Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: Results of the Clonakilty mini, Half and Full Marathon - Sun 11th Dec 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Results of the Clonakilty mini, Half and Full Marathon - Sun 11th Dec 2010

With the recent cold spell, there was always a question mark about whether this event would go ahead or not. The thaw just arrived in time and though there was patches of slush and ice on the roads, it was still safe enough for a road race to go ahead.

Weather conditions for the 3 races were good with a temperature of 5 deg C, cloudy and very light winds.

As an event, it really went remarkably well. There have been several events elsewhere in the country this year where things went pear shaped and lots of mistakes were made. Examples were Limerick Marathon, Galway Half-Marathon, Bogtrotters Marathon in Roscommon, Kinnity Castle in the midlands. If you take that list as a percentage of the total then you would expect that nearly half of new events will have large mistakes in them. The difficulty of organising 3 races on one day, all starting together and going well shouldn't be underestimated.

It was very obvious that a LOT of work went into this event in Clonakilty. There were loads of large signs showing the various routes and an army of marshals / stewards manned the many road junctions. Overall, it had the feel of an event that was running for several years.

Now I'm sure that there must have been a few mishaps. I heard that some of the runners at the front of the mini race may have taken a wrong turn? The directions for the Half-Marathon start could have been better.The dry fit tops at the finish could have been a bit more obvious. I'm sure that any lesson learnt from this year will go into improving the event next year.

Mini-Marathon....
This race was 5.98 miles long, They started with the Marathon runners, did a loop around the town and then out by the estuary before heading across a causeway and returning to Clonakilty.

Half-Marathon...
This race started in a slightly different location but used the same route as the Marathon and mini. Again after a loop around the town, it headed out along the estuary. One interesting feature was the out and back section going to Inchydoney. You could watch the front runners in the Half and Full coming back as you headed out. There were a few hills in it....some of them short and pretty steep but nothing that you would consider a show stopper. I know someone who ran a Half-Marathon PB so it can't have been so bad.

As many of you know, this event was going head to head with the Half-Marathon in Waterford. A lot of people from Cork had planned to do one or the other. How do they compare?
Well, having done both then I would say it depends on what you want. If getting a PB or fast time is your main concern, I'd say Waterford is faster. If price is a major issue for you, then probably Waterford. But in terms of a nice route, Clonakilty wins hands down. Running around by the estuary and around the quiet country roads of west Cork is a lot nicer than along the hard shoulder of the road between Waterford and Tramore.

It would be interesting to hear what the Half-Marathon runners thought of the Clon Half-Marathon route? Hard?

Full Marathon...
This was the race that I took part in. While it followed a lot of the Half-Marathon route, we split away around the 8 mile mark as we headed towards the coast. It was a really nice scenic route, especially down near the coast but the hills!! If you thought the Half-Marathon was hard then it was like a fun run in comparison to the Full Marathon ;o)
I don't know how many times we went up a hill only to drop down on the other side back to sea level. Up we went, down we went....it was almost like whoever designed the route has a grudge against Marathon runners! But you know what? It was great! There is a real sense of satisfaction finishing a Marathon like that.
I don't know what lunatic designed that course but I like his style :o))

I've run a good few Marathon routes in Ireland at this stage and I have to say, I'd rate the Clonakilty Marathon as one of the better ones. It may not have the buzz of Dublin or the scenery of Dingle but if you're not too concerned about times and want a good challenging course on a scenic route, I'd recommend it.

Costs......
One of the issues that some people raised before the event was the entry fee which was higher than other similar events. While the organisers can justify their own costs, I'll just give a quick run down of what you got for your entry.........Accurate course measured by the same person that measured the Cork City Marathon route.......chip timing......safe course with loads of race stewards....dry-fit running top....physio.........tea (before! and after)....sausages and some of that Clonakilty Black Pudding afterwards :o).....medal....goodie bag....vouchers which are useful if you live in the area. It's up to each individual to decide if they think that is value for money or not.

Results.........
The mini marathon results in Excel format can be found HERE

Half-Marathon.......
There were 509 finishers in the Half-Marathon. The mens race was won by Alan O'Shea in a time of 1:08:23 and the first lady home was Joyce Wolfe in a time of 1:30:32.
The results of the Half can be found in Excel format HERE


Full Marathon....
There were 201 runners in the Full Marathon and it was won by George Waugh of Rising Sun AC in an amazing time of 2:34:01. That was an incredible time considering all of the hills in it. George already has a Marathon win under his belt having won the Limerick Marathon back in May of this year and surely on a flat course, breaking 2:30 must be a possibility for him.

The ladies race was won by Valerie Glavin of Athenry AC in a time of 3:19:12. Obviously the long trip was well worth it for the Galway athlete.

The results of the Full Marathon in Excel format can be found HERE

Photos....
A slideshow of the full Marathon can be seen HERE

and of the Half-Marathon HERE

Comments....
So what did you think of the event? Which race did you take part in? Click on the comment link below and let others know what you thought of it...

14 comments:

John D said...

ran my 7th half marathon and also recorded a personal best.
Couple of tough climbs and one steep descent but credit to the organisers for a very well ran event.
Agree that the start for the half could have been better signposted.
They need to try and get away from the clash with Waterford though if they want to keep numbers up,I believe there was a surge of late entries due to the cancellation of Waterford.Good quality running top and medal so I suppose you get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

Ya , to be fair good turn out for a half marathon considering the cost. What recession ???
The bay run crowd in Bantry should maybe charge 200 Euro for their half marathon and probably get thousands of entries .
The like of me are so lucky to have the BHAA and affordable races - long may it last. We were down to under 70 cent a mile for the Cork to Cobh.
1.50 per mile for the Cork Half Marathon in Blarney is a good benchmark.
J.C.

John Dunphy said...

Hi John,

I personally thought this event was one of the best half Marathons i ever ran, wonderful scenery along the route with no major hills to get all excited about,they were left to the full Marathon runner's :)to be quite honest for an event run like this with three different distances on the menu it went very well in my opinion,Medals were really nice and a proper running dry fit top with a lovely design on it,for anyone put of by the talk of hills in the Half Marathon i really think the Cork Half Marathon course is a tougher beast than anything we had to tackle in Clon today and this set the scene for a very enjoyable run.Would i recommend this race to other's for next year,without question this is a brilliant Half Marathon course and i would fully recommend this event to anyone that had any doubts about this course, it was an amazing event to be part of,Congrats to all in Clon fantastic event and i wish you well for the future with this event.

John Dunphy
Eagle A.C.

Anonymous said...

Ran Clon ful today and must say it was tough but a very scenic interesting course. I love finding places like this to do my long marathon training runs on.On route I said I would not come back but just now I know I will!! Finishing in top 10 women made my day !
A very well organised event except for half marathon start but you learn as you go along.Well done organisers.
The Lord was with you too as your roads were in some state all week I believe. Thaw alone did not bring them to standard they were in for us runners today. Be proud of all your hard work.
Lovely t shirt and medal

Anonymous said...

any photos of the day

Anonymous said...

I took part in the full marathon today, loved the route. The value for money i think is great, most races give T-shirts that are not much use to runner unless you want to use the oversized shirt for PJ's, the tech top was super and great logo on the front. The HQ of the race was organised great and the coffee , puddings and sausages etc., were great.

Good to see the race had an AAI permit, and offered prizes in master age groups, unlike some other west Cork half marathons. I would like to see them extended to all age groups , e.g. v1,v2,v3 etc, actually the prize is not important, its just to list the places in the correct age groups, in each five year category.

I drove the route two days before the race, It was like an ice rink, and thanks to the organisers and Cork County Council they did a great job in gritting the route.

I liked the fact the route took in beaches, a lighthouse , the ocean, West Cork at its best only things i think could have been a bit better were that there were no toilets on the full marathon route for women, Ladies don't pee in the gutter, and there were no energy drinks in the last six miles of the marathon if you got to the drinks station after three hours, maybe they could have used the ones in the goodie bag to replenish the stocks, all in all can't wait till next year. Its a thumbs up.... Bravo to all ....

Anonymous said...

My partner ran the half and was a late entry due to Waterford. We rang on the Thursday to make sure that there were still places available for the half.

We drove down early Saturday morning with the kids ( no easy feat waking them up, putting breakfast into them etc ). When my partner registered the entry fee had increased from Euro 45 to Euro 55 !! This despite not receiving a T-shirt or goody bag because they were all gone. There was also a lack of free food and drink for competitors when we went inside after the race as it was probably consumed by faster competitors.

That is my gripe - raising the entry fee when they know people would have driven a good distance to get to the race. It's hard to turn back and go home then especially when you are 'in the zone' mentally.

Other than that it looked like a well run event to me and my partner enjoyed the race.

It will be Waterford next year though I'd say.

Anonymous said...

Ran the half and got close to a single figure finish which I haven't had with a while, def not a PB course. Cork half is by far an easier course and would be about 2min faster than clon course. But I really enjoyed the clon event, great to get a nice medal and top. A great success for a first event that can grow with some improvements. I felt that the finish line could be positioned out on the road with a race clock, saw a good few runners stopping on the road looking for the finish line. Best of luck next year and hope to be back

Anonymous said...

John, Did the full and agree totally with your hills description. It seemed to be never ending. As for the event, I thought Clon did a fantastic job in getting the course ready and they certainly set a tough one. Running top and medal were really nice and the rub down after was greatly appreciated. They were super. Hot food also available after the event in the registration centre. All in all I would have no complaints whatsoever and i can't wait to head back next year and try again. We'll be ready for it this time !! As for the cost, €55 if you entered early enough is very comparable to other marathon races out there. Dublin next year is already €70 and Cork is €62 online. However cost aside as that is up to each individual to decide if worth it or not, The Full was a fantastic race, plenty liquids (in bottles ++), loads of signage and every junction manned by supportive marshalls and Gardai. Well done all. See you next year.

Anonymous said...

Did the half yesterday and have t say was a superb course and i too recorded a PB by 5 mins!! I thought the course was good not really that tough few hills thought the downhills were worse but nothing too taxing I did the gauntlet half a few weeks ago so this seemed like a walk in the park.
As I live quite near clon i decided to do it in prefernce t waterford but i think they will need t change the date to avoid clashing with waterford t keep numbers up.
The hot food was very welcome after the race as well. The running top & medal were great too I will definetly will b back next year.
One thing they could maybe consider for next year is toilets on the route for us ladies!!
Well done t everyone involved!!!

Anonymous said...

I ran the half and in my mind it was the toughest of half's you would meet. Really steep hills and many of them from about five to 11 miles. The earlier report summed it up. Two minutes tougher than Cork half. The other problem was the finish line. Why around the corned? I stopped when I crossed the previous mat. Otherwise the event was great. I can't believe it was organised so professionally by a first time organising team. It was a credit to them. Great warm West Cork atmosphere maintained all through by a very friendly marshalling team.

Denis-Eagle AC said...

Ran the full and have to say apart from the slight confusion at the assembly (maybe post the direction to the half start on a sign outside race HQ) this was could have been a race run by seasoned organizers. Great signposting and markers on the course, Marshall’s and GardaĆ­ everywhere, loads of water in small bottles, bananas’, energy drinks and all along the route people out from their houses (in the freezing cold) giving encouragement!!. Loads of free physio’s and tea/coffee/sausages/black+ white pudding after.

Would highly recommend it, well done Clon!!

Anonymous said...

Jogged the full marathon,plenty of meaty hills, course super, loved the route.

I contacted race organisers before to find out about toilets and energy drinks on route, or to see if i should carry my own. (Drinks, not Toilets)

Was told that they would be at drink stations, the only drink station to have energy drink was mile 16 at the Red Strand, it was a tough last ten miles without some sort of gel or energy drink.
The amount of people in last six or seven miles stopped and bent over with cramps was amazing.

No toilets on route also posed a big problem, maybe they could have dotted them along the route, often people get tummy upset on long races or need a quick pee.

I think the running top was first class and the medal one to be cherished. I think the race price was good value for money and HQ was well stocked with hot bites to eat, i didn't go for a rub down instead i headed to the GAA for a shower and Sauna, that was a real treat.

Thanks to all the organisers and ground staff great event i will be back next year and would highly recommend the Full Marathon.

Gearoid said...

I ran the full marathon and was delighted with race and organisation. The race was challenging and quite hilly with a cold day to add to the mix as well. Roads had been gritted and almost no ice at all was visible. It is probably more challenging than Dingle. I will, hopefully be back next year.