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Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork
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Just wondered if anyone had local knowledge of the Ironman course in Cork. The bike course doesn't look to hilly but what are the roads like? Straight roads good for hammering? Road surface? Technical sections? Strong winds?
The run course looks like it has a few hills in it?
Any other useful info?
Thanks,
Tubs
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Tubs] [ In reply to ]
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You must be trying to decide between Norway and Ireland. You saw my Norway RR, and I am already registered for Ireland 2019. I expect a colder swim, much easier bike and flatter run than Norway. But the correct answer is to do them both...you just gotta decide which will be first! With only 525 finishers in the IM, I would suggest you do Norway first because it might not be around much longer. Ireland is already in Tier 3 and should be around for awhile.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Nail - head.
, You hit it.

Norway is prob my first choice, but I can drive the family to Cork in half a day. Norway involves flights, bus taking the kids out of school for a couple days. etc.

First world problems!
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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This is a bit old, but. . . My wife and I are signed up for Ireland. From what I can gather the ocean temp will be cool - probably in the high 50's F and the air will be a bit cool probably 60ish F. Do you have any thoughts what the weather conditions at that time of year? I have this image of a damp drizzly day.

Steve
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [konaboysteve] [ In reply to ]
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There is no way to tell, Irish weather is very unpredictable. It was probably close to 80 and sunny last June but could be cool and wet this year. Plan for all types of weather.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [konaboysteve] [ In reply to ]
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23 Jun 2018 had a high of 68 and low of 50 and was sunny. Historically, per Accuweather, it runs 65/51. One can only hope!! Rain or shine I am begging for those temperatures.

Average rainfall in June is 2.2 inches, however, Jun 2018 saw rain on 16 days but only totaling 1.15 inches. If it drizzles it won't be much of a drizzle, and probably only in the morning. Still, I will be bringing aluminum rims for braking in the wet; just in case. Plan on winds around 12 mph average predominantly out of the west/southwest.

Sunrise and Sunset for Cork, Ireland on 23 Jun 2019 are 5:14 am and 9:57 pm.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Was wondering if anyone here did IRONMAN Ireland last weekend? Thoughts?
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [El director] [ In reply to ]
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My first DNS due to a smashed finger. Swim was canx. Heavy rain in the AM, light rain most of the afternoon and evening. Air temp never got out of the 50s. Superb crowd support. Difficult logistics.

Naturally, the weather has been superb every day since race day. Hopefully, someone who finished will chime in.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [El director] [ In reply to ]
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The weather as I'm sure you've heard was absolutely awful. I've been told that is an anomaly. I expected potential for rain but apparently the wind and the HEAVY rain and the fact that it was that cold were all totally unexpected. If we'd had a swim, the water would've been pretty cold, but also not unexpected. Personally I like tough, fair bike courses and this was for sure the toughest bike course I've done. Others that were easier by comparison for me were Lake Placid, St. George, and the 2015 version of South Africa. First half of the loop isn't too bad and can actually be fairly fast, but there is a lot of climbing in the second half, and a whole lot of rough road surfaces. You also can't take advantage of the downhills as much because many of them are on narrow roads with lots of curves, although they did a good job of having warning signs on any of those that you might have to worry about. Bike courses like this seem to go by fast though because you never get the opportunity to zone out and just ride a straight line in the aero bars, and personally I find that kind of fun. There were definitely spots where I got sick of the rough road but for the most part I actually enjoyed the bike course. Or maybe would've a lot more if I wasn't being pelted with hard rain. I was fortunate that I dressed well for the conditions and was only cold when waiting for the start and when I had to stop to change flat tires.

Also on the bike course the crowds were amazing. You rode through several villages and every one of them had people watching and cheering, even in the horrible weather. I remember riding by a house that had a little tent set up so the family could watch but still be sheltered. If you've heard of Windmill Hill, that is I think the steepest, hardest hill I've ever had to climb on a bike. Not in a race, but ever. I only did St. Croix once and perhaps I'm remembering wrong, but I think this was harder as I've never wished for another gear like I did on that hill. But I did make it up both times and the crowds on that hill were amazing.

The run was pretty "easy" by comparison. Although I could still see my breath when I sat in the transition tent and left on more clothes than planned, but that worked out fine. 4 loops which is a lot but wasn't too bad. You start with about a mile slightly up out of T2 and then get a bit of a downhill and then the rest of it is pretty flat. Again the crowds were amazing and people were everywhere.

There were some logistical issues apparently, that I didn't have to deal with. For example, they had an athlete's parking area that happened to be in a big field. Traffic was pretty backed up getting everyone parked there, and then after a whole day of torrential rain a lot (most?) people got stuck in the mud. But just one example of how great the locals are, the farmers showed up with their tractors to help tow people out.

Personally, with the exception of the weather, I loved it. And I signed up to come back next year in the hopes of getting a more typical sort of race day and to get to do the swim. You need to expect a cold swim (though it really should be calm as every other day aside from race day was calm), a really challenging bike, and a good run and great crowd support and amazing locals.
Last edited by: Emzee: Jun 27, 19 0:49
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Emzee] [ In reply to ]
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Emzee wrote:
The weather as I'm sure you've heard was absolutely awful. I've been told that is an anomaly.

Congrats but there is a reason that Ireland is so green!
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [newManUK] [ In reply to ]
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newManUK wrote:

Congrats but there is a reason that Ireland is so green!

and it's not because of rain like that, if that was the norm everything would be brown mud

we've not had the best of summers so far by any means, but the day fo that race was a huge outlier in terms of weather, a good few years racing in ireland and i'm struggling to think of more than a few races that were wet, let alone the level of rain of IM cork.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [newManUK] [ In reply to ]
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newManUK wrote:
Emzee wrote:
The weather as I'm sure you've heard was absolutely awful. I've been told that is an anomaly.


Congrats but there is a reason that Ireland is so green!

Some rain I absolutely expected. Pouring rain for hours on end, plus the excessive wind and the fact that it was that cold, are the parts I'm saying are an anomaly. If it had been rainy but not so rainy that I could hardly see when riding downhill, or chilly but not so chilly that I really needed the gloves I wore or to have my legs covered, I would've gotten what I expected.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [El director] [ In reply to ]
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I would concur with much of what Emzee wrote. I would add that you have to remember that the swim is a very cold ocean swim even under the best of conditions. Depending on your experience, that will likely take more out of you than most IM swims. The bike course is challenging for many reasons many of which Emzee mentioned and will beat you up Remember there's close to 6000' of climbing and rough roads. And the notorious Windmill Hill lives up to the hype. During my two trips up I would guess that 80% of the riders were walking. The run is relatively flat and if you saved your legs could be reasonably fast. It seemed to me the reason that so many people either DNS's or DNF's had as much to do with weather and the long, cold and wet delay before the race started.

The Irish hospitality, support and genuine friendliness is incredible and has to be experienced to be believed. For that reason alone I will visit Ireland again.

Steve
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [newManUK] [ In reply to ]
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newManUK wrote:
Emzee wrote:
The weather as I'm sure you've heard was absolutely awful. I've been told that is an anomaly.


Congrats but there is a reason that Ireland is so green!

When it was announced, two friends of mine who are from there and live here said the weather would be crap. Their families are still there and they knew from the get go it would likely be a mess.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [ggeiger] [ In reply to ]
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I must say I am delighted to hear that despite the conditions people can still see the potential of the race and despite all the horror stories I’m actually tempted to enter myself now! Difficult and epic kind of races definitely interest me but that includes a swim and I’d be so disappointed if it was cancelled. By all accounts it was the correct decision though. Hopefully it will be a success because it seems the locals really bought into it and are eager for it to do well.

Sorry to hear huff n’puff about the injury, maybe next year!
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [ggeiger] [ In reply to ]
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Well, the weather for the few days leading up, and every day since, has been great. Weather is always a crap shoot really no matter where you are.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Emzee] [ In reply to ]
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Huge thumbs up to the locals for supporting this event. Great place to visit and great people. It was a crap day, and locals were out in force. My Irish hosts were very excited to be connected to this event.

Others have expressed the challenges of the course well.

One thing I will note to anyone contemplating doing it next year is that while the swim cancellation ultimately was a no brainer because of the wind and the waves, it was going to be shortened/cancelled anyway because of the cold water temps. IM has a temperature threshold at which they will not allow people to swim 2.4 miles. On Saturday, it was only 1.5 Celsius above that. I suspect water temp doesn’t vary much in a major body of water like the Atlantic Ocean on a particular day year to year, so this swim always is going to be at risk even on calm days.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Poon] [ In reply to ]
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Water temperature here is unusually low for the time of year by about 2c. The difference between cold and refreshing 😉 However it’s unlikely to ever be non wetsuit! Unreal atmosphere on Sunday and as others have noted the weather was perfect in the lead up to the race and since. 24c, clear blue sky today
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [El director] [ In reply to ]
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I would recommend it, gorgeous bike course. I did not make the cutoff on the bike but had a great time out there. The first seven hours went by in a flash, the last stretch after Middleton finished me off. Like everyone else said the support on the bike was fantastic considering the conditions. I am not a good climber so it was always going to be a long day for me, but not being able to take advantage of the downhills finished me off. No regrets. I stayed upright and never got cold so that's a win. I thought the roads were fine except for one portion going into Middleton. I live in SC so am used to those kind of roads. I thought the organisation was great considering the weather, there were a lot of technical officials out later with blankets for people who stopped on the bike. I noticed a lot of people who stopped had no rain jackets on. I had a buff, tri top, long sleeve shirt, arm warmers, rain jacket and gloves. I was never cold. It's Ireland, pack for all kinds of weather. If you think you will overheat wear something you can get rid off. We have been here for two weeks and except for the odd passing shower it was the only bad weather day. I am in shorts today.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Emzee] [ In reply to ]
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I know this question comes up from time to time but am wondering if a nice road bike would have been better for this course? Normally I would always ride my tri-bike even on a very hilly course. I used to live in Ireland and know those back roads of Cork through the mountains and am very familiar with the road conditions (wasn't riding a bike in Ireland but did drive a lot between Cork and Kerry). I recently did a very hilly 70.3 in the US with rough roads and there wasn't much opportunity to be in aero. It was the first triathlon ever that I would have preferred being on my road bike. So now I'm asking: What are IM Ireland participants' thoughts on riding a road bike for IM Ireland? Would you have preferred being on a road bike? I can't say this race is my top choice for an IM in 2020 but I'm considering it :-)

I saw a few videos of pros walking up that hill. To those who made it, what gearing did you have on your bike?

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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It would be my top IM choice because I love the area. If you’ve been you’d know and if you haven’t been you’d be in for a treat.
I wondered if part of the trouble with the hill was that it looked narrow. With the rain as well if someone in front of you stalls then, if you haven’t got room to go around, you have to dab even if you could of managed it. Starting again on a hill is tricky with clip on pedals. Once enough people walk you may have no choice. But that’s just judging it from one static camera shot.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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I raced on Sunday on a tri bike and would again, for sure. There were plenty of sections to spend sustained amounts of time in aero, and would have been more if not for the conditions (I found myself sitting up a bit more on some of the rougher road sections just due to worries about potholes, etc. that might be submerged). Many of the roads were repaired/ repaved for this race and rumor was that more will be repaired and improved before next year's race.

I rode up Windmill Hill twice with a 12/27 and standard crank. A 28 would have been nice, but I got up just fine -- the phenomenal crowds gave quite the energy boost.

This was my favorite Ironman I've done, and I've got a lot of love for my experiences at amazing venues like Mont-Tremblant, Wisconsin, Hawaii, etc. Something about this race, and the amazing support of the Irish people, just made it feel above and beyond for me. The conditions made it difficult, yes, but also more epic, in a way. I'd you're wavering, I'd definitely suggest signing up.
Last edited by: adnama: Jun 29, 19 7:12
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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I rode the course with a tt bike and a disc wheel. The hills are very easy except the short one at km80 and the very steep but also very short windmill hill. I would choose the same bike setup if I had to do it again (I would bring a gore-tex jacket though).
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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I rode a TT bike and would again. Like someone else said, you could spend a good deal of the course in aero, and even more if the conditions aren't quite so treacherous. The first half of the loop is actually pretty fast. I had a 25 in the back, made it up Windmill Hill both times but I think if/when I do this one again I will want another gear. It's the only time I've ever felt nervous I might not make it. Second time up there was a guy right in front of me who was intermittently zig-zagging and I almost ran into him a couple of times, which was incredibly annoying. I had to swerve way to the right to avoid him one time, and crowds were really RIGHT up against you, but they did move and make space for me to weave my way back to the middle to ride the rest of the way up. Also as mentioned, there is another tough, long hill before that one where I might have liked one more gear. Most of the rest of the course you can handle pretty easily on a TT bike though and I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
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Re: Any locals from Ireland? Looking for info on new Ironman in Cork [Emzee] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the replies. I watched a good chunk of the live coverage and it seems you do need a tri-bike for sure!

Ireland is one of my favorite places in the world. My IM decision for 2020 is a little complicated ;-)

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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