Results of recent polls...

1) On Monday, the 1st of December 2008, the entry forms for the Ballycotton 10 came out. Some people would have sent off a SAE during November so that they could get the entry forms back by post. On the 2nd of December, I put up a poll which lasted just a few days. I asked.."What day did you get your Ballycotton SAE back?". 34 people voted.......50% got them back on the Monday, 41% got them back on the Tuesday and about 9% got them on Wednesday or not at all.

Several things may have skewed the results a bit........i.e. Overseas entrants in the UK would get their post later anyway but would they have sent a SAE if they can't get Irish stamps? Someone else told me they thought the poll was for when did you return your entry. Even allowing for errors, it probably still accurate enough.

Conclusion taken from the poll........If you are trying to enter the Ballycotton 10 before the cut-off deadline, the best option is to log onto the Ballycotton website on the evening the entries come out, print out the form and post it the next morning. Anyone who did this almost certainly got in. The SAE route is probably the 2nd best option if you do not have access to a printer/ Internet access. Of course, the best option of the lot was to be a member of a running club and avail of the 2 week window!!

2) The 2nd poll was for an evening series during the winter. In East Cork and Waterford, they already have a very successful series of short road races which take place during the dark evenings in the Winter. The question was if people would be interested in seeing a Winter series starting up in or closer to Cork City. 182 people responded and 93% of them were in favour. Without doubt, there is probably enough interest to support such a series. Perhaps the local running clubs might consider this over the next few months and consider doing something for next Winter??