Pace bands for the Charleville Half-Marathon...

As per usual with any big race of this size, there are a range of pacers on hand to assist runners achieve their desired target times. What may be slightly different is that there are more time slots than usual with pacers every 10 minutes instead of 15.

What is also a first for a Half-Marathon locally is the use of a 1:20 pacer!

The pacers will run at an even pace for the entire course. They start timing from when they cross the start line, not when the race starts........so it's based on chip time, not clock time.

The purpose of the pacers is run at an even pace and to act as a guide to runners in the race who are trying for a target time. The sole purpose of a pacer is NOT to take a group of people from the start line to the finish line although many people mistakenly think this is the case. The pacers usually run with balloons so as to be highly visible in a bunched field. They are as relevant to someone who might be 50-100 metres behind as someone right alongside them.

It is of course up to individual runners as to whether they run with a pacer or not. The pacers can be particularly useful to newer runners who may not have experience of running over extended distances. A common mistake new people make is that they run too fast early on and are burnt out in  the later stages. Use the pacers as your guide.

On Sunday, each pacing team will also have a member of Kilmallock Cycling Club alongside them so they should be easy to spot. The pacers are largely comprised of members of BMOH and the Eagle AC pacing team.

Online entries close at 3pm on Friday the 21st of September. Otherwise, you can enter at the Charleville Park Hotel on Saturday from 3pm to 9pm or on the morning of the race in St. Josephs Foundation on Bakers Rd., Charleville. Just get there early! The race starts at 10am.

Bay Run Half-Marathon looking for pacers...

Now that the 2012 Bay Run Half-Marathon is coming up on the 6th of May, it's time to get those entries in before the closing date at the end of the month if you are thinking of doing it.

More info in an earlier post or on the race website.

A new feature this year will be the use of pacers and the organisers are looking for people who can run comfortably at a steady pace for the following times.....90 mins, 105 mins and 120 mins (1:30/1:45/2:00). Needless to say, you get a free entry to the event with the dry-fit top, medal, etc.

If you are interested then contact Ronán at info@bayrun.ie

Last post before the Cork City Marathon...

So this is it, the last post before the 2011 Cork City Marathon. I will update this post and add to it if I have any additional info.

Half-Marathon........I think this post may push the one about the Half-Marathon start off the end of the main page and into the archive. So if you are doing the Half and you want info about that  start, click HERE

Weather Forecast.......In terms of weather suitable for a Marathon, it looks as if this will be best one in 5 years. 2007-2009 were sunny and warm. 2010 was wet and dreary. This time, it will probably be dry with light winds and reasonably mild. Good for runners, good for spectators.

Updated Sun 3pm.......Latest Weather Forecast...May be a bit sunnier than expected early on. More clouds as day goes on. Rain, if any will probably be in the late afternoon. Max temp 16 deg C. Wind 16kph from the west.

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Just in case someone is looking for them........
Doneraile 5k........For anyone that did this race on Friday evening, the results are HERE
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Marathon Pace Bands......One of the keys to a good Marathon time is to run at an even and steady pace for the distance. If you have a target in mind, then you'll need to know what your mile splits are.

Click on this LINK and you can create a pace band for your time. Ideally, you should cut out the strip and laminate it. Put it around you wrist and use a piece of tape to keep it in place. If you can't laminate it, then cover it in clear sellotape. Otherwise the paper will just absorb the sweat from your wrist and break.

Final Tips & Thoughts for the 2011 Cork City Marathon and Relay...
Some final thoughts...

1) What to wear...If you are doing the full Marathon, you should wear whatever gear you are used to and trained in. This is not the time to try out that new running top! For half and relay runners, it's not so important.

For men, nipple burn is a very real issue over the longer distances. Use good quality waterproof plasters to protest exposed areas and use loads of vaseline or bodyglide to protect any area that might rub...i.e. thighs, underarm, toes, etc.

Don't wear anything made from cotton. Wear as little as possible!!  Leave the sweatshirts, hoodies, tracksuit bottoms and so on at home. Consider wearing a hat/cap to stop the salt from your sweat going from your forehead into your eyes.

2) Drink...This year, they will be giving out Lucozade Sports as well as loads of water. If you haven't used this before in your long training runs then be careful. It may end up not agreeing with you or giving you cramps. Take on plenty of water especially if you are taking gels.

3) Using the racing line...Please note that the course is accurately measured by a Jones Counter over the shortest possible route. See the example below...

You should be running from corner to corner on the 'race line' taking the shortest possible route. The Marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 kms), there are no medals for running 27 miles! All of those long sweeping bends add up and will lose you time. Every year, runners are stuck to the right hand side going through the Jack Lynch tunnel even though the racing line is on the left! Why?!?! Use your head....follow the racing line.

4) Relay Changeover.......Every year there are problems here. Imagine the following.........you are running the 1st leg and you get to the Relay changeover. You are confronted with a mass of several hundred runners. Where is your running parter? He said 'he was wearing white'.....unfortunately, half the relay changeover are wearing white! Imagine the 2nd stage runner looking out for the 1st person coming in. The first batch of relay runners arrive in dribs and drabs and he's watching everyone. Now 20 minutes later, there is a wall of runners arriving....some relay runners, some Marathon runners. Trying to spot the 1st stage runner is not as easy as they first thought.
Every year, you hear stories of relay changeovers where minutes have been lost as people wander around looking for their team member. Plan ahead to make the changeover easier. Maybe wear a distinctive colour? Be at a certain position....back or front? Some people use balloons! Discuss it with your team members and plan ahead.

5) Relay Strategy ...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.

6) Pacers for the full Marathon...The pacers should be wearing bright yellow tops and have an estimated finish times on their back. They will also have small helium balloons as well so that they can be easily spotted. There will be pacers for the following times...
3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, 4:30 and 5:00
If you have a particular target in mind then pacers can be very useful. For example, if you are trying to break say 4 hours then you have a choice of going with the 4 hour pacer and trying to stay with them. Or maybe you would prefer to stay with the 3:45 pacer for a while and build up a cushion and try and hang in there at a slower pace for the last few miles? Whatever you do, don't run too fast for the first half or you'll get into trouble later on.

7) Acknowledgements...An event like this just doesn't happen overnight. Months of work have gone into organising the Cork City Marathon to make it the success that it is. Some might consider the event to be expensive but there is a huge expense in organising an event of this size in a city. An event like this causes a major disruption for a lot of non-running people in Cork so full credit to the Cork City Council who are the driving force behind the event.

.......and of course, we have to acknowledge the many volunteers who will turn up on Monday to steward the course, hand out water and do a variety of other jobs. When a lot of runners have finished and gone home, they will be there whatever the weather is like.

With roughly 1600 runners in the full Marathon, 1200 in the Half-Marathon and 850 relay teams, it really is one of the major races in the country.