www.forestmarathon.com What a day in Portumna Forest park for the annual 100KM, 50KM, Marathon, 1/2 Marathon and 10KM races. What an amazing day of running, friendship amongst runners, camaraderie, and superb organisation by Coach Sebastien Locteau and his crew! There was blistering sunshine, there were torrential showers. Over 500 people took part in all the events, some ran the half marathon, the full marathon or even the ultra marathons with major respect to those brave souls who tackled the 100KM.
The Forest Marathon festival 2013 was held in the beautiful Coillte forest in Portumna in Co. Galway, Ireland on Saturday 15th June 2013. The event includes a 10k, a full marathon, a half marathon and two ultra-running events – a 50k and 100k race. The day started at 08:00 with the 100KM, the 50KM at 10:00, and subsequent races at two hour intervals onwards. All events started and finished within the forest with the exception of the half marathon and marathon which started outside of the forest. All events see participants complete 5KM loops of the forest which start and end at the car-park/amenity end of the forest. There is an official Refreshment/Handling Zones at this point on the loop.
The event was organised by international coach Sebastien Locteau from SportsIreland.ie and his fantastic team of volunteers from Galway and beyond. Congratulations to Seb on organising a very professionally run event and an event which is growing bigger and more prestigious with each passing year. There was an incredible atmosphere amongst the runners, the spectators, and the organisers. Hats off to everyone involved.
The marathon, 50KM, and 100KM events are sanctioned by Athletics Ireland and AIMS (the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races). The event has also achieved IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) Bronze Label status for 2013.
Electronic timing was provided by RedTagTiming: www.redtagtiming.com/
Energy Bars, Gels, Drinks etc were sponsored by Fuel4Sport: www.fuel4sport.ie/
Happy celebrations and recovery to everyone!
