C
C.G.
Guest
Event: Coastal Charity Challenge 1/2 Marathon. 3rd July 2004.
Location: Louisburg to Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland.
Course: Undulating course on tarmac coast road. Beautiful scenery with Mountains on the right and
Clew Bay on the left. Well marshalled, light traffic, 3 waterstops with chocolate & bananas also
available.
Weather: Sunny, about 20 centigrade.
Goals/expectations: I had high hopes of doing a reasonable time until I had a setback about 6/7
weeks ago with a bad calf muscle injury. I lost 3 weeks as a result and have been quite a bit
slower since I started back. Had the injury not happened I would have looked to go sub 1:45. My
revised goal was sub 1:50 which I managed to achieve.
Preparation: I rested the 3 days before the race and used
the opportunity to go on the beer as I was on holidays at
the time. Thursday night was particularly late (4:15 am)
with a 4 hour drive to Westport on Friday afternoon. Friday
evening race preparation included going to the hotel bar for
2 pints of Guinness (to help me sleep you understand...)
which developed into staying for 6. Saturday morning wasn't
fun. Efforts to rehydrate before the race weren't entirely
successful with my stomach being in rebellious form, so I
had to carry a bottle with me on the race.The registration
took place beside the finish line in Westport and the
runners were bussed out to the start in Louisburg. There was
a delay of about 1/2 hour due to a ****-up with the last
bus, which I appreciated. The race: The start is downhill
for about 1/4 mile into the village of Louisburg and then
it's slightly uphill out the far side. Racing traffic wasn't
too bad after the 1st hundred meters, so it was a clean
enough start. I went out reasonably quickly and was
surprised to see mile 1 go by in
7:12. I knew that was too fast given the condition I was in
and the fact that it was a warm day. I backed off a
little for mile 2 which went by in 7:35. I was still
feeling rotten and was nearly sick a few times so I
jogged the rest of the way round. The scenery was
lovely, the weather nice and most of the runners were
behind me so it wasn't a total disaster. 2 runners
went by me at mile 7 while I was at my slowest but I
reeled them back in, passing one of them at mile 9 and
the other at 12. Left sole blistered from about mile
10 on but it wasn't too bad. Other than that, nothing
out of the ordinary. Splits:
8:12
9:35
10:05
11:21
12:20
13:56
14:00
15:07
16:27
17:02
18:45
19:32
19:1 (1.1 miles)
Apres race: Goodie bag had a T-Shirt, bottle of water,
chocolate bar and a pass for the night's celebrations in a
nearby hotel. Oranges and bananas were also handed out. Free
sports massages were also available and the queue was only a
few minutes. For a 10 euro entry fee it wasn't bad at all.
Verdict: This one's a keeper. I'll be back next year,
hopefully in better condition. I may even stay off the beer
to see if that makes any difference
Official time: 1:49:13, which was exactly the same as the
time on my stopwatch. Place: 29/204
--
Colm
Location: Louisburg to Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland.
Course: Undulating course on tarmac coast road. Beautiful scenery with Mountains on the right and
Clew Bay on the left. Well marshalled, light traffic, 3 waterstops with chocolate & bananas also
available.
Weather: Sunny, about 20 centigrade.
Goals/expectations: I had high hopes of doing a reasonable time until I had a setback about 6/7
weeks ago with a bad calf muscle injury. I lost 3 weeks as a result and have been quite a bit
slower since I started back. Had the injury not happened I would have looked to go sub 1:45. My
revised goal was sub 1:50 which I managed to achieve.
Preparation: I rested the 3 days before the race and used
the opportunity to go on the beer as I was on holidays at
the time. Thursday night was particularly late (4:15 am)
with a 4 hour drive to Westport on Friday afternoon. Friday
evening race preparation included going to the hotel bar for
2 pints of Guinness (to help me sleep you understand...)
which developed into staying for 6. Saturday morning wasn't
fun. Efforts to rehydrate before the race weren't entirely
successful with my stomach being in rebellious form, so I
had to carry a bottle with me on the race.The registration
took place beside the finish line in Westport and the
runners were bussed out to the start in Louisburg. There was
a delay of about 1/2 hour due to a ****-up with the last
bus, which I appreciated. The race: The start is downhill
for about 1/4 mile into the village of Louisburg and then
it's slightly uphill out the far side. Racing traffic wasn't
too bad after the 1st hundred meters, so it was a clean
enough start. I went out reasonably quickly and was
surprised to see mile 1 go by in
7:12. I knew that was too fast given the condition I was in
and the fact that it was a warm day. I backed off a
little for mile 2 which went by in 7:35. I was still
feeling rotten and was nearly sick a few times so I
jogged the rest of the way round. The scenery was
lovely, the weather nice and most of the runners were
behind me so it wasn't a total disaster. 2 runners
went by me at mile 7 while I was at my slowest but I
reeled them back in, passing one of them at mile 9 and
the other at 12. Left sole blistered from about mile
10 on but it wasn't too bad. Other than that, nothing
out of the ordinary. Splits:
8:12
9:35
10:05
11:21
12:20
13:56
14:00
15:07
16:27
17:02
18:45
19:32
19:1 (1.1 miles)
Apres race: Goodie bag had a T-Shirt, bottle of water,
chocolate bar and a pass for the night's celebrations in a
nearby hotel. Oranges and bananas were also handed out. Free
sports massages were also available and the queue was only a
few minutes. For a 10 euro entry fee it wasn't bad at all.
Verdict: This one's a keeper. I'll be back next year,
hopefully in better condition. I may even stay off the beer
to see if that makes any difference
Official time: 1:49:13, which was exactly the same as the
time on my stopwatch. Place: 29/204
--
Colm