Galway 5K Series 2019

SaltSweatSugar

Anyone here doing the Galway 5K series this year? The first leg was on this evening in Caltra and I have to say I really enjoyed the course! Seemed to be mostly downhill apart from the last KM or so.

I’ve never done the series before so I’m not familiar with the other courses but I’m told the Loughrea one is the worst.

Whereisgalway

Yea it’s very enjoyable and popular evebt

SaltSweatSugar wrote: »

Anyone here doing the Galway 5K series this year? The first leg was on this evening in Caltra and I have to say I really enjoyed the course! Seemed to be mostly downhill apart from the last KM or so.

I’ve never done the series before so I’m not familiar with the other courses but I’m told the Loughrea one is the worst.

martyboy48

I'm doing it too. Caltra is one of the better races but I was a bit disappointed with the start being held up, I got cold again waiting.....

Loughrea is tougher alright, a bit of a climb in it that will take the pace off you.....

Craughwell is good, fast start so don't get carried away!!!

The others are ok, a few rolling hills in places but nothing to bad I think. Athenry has a fast finish downhill.

Caltra is probably the best course though

SaltSweatSugar

Yeah the start in Caltra annoyed me, late starting and I found it hard to get through the crowd. Other than that it was good.

I’m hoping to run the Loughrea route on Friday to see what I’m in for, but wondering am I better off not knowing until race day :pac:

Is it possible to get new cable ties at every race for the chip? I don’t fancy leaving it on my runners when I’ll be using them between races.

What’s Clarinbridge like? I’ve heard it’s flat but they didn’t seem too sure...

martyboy48

SaltSweatSugar wrote: »

Yeah the start in Caltra annoyed me, late starting and I found it hard to get through the crowd. Other than that it was good.

I’m hoping to run the Loughrea route on Friday to see what I’m in for, but wondering am I better off not knowing until race day :pac:

Is it possible to get new cable ties at every race for the chip? I don’t fancy leaving it on my runners when I’ll be using them between races.

What’s Clarinbridge like? I’ve heard it’s flat but they didn’t seem too sure...

You can just feed the chip through your laces half way down. Just need to put lace through one hole, it won't go anywhere

I'm not a fan of Clarinbridge, that's more of a personal thing though. Flat enough from memory, but a bit of a drag running up through Killcornan? woods I think.Link

SaltSweatSugar

Craughwell didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, I was 11 seconds slower than in Caltra. Found it a lot harder to get around people at the start too, think I’ll need to get closer to the front if I want to keep bringing my time down.

Loughrea next week, martyboy84 how far in is that climb you mentioned?

martyboy48

SaltSweatSugar wrote: »

Craughwell didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, I was 11 seconds slower than in Caltra. Found it a lot harder to get around people at the start too, think I’ll need to get closer to the front if I want to keep bringing my time down.

Loughrea next week, martyboy84 how far in is that climb you mentioned?

(Assuming it's the same course, it should be)

Around 1.5 miles in it starts. Levels off slightly before starting again before the 2 mile mark. You'll hit peak altitude at the 2.5 mile mark:pac::pac: and you'll then have a lovely downhill roll to the finish:D:D:D

I wouldn't be looking for a good time on that course anyway, enjoy the views instead :pac::pac:

Loughrea

SaltSweatSugar

Well Loughrea was just as tough as expected, that bloody hill between 3k and 4K nearly got the better of me! But I improved my time from Caltra by 1 second, so got a new PB. Delighted with myself

martyboy48

SaltSweatSugar wrote: »

Well Loughrea was just as tough as expected, that bloody hill between 3k and 4K nearly got the better of me! But I improved my time from Caltra by 1 second, so got a new PB. Delighted with myself

That's very good going, congrats...
It's set you up nicely for another good run in Athenry.... Another fast finish course 😊

Did Tuam this evening.
Easily the worst course so far. Too narrow for the first km, and then boring for the remainder.

I know they're social runs, but could they not at least encourage people to start at an appropriate position in the field.
If you look at some of the slower runners times, there are a lot of them with chip times very close to the race times, meaning they started close to the front. Why do they bother?

I saw people with times of over 30 minutes, and their race time was within 5 seconds of their chip time. They can't be far from the front at the beginning if that's the case.

Bob_the_dog

Deleted User wrote: »

Did Tuam this evening.
Easily the worst course so far. Too narrow for the first km, and then boring for the remainder.

I know they're social runs, but could they not at least encourage people to start at an appropriate position in the field.
If you look at some of the slower runners times, there are a lot of them with chip times very close to the race times, meaning they started close to the front. Why do they bother?

I saw people with times of over 30 minutes, and their race time was within 5 seconds of their chip time. They can't be far from the front at the beginning if that's the case.

It was a good course with a good mix of town running and the outskirts, great atmosphere and very well organised. With the out and back it was great to be able to see people ahead suffering as much as everyone else.

Runners barely listen to the safety directions at the start of a race let alone listen when asked to move back. That a runners issue, not an organisers issue.

Well done Tuam AC on a great race

galwayspur

So that's that for another year. Good series overall, and I thought the weather softening up the trail made it a challenging course to round things off last night.

My watch said 4.97km afterwards, hoping it was just the watch and not a short course. The long walk forward at the start has me doubting though.

Well done to organisers and thanks for the spread afterwards.

Loved that run last night. Probably the most enjoyable route personally.
Great 6 weeks. Will miss it now that it's finished.

Not to upset Bob_the_dog, but if I was to rank the runs, it would have been

1. Clarinbridge - really felt like their were majorly different sections to the route
2. Craughwell - Just a nice course
3. Caltra - Very little between this and Craughwell. Ranks behind Craughwell due to the crowds at the start line
4. Loughrea - Really tough, but a nice route
5. Athenry - Easiest route, but the section on the wide road is pretty bland
6. Tuam - described previously - just a boring route

Bob_the_dog

galwayspur wrote: »

So that's that for another year. Good series overall, and I thought the weather softening up the trail made it a challenging course to round things off last night.

My watch said 4.97km afterwards, hoping it was just the watch and not a short course. The long walk forward at the start has me doubting though.

Well done to organisers and thanks for the spread afterwards.

Last night my watch was off by 80m but I'm putting that down to poor GPS signal while running through the forest