Many thanks for those that supported it.

Murph_D · 08-12-2014 12:28pm

menoscemo wrote: »

Well done Dukie, looks like you finished right beside me (about 10-15 seconds behind the pacers?)

Have to chime in with all the positives about his race, it really is super. The new course looks slow on paper but is actually surprisingly fast, the weather was perfect I guess which must have helped. I was delighted just to sneak under 1:30 as I entered the race with no idea of what shape I was in and just ran by feel the whole way and managed to just hang on at the end...

Fair play meno, you timed that one well.

TCDStudent1 · 08-12-2014 2:02pm

Whatsthisabout wrote: »

On behalf of the committee I want to say we are elated with the positive feedback we have received so far. It was great to see such a strong field of runners clocking 6 sub 70s in the men's race and 2 sub 80s in the women's race and the top 40 all coming in under 80 minutes. Lots of people also grab PBs in what most have mentioned was a fair but not easy course.

Conditions were as close to perfect as you could get. We spent a bit extra this year adding a bespoke medal and chocolate milk to the goodies which we feel both went down a treat.

There are a few areas on which we would hope to improve, as mentioned; the bottle neck at the industrial estate entrance was definitely avoidable so we will look at that.
The road surface between mile 6 and 8 will hopefully be fixed by next year and we will be working to see what we can do to expedite that.
We will have to look at the refreshment distribution as the blaas and choclate milk ran out despite having milk for 2000 people and blaas form 1800 with only 1500 finishers
Bigger PA at the start.
The mile 11 Water stop ran out of water for a short period, this was because this stop was passed twice on the way out a lot of people had mistaken this as the mile 6 stop and crossed the road to get water once we found out what had happened we moved the then surplus Water from the actual mile 6 stop back up.

We are committed to trying to provide the big race feel for the small race price and welcome all feedback both good and bad. We will sit down this week and pick through the race and feedback. Many thanks for those that supported it.

Good to hear! I didn't want my post to come across as over critical as I really enjoyed the race a lot. But I think its important to give all kinds of feedback on these things.

I'd definitely recommend a bag drop at the changing rooms even if it is just for the people who park in the car park that's down the far side of the starting line. This gives the people who park there the option of getting changed in the dressing rooms and going for a warm up straight after getting changed without having to worry about dropping their bag back to the car.

But last word is to say that this is an event that Waterford AC should be very proud of, a good event with the potential to be a great event! :-)

TCDStudent1 · 08-12-2014 2:06pm

Oryx wrote: »

There was an announcement? I was halfway back in the crowd at the start, and we knew someone was talking over a speaker, but noone could make out a word of it. So if there was a race briefing, the majority of the crowd missed it completely.

I was placed about not far behind 140 pacer and could hear it clearly from there. There was a mayor of somewhere (I guess Waterford!) wishing us well and everything!

menoscemo · 08-12-2014 2:34pm

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

I'd definitely recommend a bag drop at the changing rooms even if it is just for the people who park in the car park that's down the far side of the starting line. This gives the people who park there the option of getting changed in the dressing rooms and going for a warm up straight after getting changed without having to worry about dropping their bag back to the car.

Just an FYI, there were lockers available at the sports campus, perhaps this fact should have been advertised? I was happy enough to leave my bag in the changing rooms as there was nothing of value inside.

Waterford AC Half Dec 6th, 2014

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