Carrauntoohil
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Vivian O'Gorman | May 27 2012, 10:12pm | Hi Folks, Carrauntoohil has come around again and as usual I need a few Volunteers. 3 Summit Marshalls - Carrauntoohil Caher Curraghmore A First Aid person as well. Don't forget the kit requirement - see event details. You can print off the map from this site. |
| Ronan Hickey | May 28 2012, 2:36pm | OK..so I'm thinking of giving this a crack this year. My first ever Irish Champs race. Is it doable? What's the craic, do the Dubs drive down the day before? Does everyone congregate in the same place? Where are people staying? Ronan |
| Alan Ayling | May 28 2012, 5:14pm | Ronan - yes it's doable, but it's a big step up from the likes of Wednesday league and Winter League races in terms of climb, toughness and time you'll be out there. It should not be attempted by anyone without at least a decent level of fitness (very subjective, I know) and a good idea of what they're doing in the mountains and on rough terrain. Not for beginners, basically, but I think you've enough experience to give it a shot and enjoy it. Be prepared to pace yourself, dig in for long climbs, heed the kit requirements and plan to take on some water and gels or the like. Oh, and wear grippy shoes. Flats on the way down will wreck your buzz and possibly plant you on your backside or worse. There is no hard and fast rule as to what the Dubs do - some travel up and back on the same day, but it's a heck of a drive (I was on the Red Bull and Skittles diet to stay awake on the way back last year)... staying over plans vary from hostels to cottage rental to camping to staying in the back of the jeep. Vivian - regarding this summit marshal on Curraghmore - does this imply runners must visit this summit? The route shown on the map, as well as the natural line runners take, misses the summit by a couple of hundred metres. Could you clarify? Thanks! |
| Ronan Hickey | May 28 2012, 9:00pm | Thanks Alan. I guess I'll never know if I'm ready until I actually give it a go I guess. Thanks for all the advice. Ro |
| Vivian O'Gorman | May 28 2012, 10:35pm | Yes Alan I know what you're saying but the Curraghmore Marshall will actually be between the shoulder and the beginning of the wall, particularly for the runners on the way back. |
| Stephen Cleary | May 29 2012, 2:26pm | Hi Vivian, I'm happy to be summit marshall on Curraghmore or Caher. Stephen |
| Vivian O'Gorman | May 29 2012, 9:24pm | Hi Steven, Thats great - will you marshall Caher? Any more takers? |
| Stephen Cleary | May 31 2012, 1:12am | Hi Vivian ya, will do. |
| Vivian O'Gorman | May 31 2012, 3:30pm | The weather for Sunday doesn't look great - Showers and Mist! So have the proper kit with you: Longsleeved rainproof running top - Hat/Gloves Map - Compass - Whistle Your own water |
| Jason Kehoe | Jun 3 2012, 4:19pm | Some results in from Paul Tierney's Twitter feed: ------------------------------------------------ @ChampsEvrywhere 1st Brian furey, 2nd rob cleary, 3rd Tom Blackburn, 4th Adrian hennessy, 5th me [Paul], 6th Bernard fortune.... Not sure after that. ------------------------------------------------ He said it was tough conditions, a bit slower and much wetter than last year but it was great fun. |
| Paul Tierney | Jun 3 2012, 5:02pm | I know Jeffo was in top 10 too!! |
| Jeff Fitzsimons | Jun 3 2012, 8:50pm | That's Jeff to you, Paul. ;) I am just a little happy with my result. Conditions were a bit wet but good for us feather weights, skimming over bog by the fence. |
| Dermot Murphy | Jun 3 2012, 10:49pm | Epic race between Brian and Rob - they were never more than a few seconds apart throughout the whole race and just 3 seconds in it at the end! Well done also to Loretto Duggan who won the ladies race ahead of Deirdre Finn. Thanks also to all the helpers Vivian and Nora at the registration and the start/finish and Stephen Cleary and Brian Murphy for manning the summits. |
| Peter Keogh | Jun 4 2012, 7:23am | Now that was different. I haven't tested my legs yet this morning.........it should be interesting. Really enjoyed my first mountain. Now I know why we needed a map and compass :). I was wondering about the running bit on the way up and just about crawled to the summit. Thankfully, they are different muscles going down and I really started to enjoy myself. Thanks to Patricia Blackburn I had a great laugh hopping down to and then literally into the bog; until of course she started to pull away from me :). Then the race was on! Glad to say I just about hung on to her coat tails. Great day. Thanks to the organisers and to the volunteers. |
| chris standish | Jun 4 2012, 7:23pm | Really enjoyed the race.. Thanks to the marshalls and organisers. worth coming over for.. |
| Ronan Hickey | Jun 5 2012, 11:36am | Just wanted to thank Vivian and helpers for all their hard work. A great race and a fun first Irish Champs race for me. I got lost coming off Caher, real amateur hour stuff, but hey that's part of the fun and it sounds like I wasn't alone! No idea how the winners managed to get up and down in about 8 minutes more than it took me just to hit the summit. You're savages. A pity that there was no KoM but no volunteers responded to Vivian's call so that's how it is. Would the committee consider an honour based system for placing? I'm sure the top guys know the order they were in. Or will it be ignored due to not having accurate times. |
| Dermot Murphy | Jun 5 2012, 12:21pm | We ended having a summit marshal anyway (Brian Murphy) - did you not see him Ronan??? Didn't think the mist was that bad. Summit Marshals took the positions not the time, so KOM will be based in the points system this year. |
| Adrian Hennessy | Jun 5 2012, 3:28pm | Fair play to Vivian and co on Sunday and especially the summit marshalls. Conditions weren't exactly conducive to hanging around. Has to be one of the best races on the calendar and not just because it's the highest mountain in Ireland. The route nearly has it all - bog, heather, rock slabs, scree, grass, swarming midges and a few navigational challenges when it's misty. |
| Ronan Hickey | Jun 5 2012, 3:43pm | @Dermot, sorry you're right. I do remember someone taking my number now at the summit.. fair played to the marshall. It was all a bit of a Zombie-fest by that stage: http://www.imra.ie/photos/view/id/61877/ Ro |
| Brian Furey | Jun 5 2012, 4:31pm | To reiterate the comments so far,thanks to Vivian and helpers. Easier day to run the race than stand as marshal on the mountain. Always a race worth travelling down for. Rain cleared for the race start which was no harm. Had a fair battle with Rob out there, nothing in it in the end. |
| Vivian O'Gorman | Jun 5 2012, 6:24pm | Thank you all for your kind comments. I would particularly like to thank Steven Cleary who was marshall on Caher. He left just after 10 and didn't get back down until after 5! I was still getting texts from him an hour later back in the Climbers Inn! The mobile coverage was so very hit and miss. I did say at the start of the race that there was no marshall on top of Carrauntoohil so where Brian Murphy came from I'm not sure. I think he was a friend of a runner from Kildare? whose name I can't remember - an age thing or was it the mist or all those bloomin miggies! They were eatin us for breakfeast, dinner and tea! Nora Lalor helped me at registration and the finish and Alan Ayling did the car parking. Thank you also to Brian Byrne - well his camper van really that gave us cover for registration as it was raining for that period. Dermot Murphy - our esteemed president - did the results. Thanks also to Sheila from the Climbers Inn who gave us a lovely spot prize for the prizegiving. Finally I want to thank Bernard Fortune and Rob Cleary who both stayed with me at the finish and went back up without being asked to make sure the last of the runners were coming our way. So thank you all and hopefully the weather will be kinder to us next year. |
| Rob Cleary | Jun 5 2012, 7:25pm | My personal clock to the summit was 55:31.5 if it's of any use for the records. (My personal finish-time matches the results so hopefully it's accurate - not sure if Brian got a clock on it?). Hum-dinger of a race with Brian, it was great, but I think there was only ever going to be one winner. Thanks to all organisers also, appreciated as always. Rob. |
| Rob Cleary | Jun 5 2012, 10:40pm | Kinda funny: 2011 http://www.imra.ie/photos/view/id/52854/ 2012 http://www.imra.ie/photos/view/id/61758/ |
| Brian Furey | Jun 5 2012, 11:39pm | Hi Rob, I didn't get a split for my summit time. Looks fairly accurate from what I can see from my garmin track. |
| Ger Griffin | Jun 6 2012, 12:59pm | Hi Rob. Seems I was gone a little blind from loading the photos and put the pic into the wrong year..Oops!! :) Jane Griffin |
| Mairtin Breathnach | Jun 6 2012, 1:31pm | Just a quick thank you to Vivian for taking my registration at the last minute and letting me go up for my first skip in the hills. I had this idea in my head it was impossible to get lost in Ireland....not anymore after nearly an hour wandering like a lonely ram in the fog. |
| Dermot Murphy | Jun 7 2012, 9:33pm | Report now up. |
| Aidan Hurley | Jun 11 2012, 10:50am | Race report (just not mine!) http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2012/0611/1224317685432.html |
