24 hour race in belfast

PIty i didnt hear about this til today. Dont think it has left me enough time as a  novice to get enough long runs in.

I have just done a 50k in 5;15ish two weeks ago. How far/long should one be able to go before you could have a reasonable chance of being able to finish?

Would a 100k be a necessity or would you be wasting your time and risking injury to take this on without gazillion training miles in the bag?

As I have only done one, I'm no expert but I never did more than 55 miles (aggregate) in a week leading up to the one I did last year.  I'm doing the same this year.  Basically (mainly due to time) I manage a 5 miler most weekday mornings, one speed session a week (6 x 800m with 1min rest) and a hard long run (between 22-27 miles) at the weekend.  I think the key to my training was the pace.  I did try to push hard in training and when it came to the 24hr run I just knocked off the speed, went in 2nd gear and seemed to have lots in the tank.

It worked for me and my longest run was 27 miles.

Thats very encouraging.
Probably best not to look at it for this year though. Try to build up a bit more time on the feet and mileage. Im quite slow. What kind of pace do you run Muppet?

Im going to buy a bike today so that I can run in and out of work some days during the week. Hopefully the increase in mileage will help towards covering the longer distances.

Do people actually stay on their feet for the whole 24 hours even if they are reduced to a very slow walk?

That's great going Manx, well done!!

The weekday runs are off road hilly so pace doesn't really matter.  The long run at the weekend is normally between 7 and 7.20 min/mile.

It doesn't really fit in with the established norm for ultra trainiing but it has worked for me the last 3 years (I did an 85 miler the year before the 24 hr race).

Marty likewise with me apart from pacing the 4.30 group at the Belfast marathon all my runs since Connemarra have been 10 or 11 at most.So i am entering this with what fitness i have and seeing how it goes.Good luck with the ironman.

Being doing a lot of reading to try and get a game plan for the race but you now what i will just run/walk how i feel.Looking forward to it i think

Does anyone know if it is filling up fast?

Logic and reason advises me to wait for next year and do proper training for it. But there is still a little buzz somewhere inside me that says if I can get a place to go for it. I will end up walking most of it anyway but would love to see how far I could get.

How do they judge the distance you walk? If you walk on the outer lane you will cover more ground than the inner lane. Would you have to pick a lane and stick to it for the entire time?
Am if Off my head as a 4;10 marathonner not having covered more than 50k recently to even consider this?

Please put me out of my misery with straight talk one way or the other as I am driving myself demented.

FF you sound to have a good base fitness and like myself I was aiming to have a go at something like this next year but when this event became available something in me said go for it to see if I could do it.recently I have not done a lot of long runs and relying on miles I did for the ultra and 2 marathons i did since april.

As for the the format for round the track,i havent a clue but im sure it will be simple to sort out

My opinion FF is go for it,you know it will eat away at you if you dont.The way I look at it if I cant do it then you pack up and go home since you wont be miles from anywher

Go for it FF!  The beauty of a track race is that it is like running on a treadmill - if you are suffering you can just step off at any time.  It's not like other ultras where you could have to walk 10 miles to the nearest checkpoint to bale out.

Have a go with the view that it is a fact finding mission for next year's proper effort

I emailed the organisers to see if they would have me  at my level.  If there is a place, I think I might just go and see how I get on, and use it as a starting point for next year.

Would be determined to finish even if I end up walking most of it. 

Robin, I would be much slower. I would have to adopt a run half hour . walk one hour strategy as I would only be able to run about 6 continuous hours at the moment.

I hav not done much training lately either which is a bit o a worrry but , sure what the hell . Either way it wot be pretty.

Not just to hear f I have a place or not.

Muppet , how do they judge how far you cover? Each lane is a different distance so do you get assigned a lane and you stick to it or what? Do people stop and sleep at all or do you just keep going? Also I wouldnt have any helpers with me , and is there food available or just what you bring yourself?

You have to go for the shortest distance.  It's normally quite spread out so there isn't much jostling for position (apart from maybe the first couple of laps.  It makes quite a difference if you don't go the shortest route, ie. you'll run 10 miles and get recognised for 8.8!  That builds up over 24 hours!

You can stop for as long as you want as often as you want (but it doesn't get you any miles!).  You'll have it completely sussed after a few hours