Dublin Marathon 2022

aquinn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119812980#Comment_119812980

I did two days at the expo volunteering. It was great but very busy so was wrecked. We were told as we left on Friday after starting at 11 that only 7,000 had come through Friday. 17,000 overall I believe. I had a contact from the club as had also volunteered in 2019. It really is great to do.

FazyLucker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119814789#Comment_119814789

I didn't clap for 3 hours either. Cheered people on, I'd imagine the novelty of the clapper wears off too. They are an absolute waste, especially when people arguing about recyclable plastic bottles. I wouldn't be sure that the clappers recycle.

bucketybuck

Just on the water stations again, I think what annoyed me was that the Roebuck road stations were stupid cups, yet the needless station at 5k was all bottles.

I know people joke about the 5k station but seriously, the amount of waste there is crazy, it is nothing but people taking a bottle just because it is there and dumping it after one sip.

Roebuck on the other hand is the nadir of the course for many, even moreso than the later kms approaching the finish. It comes after that long drag and when muscles are likely to be sore and strained, I know that the last thing I needed to be doing was stopping or breaking stride and certainly didn't want to be **** about with stupid cups. In my opinion Roebuck is literally the worst place on the course to have them.

So why not put the cups at 5k and the bottles at Roebuck?

sk8board

I think the station at the start of Heartbreak hill on Roebuck was a Lucazade sponsored one, might be wrong, but there were some cups of water alright. there aren’t going to be many takers for Lucazade from faster runners, as they wouldn’t have trained with it, but I’d say it would be very welcome for folks in the 4hr+.

personally I think the 250ml water bottles is an absolute must for any marathon. You simply can’t hydrate correctly with a gulp of air & water from a plastic cup every 4-5km. Stitch-city!

Peckham

I wonder what the cup v bottle decision process is for race organisers.

Why does Dublin have water in bottles, but races like Berlin and Chicago go with cups? My guess is that cups require more volunteers to do the pouring, and Dublin doesn't have that luxury.

The street after the first water station looked dangerous with the number of (almost full) bottles rolling about the place. Do they clear the roads of debris between waves or is it complete carnage by the time wave 3 runners arrive on the scene?

Beric Dondarrion

I ran this yesterday, 7th time and all went well right until the end. I crossed the finish line, collected the medal and tshirt , made my way to the bag drop area and decided to stop and refuel. That's when things started to get a bit fuzzy. I stupidly sat down and started chatting to one of the other finishers, next thing I know I woke up with a small crowd around me. Fair play to the two guys who got me sorted with one of the paramedics. Not 100% sure what actually happened though as I've never had an experience like that on any of my long runs or other marathons.

I'd like to put it down to either dehydration or stopping so suddenly but it cast a shadow on what was otherwise a very good day for me - my time was in line with other years despite being a few years older (and a few kgs heavier) since 2019. Thought the day was very well organised and a big shout out to the medical volunteers who had their work cut out for them.

py

Cup Vs water... Ishka was a sponsor so I'm sure they wanted exposure. I'm sure they could've had branded cups have though. Something to give feedback on. Personally prefer bottles but I usually am self supported.

I was cheering people on from Milltown for a little while. There were quite a few people walking before they hit the Milltown hill. Unsure if they overcooked it on the first half, didn't have the training done or were saving the legs for the hills ahead.

Qwerty27

Any ideas why there seemed to be so many casulties? There seemed to be an unusualy high number of runners in distress, in partiular one guy just of the N11 who was seemed unconsious. Some people near the finish almost collapsing by the barriers, getting sick etc. This was in the first wave of finishers so was a bit surprising.

Dehydration, not being prepared fully, pushing too hard? Happened me once when I pushed too far and almost fainted after the finish but yesterday seemed to have a lot of runners in trouble

Dante

Jesus the last couple of km was a slog, people were hitting the deck all over the shop. It felt like someone shot me in both my hamstrings at the 41km and ended up hobbling the home straight like Forrest Gump. Missed my target by 43 seconds (4:00:43) 😣 Annoyingly I ended up running 42.60km due to my fondness to take wide corners.

Great day overall though. I even got a little sunburnt on my face which is a first for this time of year.

Charliebull

Really enjoyed yesterday event compared to the torture of 19 , what a difference a good training plan and the great advice on here made (particularly the mentors in the novice tread) and a fellow spurs fan

beat my target and my previous time

Sunny Dayz

Was spectating at the marathon again this year. Loved it -such a buzz - it would make you want to run one yourself. Until I went to watch at around 25.5 mile and you could see people struggling and hobbling and grimacing and you them - emm maybe not!

Normally I don't like those plastic clappers but I picked up one at the expo and it was handy for making a bit of extra noise and showing some support - and freed up my other hand to wave, hold the flag, eat, keep warm in my pocket! The clappers say they are made from recycled plastic. I seen some people with blue clappers from previous years so nice to see them being reused.

Not an expert in the cup vs bottle debate - but I think personally I'd like a choice at water stations. I've found at races sometimes I just want a mouthful, other times I want a small bottle to carry or empty into my own.

A few people I was chatting said it felt warm/humid yesterday so maybe that was a factor in the people needing assistance.

FazyLucker

Delighted to hear the clappers made from recycled plastic, I just hope they also can be recycled afterwards, i.e. made from recycled materials, and recyclable. A big distinction.

Re the people needing assistance, could it be that given it was 3 years since the event last ran there was a disproportionate amount of "newbies", i.e. 3 x as many as a normal year? Also a lot of people took up running at the start of the pandemic so could have been a huge amount of first-timers.

It was a very warm humid day, atypical of October. I ran it one year and it was freezing.

Jakey Rolling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119814219#Comment_119814219

Coming towards Milltown a spectator was encouraging everyone to keep to the tangent - I duly moved over to the inside of the bend but my dodgy knee quickly reminded me that it doesn't like running on a right hand camber. It was a bit demoralising having to veer back to the other side of the road. Hated the long drags especially up Crumlin, it felt like there was more uphill than down overall. Strangely didn't mind Roebuck hill, powered up it once again - it's short and you know you can recover down Foster avenue.

The amount of folks just dropping gels on the road, beggars belief. Also those who chuck bottles 10 yards before an obvious green bin. Grrr.

It's a shame those seaweed capsule gels/water pouches never took off, even when dropped they biodegrade and wash away very quickly

event

Those plastic clappers really annoy me. The noise they make just drowns out any shouts from the crowd. That's what I rather, when you hear people call your name.

At about mile 24/25 I was really bad and I looked up and saw/heard 3 women roaring my name. I didn't know them and it caught me completely by surprise. And seriously lifted me. If they had those clackers I wouldn't have been able to focus at all on the calls.

And water needs to be in bottles. That's my 2c

FazyLucker

One other query, are there people who actually use Lucozade Sport as a training fuel? I think the stuff is absolutely rank. Bottle or cup. I remember one year up Roebuck Hill was like running over velcro by the time I got there with all the Lucozade Sport spilled everywhere.

The ridiculous thing is, I have seen videos for races (and possibly even DCM) where they ask you to empty your bottle and throw it to the side. A bit like Dublin in general, more bins needed and more frequently on the route. Yeah, there are parts where the route ends up a mess with bottles.

I have hear about those seaweed capsule pouches, never seen them anywhere in an event.

Lazare

So who's dressing up as a zombie tonight?

Minimal effort in fairness.

Screenshot_2022-10-31-14-55-10-246_com.android.chrome.jpg

How is that even possible?

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119815636#Comment_119815636

Only my first marathon so I can't say how it normally is but I started in wave 4 which was a bit slow for me so I ended up catching the stragglers of wave 3 but from around 33 or 34 k the majority of people (90%) around me were walking and this continued until 39k or so. I assumed it was those who had a time of 4:10 or 4:20 in their heads but for whatever reason weren't up to it on the day and were saving themselves for the run in.

I grabbed one of the lucozade bottles late on and F me that stuff is disgusting. I drank most of it but actually felt a bit sick after it. Their original recipe was much nicer

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119815601#Comment_119815601

Were you in a grey top at the railing facing towards the goody bag area? Glad your OK.

woodseb

Bottles everytime for me, impossible to get enough water on board from a half full cup and also to open up a gel and wash it down

Beric Dondarrion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119816118#Comment_119816118

No, that wasn't me. I was midway between the goody bag area and the bag drop area. The paramedic who was looking after me had to wrap up very quickly and see to another chap who took a turn about 10 feet from me. In fairness, he seemed to be in a worse condition than me and needed to be seen to quick smart. I managed to get some liquids and food in to me and was grand after about an hour or so. Interesting end to the day though 😃

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119816154#Comment_119816154

Ah ok, I was a few metres from the chap in grey when he slipped off the ledge to the ground. Medics were superb.

Just on the bottles vs cups debate.

I think if you're going to do cups, you need water stations every 2 or 3km.

I did Chicago, and it was all cups, but the water stations were so frequent, that 2 mouthfuls of water were enough to keep you hydrated until the next station.

As some else alluded to, Dublin might just not have enough volunteers

JimmyChew

I had an absolute disaster of a day. Way off what I was expecting. Blew up around mile 14 and had to endure the long slog home.

To be honest my planning and getting myself to Dublin from Clare on the morning let me down badly. Tried to take a few shortcuts and it backfired badly. Very little sleep the night before and a stressful morning even before getting to the start line was not ideal. I knew in the first few miles I was working too hard to sustain it over the full 26.2 but didn't heed the warning signs and paid the price.

Saw more than usual number of casualties down this year. One lad in particular was down hard receiving attention at around mile 25. To think he probably gave it everything he had all day only to go down so close to home. Though going for people in that situation, looked like anyone who needed it was getting some attention which was good to see.

Been licking my wounds all day but happy that I was able to keep moving forward.

I'll give next year a miss not overly keen on the cost of it at this stage.

Have to give a special mention to the support all over the course, the people of Dublin really out did themselves this year.

ligerdub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119815939#Comment_119815939

Its unlikely to be because of new runners. The majority of those who were given a number had done one already. The level of newcomers is likely to be much lower for this one compared to previous years.

General participation rates are lower than what it was prior to the lockdowns, so whatever uptick in running that may have occurred looks to have been eroded and then some. I'm not really convinced that there was a new runners from that period either, just that it became more visible due to it being outdoors, probably on strava and not in gyms.

FazyLucker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119816446#Comment_119816446

Maybe so. I'd say there was a disproportionate number of people running on other bibs though. I know a good few people for whom this was the case "Yes I'm running but if you want to track me, you need to search for such and such".

Its a real failure of the lack of a transfer/refund facility.

But I could be way out in that.

FazyLucker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119816390#Comment_119816390

Sorry to hear you had a mare of a day Jimmy, if its any consolation I had a similar day a in 2017. Got little or no sleep the night before, and after a hard few weeks in work had nothing in the tank on the day. Was obsessed about pace on each km, etc rather than relaxing and going with the flow. Once I realised I was behind pace, mentally I gave up.

It is the worst feeling in the world and there is not much you can do about it. I completely sympathise with you as I know how low that feels.

I came back the following year, trained largely the same (a bit smarter if anything) but had a much more relaxed approach to it. Just went with the flow, held back at the start and did a PB.

You'll forget about it in a few weeks and move on. Don't dwell on it. You still achieved a great thing - finishing a marathon. Not to be sniffed at.

rovers_runner

RE: 2023 and the increased entry fees and race going forward.

I think they aren't reading the room at all here regards the increased cost of entry, participant numbers in all events since 2020 coupled with a hard year ahead for the country as a whole in terms of people having that extra but of disposable income to throw on a single race weekend.

Dublin hotels seem to think €300 is an acceptable going rate for a night anywhere in the capital and then you have tourists falling off with a global recession. They should look back 10 years ago and make sure not to bite the hand that feeds. The whole two days to pay up for past participants makes you think they either need to cover a shortfall for 2022 or need to get agreements made early for 2023 to avoid being over charged.

Would it have been a good time to evaluate things and maybe scale things back. Simplify the course, limit road closures or area covered, scale back expo, offer postage of bibs, a transfer system where people who want to sell a number forfeit a small fee.

One thing for sure in my opinion, I don't think they would have managed 25000 based on yesterday, everything felt very stretched, no fault of hard working organisers or volunteers but you got the impression they were just coping with covering off people needing help while holding fort on the start/finish areas.

Glencarraig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119815981#Comment_119815981

Gary's legs are like that after every long distance race, obviously a fault in his running style where the inside heel of the other shoe is catching the calf muscle. I think I read its something to do with running form going astray when you get tired, weak hip flexors perhaps ?

Lazare

Have convinced my wife to run it next year. I probably won't, and will cheer her on.

She'll obv have to enter the lottery. I could buy an entry and give it to her if she misses out on the lottery, but can I easily get a refund?

Think I remember there being a refund window.