Here's a thread for anyone doing this:
I did it this year and I loved it. Were it not for mini-me arriving early next year, I'd do it again.
Tips and my own lessons learnt, for anyone interested:
- Wear runners for the first leg. If you have a comfortable pair of runners that you've broken in, I'd wear those for getting out the city and to the first checkpoint. It's all road to the first checkpoint. Plus, by changing over to boots at the first checkpoint, your feet aren't experiencing the same pressure points in the same footwear for the whole 56km.
- Apply compeed to the feet before you set off. This saved me a lot of pain. I completed the AON with only one little blister at the end.
- Comms, if you're going in a group, bring walkie-talkies. My group got split up in freezing thick fog due to one of our lads struggling to keep pace. With no phone reception we kept comms throughout via walkie-talkies and it was only when the fog lifted did we realise that the lads that went up ahead went off course by about 600m and we were only able to locate and reunite with each other by talking each other on to our positions.
- Walking sticks. VERY IMPORTANT! I was slagged for having them, and ended up sharing them with the very lad who was slagging me. They make a huge difference! Especially when you're walking across rough ground in the dark, they help to test the ground ahead for holes
- Recce the route. I recce'd the first leg of the route with one lad, we walked from the start line to Kilbride, (just short of CP1) and then onto Blessington (where I'd left the car). I studied the route daily on the map, and had the route programmed into a GPS. Don't be afraid to take time on route to stop and get your bearings. It's not a race.
- Shortcuts. Beware making perceived short cuts. We tried to lone wolf a short cut and it cost us dearly in time trying to traverse rough undulating ground that was difficult to cross, especially in the pitch black. If there's a path, it's there for a reason.
- Last meal. On both the recce and the event itself we ate at a restaurant opposite Dublin Castle (Start line). Personally, I preferred to sit down, relax and have a hot meal in me before the 'off'. We ate in Salamanca, which was lovely.
- Base layers. I think I changed my base layer 4 times on the AON. You're sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish shop, and in -12C, that can be problematic. So switch them when you can, it's great for the morale too!
- Drinks bottle. Keep a bottle of something to drink, even if you're carrying a Camelbak. The water in the straw of my Camelbak froze in the hills and I couldn't drink from it, so having a bottle of Lucazade to drink from really helped.
- Mini flask = morale, nuff said.
- Anti-septic foot spray. My missus gave me this, and I initially laughed it off, but at the first checkpoint having taken my socks off, once I sprayed it onto my feet, it was like a Godsend! Just really refreshing.
- Finally, powder yer jocks! Get plenty of baby powder into your groin, because chaffing can be a bitch!
The rest you know yourself lads, plenty of layers, practice your night navigation, bring spare torch/batteries, good outer shell jacket, stick together and work as a team etc etc
Here's me finally visible on the AON, at the point this photo was taken, my hat and shemagh were frozen stiff. It gets that cold up there!
Best of Luck to any of you giving it a go!
I did it this year and I loved it. Were it not for mini-me arriving early next year, I'd do it again.
Tips and my own lessons learnt, for anyone interested:
- Wear runners for the first leg. If you have a comfortable pair of runners that you've broken in, I'd wear those for getting out the city and to the first checkpoint. It's all road to the first checkpoint. Plus, by changing over to boots at the first checkpoint, your feet aren't experiencing the same pressure points in the same footwear for the whole 56km.
- Apply compeed to the feet before you set off. This saved me a lot of pain. I completed the AON with only one little blister at the end.
- Comms, if you're going in a group, bring walkie-talkies. My group got split up in freezing thick fog due to one of our lads struggling to keep pace. With no phone reception we kept comms throughout via walkie-talkies and it was only when the fog lifted did we realise that the lads that went up ahead went off course by about 600m and we were only able to locate and reunite with each other by talking each other on to our positions.
- Walking sticks. VERY IMPORTANT! I was slagged for having them, and ended up sharing them with the very lad who was slagging me. They make a huge difference! Especially when you're walking across rough ground in the dark, they help to test the ground ahead for holes
- Recce the route. I recce'd the first leg of the route with one lad, we walked from the start line to Kilbride, (just short of CP1) and then onto Blessington (where I'd left the car). I studied the route daily on the map, and had the route programmed into a GPS. Don't be afraid to take time on route to stop and get your bearings. It's not a race.
- Shortcuts. Beware making perceived short cuts. We tried to lone wolf a short cut and it cost us dearly in time trying to traverse rough undulating ground that was difficult to cross, especially in the pitch black. If there's a path, it's there for a reason.
- Last meal. On both the recce and the event itself we ate at a restaurant opposite Dublin Castle (Start line). Personally, I preferred to sit down, relax and have a hot meal in me before the 'off'. We ate in Salamanca, which was lovely.
- Base layers. I think I changed my base layer 4 times on the AON. You're sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish shop, and in -12C, that can be problematic. So switch them when you can, it's great for the morale too!
- Drinks bottle. Keep a bottle of something to drink, even if you're carrying a Camelbak. The water in the straw of my Camelbak froze in the hills and I couldn't drink from it, so having a bottle of Lucazade to drink from really helped.
- Mini flask = morale, nuff said.
- Anti-septic foot spray. My missus gave me this, and I initially laughed it off, but at the first checkpoint having taken my socks off, once I sprayed it onto my feet, it was like a Godsend! Just really refreshing.
- Finally, powder yer jocks! Get plenty of baby powder into your groin, because chaffing can be a bitch!
The rest you know yourself lads, plenty of layers, practice your night navigation, bring spare torch/batteries, good outer shell jacket, stick together and work as a team etc etc
Here's me finally visible on the AON, at the point this photo was taken, my hat and shemagh were frozen stiff. It gets that cold up there!
Best of Luck to any of you giving it a go!
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