Limerick or Belfast marathon.

Similar, I don't think I've ever heard a positive story from Belfast.

Capped off with a friend waiting 3 hrs for their number last year.

A friend of mine who ran both says Limerick marathon is excellent plus the atmosphere it generates in the city is palpable.

Limerick will post out your number

Indeed. The nonsense of being forced to travel to an expo to pick up your number has to stop.

I have never done Belfast so cant really comment on it. I have read about expo and measurment issues in last couple of instances. I did Limerick this year and quite enjoyed route and as been said above great they send out number. Im not sure if this is of any relevence to yourself but Belfast is a qualifier for the likes of Boston etc in the GFA's. I'm not so sure on the situation with Limerick on that front.

Did anyone hear if the number pick system was better this year ? 2021 seems to have been the disaster year.

You've probably a limited population of folks on here who have run both.

I've run limerick and am from here so I know the route pretty well. It's not flat but it's certainly no Dingle marathon. As far as marathons go in Ireland it's certainly pb territory . Longford and Galway are probably flatter but they come with their own challenges.

Limerick is very very well organised.

Limerick certainly looks much flatter than Dublin or Belfast on the route map elevation profile

https://greatlimerickrun.com/limerick-marathon/

Think that depends on how fast/slow you run 😁. But as said can only go by what I heard as haven’t done it myself

Ok, experience of contending to break 3 hours, I have none. I accept that it might be different for those who do. For someone in the 3:30-3:45 bracket like me, it made no difference.

Hello. I’m quite interested in this point; does anyone know if the Limerick marathon can be used as a GFA entry for other races, or how I could find out? I’ve emailed them but gotten no response, and can’t find any contact details for them online. Their Twitter account says it’s AAI certified, but not sure what that means.

Aai certified usually means it’s officially measured (by a licensed person) and hence PBs and records are official. If not AAI certified records can still be broken but don’t think they will show up anywhere in the history books.

Singed up for Belfast on Sunday. Training over the Spring has been a bit of a slog in terms of the weather, a lot of cold, damp or dull mornings so hopefully things improve a little for the long weekend.

Anyone done it before got any advice? Hopefully they've gotten over their orgainsational issues from previous years!

Yeah, I arrived yesterday and got my pack and stuff thinking I would have to wait hours. The numbering system was digital,

It's probably an awful lot busier today. This will be my first marathon, so not going for a time just the whole experience.

Good luck lads

Well I thought the Limerick marathon was excellent. Would love to hear about the Belfast one.

The good points about Limerick:

-start and finish in city centre, so very accessible; walking distance from loads of hotels and bus and train station. No need to trek out to the start line, or get a shuttle bus back in at the end. Plus it being a Sunday, the usual parking restrictions in the city centre didn’t apply.

-the start (Pery Square) and finish (O’Connell St) both had a super atmosphere, both felt like a big city marathon.

-loads of volunteers at all parts of the course, and loads of water and Lucozade available. Also loads of toilets at start and finish line, and around the course.

-huge variety on the course itself; running down a very empty O’Connell Avenue and around the Hunt museum in the early morning was great fun; the bit around UL and the canal was very serene, felt like I was out for a relaxing Sunday run. Then back into the city centre and joined by thousands of people doing the half, so it turned into a very different type of race. Then some running on a motorway (!), random suburban housing estates, back through the Georgian bit of the city, then the million euro houses around the north side, and then a huge finish. Can’t say I’ve run a race like that before.

-the route (starting and finishing in the city centre and running through it again at 20km and at 30km) is brilliant for spectators; and you didn’t have to do laps of the same bit of the city (I generally avoid races that involve laps, I find them soul destroying on long distances).

-the medal was nice and chunky, loads of drinks and bananas at the end, and a free tshirt. They posted out the bib in good time and the race instructions were clear.

-the atmosphere around the city was great; when I was walking to the start line, loads of random strangers were wishing me luck, and there were people standing outside their houses cheering and handing out sweets pretty much everywhere. Real sense of civic pride around the place, it made a real difference.

So I’d definitely recommend it overall. Really well organised and supported, and a great, unique route.

The only real potential downside is the flip side of it being varied! If you like big city marathons with cheering crowds, you might find the first half a bit quiet; and if you like a more challenging cross-country vibe, meeting thousands of half marathon runners who are fresh on their legs mightn’t be ideal. I loved all that though, it meant the time passed really quickly cos it almost felt like I was running a series of different races rather one continuous one. Horses for courses I suppose!

Quick summary from Belfast.

No issues with race number collection, free parking, no queues Sat afternoon, expo was pretty small and in and out in no time.

Bus out to the start in Stormont from city centre, plenty of transport and no queue for bag drop either.

Start was a bit busy with so many relay runners who should have started back a little and caused a bit of traffic in first mile!

Course was grand, good support in a lot of places, plenty of interesting “culture” on view at times!

At about mile 18 there was a drag of a climb, Oldpark road which I thought would never end!

Mile 24 was an uphill along the Ormeua Road before finally facing for home.

Overall, I’d say about 3,000 full marathon runners and 10,000+ relay runners, which led to a bit of traffic at times but on other hand probably added to the atmosphere.

Bottle of water and a dry cereal bar at the end was a bit of a letdown but wouldn’t be a big issue. T-shirt very plain but again not a biggy.

Overall, I’d recommend it, seem to have learned their lessons in terms of organisation. No frills or anythign fancy but good support and people were friendly!

Ahh that clears that up, I couldn't find the 4:15 pacers but was confused when I saw them in the pictures afterwards..