We are now down to just days to the 28th Spar Omagh Half Marathon, with the hard working Omagh Half Marathon Committee putting the final touches to their preparation. Those who have been religiously running the foot paths and roads for the last few months, training hard in all weathers are now tapering in the build up for their big run. With the Half Marathon
now almost a sell out we are heading for one of our biggest turn out of runners in the history of the run. We have listed below some important details regarding information on the collection of race packs and for race day itself.
RACE PACK COLLECTION
Thursday 30th March 5pm – 8pm
Friday 31st March 5pm – 8pm
Saturday 1st April 8am – 10am
We would advise local people to collect their race packs before race day if at all possible please to save
congestion in the major sports on the morning of the run.
ARRIVE EARLY
Allow yourself enough time to prepare properly for your race, so arrive early for getting parked and organised for your run. Toilets, (limited ) changing facilities and showers are all available within the Leisure Complex. There will also be plenty of portaloos available on the grounds.
Half Marathon start time 11am
5K Fun Run 11:10am
Half Marathon Walk 10am
Wheel chair race goes off just before the half marathon.
Remember these races must go off promptly at these times and can not be held back for anyone.
CAR PARKING ( the following car parks are all free )
Grange Car Park
St. Pats Car Park
Mountjoy Road Car Park ( Old Naturelle site )
Gibson Primary School
Campsie Primary School
No parking available on the Old Mountfield Road or with in the grounds of Omagh Leisure Complex
on race day.
ON THE COURSE
Please respect fellow road users and runners, listen to any instruction give from the PSNI or marshals. They are there for both your safety and to help keep traffic flowing around the town
with minimum inconvenience during the event.
Race number MUST be worn on front of vest / t-shirt, no race number, no medal at the finish line.
Your number is non-transferable. As the race is run on open roads, the wearing of head phones is not permitted. The course will be marked with appropriate mile / kilometer markers. We would ask runners to pay particular attention to Knocknamoe Road where the 5k and Half Marathon races briefly come together. This is a narrow stretch of road where the race car will also be coming through ahead of the Half Marathon.
PACERS
Once again we will have our popular pacers on the course to help you achieve your race day time
target. They will be :
1 hour 30 mins Derryl McQuade
1 hour 45 mins Richard Duffy
2 hours Sean Devlin
2 hours 15 mins Bernie O’Donnell
2 hours 30 mins Julie Thompson
WATER STATIONS
There will be four water stations on the Half Marathon course
Beragh Road / rear of T& F at 3 miles
Riverview Road 5 1\2 miles
Killyclogher at 8 miles ( also services 5k run )
Cappagh Church at 10 1\2 miles
TRAFFIC
The race is obviously going to cause congestion around the town though we do our best to keep disruption to a minimum. We would appeal to everyone to be patient and to follow instructions given by the PSNI and the race marshals. The peak times and areas are expected to be :
11am – 11:15am Omagh Main Street
11am – 12:30 pm Swinging Bars Roundabout
11:20am – 1pm Killyclogher area
11:50am – 1:30 pm Gortin Road area to Omagh Leisure Complex
Please remember there will be great hospitality in the hall post race and all runners are very welcome. You can get them tired limbs massaged There will also be plenty of tea, coffee, sandwiches, buns and biscuits available to replace all those calories burnt out on the course ! Race results will also be available in the hall and these will be update very regularly.
Hope we have covered all aspects of the build up to the race and all you need to know for race day.
So whether you are looking for a personal best, you are running your first half marathon or trying to raise money for a good cause, we wish you all well on the day and hope everyone achieves what ever target they have set themselves…. and remember to keep smiling, your photo might be in the paper next week ! We encourage family and friends who are not running to come out in their numbers to support those who are and help make the 28th Omagh Half Marathon our biggest and best event yet.
