Final Tips & Thoughts for the 2009 Cork City Marathon...

Well that it, the last and final post on what was a busy week of blogging ;o)

Some final thoughts...

1) What to wear...Basically, as little as possible!! It's going to be warm so dress accordingly. Leave the sweatshirts, hoodies, tracksuit bottoms and so on at home. If you are wearing a singlet, don't forget the sunblock for your shoulders. Consider wearing a hat/cap to protect your head.

2) What to drink...Use those water stations, especially in the 2nd half of the Marathon. You are likely to be losing a lot of fluids through sweat. Remember, if you wait until you are thirsty before you drink, it is probably too late. There are water stations roughly every 2 miles and the water will be in 250ml bottles which are the best type for running. They're light and they supply enough water. Remember, drinks small amounts often.

At around 15.5 miles and 20 miles, they will have Lucozade Sport drinks. These drinks which are high in glucose will help supplement your bodies own supplies and prevent the onset of glucose depletion...i.e. 'hitting the wall'.

3) Where to run...When they measure the course, they use the shortest possible route. i.e. from corner to corner. It's so easy just to follow everyone one and stay on the one side of the road and go around corners on the wrong side (A above). Keep thinking corner to corner (B above), keep thinking the most direct route. All of the metres added up over 26.2 miles can make the difference between getting inside your target or not.

4) Relay runners... Consider letting the slower people go first. Otherwise, once they start, everyone around them will be going faster than them and overtaking. It's an awful lot easier to run when you are passing people rather than to have everyone passing you. If you are a beginner, start slow. It will take about 2 miles before you get warmed up properly. It's so easy just to start too fast, for oxygen debt to kick in around the 1 mile mark and then you spend the rest of the time trying to recover. Start slow, find your pace and give it everything in the last mile.

5) Some links...There is plenty of info up on the Cork City Marathon website.

Their Frequently Asked Questions section on the Marathon

Their FAQ section on the Relay

Their PDF document on how the Relay works

So, whether you are doing the full Marathon of 26.2 miles or part of the Relay event, good luck and enjoy your day........John Desmond