Belfast Marathon

Decided to go for this as it seems good value for money plus I've never been to Ireland before.

Whats the route like? Any "nastys" to be aware of? any crowd supports?

Hi Bill,

I did this last year, as my first and to-date only marathon.  It's a fantastic race - I loved it, and doing it again this year.

Crowd support was superb last year - plenty of jelly babies, cakes, juice and water on offer, particularly the housing estate you pass through just after midway (the big downhill on the way to Gideons green), the "only" tough bit (apart from you know, running a marathon!) is the boring, quiet section through an industrial estate around mile 19-21.  Apart from that miles 7-13 are a mostly gradual uphill, tho the uphill isn't all that severe its just kinda constant.

I read a lot of reviews of this race last year before doing it and there was some negativity around the organisation of the event, but I didn't see any of that on the day and thought it was fantastic (though I don't have anything to compare it too!!).

I'm sure you'll have a great time doing it.

Cheers,

Bill, I've done this race 3 times and have also ran halfs and marathons in Scotland/England and Spain and its's the worst organised marathon i've run. I've only ran it 3 times because its 15 miles down the road.

Now I didn't run it last year so it may have changed dramatically but I doubt it. It may still have a water company as its main sponsor but the water is supplied from standpipes in small cups. Gels are not supplied and powerade is supplied from mile 16 in small cups, god forbid they should supply a whole bottle!

The race is mainly a relay and remember the first time I did it they ran out of powerade at mile 23 as they were giving it out to relay runners 1 mile into their 4 mile leg.

Now the route is hilly and its okay, could probably be better but at mile 19-22 you run through an industrial estate with no support and getting through that can be tough. A gradual climb at mile 24ish is rewarded with a downhill finish.

The last 2 times i've run it i've done so with my camelbak and been self supportive!

Don't want to put you off but just to give you a heads up. Hopefully it's got it's act together but i'm working this year and haven't bothered to take the day off to do it.

Hope you get a more positive experience than i've had.