The dry fit top for the 2018 Charleville Half-Marathon is shown above and is probably the nicest one to date.
Please note that this race is now almost sold out. You really do need to enter asap if you want to get in. As of weekend, they were down to the last 80 places and there are probably fewer now.
More info in this previous post.
If you are doing the 2018 Dublin City Marathon then there are two races that you might consider doing as part of the preparation.
1) The Charleville Half-Marathon. This is a fast half marathon which will give you an accurate time and tell you where you are in terms of fitness. You then double your time and add 10 to 20 minutes to get a reasonable target time for Dublin. How much you add is really dependent on each individual and there is no hard and fast rule. The old adage of double your half plus 10 mins is very crude and comes from a time when most runners were younger and faster.
If you can find another similar half then that will do as will but it must be a reasonably fast course. You could try a 10 miler but it's not as accurate a test for your marathon pace.
2) Cork to Cobh 15 mile. This is the race that you use to test your marathon pace. If you can run 15 miles at your target marathon pace then it gives you a good idea if it's right for Dublin.
Please note that this year, these two races are only one week apart. If you do decide to do Charleville then run Cork to Cobh at any easy slow pace and use it as a training run. If you try to do a marathon paced 15 mile run just one week after a hard half then you run the risk of injury.
Super design. Looking forward to collecting it and running the course.
ReplyDeleteWould you recommend doing both John, Charleville for a fast time and Cobh the following week at your marathon pace?
ReplyDeleteConsidering there is only one week between the two races, you would probably be best not doing Cork to Cobh at marathon pace. If the gap was two weeks then you'd be fine.
ReplyDeleteYou'd probably be ok to do Cork to Cobh race at a slow pace and use it as a training run.
Thanks John, pity the respective organisers put these 2 long distance Cork races within a week of each other!
ReplyDeleteI know. The problem is trying to get a free weekend let alone trying to get one that more than one week from another one.
ReplyDeleteThe Charleville Half / Cork to Cobh combination works out some years, sometimes it doesn't.