Dublin Marathon

A goal of mine is to run a marathon or two in a foreign country sometime before the knees finally give out. The Dublin Marathon has always been one that has intrigued me.  Something about going back to my roots, at least the ones on my father’s side.  Do they have a Warsaw Marathon?  How fortunate to have a member who recently ran Dublin and who has provided this report and photos.  Let’s all run Dublin vicariously through Bob Grant:

 I want to say that anyone considering doing the Dublin Marathon will most definitely have a great time and should combine it with vacation to explore the beauty of Ireland.  I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the marathon, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  I had never heard so many cries of “Well done, lad” before.  Those Europeans are so polite!!!  The crowds were great, especially at the end near Trinity College.  The Marathon is called the friendly marathon because it has an 8 hour cut off.  This allows walkers to officially complete a marathon.  I even saw someone competing on a tricycle.  I was disappointed in the lack of water stops, spread out every 3 to 3.5 miles.  They also only provide Energize Sports drinks at 3 or 4 water stops.  I never trained with this brand and wasn’t used to it, so I didn’t drink much of it.  Of course I should have known better.  They do give bottles at each stop so if you are used to carrying one you will be fine.

Make sure you devote enough time to both run the marathon and tour the country.  I stayed the rest of the week and visited Galway, Connemara, Bunratty Castle and so on.  I even got thrown in the dungeon at Bunratty Castle, but it wasn’t my fault!!!  I definitely would do it again, and for those wanting to travel far to do a marathon, it is a great experience.

One last thing, a message to Deb Touchette: “The plane ride wasn’t so bad, Deb!”  I definitely think the Touchettes should put it on their schedule.