Race packs for the run

sconhome

Wackoy2k wrote: »

Why is it a 6 mile run and not a 10K?

Fairly sure this is to do with age restriction on U16's in 10k events.

Wackoy2k

CONSI wrote: »

Didnt do the run this year so disappointed to hear it was such a mess. 13000 people involved is a considerable number and it continues to grow, maybe now they need to sit down and figure out where they want this to go....15000/20000 within the next 3 years, is that feasible, how would we do it from a logistics point of view, how do we solve the issues we are having, medals, tops, expo (is there a need for the expo, is the race big enough to warrant it when 10k seem to do the 6mile race which is for a lot of fun runner or people with umbrellas)...there's a lot of good things about the run and some bad...if they ironed out the bad it could be a memorable date for the annual diary..

It could be an amazing race bringing in much needed cash to the city, filling hotel beds and showcasing what an amazing sporting City Limerick is.

1. Change the route - have it pass places like Thomond Park, King Johns Castle - Work with City planners to figure out what roads can be completely closed off instead of having runners running through housing estates.

2. The Expo was terrible - Why not invite local sports shops in - Limerick Sports Store / Gleeson's / The Bike Shop / Tri Bikes / Siopa Rothair etc.. The foot fall in UL at the weekend was huge - local business could have benefited - Yes it was a run but the people attending are fit or looking to get fit and these shops know their sports.

3. Buses to UL on the day would have reduced traffic and possibly reduced the queuing times at the expo - I know there was a bus strike but hire a few buses to shuttle people in and out from town. They do it in the major marathons around the world.

4. I don't know about anyone else but I think it is about time they use Paper Cups for the water. Not many people hold onto a full bottle of water and finish it. A lot easier to clean up - Was passing the NCR on Monday afternoon and there were people cleaning up plastic bottles - they looked like local residence as opposed to volunteers out cleaning up.

5. Why are the City Council not running the event as a Non-Profit race, put the money from the registration fees back into the event so that it can be run without issue and grow it into something as big as Dublin. I am certain we would see the numbers grow for the Marathon and Half if the race had wider routes and better organisation.

On a side note, they could make an announcement in the starting area that all clothes been thrown away would be passed onto homeless charities to pass out if they are placed in a few boxes that were scattered throughout the start area.

Wackoy2k

AKW wrote: »

Fairly sure this is to do with age restriction on U16's in 10k events.

Bingo... Is that so they can get more people registered (more money) or is it because they didn't want to leave out the U16's?

Irish_rat

IMO it should be just a full/half marathon event. Call it Limerick City marathon. Maybe it should have a weekend in its own right.

Get some proper race organisers to kit out the course, incorporate some of Corbally in the route instead of industrial estates. Look at Cork, it's a big success down there. It doesn't need Riverfest attached to it, numbers will come if the everything above is done right.

sconhome

Wackoy2k wrote: »

...

2. The Expo was terrible - Why not invite local sports shops in - Limerick Sports Store / Gleeson's / The Bike Shop / Tri Bikes / Siopa Rothair etc.. The foot fall in UL at the weekend was huge - local business could have benefited - Yes it was a run but the people attending are fit or looking to get fit and these shops know their sports.
...

Footfall yes, but people are so harried and annoyed about hanging around it does not translate to making money.

Expos are ridiculously expensive both in terms of the costs of space and the cost of manning events so it is hard to justify the outlay. Having been a guest of Brooks for the past two years I can assure you if we were having to weigh up cost Vs return as a business decision there would be one less stand there.

You can be sure local businesses were invited but chose not to attend.

I was asked for my feedback last year and among several points I raised was to have a kids only expo on Friday so they could register and have kids based activities / exhibitors there - leaving the Saturday for adult registration which means the crowds are less packed and spread out through the day.

Expos are meant to be shopping environment. It is no use to an exhibitor to say they had 10,000 in traffic if people are too hassled to spend time chatting or buying.

I agree with all your posts BTW, this and all the other GLR events are a great opportunity to showcase Limerick for the city that it is.

Wackoy2k

AKW wrote: »

Expos are ridiculously expensive both in terms of the costs of space and the cost of manning events so it is hard to justify the outlay. Having been a guest of Brooks for the past two years I can assure you if we were having to weigh up cost Vs return as a business decision there would be one less stand there.

You can be sure local businesses were invited but chose not to attend.

I was guessing the cost was high alright for a stand at the Expo.

CONSI

Does anyone know if the event planners ever hold a forum with runners after the race to gather concerns and look at improvements for following year. Would imagine hotels, bars, restaurants etc would love to keep this event going but agree it could now be a stand alone event and move away from Riverfest..which on a seperate line is dying a death....would it be possible to have coloured finish channels to ensure people get right medals...as for the route, apart from trying to loop in king johns castle where else could it go..maybe towards finish loop back around arthurs quay and have a longer run up O'Connell street, try to elimate the loop in Raheen industrial estate

alroley

thesimpsons wrote: »

I was at the finish line waiting for people and saw countless runners go back and get 2 and 3 medals which they then gave to their kids outside the mesh barriers. surely easy enough to ensure everyone gets their one medal. its the slower people who almost deserve the medal more than the faster as usually its a much bigger achievement to the guy who spent 6+ hours on a marathon than the 4 hour person.

That's so mean though
I'd be very disappointed if I had done the marathon and ended up not getting a medal because some random kids got them for no reason? Very rude of those runners.

You're right, it would mean way more to people who finish slower.

CR 7

FutureGuy wrote: »

Well myself, my wife and many number of people didnt see any mile markers in the 6 mile race so if they were there, they must have been very poorly marked.

They were marked in paint on the road, but the crowds probably didn't thin out enough for the 6 miles that you would even be able to see it. I only noticed the ones for the half after a few miles when the crowds thinned out a lot. There was a circled 6 with the mile marked beside it, and the same with M or H for the full and half.

thesimpsons wrote: »

I was at the finish line waiting for people and saw countless runners go back and get 2 and 3 medals which they then gave to their kids outside the mesh barriers. surely easy enough to ensure everyone gets their one medal. its the slower people who almost deserve the medal more than the faster as usually its a much bigger achievement to the guy who spent 6+ hours on a marathon than the 4 hour person.

I think this is a bit unfair, the reason someone finished in 4 hours rather than 6 is probably because they put in multiple times as many hours of training over the previous months(and years). I don't mean to sound elitist or anything (since I'm nowhere near to being mistaken as elite:pac:), but I don't think anyone should deserve a medal more than another finisher. (Except the winner, I suppose.)

Toffeeboy

1. Change the route - have it pass places like Thomond Park, King Johns Castle - Work with City planners to figure out what roads can be completely closed off instead of having runners running through housing estates. It used to go by King Johns Castle & TP. Maybe the Garda made them change the route to keep more of the main roads open.

2. The Expo was terrible - Why not invite local sports shops in - Limerick Sports Store / Gleeson's / The Bike Shop / Tri Bikes / Siopa Rothair etc.. The foot fall in UL at the weekend was huge - local business could have benefited - Yes it was a run but the people attending are fit or looking to get fit and these shops know their sports. Too expensive for local shops

3. Buses to UL on the day would have reduced traffic and possibly reduced the queuing times at the expo - I know there was a bus strike but hire a few buses to shuttle people in and out from town. They do it in the major marathons around the world.If they held the expo over 2 days it would help a lot. 11,000 is a lot of people in 1 day. Dublin is held over 2 days and they have about 13,000 people running

4. I don't know about anyone else but I think it is about time they use Paper Cups for the water. Not many people hold onto a full bottle of water and finish it. A lot easier to clean up - Was passing the NCR on Monday afternoon and there were people cleaning up plastic bottles - they looked like local residence as opposed to volunteers out cleaning up.Runners prefer small bottles based on the chats over on the athletics section

5. Why are the City Council not running the event as a Non-Profit race, put the money from the registration fees back into the event so that it can be run without issue and grow it into something as big as Dublin. I am certain we would see the numbers grow for the Marathon and Half if the race had wider routes and better organisation.Why don't the Limerick running clubs get together. They should get together and have a go. I assume they all have experience of doing this type of thing. I couldn't imagine the City council having any interest in doing it.

On a side note, they could make an announcement in the starting area that all clothes been thrown away would be passed onto homeless charities to pass out if they are placed in a few boxes that were scattered throughout the start area. They are scattered everywhere in Dublin as well BUT they are collected and given to charity

nhunter100

CR 7 wrote: »

They were marked in paint on the road, but the crowds probably didn't thin out enough for the 6 miles that you would even be able to see it. I only noticed the ones for the half after a few miles when the crowds thinned out a lot. There was a circled 6 with the mile marked beside it, and the same with M or H for the full and half.



I think this is a bit unfair, the reason someone finished in 4 hours rather than 6 is probably because they put in multiple times as many hours of training over the previous months(and years). I don't mean to sound elitist or anything (since I'm nowhere near to being mistaken as elite:pac:), but I don't think anyone should deserve a medal more than another finisher. (Except the winner, I suppose.)

I regularly run a marathon on average 3:30 to 3:40 I find it insulting for anyone to believe I put in less of an effort than someone that does a 4 to 5 hour marathon.Runners doing those times have my respect but I train no less hard i'm just fortunate enough to be that bit faster.