Great Ireland Run

Saturday morning. Clashes with parkrun. Lost at least 15-20 from my home parkrun alone because of that.

Also it was poorly advertised.

They were trying to blame a rookie garda at the finish area.

The junction of furze Road/Chesterfield had about 20 spectators blocking it so to a lead bike it looked like the route was to go straight. It was literally the 3rd turn on the route and it wasn't marked in any way what so ever. And there wasn't a single Marshall in the vicinity.

Course always looked like it could pose an issue in this event. I’d guess a failure to communicate, but there’s no excuse for whoever is leading out the race not to go in the correct direction.

I didn't see any marshals at the junction were we were meant to turn right. There was a load of spectators stood blocking it. Course should have been properly set up and that area should have been aligned properly well before the start.

15-20 barriers to control that area could have been set up in the several hours beforehand and then the 4 or 5 on the main road removed once everyone had gone through for when we came back that way around the 8k mark.

Not rocket science.

Not discounting what you saw Burkie but at what stage was that at? I’d imagine the scene as the lead past and someone further down the field would be very different. I’d expect people to go to the side of the course as the race past.

The way these events work in the pp is that authorities and the organisers get together, meet and discuss all including obviously the course. That would have been the Gardai, the OPW and most likely in this instance the hosting club. All would have known the course and all had various responsibilities to do on the day. It would be my guess that communication failed somewhere and someone didn’t know and do their job as they should have.

As I said earlier I think the course always looked like it was going to pose an issue but I didn’t expect it would go the wrong direction.

It's not uncommon in hill running that stray runners end up running the reverse direction. They go astray and then follow the markers the wrong way at a junction around a loop. With groups often meeting each other, stopping having a discussion about the weather, route etc.

Now, 1800 people doing that would be a different story. If the first few dozen go wrong, you have to let the whole lot go wrong. Otherwise you could have Charge of the Light Brigade scenes somewhere on the Glen Road.

Obviously, the turn that was missed was a key point of danger with a 90'+ turn. Get that right and the course then follows a pretty natural route. Get it wrong and well....

In my opinion marshalling is an accident waiting to happen in most races. In most races you see marshalls just standing there which means those marshalls don't understand their roles and those controlling them have not communicated the roles or maybe don't fully understand them themselves.

Marshalls are there to guide runners on the correct and clear route (obvious to follow and not blocked by spectators).

Too often they just stand there, not directing, less useful than a sign which at least often points somewhere.

Organisers think that by sending marshalls to a particular location the job is done, box ticked....they instinctively will know what to do and assertively do it.

At that key junction you need a good team who knows what they have to do and how to do it.

No a good team there. No team at all....perhaps there was no pre race briefing and the meeting time was wrong? Perhaps marshalls had to cover two postions, got it wrong? Perhaps only two marshalls for that spot and both unluckily inabstentia? Who knows....but we do know that marshall-itus claimed yet another victim ....caught a big fish this time.

I think demfad is correct. Stewarding is an underestimated task - and risk. I have done it many times at races in the Phoenix Park and have always known beforehand exactly what was to happen and what was required of us. Stewards who are runners will usually know what is required. It sounds logical that the fast guys should have the course in their head but there is always an expectation of a lead bike or car, adequate stewarding and signage etc.

This extract from the Celtic DCH website, posted on Friday 14th - less than two days before the race, does not fill me with confidence:

"Sun 16Apr all athletes who are born 2010 and older meet at the HITW at 8.30 to help at the race( on bikes if you have one). Edel and Shane will bring you over to where you are needed to help at the race. Any adults who havnt been assigned jobs come directly over to finish area on the furze road for 9am. All help appreciated from parents and older siblings."

Looking for thirteen year-olds to help? Parents who are not runners wouldn't have a clue.

Fundamentally though, it was a badly designed course that was asking for trouble, regardless of the detour. The last wave was to start six minutes after the first wave - but the first wave was due to be coming back down that road past the start at that time, having done just over 2km. It would also have been a mess if the runners had gone the right way.

Yes generally it is but depends on the competition. T&F for example is not entirely reliable on a host club. Okay few stewards are required for a T&F event but a bit more oversight and a bit more involvement after handing out the permit for a road championship race wouldn’t go a miss.