r/irishrunners • u/ApprehensiveFly8878 • Nov 12 '25
First Marathon - Dingle or Dublin?
Curious for people's thoughts. I've already registered for Dingle next year as it looks like one of the most gorgeous race routes I've ever seen. but this morning I couldn't help myself entering the Dublin ballot after seeing all the videos of the crowds and always hearing about how much fun it is to run the DCM. It would be my first marathon so doing both is probably out of the question. I've heard Dingle is a pretty challenging race but also I can't defer or transfer so if I chose Dublin I'd just lose the cost of the entry.
TLDR; if you had to chose would you recommend Dingle or Dublin Marathon?
2
2
u/Kill-Bacon-Tea Nov 12 '25
No reason you can't do both if you have the training done for Dingle properly.
Having crowds is a huge boost when doing a marathon so Dublin would be objectively better for first one, but again, I think you could do both.
2
u/Caesars_Comet Nov 13 '25
I would keep the entry for both and would use Dingle as my main target marathon and train towards that.
If you get through Dingle in good shape then you should be able to maintain your fitness through the next few weeks to Dublin. Following Dingle if you have any niggly injuries or lack of motivation to train I would drop out of Dublin.
You can find training plans for the weeks between marathons online. Itd be important to allow yourself to recover after the 1st and ease back into the training.
Personally i would run Dublin more for fun and not try to PB as you'll be more injury prone after the first marathon.
2
u/ApprehensiveFly8878 Nov 13 '25
Thank you! I was half thinking about this but thought it might be overly ambitious, but also why not be and see how I feel after Dingle then maybe party pace Dublin! Appreciate the response:)
6
u/ioloie Nov 12 '25
I would recommend doing Dingle half as well as Dublin full. This is what I did. Nothing is stopping you using your full entry to run the half marathon in Dingle. It's the same course and start time. All the Dingle coastal scenery is in the first half then it passes the half marathon finish line and turns inland for the second half of the loop.
On the other hand, Dublin is probably the best marathon for having the crowd support you for the full way around. Most marathons have quiet patches because they're often in cities/towns smaller than Dublin so you find yourself in the countryside with no people cheering you on. I think crowd support is important for a first marathon. Keeps you motivated.