Art O'Neill challenge 2016

opus

Great to hear it's back on again next Jan, same as last year restricted to 200 places. See the website - http://www.artoneillchallenge.ie/

2015 thread is here.

I'll be entering with a friend of mine but to be 100% honest I'm not sure if I'll be disappointed or relieved if I don't get in

sideswipe

Ummmm.....Midnight on the 15th of Jan......the exact moment I turn 42........decisions, decisions- a nice meal and a few drinks or 50 odd kilometres in the dark across cold sodden open mountain. Where do I sign up!!

How difficult is the navigation for this? Would love to do the ultra but not sure if my nav skills would be up to it.

Endurancer123

Best race I've competed in. Nothing like the buzz of Dublin castle at 2am on a Friday night/Saturday morning. Looking forward to this already.
Regarding the navigation, all on road for the first 30k, follow the person ahead of you. The last section of 23k is fairly straight forward, gps file is attached on the AON website. I'd suggest doing a Recce of the last section though in day light a few weeks before the event.
Don't spend too long at the checkpoints either.

Djoucer

Endurancer123 wrote: »

Best race I've competed in. Nothing like the buzz of Dublin castle at 2am on a Friday night/Saturday morning. Looking forward to this already.
Regarding the navigation, all on road for the first 30k, follow the person ahead of you. The last section of 23k is fairly straight forward, gps file is attached on the AON website. I'd suggest doing a Recce of the last section though in day light a few weeks before the event.
Don't spend too long at the checkpoints either.

The nav is hard enough. Just look back at last year, Dublin Wicklow mountain rescue had to rescue a couple of people who were recceing the route.

Very experienced people have gone wrong on last section. And the second section.

Not a race for those not confident of navigation.

I've done it a few times and when the cloud comes down, you can't see people
10 metres in front of you wearing head torches let alone try and follow anyone.

sideswipe

Djoucer wrote: »

The nav is hard enough. Just look back at last year, Dublin Wicklow mountain rescue had to rescue a couple of people who were recceing the route.

Very experienced people have gone wrong on last section. And the second section.

Not a race for those not confident of navigation.

I've done it a few times and when the cloud comes down, you can't see people
10 metres in front of you wearing head torches let alone try and follow anyone.

Cheers Djoucer. I wouldn't be very confident but have some experience and live close to the route so would be in a good position to acquaint myself.

Application is in the post now anyway!

Cabaal

Djoucer wrote: »

Not a race for those not confident of navigation.

Thats me out so,

Enduro

Cabaal wrote: »

Thats me out so,

It's not that hard to pick up enough skills to safely get through the AON. Whilst it takes a lot of good nav skills to keep yourself on the optimal path in crappy weather, it's actually easy enough to to get to the checkpoints and finish on a route that may be less than optimal but is good enough (usually as simple as "head south" in most of the key decision points). A bit of pre-race recceing will massively help with confidence come race time as well.

opus

Cabaal wrote: »

Thats me out so,

I'd agree with Enduro, my navigation skills are questionable but managed it myself this year. Probably the fact I covered it twice before with a friend helped me a lot. If you were able to get out there for a look during the daylight beforehand I say it would be ok.

Mad Benny

Anybody get an acceptance or rejection yet?

sideswipe

Mad Benny wrote: »

Anybody get an acceptance or rejection yet?

There was a Face Book update on Tuesday saying the draw would happen 'shortly'.

summit2summit

I think entries are being pulled from a hat either tomorrow or Saturday

Mad Benny

Fingers crossed.

sideswipe

Emails being sent out tomorrow it seems!

Mad Benny

Did anybody get an email yet?

Mad Benny

I got the email

mr spuckler

i got the email at 10:42

sideswipe

None for me:(

Mad Benny

sideswipe wrote: »

None for me:(

That's a shame. You mentioned that it's happening on your birthday.:(

martinkemp

i didn't get it either. looks like we need to wait for another year.

do you know if there's a waiting list or additional draw in case of any drop outs? i still believe in a miracle

Sandwell

Balls. None for our group either.

Avril2010

Just got my place, I haven't done the event before and will have to throw my head into route research now.

If anyone is heading out for a recce and wouldn't mind company i'd love to join.

rachel

Hi,
I got my place too.
Sorry to anyone who didn't this time around.

911sc

Did not get an email, so i guess i am out.
I am obviously dissapointed...but relieved, as I'll be able to fully embrace Christmas Festive Season
As I had the privilege of doing it last year, I simply hope that somebody who did not get picked last year got his/her place instead of me.
Wishing you all the best.

Mad Benny

What sort of shoes do the ultra runners wear? I wore boots last year on the second leg. I was thinking of trail running shoes this year.

Enduro

Trail running shoes. Some wear road shoes until the first aid station and change to trail runners there.

Mad Benny

Enduro wrote: »

Trail running shoes. Some wear road shoes until the first aid station and change to trail runners there.

Thanks Enduro? Any recommendations on type and brand?

summit2summit

Mad Benny wrote: »

Thanks Enduro? Any recommendations on type and brand?

Salamon and inov8 are good

Hatcho

I bought a pair of Adidas Kanadia trail runners a while back and they've been great for both hillwalking and trail running. I wear Sealskinz mid length socks underneath to keep the feet dry and the combination is great. For really rough conditions a pair of gaiters keep the lower legs nice n dry. Much lighter than hiking boots, though you do lose out on some ankle support.

They are a good bit cheaper than the likes of Salamon etc. - so a nice way to try out trail runners for the first time. Only thing to watch is the sizing - I normally wear a size 11 but needed to get the Kanadia's in a 13! Other half fits into a size 4 which is what she wears in normal shoes as well - go figure!

Djoucer

Lots of pros and cons on shoe choice. Some will wear road shoes and change at cp1. Others will wear same shoe for whole race and will go straight through first cp and gain a couple of minutes. They'll go for a shoe that's a good compromise between trail and road.

Others will look at the weather. A frozen course v a very boggy one.

It's one of the good things about art. There's no real correct choice. Would any gains you might make in a road shoe on first section be completely lost changing at cp1?

DubOnHoliday

Hatcho wrote: »

I bought a pair of Adidas Kanadia trail runners a while back and they've been great for both hillwalking and trail running. I wear Sealskinz mid length socks underneath to keep the feet dry and the combination is great. For really rough conditions a pair of gaiters keep the lower legs nice n dry. Much lighter than hiking boots, though you do lose out on some ankle support.

They are a good bit cheaper than the likes of Salamon etc. - so a nice way to try out trail runners for the first time. Only thing to watch is the sizing - I normally wear a size 11 but needed to get the Kanadia's in a 13! Other half fits into a size 4 which is what she wears in normal shoes as well - go figure!

I got Adidas Kanadia 7TR a few weeks back, I wore them in the Glendalough trail race and they wear lethal on wet fireroads, it was like ice skating. Wish I'd worn my inov8s

Hatcho

DubOnHoliday wrote: »

I got Adidas Kanadia 7TR a few weeks back, I wore them in the Glendalough trail race and they wear lethal on wet fireroads, it was like ice skating. Wish I'd worn my inov8s

Wow - that's mad - I have the older Kanadia 6's and I found them great on the Glendalough Trail Run. Perhaps the inov8s and Salamons are much better than the latest Kanadias - I haven't tried either so cant give an honest opinion...