I have been contacted by some people looking for stuff to do before & after the race. So in response to this, we are offering people who may be in Dublin for the first time and/or may be travelling alone to meet up with the Irish Running Tours group. We have a number of fun & interesting things to do. You may even want to join us for the post race celebratory dinner. Check out our marathon itineraries on this site. Please contact us asap for full details and prices as space is limited.

It is now August, so if you are planning on doing the Dublin Marathon this year, you better get a move on ! We are offering a further 10% discount on both the short & long tours. We have only a limited number of spaces available so this is on a first come basis. All tours must be booked by the end of the month.

Our places for the Dublin Marathon are starting to fill up fast, as is hotel space in the city. If you are interested in this tour, we advice you to contact us as soon as you can. The price for the Marathon tour is €1462 for the 7 night package and €708 for the 3 night package. Check out the itinaries on our tour page. Paul

Irish Running Tours are currently in discussions with race directors in North America with a view to bringing tours to these attractive destinations. Some of the marathons we are targeting are as follows:

Mardi Gras Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K, Sunday February 1st 2009
The event is on Sunday, February 1st and there is also a half marathon and a 5K if people aren’t feeling too adventurous.
This year will see the 45th running of the race and after Hurricane Katriona, the event has started picking up numbers again and they expect 10,000 in 2009.
Napa Valley Marathon & 5K - Sunday March 2nd. 2009                                                                                                                                                 Close to five million visitors flock to Napa annually, 1,438 of them finished the 2006 Napa Valley Marathon. Set in California’s world-famous wine country, the course starts in Calistoga then travels south along the Silverado Trail. Runners are treated to sweeping views of the valley’s vineyards (over two hundred wineries are tucked into the landscape). Not an easy race, the route’s rolling hills are almost as plentiful as tasting rooms. March weather is usually mild, but this year’s participants faced the additional challenge of strong headwinds and driving rain. Organizers say that was only the third such day in the event’s 28-year history. Fortunately, race participants had many options available to help drown their sorrows, and the winners are awarded their weight in wine.
Big Sur Marathon , Sunday April 26th, 2009
“Spectacular, rewarding, mystical and unforgettable” are just a few of the words that have been used to describe the events. The course meanders along the ragged edge of the Western World.

Keep checking our website for more information.

Paul

Well it was truely a great day, for ducks ! After having beautiful weather all week straight through ’til Friday night, when I went to bed looking at the beautiful red sunset (red sky at night, sailors delight my a*** ) I awoke to the sound of the rain lashing off the skylight. Everytime I thought it was getting brighter and about to clear up, it didn’t.

On a good note though, the rain stopped enough for us to get both the kids 1K fun run & the 10K in. The finish of the 10K was conduted under the sound of thunder rolling in from Connemara mountains over the lake. And although the numbers were less than I was hoping for, everyone was very complimentary on the event, and they all enjoyed their tea’s, coffee’s, sandwiches & cookies afterwards.

NEXT YEAR THE SUN WILL SHINE, OR ELSE …………………….

What is the deal ! Last 2 weeks training was 4 days on, 3 days off. Not by choice mind you, well, not really anyway. Of course its easy to come up with reasons not to run, kids need me, dog needs walking, cats getting sick, I’m tired, maybe I’m anemic, yadayadayada, but come on!

I need some great motivational tools guys. Anybody any failsafe ideas that work for them?

The 2nd annual Annaghdown summer solstice 10k will take place next Saturday, June 21st at 5pm (which is only natural since that is the day of the summer solstice). Annaghdown is located 10mls north of Galway city on the west coast of Ireland. Irish Running Tours expect a large turnout at the event. Stay tuned for pics and video following the race.

Don’t run after cows ! I was running recently and encountered a bunch of cows merrily chewing the lawn of someone’s garden. Once I started to get close, they got scared and started jumping over the walls like some champion race horses and darting out the gate. So now I am in the situation of having them running 20 yards ahead of me, and as I got closer and thought about passing them, they started relieving themselves all over the road. Now I know where the expression, scared sh**less came from !

 Thursday May 22nd - I’m baaaccckkk ! Actually I never really went away, just been busy with tours, running, computer problems etc etc. I’ve missed the past 5 days running though with a bad stomach bug, I’ll spare you all the details. The illness explains too why I was struggling a bit with my last few runs.

Friday May 16th - Set out to do 5 by 1ml with a 400m recovery, but after the 3rd one I wasn’t feeling great so I jogged for about a mile and did a 1K, another 1K rec and finally a 400m. Splits were 6.19, 6.17, 6.24, 3.45 & 75. Glad I did 5 reps, even if it wasn’t what I had planned to do.

Thursday May 15th - Just ran around the lake easy, didn’t feel great though. Weather is still great, temps in mid 20’s (70’s).

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Well guys, just finished up the L.A. Marathon expo. Thanks to the many people who stopped by to say hi and to get the info on our running tours in Ireland and the 2008 Adidas Lifesyle Dublin Marathon.  I’m sure you all did great in the race! A special shout out to the folks at LA Sports & Fitness for their great feature on Irish Running Tours in the March/April edition of their magazine.

Next stop London & Boston in April. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, just drop me an email from our site and I’ll get back to you within 24hrs. Later, Paul