We have been hosting a Winter League in the area around Glendalough since 2015 and the tradition continues into this season. It’s a fun and inclusive league, free of charge, great training opportunity, and with plenty of chat afterwards! Non-members are very welcome.
Manual with all course descriptions
What’s the Glendalough AC Winter League?
The league consists of 12 runs (6 before Xmas and 6 after) on the roads and trails around Glendalough. We have one ‘Northern’ route (Roundwood) and one ‘Southern’ route (Clara Vale) as well as we have members living on both sides. You can run either a short or long version of each course (usually 5 km or 10 km) and still compete in the same rankings.
Everyone runs together but your scoring in the league is based on a handicap calculated based on your performances by our club coach. The runner with the four best scores wins a small prize to be given out at the end of the last event.
The league takes place on most – but not all – Saturdays to enable participants and our members to continue to support local ParkRuns and other Saturday events (i.e. we ‘don’t block every weekend!’).
What are the courses like?
We have 4 undulating trail courses, 1 very hilly trail course and 1 undulating but scenic road run. For full details – read the manual which goes into each course in great detail.
Each route has a page on PlotMyRoute where you can see all the details on a map and you can also download the route as a GPX or FIT file for your watch.
Time and place
The mass start is always 9:30 am but you can start later if you don’t make it and still record a result as long as you pass on a recording (Garmin etc.) to our time-keeper / coach (Rene Borg). An early start runs at 8 am.
You can be entered as a ‘Virtual finishers’ if you run the route in the week leading into the race and send a link to your completed run to our time-keeper.
Each race has its own starting point and parking area (Google details in the manual above):
- Brockagh Woods: Park in the little car park at the entrance to Brockagh Woods (near the Brockagh Centre) or down in Laragh village and jog the 600m up.
- Clara Vale Circuits: Park at trail-head closest to Clara Vale Church with start line 100m beyond at a y-junction.
- Green Gapways: Park around the Green in Laragh Village (but not on the dedicated spots for Glendalough Green customers right in front of the cafe) or anywhere around the village where it is legal to park. Start is an electric mast 100m from the cafe next to ‘The Conservatory’ Cafe.
- Miner’s Road: Park at Upper Lake Park and run over to far corner to start near the bridges.
- Pink Poulanass: Park at Upper Lake Park and run over to far corner to start just beyond the bridge on the Wicklow Way.
- Kevin’s Jaunt: Park at Glendalough Hotel and meet at old bridge behind hotel (leading into Glendalough Visitor Centre)
- Reservoir Rounds: Park at Reservoir Car Park on the Newtown Mt Kennedy Road
For the runs from the Upper Lake Car Park (Miner’s Road and Pink Poulanass) you may want to park at the Glendalough Hotel or Visitor’s Centre and jog the last 1500m down as there is always Pay Parking at the Upper Lake but not always at the Hotel and Visitor’s Centre. For the Reservoir Rounds you could park in Roundwood main street and run to the start (1.5 km) if you prefer.
We always meet for coffee afterwards in the Glendalough Green except when running the Reservoir Rounds run in which case we meet in the Sugar Mountain Cafe in Roundwood. We are usually there from 10:30 am onward.
Many of our members with kids ‘run in turn’ (see below).
THIS SEASON’S roster of races
What the League is good for essentially…
The league is essentially ‘glorified training’ and an excuse to meet and drink coffee afterwards! We don’t take it too seriously but its nevertheless a great opportunity to do a run over measured courses at whatever intensity you deem right for yourself on the day. If you’ve done ParkRuns then this will be a nice variation as the courses are more interesting and you have two options – short and long (usually 5 km and 10 km).
As such it is free but it is also low-key: you time yourself and runners can start any time between 9:30 and 10:30 am although we recommend going with the ‘mass start’ at 9:30 am for the most fun for everyone.
So all this means: no fee but also no medals, no t-shirts, no chip-timing, only minimal marking where required, and you time yourself! We sometimes have a back-up time-keeper but cannot guarantee this.
If you cannot yet run 5 km or 10 km, you can come along and jog the junior course which is generally 1.5 to 3 km in length.
CAN IS USE THE LEAGUE FOR MY TRAINING?
Yes, this document gives a suggested way to run the 12 runs depending on whether you are:
- Base building
- Returning from break/injury
- Sharpening for a race
Is there a junior course?
Yes, we usually have a junior course of 1 mile to 2 km length if you want to join your kids on a run-out. You can always run the adult course afterwards! Many of our parents in the club take advantage of the flexible start to ‘run in turns’ – i.e. one parent runs while the other runs with the kids and then the second parents runs afterwards. Both can usually be ready and changed for the craic in the cafe!
What’s the ‘Handicap’ part of the ‘Winter Handicap League’?
We record all times run on the courses to calculate a handicap and your position in the league is based on how much you improve your previous time. If you improve too much here’s a time penalty to encourage steady progress following this logic:
- Round 1 (race 1-6): Improve your handicap by more than 30 seconds (short course) or 1 minute (long course) -> time penalty
- Round 2 (race 7-12): Improve your handicap by more than 1 minute (short course) or 2 minutes (long course) -> time penalty
If you just want to come along and run you don’t need to worry about this – but we post up the overall standings after each round. Your best 4 out of the 12 results are tallied into the final score and a small prize will be given to the winner.
We used to start people at different times but people preferred the mass start – originally we envisioned that everyone would eventually ‘finish together’. That doesn’t happen now but the basic handicap system is still in place meaning you can ‘win’ even if you’re not the fastest runner.
Can I race?
Yes, generally people use it as a ‘strong run’ but some people take the chance to get a full-on race in with the other runners while they are at it. The courses are all great strength builders but not so hilly that you cannot run fast.
Can I see the course descriptions?
Yes, they are outlined in great detail in this PDF manual.
How did last year’s league finish?
These were the final standings for last year’s league.
Glendalough AC 