Monday, June 20, 2011

World Trail Championships (course recce)


Tony ascending Diamond Hill during course recce.
Descending Diamond Hill with Kylemore Abbey in the background.

As part of the race preparation I went to Galway with Tony Brennan to meet with Keith Whyte, Barry Murray and Richard Donovan to do a recce of the WTC course and get a feel for what to expect.  The race starts Kylemore Abbey and follows the road into Letterfrack before the serious climbing starts.  The ascent of Diamond Hill which happens within the first 10K is fairly severe but the pain numbing views are spectacular.  I've ran trails all over the world and this has to be one of the most impressive courses I've ever been on.  
The short recce was enough to get a feel for what to expect and I finished the day looking forward to race day and have a fair idea of my race day plan.

3 comments:

  1. Hi John I can't wait for this race after running some of the route. It is a savage course like you say and it's gonna be great fun. Look forward to meeting you that weekend. Would be interested to hear how you plan to tackle the course too. Have been thinking about this myself since Saturday!!

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  2. Hi Paul,
    I'm working on my race day plan and will mail it to you.
    J

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  3. Amazing landscape John. You are so lucky to get to run on such a lovely and brutal looking course! Good luck!

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