Wicklow Round - question from foreigner
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Krzysztof Gajdzinski | Oct 4 2012, 2:23pm | Hello, I don't live in Ireland, but would like to try the Wicklow Round. I lived in your country some years ago but didn't do mountain running at that time. Would you please help me with some information? I've got some questions. I would really appreciate every answer. So: 1. What is the best result ever? On the website I found this: Eoin Keith M40 May 30th 2009 17:53:45 - is that the fastest result? 2. Did any of Wicklow Round finishers participate any popular race in Europe (like UTMB, CCC, Trans Alipne etc?) and could somehow comparison those routes. I need this information just to know what I can expect. 100km in 17:53 sounds like very hard route, so I wan to know how hard. 3. What's the best time during the year to try (summer?) and what if I try winter or spring - possible? Clockwice or counterclockwise is better? 4. Is the route rather obvious or I need good orienteering and concetration all the time? Any better maps than this from your website? I understand GPS is forbidden? What if I use Garmin clock with GPS but just to keep the pace? 5. How many points with drinkable water (springs etc.) on the route? 6. What about conditions in Wicklow Mountains in November? Worth to come for reconnaissance before trying next year? 7. Does anybody have the altitude graph? I'm so excited about 6000m of ascents on 100km route in so small mountains. Can't believe. 6000m is only ascents and also 6000m of descents - am I right? 8. Any other advice? Thanks and hopefully see you somewhere on the route:) Regards, Chris |
| NIamh O Ceallaigh | Oct 4 2012, 10:59pm | Hi Chris, I haven't done the round (although know the route) and am sure Eoin Keith himself will be able to offer you great advice, but here is my tuppenceworth. 1. Yes, Eoin Keith's time of 17:53 is the fastest. 2. yes, Eoin will answer this for you. 3. Early to mid summer seems a good choice - May/June. You get long daylight, but the undergrowth (ferns etc) has not grown too high. Large sections of the course can get very boggy, so good to try when the ground has had a chance to dry out. 4. Route is not obvious. It is not following a distinct trail. YOu will need excellent orienteering skills, particularly if the terrain is new to you. You should assume you will be travelling accross open mountain unless there is a path shown on the map - see Harvey's Wicklow Mountains 1:30,000 (goodish for paths) or OSI 1:50,000 (good for contours, not good for showing paths). The organisers will have to confirm is odometer / altimeters are permitted? 5. Depends on time of year. Not so much available on first half of course but I'd say you would get some people willing to go out and give you water along the way if you asked. 6. I'd say a recce would massively increase your chances of success. Conditions could be very wet under foot in November, but you could be lucky if we get a really cold snap and it might be frozen over and firm. Post on the forum and I;m sure there would be people willing to go on a recce with you to give you a hand with some route choice. I recommend you read Moire O Sullivan's book "Mud, Sweat and Tears" in which she describes her battle with and victory over the Round. Also, there may be some reports on this site. Study the maps in detail and plan your routes in great detail, so you don't have to map read on the go. Eoin Keith is a very good mountain runner, mountaineer and knows the Wicklow Mountains inside out, so well worth comparing your time with his on the UTMB to give you an idea. Best of luck with your preparations! |
| Eoin Keith | Oct 4 2012, 11:55pm | Good answers from Niamh there. Just to add a few of my own thoughts... (2) I've done the UTMB twice. The (pretty much) full course last year in just under 29 hours, and this years 100km 6000m course in 13:15, or something like that. So yes, the round is a harder route than it looks on paper. Definitely harder than the CCC, or this year's shortened UTMB. Not as hard as the full UTMB though! The reason for this is the terrain. Relatively little of it is on alpine style trails. Large sections have lots of route choice where running across open mountain is the best choice. (3) The month of May is generally considered optimal. It comes down to weather on the day, and the days leading up to it. The aim is to have a dry day, and to ensure that the ground is as dry as possible. Any earlier and the ground will generally be wet, which will slow you down a lot. Much later and the vegetation will get too much summer growth and start to slow you down. So far most people have not committed to a particular day until a few days beforehand, to try to ensure the best conditions. If you try winter or spring you will be admired for your bravery :) There is an account somewhere of Adrian Tucker's winter attempt. Not many will try that again! The rules say the checkpoints should be hit in order, so it must be run counter-clockwise. (4) All the maps you can buy in the shops are better than the one on the website! It's an old map which is only useful for giving a "big picture" overview of the route. The Harveys map is particularly good. The east-west maps are also good for man made features, including trails. They are both 1:30000. The standard OSI sheet 56 map (1:50000) is also good to have. It has finer contour detail. I used every map I could to hunt out route choices before running the route. Bringing a tracker is no problem. I don't think altimeters are a problem either. To be brutally frank though, if you think you need any aid like this then there is something wrong. The whole thing can be run by a competent navigator using just the maps. Even a compass is probably unneeded in clear weather (but should still be carried). There is no single correct route. Several sections have a range of potential routes. Route choice is entirely in your own hands. I can show you my own recommended routes on the maps if you come to Ireland for a recce, and explain various choices you have. How much you need to concentrate on staying on route while you're running depends on how comfortable you are as a navigator. Once you have decided on a route they tend to be reasonably straightforward to follow in practice (in clear weather). (5) pretty much every major valley you run into has a water source. Rivers are well marked on the maps, so you can see in advance where you will be able to get water and plan accordingly. I didn't need more than a single bottle at any time. (6) The Wicklow mountains are generally wet and miserable in November. That's Ireland! Recces are worthwhile for sure if you can. I think I was the only person so far who didn't spend multiple weekends recceing the route in advance (and only because I had the benefit of knowing the mountains well and being a practiced "big map" navigator). Everyone else has done extensive groundwork beforehand. (7) it's just a constant up and down, with no individual huge alpine style climb. So it's like 100km+ of hill repeats in some ways! There is a GPS track of the last successful completion of the round from which you can get a profile. ( http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186607105). The reality of running it in practice is even harder than the description on the website, as the website just list minimum possible route as opposed to the most practical route. (8) The biggest single piece of advice would be to have one or two people with a car as a support crew to meet you at all the road crossings with supplies and clothes. If you need to then feel free to ask for volunteers to help here. |
| juju jay | Oct 5 2012, 1:08pm | hey Krzysztof,,, if you need any help on this run i live in glendalough i can run with you for while or help you out with food or water...or what ever you need really... just ask dude..& good luck.. jay peace |
| Krzysztof Gajdzinski | Oct 7 2012, 8:46pm | Hello, Big thanks to all of you for tips and willing to help on the route. It seems like it will be very hard run:) i'm quite worried about plants. i'm not used to such problems as trails in Poland, Slovakia, Romania are usually not so 'overplanted':) Will see;) the GPS track provided by Eoin describe a lot about denivelation - thanks! It's really great I can ask you to show the route on maps and in field. I really appreciate you all for this! For sure I will ask you for some help once I know the date for coming Ireland. So I need to train hard, deal with some things at my job and check for cheap flights. ONe more question - do you know any chep B&B or homestay in the nearby which could be useful when running recce? One more time - great thanks! Regards, Chris |
| Roman Gregus | Nov 13 2012, 12:44pm | hi Krzysztof just to give you idea in numbers. I gave it a try this July in not perfect but in my opinion still doable conditions and abandoned my attempt in drumgoff after 10 and half hours as was out of my targets to finish in time and as well wasnt really in condition to finish it. in similar fitness this October i finished 105km 4000m positive elevation race in Slovakia in slightly over 16 hours, which brought me as well 3 qualifying points for UTMB. you can see that although wicklow round is valued just 3 utmb points (as per length and elevation coefficients), the boggy heathery surface and navigation are making it much more difficult as it looks and as is valued in utmb points. i am not writing you to scare you, but to motivate you even more. it is absolutely great challenge and i will try it again and maybe we will meet each-other on the way. good luck :o) roman |
