Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon

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Comments

  • Thanks guys for your comments - massive help to me. Forecast is unfortunately very warm for Sunday (the one day I was praying for light rain and overcast). Looks like I will be running with my sun hat on and water bottle in hand! Good luck everyone for Sunday!!! Enjoy!!!
  • Andy - it is very narrow and that is the greater cause. Can I amend my tip? Make sure that you are right at the front of your estimated time pen. I was last year but still spent the best part of a mile side stepping slower runners. Only place to be 'safe' is right at the back.
  • Dr Dan, if you do buy a new car and make the start would like to say hello to you, after lots of correspondence on the HADD site.

    My number on Sunday is 771. 

  • The Egyptian Toe wrote (see)
    Andy - it is very narrow and that is the greater cause. Can I amend my tip? Make sure that you are right at the front of your estimated time pen. I was last year but still spent the best part of a mile side stepping slower runners. Only place to be 'safe' is right at the back.

    Fair enough right at the front of your pen i suppose, that in thoery should be the perfect answer. the reason for my comment is that here in north wales at certain races this happens where you get people in fancy dress starting at the very front of a 10 miler but taking ages more than the actual winner. its just dangerous to my way of thinking.

    http://gw-images.co.uk/communities/2/004/008/737/612/images/4573558651_525x349.jpg

  • andy the deestrider. wrote (see)
    The Egyptian Toe wrote (see)
    Andy - it is very narrow and that is the greater cause. Can I amend my tip? Make sure that you are right at the front of your estimated time pen. I was last year but still spent the best part of a mile side stepping slower runners. Only place to be 'safe' is right at the back.

    Fair enough right at the front of your pen i suppose, that in thoery should be the perfect answer. the reason for my comment is that here in north wales at certain races this happens where you get people in fancy dress starting at the very front of a 10 miler but taking ages more than the actual winner. its just dangerous to my way of thinking.

    http://gw-images.co.uk/communities/2/004/008/737/612/images/4573558651_525x349.jpg

    Don`t worry, that happens in Yorkshire too, I`m afraid. I was beaten by a Daffodil at my first attempt in the LVHM. Glad I`ve improved a bit since then!

    Have a great time all!

  • TGT- this particular person does really get on the nerves of a few people because she insists on starting at the front row of races, image. i know some of the few local female runners who are actually good an even they dont start on the front row and they are 60 & 66 min 10mile runners. i myself as a 57min runner didn`t get to start on the front row either, just to make it clear i have nothing against slower runners though either because without them then we wouldn`t have a race at all, and i`m sure i`ll be a mid pack runner one day myself but i`ll still start in the relevant place.

    aaaaannnnndd  breath.

  • 4m jog in the sun for me this morning- legs feeling stiff and achy- just like they do the day before every raceimage Driving up to Lake Vyrnwy in a bit. See you all tomorrow.

    andy the deestrider. wrote (see)

    TGT- this particular person does really get on the nerves of a few people because she insists on starting at the front row of races, image

    Oh yeah,

    P.S. I've sharpened my elbowsimageimage

  • Yep, the start was indeed a bit crazyimage ... I saw one runner (from Horsforth, where I live) who was walking back to the start with blood all over his head/face - assume he'd fallen in the first mile.

    Entering the start from the front is also asking for trouble ... as soon as folk cross the start line, they stop. Combined with a narrow road and no chip timing, it leads to a bit of a scrum (I heard some folk saying that they didn't want to move back because they'd "lose time"). For those are willing to line up in the right place, I think they need better signs for the "pens" (a low down sign with small writing is no good in a crowd) ... also some marshalls "encouraging" runners to line up in the correct time zone might help.

    Apart from that, it was a great event and worth the 260 mile round trip.

    I over cooked things myself ... painful last 5K as a resultimage.

  • come on then what did people think of it?

     myself i thought it was a tough day at the office compare to normal but that could just be me. happy to of got a pb......just, by 5 seconds for 1:16:50 so that'll keep me happy for the time being image was going for 1.15 so after 3 miles the splits were 5.40 5.46 5.43 so thought brilliant this might actually happen today, but every mile marker after that the average pace had slipped by 1 secondimage so thank god for that downhill last mile allowing me to claw back a handfull of seconds, phew. was gutted to see me training partner have a dissapointing run after ticking all the boxes in his training, sometimes though these things happen which cant be explained though. i just hope he has a smashing run fairly soon to get his confidence brimming again. 

  • to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front.  Overall though its a v good race, i enjoyed the downhill finish. Mentally it helps knowing its there!

    andy - i think i might have passed you late on in the race (i was in the white stoke ac vest that looks like a 118188 one), i started very conservatively and recorded 6mm first mile, and 5.5x for the next 2 but got going towards the middle and finished in 74.15.  I was way 40 secs off a sub 75 at 5m but managed to claw it back largely thanks to the final mile.

  • x post Dr Dan. just reading your message makes me think, if people are willing to train for a race, pay for a race and travel for a race then why o why are they also willing to screw it up in the last few seconds prior to the race by starting to far forward only to get pushed over because of not wanting to "lose time" i seen this a few times now where people get injured in the crush and its totally needless, DONT DO IT.image

  • dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

    to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front.  Overall though its a v good race, i enjoyed the downhill finish. Mentally it helps knowing its there!

    andy - i think i might have passed you late on in the race (i was in the white stoke ac vest that looks like a 118188 one), i started very conservatively and recorded 6mm first mile, and 5.5x for the next 2 but got going towards the middle and finished in 74.15.  I was way 40 secs off a sub 75 at 5m but managed to claw it back largely thanks to the final mile.

    Dean i dont know if you noticed but there were some late arrivers who were going down the gap between the runners and the fence on the grass verge to avoid this problem. i`m refering to the ones who actually stand practically on the start line tape. there was one guy who no dissrespect but blatantly shouldn`t really of been there who i thought was a prime candidate for injury, i know its a bad way of thinking but i`ve seen it happen on more than one occasion.

    i think i find it fustrating because to be honest if a runner decides there going to start in the wrong place theres really nothing the race organisers can do about it which is a shame really,

     i do remember you passing me at about 9miles actually, i'd caught up to a guy in a yellow vest and thought the footsteps were him trying to hang on so i really pushed as best i could to drag us both along, although at that point i was really struggling to maintain pace because of starting to quick i guess. i enjoyed the race though it was good. especially with the downhill last mile. sounds like you ran a stormer of a race, well done on the pacing, i think i`ll learn from what you just said about taking the first few miles at a fairly steady pace.

  • dean richardson 7 wrote (see)
    to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front. 

    Agree - it's inevitable if the entry to the start is from the front ... that needs to be fixed. Otherwise a good race.

  • Andy - it reminds me of my last 5k race where an older chap who ended running a 22min race started on the front line.  This was a big mistake and was effectively pushed off the course by irrate people also this was the northern champs where a sub 16min wouldnt get you in the top 20 so people werent happy with his choice and made him aware.

    regards yesterday the start slower tactic definately helped me not go off too fast and was down in 40-50th position by the first mile. I normally hare off and try and hold on!  Although you missed the 75, did you PB?  The course was harder than i was told.

  • I think that could be a very quick course ... there was a lot of slight down hill in the second half. If I was doing it again and gunning for a fast one, I'd run a sensible 1st mile but still run a slightly conservative race until 6-7 miles ... and then open it up in the second half.

  • in the results 80% or so of the top 100 finishers yesterday got a PB or SB so it must be a fast course. But I never felt like i was running downhill until the last 2ks which were very welcome! The 12 miles of so before that felt like it was flat or gradual incline.    However my garmin disagrees and that i was actually running up and down for most of the race, so it must have been a mental thing!

    Its a great race and im not suprised its popular

  • Dean looking at the results I did pb yesterday by a whole 5 seconds, its a great race but like others said after the finish its not as fast as people say, I wondered if it is a placebo effect. Not sure wether i'd go back again or not though.
  • I found the course very quick and PBd by a silly amount- but always knew that was on the cards cos my PB is a year past its sell-by dateimage The only problems I had was running the first uphill mile a bit too fast which caught up with me around 11m, and having to negotiate my way round a few people in the wrong place at the beginning- apologies to anyone I pushedimage.

    I really think, and conversations |I had yesterday seem to bear this out, that most people would be only too happy to pay an extra quid or few to cover the cost of chip timing.

    Saying that, loved the race and will definitely be back next yearimage

  • Jason you had a brilliant run at Vyrnwy fairplay. Its allways nice to smash a pb to smitherines like that. Having weighed it up I think I would go back to Vyrnwy but I would run a very different race, normally I start at pb pace and not a second faster then push the pace up by a few seconds a mile for the rest of the race, this method has never failed me but bothe times I've gone for sub 75 from the gun it just hasn't worked out. Lesson learned there to be honest. Race splits were 5.40 5.46 5:43 5.46 5.54 6:00 5.54 5.58 6.04 5.49 6.16 6.08 5.34 as you can see the last few miles were a slog, thank heavens for that downhill last mile. Hope to get another HM pb in the four villages half in january, 3years on the run I've had pb's there.
  • Andy - how would compare the courses at helsby to vyrnwy?  I was supposed to run helsby last yr but was sick

  • Dean, the HELSBY FOUR VILLAGES HALF MARATHON is a good course in my opinion. Some would argue its not that fast, but if you dont mind a couple of undulations in the second half then its pb materiel I think. There isn't any massive hills but there enough to let you overtake runners who've either gone off to qiuck or dont like any hills. The middle few miles of the course seemed windy last year from about 5-9miles but elsewhere its sheltered from wind mostly. The crowd support aint bad too at a few places round the course. I'll be there again this January
  • Very jealous of you lot. Well done.It is a shame about the start; I reckon it cost me a PB last year. Concur about chip timing which may help but, whatever way you look at it, the start is very narrow. How do other local races compare for speed - Wrexham and 4 Villages for eg? (I`m benched for a bit image)

  • TET- without trying to sound ignorant what makes you think the start cost you a pb? I think in reality I should of started at 6min pace rather than 5:40 then I could of worked into the race rather than gradually slow down.



    Chip timing sounds a good idea to me I suppose but that adds cost, this half marathon is just a competitive but low key half in comparison to the citys ones, so maybe there trying to keep it simple. I never get why people worry about seconds at the start because if you done the training the 13miles will cancel out a few lost seconds in my opinion. What do others think.



    Wrexham is a difficult on to be honest because 2 years ago I ran it in 1:19:57 on a windy day getting a massive pb. In 2011 it was snowed off which was very fustrating because I've got in great shape for that one race then last year I never entered which was lucky because some pondlife cretin decided to mess with the race direction signs so a small number of runners ended up with 11.3miles. Looking at the results i'd off ended doing the short course aswell so I'm a little reluctant to enter it to be honest. Sorry about the lecture
  • cheers andy, i have heard good things about helsby as i have Vyrnwy. i probably will do it to keep me honest over xmas.

    I suppose if it takes 10 secs to get over the line you are in debt already before hitting the start. and that could cost on a pb,  I liked the scale of the event and am glad they dont go too corporate.  My only minor gripe was getting people in the correct pens....but us runners should self police that by doing the right thing

  • Dean- one thing to take note of is that the helsby half fills up real quick so its best to check every few days really so you dont get caught out.

    i agree with you on the whole corporate thing to be honest, i`ve done liverpool and chester which i really enjoyed but you tend to get a "goody bag" full of leaflets which you dont need basically. us runners should self police though to make things go alot smoother.

    another one to think about is the ellesmere half which has a low key feel to it, very chilled out ya know.

  • Andy- ta. As for pace.... I ran the uphill first mile 11 seconds faster than my target average pace- cost me.... muppet!imageimage

  • It was my fourth time in four years at Vyrnwy and although in previous years the start has been busy, this was the first time that I have noticed people blatantly take the Mickey in terms of the starting zones. There was ample opportunity for people to get in the correct place, I was watching this very carefully (I'm tall enough to see). An issue that I will be getting in touch with Janet about was that the start zone markers were not in their usual place up on the fence the right and some people did appear to be looking in vain for them but being unobtrusive poles about 5 feet high on the left there was absolutely no chance of seeing them once the area started to fill up.

    The other issue that needs addressing is a loud klaxon or similar to indicate the race has started.

    Once we did get going I must have had to dodge 200 plus people who were never (judging by their pace and girth) going to break 2:15, I'm not concerned about this in terms of my time but rather the danger involved and sure enough one man hit the floor very hard trying to get around a mobile chicane and got up bleeding profusely from the head.

    Make no mistake, I think Lake Vyrnwy is the best half marathon I've experienced and I'd be amazed if there was a road race of its equal anywhere but selfish, thoughtless people did not do the race credit this year.

  • jason d wrote (see)

    Andy- ta. As for pace.... I ran the uphill first mile 11 seconds faster than my target average pace- cost me.... muppet!imageimage

    i made that same mistake to, thought i was clever at the timeimage getting it out the way with nothing to make up afterwards but clearly as many found out it doesn`t really work out like that. never mind eh.......atleast we know for next time eh.

  • JASON D/DEAN RICHARDSON 7

    The entrys for the helsby half are opening on the 1st October. The race itself is 20th January
  • I enjoyed the race on Sunday, the start wasnt a prob for me as I was at the back haha, I am an over 2 hour person so thats where I went and was fine.  It was my second HM and was 4 mins quicker, I was hoping for better though.  I struggled the last 3 miles but that was just down to me.  Also there was a hill at the end before the corner to the downhill but know one seems to mention that image what a beautiful place, I think I will be back next year image

    Well done everyone

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