“Because nothing says ‘marathon ready’ like being trapped at 9:30/mile behind a double buggy in Clontarf.”
By late August, your long runs are getting longer, your patience is getting shorter, and you’re starting to realise that where you run in Dublin can be just as important as how far you go.
Pick the wrong route and you’ll spend your “easy miles” dodging dogs on extendable leads, weaving around tourists, and glaring at cyclists who think the bell is optional. Pick the right one, and you’ll actually enjoy yourself.
So here’s your guide to Dublin’s best (and occasionally worst) marathon training routes, with tips to avoid the pram jams.
Phoenix Park: The Marathoner’s Playground
Best for: Long runs, hill practice, pretending you’re in the countryside
Watch out for: Deer, cars, and the eternal uphill that’s somehow both directions
It’s the big one. Over 1,700 acres of space, miles of quiet roads, and plenty of loops to keep things interesting. Do Chesterfield Avenue for long, steady stretches or hit Military Road and Khyber Pass if you fancy some climbs.
Pro tip: go early on weekends. By mid-morning you’re competing with cyclists, tourists, and entire families of deer wandering into your path like they own the place. (They do.)
Sandymount Strand: Flat, Scenic, and Windy as Hell
Best for: Midweek steady runs, watching the tide roll in, pretending you’re Mo Farah
Watch out for: Headwinds that age you a decade
Sandymount is a runner’s dream when the weather’s good, wide paths, gorgeous sea views, and a nice flat surface. But when the wind picks up, it’s like running into a hairdryer on full blast.
Pro tip: If you run out along the seafront and it feels easy, prepare yourself for the soul-crushing return leg.
Grand Canal & Royal Canal Paths: Straight and Simple
Best for: Tempo runs, pacing practice, peaceful solo miles
Watch out for: Narrow sections, cyclists with death wishes, and the odd swan stand-off
Both canals offer long, flat, traffic-free stretches that are perfect for hitting and holding a pace. The Grand is busier, the Royal is quieter, but both are a godsend for uninterrupted running.
Pro tip: Avoid commuter hours unless you like playing chicken with lads in suits on e-scooters.
Clontarf Seafront to Howth: For When You’re Feeling Fancy
Best for: Long runs with variety, sea air, pretending you live in a Garmin advert
Watch out for: Prams, prams, and more prams
From Fairview Park out to Howth, this is one of Dublin’s most scenic stretches. Wide pavements, constant sea views, and enough coffee shops to refuel on the way back. But weekends can be chaos, the double buggy brigade is out in force, and once you’re boxed in, you’re boxed in.
Pro tip: If you must go at peak time, develop a polite-but-firm “coming through” face.
The Dublin Mountains: The Wild Card
Best for: Hill training, building leg strength, making your friends think you’re hardcore
Watch out for: Slippery trails, your quads screaming at you, and getting lost in a field
Not for the faint-hearted, but a few trail runs in places like Ticknock or Hellfire Club can build strength and give you a break from road pounding. Just don’t overdo it, and remember, you’re training for a road marathon, not a fell race.
Places to Avoid Like the Plague
There are a few parts of Dublin that’ll make you question why you ever laced up your runners in the first place. Dublin city centre is public enemy number one: it’s a minefield of slow-moving tourists, buskers, protests, cobblestones, and buses aiming for you like you’re in Mario Kart. Then there’s the N11 or any dual carriageway: sure, they’ll rack up miles, but they’re about as stimulating as watching beige paint dry, and the traffic noise could drown out a jet engine. And finally, narrow seafront paths on a sunny Sunday… a never-ending gauntlet of prams, dogs on retractable leads, and walkers in a four-abreast formation that could hold the line at the Battle of Hastings. Avoid. At all costs.
Conclusion
Training for the Dublin Marathon isn’t just about getting the miles in, it’s about getting them in without losing your mind in a pram bottleneck or headwind purgatory.
So mix it up. Explore new routes. Keep your long runs varied, your midweek runs simple, and your tolerance for dogs on leads as high as possible.
And remember: on race day, you’ll have the streets of Dublin to yourself. No prams, no dogs, no wind (well… maybe some wind). Just you, the road, and 26.2 miles to glory.
