The annual Waterford Half-Marathon organised by Waterford AC was held on Saturday 30th Nov 2024 on what turned out to be a windy, misty but mild morning. This is in marked contract to last year which was bitterly cold.
Numbers... There was a total of 2162 finishers this year, a jump of just over 22%. This makes it the 9th largest half-marathon in Ireland for 2024 and it's certainly the largest half in the south-east.
It's also worth noting that it is far bigger than the Viking Half-Marathon which takes place in late June every year. Not sure why?
Why the big jump this year? In 2023, the organisers didn't open the entries until the start of 3rd of October, just two months before race day on . A lot of people had been wondering if the race was going ahead at all and by the time the entries opened, many people had made other plans. Even by the end of November 2023, they were still taking entries.
The end result was a 6.7% drop in numbers from 2022.
For the 2024 race, thing couldn't have been more different. The club opened entries on the 6th of December 2023, just 3 days after the 2023 race. There was no doubt about the 2024 race going ahead and people had most of 2024 to enter. It sold out on the 12th of November and the jump in numbers can be seen in the chart above. It was in fact the 4th highest ever in terms of numbers for this event.
Results...
1 Ryan CREECH 1:06:59 2616 M MS Leevale A.C.
2 Stephen CASHIN 1:08:23 290 M MS Clonliffe Harriers A.C.
3 Tomas FITZPATRICK 1:10:58 2673 M M40 Tallaght A.C.
4 Dermot GORMAN 1:13:00 862 M M40 Carrick-on-Suir A.C.
5 David POWER 1:13:13 2150 M M40 Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. A.C.
1 Fiona KEHOE 1:23:29 1140 F F40 Kilmore A.C.
2 Emma FUREY 1:23:29 812 F FS St. L. O'Toole A.C.
3 Catherine MURPHY 1:23:44 1693 F F45 Eagle A.C.
4 Adele WALSH 1:24:00 2511 F F45 St. Senans A.C.
5 Sabina WILLIAMS 1:24:41 2577 F F40 Croghan A.C.
Full results HERE
Was the course short??? ... At least three different people told me that the course was short. One said that they got 12.95 miles on their GPS watch for the course rather than just over 13.1 miles. They felt that the course was about 320 metres too short.
It's worth noting that there was an out and back section on the course as well as some obstructions from evergreen trees in places which can play havoc with GPS. Still though, there is still a valid concern about how accurate the course was.
Waterford AC had this route map online for the 2024 race...
You'll notice that there is a reasonable out and back section. I pass this point while I was cycling from the race start to Dungarvan and I took this photo by chance...
The photo shows the start of the out and back section. Was the error here? Was it somewhere else?
It seems to have the only glitch on what was a good event.
16 comments:
The out and back in that picture goes a good 200m at least beyond that picture.
The turning point was about 500 metres beyond that sign on the greenway so we didn't turn there.
My watch was 300 metres short too.
Spot on about everything else,extremely well organised
Only glitch? What an awful glitch. I believe last year was short as well. And GPS can’t be blamed here. It was definitely short, doesn’t matter about other parts of the events are good when the main part was so badly wrong
Every runner I saw on Strava (9 or 10) were short about 300m. Usually a great event. The old course was a nice course and quick enough. The Viking course is a few mins slower
Course was short and event was badly organised will not be partaking again
Thought it was a very well organised event, would definitely do it again. I personally wouldn't lose sleep over 300m, it's all training for the next race!
Matters if you’re at the fast end and wanting qualification times!
Very well run event in my opinion and great value for money, my 3rd WAC Half, and I will be back
Course was short for 3 of us that took part. Also parking was a nightmare ,won't be coming back here.
I suppose it's very unfair to comment in regards to course bring short until it is confirmed. GPS is not fully accurate so would like to know from officials if it was indeed short. Until then I'd be just happy we have such a good event taking place and giving us the chance to run in late November
I enjoyed the race on a challenging course. The people directing the traffic for the parking caused many a dangerous situation, directing traffic to cut across other cars on first campus roundabout. The PA announcer asking "any update on the slow back-ender runners" wasn't nice to the families waiting at the line either
Wouldn’t be too bothered about the small error in the distance but trying to get out of the car park after was a nightmare. 50 minutes sitting in the car before we got out . Shocking
Well organised event apart from leaving the car parks where there wasn't a steward in sight! 300m short doesn't bother me. Would do it again but would park elsewhere.
It wasn’t just in one spot, at every mile marker my watch beeped a little further past it every time. Each marker was short at least 0.01 of a mile which added up in the end. I was short 0.16 miles overall. The start line was also moved down around the corner. It was over 300m further down than shown on the map. If it was started where it did in 2023 the distance might have been ok. Great race and organisation, just disappointing about the distance.
The map above is not of the 2024 route. It’s the 2023 route. Differences are we turned around the roundabout at 2km (SETU roundabout) not the roundabout closer to the river. We also did an out and back on bilberry road which is not on the map above. The course has had slight differences the last 3 years.
It’s worth remembering the course is Athletics Ireland approved. I expect this means it is measured properly and not with GPS. Out and back and hilly courses are notorious for GPS inaccuracy. 300m does seem like a lot though.
Nice place to finish up with the coffee shop on campus etc. Wooly hat is great. Enjoyed the run.
Has to be said, 350m short means a lot to people who were trying to PB. 90sec or more added to your time. I haven't seen a runner on Strava with more than 20.9km registered... Mostly 20.8.
There were only 4 portsloos near the start line. Queued for 30 minutes and the line kept growin behind me. Surely could have added a few more for such a big field. They were spotless on the plus side 👍
Last thing was the exit. One lane blocked (parked cars) out of 2 to the external roundabout. Was slowing everything down big time. The entry road should have been coned off to stop people parking from the night before.
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