Bord Gáis Energy Cork City Marathon and Marathon Relay 2009....Part 9 of 12 by Mick Dooley, Cork BHAA

(Mick Dooley of the Cork Business Houses Athletic Association wrote a 12 part series of articles for the Evening Echo last year. Needless to say, they are as valid this year as last year so I will be republishing them here (...with a few changes) on this website. They are written with the beginner in mind. Part 9 is based on 4 weeks to go, about the 4th of May).

Cork Marathon Relay Event...

It is now getting very close to marathon day and you'll hear all the hype and talk about the event and you wish you were part of it. Well the good news is that everyone can still can still be part of it in some way. Don’t be disappointed when you see many of your friends on the road on marathon Monday and you feel you could do that also. The marathon relay can also be a very enjoyable event also and is run directly alongside the main event, you can run as little as 4 miles for a short stage or up to 6 miles for a longer stage. If you are a regular fun runner or even took part in the mini marathon in the past, this would be ideal for you. The relay participants will each receive a marathon relay t-shirt and a relay finish medal.

Team members...

The relay team event is quiet simple, there are 5 relay stages varying between 4 and 6 miles and each team member must complete a stage. If you have less than 5 on your team, one person must do a second stage and all 5 stages must be covered by your team. The team may have as little as 2 runners or as many as 5 runners and can be mixed with men and ladies, all work mates, all soul mates, all house mates, all family relay, all dads relay, all mothers relay or all want to be runners!

Team captain...

Each team should have a team captain who is responsible for picking up the race numbers at the city hall on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st. He/She will be issued with 2 race numbers for each team member , a wrist band to hand over at the relay change points and marathon relay t-shirts for each team member. It is important that that the team captain gives each runner their race number and t-shirt well in advance of the race start and make sure that the first runner has the wrist band for to pass on to runner number 2. Each relay runner will wear 2 numbers, one on the front of the vest and one on the back. These numbers will be a different colour to the main marathon runners (Relay runners usually wear a Blue number). It is also very important that the team member doing the final stage of the relay wears the race number with the chip timing insert for the official timing. The start time will be taken from the official start, relay runners will start the same time as the marathon runners.

Important points to note...

· Buses to and from the relay change over points will be provided and will leave the city hall well in advance of your relay changeover time.

· Please pay particular attention to the time of the last bus to your change point. if you miss that bus, you'll let your team down.

· Make sure you know your team members in advance of race day.

· Do not impede on marathon runners and do not ask them questions while they are competing. You may just be starting your race but they may have 20 miles done. Never the less, you can give them plenty of encouragement at this point by just being on the road .

Please note that due to technical restraints, there will not be an official change over point at the half way stage (13.1 miles). However the half way point will be clearly marked.

Entry forms are still available at major sports centres and from sports outlets and also on the marathon website www.corkcitymarathon.com

Week 9 of a 12 week training plan

Beginners

Mon rest, Tue 4x5mins fast, Wed 75mins easy, Thurs rest, Fri 30mins easy, Sat rest or jog, Sun half marathon distance.

Improvers

Mon 30mins easy, Tues 3x10mins with 5min jog, Wed 90mins easy, Thurs rest, Fri 45mins easy, Sat 30mins easy, Sun 3 hours easy

Serious Runners

Mon 60mins easy, Tues 15x1mins hills, Wed 90mins easy, Thurs 8x5mins or 6mile race, Fri Rest, Sat 45mins easy, Sun 3hours steady pace