Dublin Marathon ?

[Deleted User]

Any advice on this course ? Its only my second marathon....Robin Hood in 4.45. was the first.

[Deleted User]

I've run this race the last three years but unfortunately it'll be hard to offer good advice as there are significant course changes this year. Generally speaking the course tends to be sheltered and very flat. The crowd support can be patchy depending on the weather but overall it's a great race and I hope you have a great time there. Wish me luck as well 'cos I'll be there for the four in a row :-)

[Deleted User]

Good luck and thanks for the info - flat sounds good !

[Deleted User]

This is gonna be my first marathon..I'm upto 17miles now and doing OK I think. Where are you guys staying..I've booked my flights already but not done the accomodation yet? ANy suggestions?

[Deleted User]

Although I'm not living there at the moment I did for the first 34 years of my life :-) So I'll have family to stay with if I don't fight with them all between now and then. As regards a good place to stay I'd recommend one of the Jury's Inn Hotels. There are three in Dublin. One on the River Liffy, one near Christchurch Cathederal and another in Ballsbridge. Either of the first two are within 20 mins walk of the race start on Nassau Street. The third is a little further out (wouldn't be a problem) but is in a real nice area and is right beside the expo. These places are cheap (around 100 Euro per room per night- not per person) and fill up quickly. It might be an idea to look to book shortly if you're committed to the race. Good luck all with the training and if you need any more info just shout !

[Deleted User]

Ian,

I would reinforce what Mick said about booking accomommodation. Get it booked soon because, bearing in mind there will be around 5000 runners from overseas and the fact that it is the Irish bank holiday weekend, places are filling up quickly.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that guys. DO you know what Dublin postcodes (or regions I guess) I should stay within when booking..i.e. Dublin 2 etc. I asked the question on the old forum and it was answered but cant seem to get onto the old one now.
kind regards.

[Deleted User]

A rule of thumb is that uneven post codes are on the north of the ruiver and even ones are south. Dublin central is mainly covered by codes 1 & 2. Dublin 4 generally covers the leafier suburbs on the southside but it really depends on the hotel itself as to whether it's a good place to stay. Even with large crowds there's no real problem getting a taxi to the race start from nearly anywhere in the city area. I'll be staying well out of the city myself as I did last year and there was no problem driving in and getting parked.

[Deleted User]

I'd have to disagree with Mick - I didn't find the course (last year) to be particularly flat (far less so than FLM!!!) and as for "sheltered", I battled some pretty ugly headwinds for what seemed like a lot more than half the race - which somehow doesn't seem scientifically possible.

Still it was a fun race to do with great support along the way, albeit with a pretty chaotic start! s.

[Deleted User]

Just booked room at Clarion in Dublin 1. Looks pretty good - meant to be 4 star - does anyone know the proximity to start/expo and how good it actually is. Guess not far away based upon previous posts but good to get confirmation!!

[Deleted User]

Ian,
The expo is on in the RDS in Ballsbridge which is in Dublin 4 on the southside of the city. It's a short taxi or bus trip from the center where your hotel is located. The expo itself it fairly good. I'd give it about a 6/10. Of course it's nothing like what you get at London, New York or Boston, but there's plenty to keep you occupied for a few hours and the involvement of Addidas has helped a lot with more talks/seminars and the like. For the last couple of years there has also been a couple of other exhibitions going on at the same time in the same complex so you might want to visit one of them as well. One piece of advice I'd offer is that if you want to purchase race related merchandise to buy it either early at the show or on-line beforehand as it completely sold-out at a very early point last year.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that Mick. FYI and others I ordered some merchandise off the website weeks ago but keep getting notes saying that there are problems with the suppliers. Apparently they have thousands of back orders already and when I checked the webiste last time they have actually pulled the online shop.

[Deleted User]

I really wish I could say I was surprised