Dublin Marathon

Dublin Marathon

Dublin Marathon

( 3 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Dublin,
    Ireland
  • October
  • 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Laura Mullins

Phoenix, Arizona, United States
62 22
2016
"Great Race to Experience Dublin!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Laura Mullins's thoughts:

This was my first ever Dublin Marathon and I was excited to tour my new home city as a marathoner! This year's race sold out with a capacity of 19,500 runners, the largest EVER Dublin Marathon. This was the first year they held the race on a Sunday, rather than Bank Holiday Monday. This schedule change most likely led to many more non-Irish runners flying in from other places to run as they could just make the trip a long weekend.

SWAG: This race series does a great job with runner's swag! In my marathon packet, I received a high-visibility vest and head torch to use for running in the dark. What a fabulous perk for runners as we head into the dark, winter months! We also received a long-sleeve tech finisher's shirt at the finish line. It's well made and a great reward for running a race.

Expo: Expo was fantastic! It would rival any major marathon expo in the States. Not only was there a great diversity of vendors, there were speakers and presentations held on stage throughout the expo. Lots of sample snacks were available and good deals to be had. There were also several Irish running Olympians working the expo! That was a cool bonus.

Parking/Access: Definitely limited, but public transport gets you right where you need to go! The race guide gave plenty of information about transportation prior to the race.

Course: Lovely course through some gorgeous and historic areas of Dublin. While many marathons use a wave start to control traffic of runners, this is especially important in the Dublin Marathon. The infrastructure of the city is hundreds of years old and the roads are very narrow. I spent the first 5 miles or so looking down as to not trip on a curb, cobblestone or someone else's feet! It eventually opens up once you get to Phoenix Park, but it's something to be prepared for going into the race.

Elevation: The course is mostly flat with a few hills throughout. However there is one long drag between miles 21-22 that can break your heart. It's not that it's very steep, it's just very long and gradual and occurs at a point in the race where you might be hanging on for dear life! To add insult to injury, it is followed by a much shorter but much steeper hill less than 1K later.

Aid Stations: I have a real issue with aid stations at a marathon not offering any type of electrolytes until mile 9. This happened to me in the Dublin Half Marathon in September and I read on the website that the set up was the same so I came prepared and ran with my Orange Mud VP1. It saved my race! Then, when the race did offer electrolytes, they were handing out 500mL bottles of Lucozade. Nobody really needs that much at one time, so many people were throwing almost-full bottles to the side of the (narrow) roads. Near the end of the race, I saw more runners vomiting than I have ever seen at a marathon. In my opinion, many runners got into hydration trouble early on in the race due to the lack of electrolytes available to them.

Race Management: To be fair, this was the largest Dublin Marathon in history so I'm not sure the management knew exactly what they might need to change from previous years to accommodate such a large crowd. Corralling runners to the start line was very unorganized. I walked nearly two miles in circles around the city because we kept getting diverted and not allowed to walk down certain roads. It caused a lot of stress for runners trying to drop off bags at bag drop then find a toilet and then get to the corral. Hopefully they will figure out a better plan for next year.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this race. The crowd support was simply amazing! There was never a stretch of time without spectators! The entire country rallies around this race and I would highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a fun European marathon.

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