Dublin Peaks
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Adrian Tucker | May 6 2008, 11:29pm | Joe, regarding this proposed route, can you confirm the grid reference for the point where one leaves the track and meets the road just before the Kipure race start. Is it "O 128 202" ? Also, I have yet to find your small cairn at Cruagh, but have found a number of routes through the forest up to the track. Can you give a grid reference for the cairn. |
| Joe Lalor | May 7 2008, 5:42pm | Adrian, Just a short note for the moment I will reply later in detail with grid references. Where the track comes out on Military Road (near Kippure) is just metres north of Noel Lemass memorial and so is very easy to find. Cruagh summit has a small cairn with a pole coming out of it and is easy to spot when on the route south but difficult to find if you are not fimiliar with the route on the way back. There is a major loop forest track around Cruagh wood and to get from this to the forest edge and hence on to Cruagh summit is the only off track (and tricky)part of the route. The forestry people are working in this part of the forest at the moment and the best way through is constantly changing. For the momemt the advise is find your own route through and nearer the event I will recommend an optimum route. The Dublin Mountain Initiative DMI have recently publisged a draft map of the Dublin Mountains for comment. It is very good for tracks in the Dublin Hills, I will give a link for it with the next email with the grid references |
| Joe Lalor | May 9 2008, 8:52pm | Adrian and other long distance enthusiasts, Further to last posting on this tread GR for Cruagh 137216 and for track onto Military Road 128202<br /> <br /> |
| Adrian Tucker | May 10 2008, 5:43pm | Thanks for clarification on those GR's Joe, and the link to that map, which on first viewing looks really good. Is it intended that the route for the Dublin Peaks should go over the Cruagh peak, i.e. off track and boggy, or is it preferred to try and use the nearby available good tracks although this might add on a little extra distance? If you intend to do any recce in the near future I'd be interested to join in. |
| Joe Lalor | May 13 2008, 5:35pm | Adrian, There is a track (no bog) most of the way up Cruagh by an old fence. Near the summit there is a tiny rat pass of a track that goes to within 10 metres of summit and continues on down the other side to larger track which can have running water on it (hopefully not in July) The only boggy bit on the route is the small section to get through the final bit of Cruagh wood and of course the final push up Kippure (which of course makes up for the lack of bog else where). I have been up there a lot lately when training for the peaks run in Yorkshire but was not planning on visiting again for some time. Rene may be due another recee soon |
| Jeff Fitzsimons | Jul 11 2008, 12:09pm | Hi, I haven't ran any IMRA races and am taking July as a recovery month after a recent race. I intend to start running IMRA races and would like to use this run as a kick start to training. My question is what sort of time do you forsee the route taking and if I reckon I'm good for it is there room for someone to tag along? Cheers, Jeff |
| Rene Borg | Jul 11 2008, 12:48pm | Hi Jeff The Dublin Peaks is a very serious undertaking. The total route is about 36km and will feature in excess of 1600m of elevation. If you're familiar with the Ticknock area, you'll find taking the three first peaks easy (Three-Rock, Fairy Castle and Tibradden). You would want to scout the route through Cruagh woods to Cruagh before the race. After that you could well need navigational skills if the mist falls as both locating the proper path to Kippure and navigating the later parts of Kippure itself could be tricky. It took Bob Boles and myself a good 3:20 hours running at a very slow pace to reach the top of Kippure (the half-way point). We did go a few kilometres astray, having done about 21km by the time we reached the top instead of 18km. We didn't manage to get back on the correct route and ended up doing a 41k training run in about 5h33min, but if you plan to undertake the 36km (correct) version, you'd want to be confident that you have a very strong base training in place, are an experienced long-distance runner, and have at least rudimentary navigational skills for the later stages of the race. Proper kit and food will also be essential, as I predict some runners will be out well in excess of 5 hours and if it's rainy or windy, the latter half of the race can be very exposed. The terrain on Kippure is also very draining when you've been running for as long as you'll have to do to reach it, so factor that into your pacing strategy. |
| Jeff Fitzsimons | Jul 11 2008, 3:27pm | Thanks for the reply Rene, I've a fair base of training and have decent distance running experience. What attracted me to this thread was the fact that there may be other people to run this route with. In the past I've always trained alone so it would be nice to have someone at least within a few kms of me on longer runs for safety and the obvious push it provides performance wise. I'll take your advice re areas to recce and will be back in touch next week. Jeff |
| Greg Cahill | Jul 19 2008, 6:00pm | I think the cairn is more like 150m past the right bend. |
| Rene Borg | Jul 21 2008, 12:11pm | A note on this event: This is not a race (IMRA or otherwise), but a training run originally arranged by the route's creator Joe Lalor. That means there's no registration, results, support, marking or otherwise, but it should be treated as a training run with friends. We wanted to advertise this to "test the waters" for interest in really long-distance hill running in Ireland. If successful, this race could form a race series called the "Long Distance Challenge" which would include the Wicklow Way Ultra, the Dublin Peaks, and possibly one of the big circuits that are usually part of the Leinster Champs (e.g. Aughavannagh, Circuit of Glenmacnass and Circuit of Glenmalure). The overall winner of these three races could then be honoured as the best long-distance hill runner in Ireland for the year. This is all strictly on the drawing board and just held by Joe and myself, but the Committee is aware of it and will be monitoring developments. It seems only Adrian has expressed an open interest so far, and Joe will most likely not be able to make it himself (and I'm away at Snowdon), meaning we may look at cancelling this running. What I would like to know is if anyone else has interest in this race and it's long-term development into a possible long-distance race series. Also, if you are interested but can't make it (because of Snowdon or other reasons), please let us know here so we can decide on whether or not to try and reschedule it. Thanks in advance for the feedback all. |
| John O'Regan | Jul 21 2008, 12:16pm | Yes, I'm interested. Cheers John |
| Adrian Tucker | Jul 21 2008, 4:12pm | I have this route scheduled in for this Sunday as a training run (for the upcoming Ultra Trail Mont Blanc). So I'll definitely be there and I have advised one or two other distance runners in the hope that they will join in. Although it is scheduled for 12 noon and if it doesn't upset any other participants it would suit me better to start at 10am. I expect it will take 4 to 5 hours to complete. As it is only a training run, another suggestion that may suit some, is for a shorter option route to join in at the carpark after Tibradden and run over Cruagh to the military road and back. Any takers? I would fully support the idea of a long distance championship. |
| Greg Cahill | Jul 21 2008, 6:24pm | Yep Ill be there if its still on! |
| Jeff Fitzsimons | Jul 24 2008, 1:34pm | I'm definitely interested in longer races but can't now make Sunday. |
| Jacqui Howard | Jul 25 2008, 2:59pm | I'm planning on doing this- is it still on at 12noon? |
| Gary Moralee | Jul 25 2008, 3:05pm | Hi Adrian, I am planning on parking down in Marly and running up to 3-ROC carpark, see you at 10.00. |
| Joe Lalor | Jul 25 2008, 3:47pm | Yes Jacqui it is still on. I will be starting at 12 and anyone interested in waiting for me I will show them the route as far as the military road. To do the whole thing you basically have to then do the Kippure race route. However a group of fast runners are doing it starting at 10. Could I reiterate that this is not an organised race rather a training run (no registration, no insurance, no one waiting at the end if you are last...) It is being done to test the waters for a long distance championship race for next year. |
| Adrian Tucker | Jul 27 2008, 7:26pm | Due to last minute cancelations there was just a small crew that set off at 10am today to test the route of the Dublin Peaks as a potential race. The crew consisted of myself, Gary Moralee, Bob Boles, and Jacqui Howard. Starting at the entrance carpark to 3Rock, myself and Gary set off just after ten, and subsequently met Bob and Jacqui waiting patiently further up the forest road. The pace throughout was leisurley, and we travelled over Fairy Castle, Tibradden, Cruagh, onto Millitary Road, and up onto Kipure, reaching there in 2hrs 10mins. We took a break of 10mins,(taking in the views over the Wicklow Round, a view Moire would have loved to have seen last week), and then we set off again to reach the 3Rock carpark in a total time of 4hrs 25mins. So total running time was approximately 4hrs 15mins. On the route back down from Cruagh we bumped into Joe lalor and two other runners who had all started at 12noon. It will be interesting to see their splits. The route is very runnable with good trails and tracks throughout.The only tricky bit is the navagation over Cruagh and once that has been recce'd a few times there's no problem. I'm sure this has the potential to be a good long distance race, in line definitely with the Wicklow Way Ultra. The following are the splits (approximate). I don't have distance, I had hoped for a runner with a Garmin to join us but that didn't happen. Start 3Rock Carpark 10am Fairy Castle 10.25 Tibradden 10.43 Road/Stream Crossing 10.53 Cruagh top 11.13 Millitary Rd (Kippure race start) 11.30 Kippure 12.10 Break........ 12.20 Millitary Rd 12.52 Cruagh top 13.12 Stream/Road Crossing 13.27 Tibradden 13.45 Fairy Castle 14.05 End 3Rock Carpark 14.25 |
| Pat Quill | Jul 27 2008, 10:18pm | Greg and I, the runners in the 12 group, completed the run in 4:39 taking it at an easy pace. Joe accompanied us as far as the Military road and pointed out the route. I don't have detailed splits but we were around 2:15 to top of Kippure which I measured at 17.01KM and veered a little off route on the way back so ended up at 35km total. I concur with everything you have said below; apart from the short section of navigation over Cruagh, which probably could benefit from a recce if the runner is not familiar with it, everything is runnable on good tracks. I took a few additional way points on the way that might help if someone is trying to re-trace the route. Cairn where you leave the forest track when heading up to Cruagh IO 14078 21967 Summit of Cruagh mountain (designated with a pole) IO 13707 21682 Point where you leave the main track to head over to Cruagh (easy to miss on way back) IO 13367 20968 Thnaks to Joe for his bringing us along most of the route and coming up with the idea for what was a most enjoyable day. |
