Dublin loops the Georgian centre and runs through Phoenix Park before a draggy climb near 35K that locals call Heartbreak Hill, with around 208 meters of climbing over a course that is only reasonably flat. Entry is now a ballot: 47,000 people chased 22,500 places for 2026, so getting in is luck. Late October sits 9 to 15 degrees, often wet and windy, and the crowds turn out hard for it.
Better info coming — we're still verifying 1 field on this race.
Why we'd pick it
- 208 m of climbing: rolling, not pancake-flat.
- It's a lottery. Enter the day it opens, not the week before.
- A non-racing partner gets a real weekend here — 4/5.
- Race day usually sits 9–15°C, about 55% chance of rain.
The course
A single anti-clockwise loop from Fitzwilliam Square through the Georgian city centre and a long pass of Phoenix Park, finishing at Merrion Square. It is rolling rather than flat, with about 208 meters of total climb: undulations toward Dolphin's Barn, then a draggy pull up Clonskeagh and Roebuck Roads to 'Heartbreak Hill' near 35K, right when it hurts, before a downhill run-in along Stillorgan and Merrion Road.
