Trooperstown Hill
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Rene Borg | Feb 6 2008, 10:07pm | Hi all, will be doing a re-recce of the Trooperstown Hill route this Sunday. It'll be nice and slow, but if you want to come along and murder yourself, you're welcome too of course. Have a few spots left in the car if you need to carpool. Will be leaving Dublin around 10 o'clock. Coffee in Laragh after... For those who don't know the route, it's slightly longish, but very runnable (and nothing like the Trial for those who suffered through that). Rene |
| Rob Costello | Feb 7 2008, 1:55pm | Rene, I would like to get a practice run in this weekend. Are you in Rathgar? I'm in Rathmines so could walk over your way if you have a spot in your car? Cheers, Rob |
| Rene Borg | Feb 7 2008, 2:06pm | No problem Rob. Give me a bell at 085121451, and I'll tell you where I am at. |
| Rob Costello | Feb 8 2008, 9:54am | Cheers. I'll give you a call Sunday morning. |
| Rene Borg | Feb 8 2008, 5:59pm | Hi Rob,hope this reaches u, have had to cancel arranging the recce, as some plans have changed and I can't commit to a time (if at all) Sunday. If u're dying for a hill run, I will join the long run taking off from Crone Wood to Lough Tay tomorrow morning, so you're welcome to jump in on that one. Sorry about that! |
| Rene Borg | Feb 10 2008, 4:36pm | Hi all, elevation chart and a few more instructions have been added about Saturday's race. Difficulty has been adjusted up from a 6 to a 7 as the terrain while generally "easy" has a tricky descent at the finish, with loose rocks and high descent grades. Martin Bradshaw suffered a bad fall there. Other bits are also slightly slippery, and small parts of the path has suffered some erosion over Winter. It's by no means rough (generally very runnable), but there are places to watch out for and I've reflected that in the rating. My personal piece of advice about the last descent is this: Once you see it opening in front of you, make up your mind, either do it controlled (constant braking) or let yourself go. If you try to do both, you'll probably fall (aim for the heather at the side). |
| Rene Borg | Feb 10 2008, 7:44pm | The full event details can be viewed here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/network/digest/view.mb Search for Trooperstown and select the one from today 09/02/08. |
| Rene Borg | Feb 10 2008, 7:46pm | I meant to say "route details" not Event details, those are still where they are supposed to be :) |
| Rob Costello | Feb 11 2008, 10:58am | Rene, I got you message on Saturday night. No probs with the cancellation. I will be at the run next Sunday. Rob |
| Rene Borg | Feb 11 2008, 2:14pm | Good to hear Rob. The race is Saturday though :) To make up for the cancellation, I'm happy to offer you a seat in my car going down to the race, so let me know if that's handy for you. |
| Alan Ayling | Feb 11 2008, 6:23pm | Letting oneself go completely on that steep descent is risky, especially as you're more than likely pretty tired by then - the controlled approach is better. The best grip is probably to be had just at the edge of the heather on either side. Grass = slippy; erosion gullies = treacherous and very unforgiving if you do go down. It's a fun descent though! Try it on a bike sometime for that bit of extra buzz. |
| Rene Borg | Feb 11 2008, 6:35pm | I can second Alan's comment on the "risky bit" (and so can Martin Bradshaw, though I was not there to see his fall on the day). I tested the descent 6 times this weekend, and can't say with confidence that I got it right any of the times. 2 of the times, it was close, but it felt like just 10% was missing. Tired it's worse, of course, the dilemma it presents is that: If the man in front of you is a good descender, your only other chance to catch them will be the flat tarmac bit (gambling on him failing his transition basically). Once people in front of you get into the last forest bit, the show's pretty much over, as anyone with anything left can just cruise down the fire trail at max speed. If you're a strong ascender, I would definitely gamble on building a major lead on the last climb, playing it safe down the scree, and try and hold the lead through the final easy bit. My two pennies on it anyway :) |
| Darragh Power | Feb 13 2008, 9:32am | Hi there. I'm interested in competing in Saturday's race, but have a couple of questions about the race. I'm effectively a complete beginner when it comes to mountain running and was wondering what sort of time would it take the average runner to complete the course. I've been doing a small bit of training on a route which takes around 35 minutes with some uphill sections in Blessington over the last couple of weeks. I'm 28 and would have a general level of fitness as i do a bit of kayaking and mountain biking. Would you recommend the race for a novice? cheers. |
| Rene Borg | Feb 13 2008, 9:56am | HI Darragh, I'd say you'd be grand. Apart from the descent at the end, the race is one of the most runnable on the calendar. While it features long sections of climb, they are shallow and overall elevation not excessive. A 10.5k hill race can be a surprise for your average beginner, so the real key is not to get caught up in the fast start, find a good pace, and not blow up on the early ascents (as there'll be plenty more to come). Times on the course wary and if even young fit runners can end up with times between 1:10-1:25. faster runners would well beat the hour, however. You should give it a try, take it easy until you've reached the first peak, then you can't go wrong. |
| Rob Costello | Feb 13 2008, 10:46am | Don't know why I thought it was Sunday. Thanks for the offer Rene but I'm actually running a BHAA race Saturday so will have to start my mountain running at next race instead. Is that Darragh Power from KPMG? I'm a beginner to the mountain running too. Looking forward to getting stuck in. Rob |
| Gerry Lalor | Feb 14 2008, 9:58am | Just looked at the Trooperstown race profile...is that a 30+ metre abseil point just before 8.5km:) Or a Lovers leap for the day that's in it? |
| Rene Borg | Feb 14 2008, 10:31am | We felt it necessary to emphasise the severity of the descent ;-) Seriously though, it looks like a short fall out in the GPS signal. I'll put up a revised version after the race |
| P O'F | Feb 14 2008, 12:42pm | hah! it's not really a hillrun, it's actually a recruitment drive for Adventure racing.... one teeny weeny abseil in the middle and the prize giving after is halfway down Jackson's Falls.... |
| Tim Grummell | Feb 19 2008, 1:56pm | Good race report there Rene, I might have left you in ahead of me in the race, but how long will ya be rubbing in beating me? Lol |
| Rene Borg | Feb 19 2008, 10:35pm | Thanks Tim! And not too long, you can be sure. Maybe a year, maybe two ;-) |
