Recommend and Irish Middle Distance Race

cjt156

I'm thinking about going the Half Iron distance later this year. So who can recommend me a race in Ireland, and why?
I'm not particularly enamoured with the IM hype (or budget) and the fact that it falls between CK and DCT (my two favourite Oly races) this year has me torn.

For background I'm a middle of pack punter (2:45 Oly) who's out for fun not glory. Not a club member.
I've been doing Olympics now for the past 5 years, usually 2 or three per season. Added to that a few Aquathons, OW swims, 10k races and Parkrun on a Saturday. I'm 46 with a view to ticking the Iron distance box sometime before my knees give out.

I'm a decent swimmer without being gloriously fast, I do the Iron distance in Glendalough in 70-75 minutes.
My 5k time is under 20 mins, 10k in about 42; standalone runs. I'm gradually building my running to go half marathon distance and am happy with progress.
The bike is where I suffer; I know I've never put the full effort into it. Life, work, kids all the usual excuses. I have a turbo and need to get the finger out now to build stamina so I can do my run justice.

So recommend me a half distance race, considering location, budget, distance travelled (I'm in Sth Dublin).
Cheers!

EC1000

Kenmare (The Lost Sheep) and Swinford are the only ones that I have done that are still on the calendar (Galway and Athlone are no longer afaik). Would highly recommend either. Both would obviously need a night or two away given your location. If you were to only do one, I would say Kenmare for the stunning location. Be ready to enter when it opens though... If you're looking for a day trip, how about the doubly oly in Athy? Not exactly a HIM as such but a good day out all the same.

okane1

New half this year by Hardman Triathlon, part of a 4 races they are running this year:

Hardman sprint-Valentia Island-June 17th
Hardman half-Waterville-July 8th
Hardman long-Killarney-August 19th
Hardman olympic-Killarney-September 2nd.
All details shortly on www.hardman.ie

Thinking of giving the half a go myself

griffin100

Don't see any route for the half yet. Be interested to see where the swim is based given the conditions around Waterville.

catweazle

griffin100 wrote: »

Don't see any route for the half yet. Be interested to see where the swim is based given the conditions around Waterville.

Thinking of this myself if Galway doesnt go ahead,the organiser did pop me an email saying the bike route was going to be extremely hilly

okane1

catweazle wrote: »

Thinking of this myself if Galway doesnt go ahead,the organiser did pop me an email saying the bike route was going to be extremely hilly

Plenty of hills in that area. Interested in seeing the route and the pricing. I know their full distance is good value.

griffin100

I've done the full distance 4 times so familiar enough with the organisers - no frills and no bullsh1t.

You could make the half bike route hilly alright from Waterville. I'm assuming a sea swim at the south end of the town (on the Kenmare side).

okane1

Update on hardman half route. Tough bike leg, maybe leave TT bike...

The half is a new event and will take place in Waterville on July the 8th. This race will have a sea swim, a very tough bike section and a flat lapped run along the promenade in Waterville. The cycle will leave the village over Coomaciste and follow the ROK all the way to Sneem. At Sneem you will veer left in the direction of Molls Gap. After 10kms or so you will turn left to Ballaghbeama pass,a very difficult climb with a quick technical descent. After this you will head towards Glencar before turning towards Ballghisheen pass. Again very steep with a fast technical descent. After this it is mostly flat all the way back to Waterville. Click here for the mapmyride link:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1429697224

mossym

yeah, knowing those roads, i'd be thinking road bike

okane1

mossym wrote: »

yeah, knowing those roads, i'd be thinking road bike

Living in Kerry I would recommend a road bike with the steep climbing and technical downhills.

MojoMaker

How does the profile and technical sections compare to say Lost Sheep?

mossym

MojoMaker wrote: »

How does the profile and technical sections compare to say Lost Sheep?

Descents would be tougher, not the gradual descent you have from caha. Ive used my TT bike on bother my lost sheep efforts, and would have no reason not to. Coomacista is fine, it's the later climbs are the concern

Pidae.m

Kenmare is a no brainer

EC1000 wrote: »

Kenmare (The Lost Sheep) and Swinford are the only ones that I have done that are still on the calendar (Galway and Athlone are no longer afaik). Would highly recommend either. Both would obviously need a night or two away given your location. If you were to only do one, I would say Kenmare for the stunning location. Be ready to enter when it opens though... If you're looking for a day trip, how about the doubly oly in Athy? Not exactly a HIM as such but a good day out all the same.

pot p

When does the lost sheep open for entries

MojoMaker

mossym wrote: »

Descents would be tougher, not the gradual descent you have from caha. Ive used my TT bike on bother my lost sheep efforts, and would have no reason not to. Coomacista is fine, it's the later climbs are the concern

Ta, good to know. So more like the descent from the Healy pass in several places?

Pmaldini

A section of the Ballaghbeama Gap, i would recommend sticking to the road bike, i have cycled on both, it can get a little hairy at times!!

MojoMaker

Just a quick note on this. Did the half in Waterville, lovely course, not as difficult as made out and 100% a TT bike course.

Brought the road bike and regretted it badly. Only two sharp climbs on the whole course and both descents while steep were non-technical and with a good surface (i.e. fast). Descent off Healy pass in the Lost Sheep is much more difficult IMO, particularly in the wet.

I'll know for next year and I'd recommend this race - first year going so maybe the small club/family vibe won't last long, but definitely a nice day out.

peter kern

i think that vibe will last as it is lead by the race director .
He seemed to have a chat with every participant before and after the race and i have no idea how he can remember so many names in such a short time.
I dont think the word stress is part of his vocaburarly.

and of course its a tt bike course,its a mystery to me why people would even waste energy to thinking about it its virtually impossible to lose time on a tt bike in 99. 99 % of races .
maybe sometimes you gain very little but at the same time i save so much energy never thinking aobut my race set up.

but i guess when people dont have problems they like to create them and the tt road bike question is one of them lol ( and dont even start but for the slower people it makes more of a difference - it dosnt uness you have super poor bike handling skills and then you should work on those or use a road handle bar on tt bike like chrissie wellington did )