Slieve Donard - Comedagh
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Conroy | Jun 15 2011, 2:56pm | I know it's a very long way away but does anyone fancy doing a recce or two (possibly staying up there for a few days in August - not on the summit or mountainside, just in the general area!) on the course beforehand? Sounds like a cracking race. |
| Jason Kehoe | Jun 15 2011, 4:55pm | Ian, I could be on for that, let me know what you have in mind and when. This time your driving and I'm navigating though! Man, you are such bad co-pilot! ;) Jason |
| rory mcmullan | Jul 10 2011, 12:30am | did the race 2 weeks ago part of the hill & dale seris and swear to god it was one beast of a mountain! |
| Jason Kehoe | Aug 18 2011, 9:56am | Hi, Does anyone have a saved GPS route of the course per chance from their Garmin etc.? Cheers, Jason |
| Kevin O'Riordan | Aug 18 2011, 11:58am | Hey Jason, I found this when searching for previous runs: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11685700 . The checkpoints are at the 1,2,4 and 5 lap markers. The route between the checkpoints is up to you but the GPS trace here looks pretty much like the route I would take. Kevin. |
| Jonathan McCloy | Aug 18 2011, 1:09pm | The newest mourne map is relatively good :P I think the most useful advice to give on this course is to recce the forest for the way down. On the way up I expect Des or Stevie to set the pace and lead the crowd through the forest (that side is obvious paths anyway), once you get passed the quarry, the only way is up. Simple over to Commedagh, a bearing off shaslieve would be handy to know. |
| Ken Cowley | Aug 18 2011, 1:48pm | I can confirm that it gets a bit confusing in the forest close to the end of the race. Local knowledge here could make all the difference for those competing at the top end of the field. For the rest of us, after those 2 mountains believe me, you don't want to be adding any distance or confusion! |
| Jason Kehoe | Aug 18 2011, 4:33pm | Thanks Kevin, it looks like it belongs to Clive Bailey, so thanks Clive. It would be nice to have a map on the event tab similar to the other IC events, anyone got one to put up? I'm guessing the race director expects us to have our own maps and plot the route etc. We have it too easy down south! ;) |
| David Bell | Aug 18 2011, 10:52pm | Good route description on NIMRA website including grid references. Mourne Runners looking forward to welcoming lots of IMRA members to this classic race. No major worries about navigation as the ever faithful Mourne Wall looks after the section between the two summits and if you keep climbing on the way out and descending from Commedagh you'll not go far wrong. All Southerners safely accounted for last year (eventually...!) Look forward to seeing you all. |
| Niamh O ceallaigh | Aug 18 2011, 11:00pm | Can't wait for this race. I would really encourage anyone thinking about it to go for it. The welcome is always great and the scenery spectacular. I will upload a map tomorrow showing the required peaks. |
| Alan Ayling | Aug 22 2011, 8:33pm | To echo what Niamh said - this one is a cracker. Well worth the hop up the motorway. Anyone remotely thinking of giving it a shot... just go for it. |
| Jason Kehoe | Aug 23 2011, 11:09am | Hi Niamh, Any luck with those maps? Thanks, Jason |
| Kieran Rocks | Aug 23 2011, 12:47pm | You will find a map of Donard and Commedagh here: http://www.corbettchallenge.org/routecards/Ireland/SlieveDonardCommedagh.jpg Note that the route marked on this is not the race route! As the NIMRA website describes, the route is up to the quarry marked to the north-east of Thomas' Mountain, then to the summits of Donard and then Commedagh, followed by a descent northwards to Shan Slieve and then down to the stile marked just north-west of the Ice House, and down the paths along the Glen River to the finish. Its a steep drop off to the east coming down from Commedagh and Shan Slieve, so as Jonathan says, a bearing off here could be handy. |
| niamh o ceallaigh | Aug 24 2011, 3:40pm | Hi Jason and others thinking of heading up, Sorry, I forgot about the map. I have just emailed it through to Eoin to upload, so hopefully will be up later on this evening. I have shown the checkpoints and a rough line between the open mountain points. I haven't shown the route up through the forest or down to the finish as I can't quite remember it. I would highly recommend that you get there early and recce the finish down through the forest. Don't worry about the start as there will be plenty of locals to follow - even for you speedy Jason! Wait till you see the speed these lads take off at. Just make sure you do follow a local because there are some slightly better options For anyone thinking of going up, but nervous of the navigation, don't let it put you off too much. It is relatively straight forward and there will be a big field of runners to follow ( not something I would normally recommend!). Just make sure you follow someone with a local vest on and bring your mobile phone in case you get injured. Also, be able to follow a bearing off Shan Slieve (I or somebody else can show you how to do this at the start. If you are planning to follow the crowd, you should note that NI runners are fast, so a mid pack runner in IMRA will be around 80% back in a NIMRA race (i am guessing) so if you are normally down the back of an imra race, you might not have anyone to follow. Niamh |
| Jason Kehoe | Aug 29 2011, 11:18pm | Hi, My race report is up from the weekend. The results don't seem to be up yet on the NIMRA site so I was a bit vague on names. It was a great day and I hope to be back battling it out for points next year. Cheers, Jason |
| Jonathan McCloy | Aug 30 2011, 9:24pm | http://www.newcastleac.org/2011/mountain/Donard%20Commedagh%202011.xls That should get the results... following a watch whilst running, now that really is a new one! A map of that course fits on an A4 page and has the information you need for navigation and potential hazards. |
| Ian Conroy | Aug 31 2011, 2:42pm | Great report Jason and well done on the victory! Sounds deffo like a a lovely race to do. |
