Samsung Night Run 2015

KielyUnusual

chabsey wrote: »

I ran it last night, was my first organised run since starting C25K last August. I really enjoyed it for the atmosphere and the uniqueness of running those normally traffic-filled streets.

I did see a couple of people wiped out by bollards and those low concrete strips though so the organisers could have chosen a different route or had clearer warnings at the start about possible hazards.

My reaction from running it is that I'm keen to run other races and am a little confused by people complaining about the price of it. For a comparative example, people were advertising the 'Docklands 5K' when I finished last night so I thought I'd look into that as my next run seeing as it was in my face at the finish line.

Their website has expired, the next google result gives you info from 2012 and when you try to register it takes you to an Irish Triathlon page that says 'No events available'! Comparatively my registration for the Samsung event was smooth, so maybe that's where some of the money goes? I don't know.

In any case I don't see a huge price difference in the other races I've looked into since this one, the Terenure 5 mile costs ~20 euro for example. What prices do people normally pay for these things and what are generally in the goodie bags that makes the Samsung one so shabby?

The website isn't one of the first ones that shows up in a Google search

http://docklands5k.com/

Pink11

The race series is such fantastic value for money when you break down what you get for 65euro! Here is some more detail on what is included in 2015 for anyone who hasn't seen this yet:




I'm 'new' to the Dublin running circuit. Are there any other race series/good value bundles around?

chabsey

What are 'technical t-shirts' and was the one given out in the samsung race a technical t-shirt?

Murph_D

chabsey wrote: »

What are 'technical t-shirts' and was the one given out in the samsung race a technical t-shirt?

Technical = synthetic lightweight wicking material, not cotton. Samsung shirt is technical afaik. In fact cotton is very rare these days but you still get the odd one.

Pacing Mule

Murph_D wrote: »

http://docklands5k.com

This race will be organised by Crusaders AC this year (I'm a member). The Docklands race(s) have been commercially run the past few years and have been a bit of a shambles, although not as bad as the Night Run IMO. This year there will be a simpler, straighter course up and down each side of the liffey and there will be just one race (not two sharing the same course, as has been the case in the past couple of years).

Oooh you may have just changed my goal 5k race for the year.

yaboya1

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Oooh you may have just changed my goal 5k race for the year.

So you've given up on the post beer mile 5k pb attempt??

Pacing Mule

yaboya1 wrote: »

So you've given up on the post beer mile 5k pb attempt??

Lol - Will be in no state for that !

I was planning to do the Castleknock 5k on the Sunday of the same week but Mrs Mule also wants to run it and babysitting was going to be a challenge. I'm thinking flat course on the Thursday night might be a great solution.

Auntie Matter

My comments are from the perspective of a very back of the field plodder whose aim was to finish within the 80 minutes cut-off. I had wanted to take part in this race before now - I'm a sucker for a big event, a nice T-shirt and a medal - but this is the first year I was anywhere near ready for it.

The good:
-A chance to run 10K around the city centre at night
-Extra lighting on the dark streets off the south quays so I could see where I was going (this was a major problem at Run In The Dark last year)
-Number collection on Friday evening was hassle-free in a central location.
-Nice tech top with the date of the race on it.
-Medal was nice - reminded me of an old Samsung phone I had years ago.
-Good atmosphere at the start.
-Stewarding was very good, except for a few glitchy bits on the south side in the latter part of the race (see below)

The bad:
-Lots of congestion, even at the back of the field, which caused a few falls in the first km.
-The looping around the south side after 6km was a complete pain in the backside.
-Things got confusing and a bit tricky between 8-9 km when the guards started re-opening the roads around Lime St/Pearse St at around 10.15. I thought I was still on target to finish within the 80 minutes cut-off at that point. It appeared that some of the stewards didn't know that there were people still on the course at that stage - at a few of the junctions the stewards actually weren't looking to see if anyone was coming and I had to call out for directions where it wasn't obvious what turn to take. Having said that, there were very few still running so no complaints about being directed on to the footpath, but it's at that stage of a race where stewarding is important in order that people don't get lost for lack of a crowd to follow.
-No water or anything else to drink at the finish - the drinks tables were being packed up by the time I crossed the line.

Would I do that race again? Probably not until I get to sub-70 minutes and not just sub-80, or the luminous top wears out! I think it actually went against me that I started in the appropriate place at the back of the 66-80 mins wave, as starting a few minutes earlier would have helped me avoid the road re-openings. However, I know my place for the time being is at the back of the start, so there I will stay til my times improve.

Caprica

I did this race last night, not in the best of shape atm but wanted something a bit more relaxed to see where I stood. I didn't see the value in the €31.50 entry fee, if the profits are being invested back into the race I can't see where, it seems to be shoe horned into as small an area as possible and is quite congested.

My main issue, as per usual, is people starting in the wrong section. I started in the sub 45 section, getting home in just over 40mins and I spent most of the race passing out people. In the early stages some of the people I passed were not even sub 50, the chances of their being an accident was quite high. The starting straight narrowed quite quickly so a good few of us ended up running on the footpaths only to discover further on down the road that we cut of from the main field by two sets of barriers, any time we gained was lost scaling the barriers. They could easily have led us run on the full width of the road down to the Samuel Beckett bridge.

I wonder would they consider looking at colour coding race numbers based on expected finishing times and then have a very strict entry process to each wave. One thing I will say is that there was a great atmosphere. I collected my number on Sunday afternoon and it was hassle free, it maybe took me 60 seconds. What was the idea of the cut off time? Is that part of this race every year? If you are pulled of they didn't guarantee a medal or finishers time. For €31 seems a bit harsh

Auntie Matter

Caprica wrote: »

What was the idea of the cut off time? Is that part of this race every year? If you are pulled of they didn't guarantee a medal or finishers time. For €31 seems a bit harsh

I presume the cut-off is to deter walkers so the roads don't have to stay closed too long. There was a lot of traffic waiting for Pearse St to re-open at 10.15 so I can't criticise the guards for wanting to re-open the roads as soon as possible.

The last finisher had a chip time of 88 minutes so it looks like they didn't pull too many people off the course, if any. When I was crossing the bridge by the Custom House the finish line announcer said that there were 130 people still running...however, there were only a handful of people between me and the finish line, and only about 20 were listed in the results as finishing after me, so there must have been a few DNFs alright.

Pink11

Caprica wrote: »

I wonder would they consider looking at colour coding race numbers based on expected finishing times and then have a very strict entry process to each wave.

The Great Ireland Run does an excellent job with this. I only saw a few people who probably made a genuine mistake in the wrong area. Numbers were colour coded with huge coloured flags at the start to space us all out. This is exactly what the race last night needed.

I also agree that people need to prove with an official time that they can complete the race in the time specified.

It is the best way for EVERYONE to run a good race.

Señor Fancy Pants

yaboya1 wrote: »

You can do the Seville Marathon for less. But you know what they say about fools and their money.......

Ah yeah but how much is it to Seville!?

Lads, one look at the route online and you can plainly see it was going to be a brutal route. First timer or not.

It was well marshalled and well organised but was overpriced and a dodgy route. Cramming in as many entrants as possible onto narrow streets is a ****ty idea.

Pitting inexperienced trotters that are happy to be out among serious runners looking for a PB was always going to be messy.

Up and down kerbs, avoiding bollards, twisting around corners, tripping over barriers, those flipping small concrete bollard things on the way towards the three arena were dangerous as fcuk.

Lack of water was a problem for some. The quality of the goody bag was deplorable. The tshirt is fine. It really depends what you want out of your €31.50.

Iv done 2 Samsung night runs and 2 Run in the Dark runs in the city. Each time, the route was tricky.

For me, it's a social fun run with a good atmosphere and a chance to run around Dublin streets at night and not be chased by the cops.

It is what it is, don't like it, don't do it.

Pink11

I forgot to say that I agree stewards were fantastic last night. The route/danger wasn't their fault and I found them to be really good at waving us in the right direction with plenty of notice.

When we were heading home, we saw CASES of volvic water left over from the 5km drinking station being packed away into lorries. Shame they didn't bring this down to the end for all the parched finishers!!

Phoole

Listening to all the complaints makes me appreciate the Marathon series even more. 4 races for €65. Although the t-shirts were beyond rubbish last year compared to previous years.

Tombo2001

Pink11 wrote: »

The race series is such fantastic value for money when you break down what you get for 65euro! Here is some more detail on what is included in 2015 for anyone who hasn't seen this yet:




I'm 'new' to the Dublin running circuit. Are there any other race series/good value bundles around?

How about ParkRun, for free?

Colostomy Bag

I did this for the second year in a row - and it was far better this year than last year, in terms of organization and stewarding and also not having the idiotic Cork vs Dublin video link crap that they spouted last year.
If it's the first time you are doing it, then yes the race looks incredibly congested. You just have to be extra careful and keep looking over your shoulder before making any moves and be conscious of what's going on in front of you. Yes, there is certainly an argument to improve the course with less turns and narrow roads. I got a PB on this course last year and this year so I can't complain.

It would be very interesting to see what percentage of people have done it more than once but there is no question it is very popular -and that's really all that counts. I saw no unhappy people before, during or after the race - everybody seemed to be pleased with the event on the whole. Whether some in the running community like it or not (or know of better, cheaper races) is academic as it seems to be the most popular 10k around; (is there a bigger 10k in terms of entrants in the country?), never mind the exorbitant price - and people keep coming back to it, (the guy I was standing beside was doing his fourth in a row) so it's not going to go away. It may be the Garth Brooks/One Direction of 10ks for the purists but I have no issue with it whatsoever and I am a member of a running club.

HelenAnne

Phoole wrote: »

Listening to all the complaints makes me appreciate the Marathon series even more. 4 races for €65. Although the t-shirts were beyond rubbish last year compared to previous years.

I loved the hat and bag, though! I use the bag all the time -- it's great for jogging to the start of races etc.

Phoole

HelenAnne wrote: »

I loved the hat and bag, though! I use the bag all the time -- it's great for jogging to the start of races etc.

Yeah the extras were great last year. I'd swap them for a decent t-shirt though, like 2013 and earlier.

Pink11

What was wrong with the t-shirts last year guys? Have you any pictures to compare?

Also - does anyone have pictures from the race or know of any photo albums online? Not that I'll ever spot myself!

aquinn

The quality, sizing and design of last years were desperate in comparison to previous years. I've, hopefully now moaned enough about it on their FB page that they do something about it this year.

Phoole

Pink11 wrote: »

What was wrong with the t-shirts last year guys? Have you any pictures to compare?

Also - does anyone have pictures from the race or know of any photo albums online? Not that I'll ever spot myself!

aquinn wrote: »

The quality, sizing and design of last years were desperate in comparison to previous years. I've, hopefully now moaned enough about it on their FB page that they do something about it this year.

I emailed the race director about them last year. He said they used the same supplier each year and would relay the comments to them. The suppliers obviously saving money on the quality. The quality was marginally better for the 10 mile but rubbish again for the half, as it was for the 5 mile and 10k. Fingers crossed they're a little better this year. I loved the design and quality of the 2013 shirts.

swervring

I only did the 5 mile last year but the design wasn't great and the tshirt feels very plasticky in comparison to the ones I have from 2011.

pc11

My SO did this race and reported no water and no food of any kind.

Can someone tell me where 5,500 times €30 went to?? It's obscene that €150,000 (plus sponsorship) doesn't get you a banana and a bottle of water.

Was this race organised by Samsung or just sponsored by them? Why was Raheny AC looking for people to volunteer to steward for the race (presumably for free)? Where did all this money go? The website says it's a "not-for-profit" event - what the F*** does that mean?

People paid 30 quid to be a mobile advert for Samsung and got nothing for it. Shame on the organisers. The course is tight, congested, full of corners and not even in the city centre any more.

Let this be a lesson to people: support properly organised club races or they will be gone and we'll be left with only commercial sh1te like this. Props to Park Run, IMRA, BHAA and all the local clubs who organise excellent races for half the price or less, week in, week out.

BeepBeep67

pc11 wrote: »

Why was Raheny AC looking for people to volunteer to steward for the race (presumably for free)?
.

If Raheny were looking for volunteers then the organisers would be giving them €XX per volunteer I would presume.

pc11

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't understand why people have an issue with a for-profit race.

Their website says: "This is a not for profit event taking place in the heart of Dublin city centre". It wasn't even in the city centre really.

pc11

chabsey wrote: »

Well I can't say either way as it's only one I've run but am keen to try others. One of main things I liked about it was the atmosphere, everyone genuinely seemed in great spirits and the weather while cold wasn't bad.

Any recommendations for a good follow up run I should try? I've run a few half marathon length runs on my own time but this 10K is the only one I've done as an organised group.

Any BHAA, IMRA or Park Run race. Most races organised by a good athletics club like Terenure or Raheny AC.

pc11

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

If Raheny were looking for volunteers then the organisers would be giving them €XX per volunteer I would presume.

Thanks. Can someone confirm this and the amount to the club?

BeepBeep67

pc11 wrote: »

Thanks. Can someone confirm this and the amount to the club?

try here

pc11

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

try here

Seriously??

chabsey

pc11 wrote: »

My SO did this race and reported no water and no food of any kind.

....

There was water given out at the 5k mark I believe, and as many vit-hit bottles as you might want at the end. The goodie bag had a protein bar in it as well I think.

I don't know if what was offered was considered good or bad by people who do these types of races regularly but it seemed fine to me.