Cork County Council are currently inviting comments on their Draft Recreation and Amenity Policy. Submissions close on Fri 28th of June 2024.
This might be of interest to people who use parks for recreation in whatever form.
All of the documents are linked from this page... https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/resident/planning-and-development/draft-recreation-and-amenity-policy
John Walsh was one of the key figures behind the successful 5k parkrun on Bere Island.
Notice on RIP IE... https://rip.ie/death-notice/john-walsh-cork-beara-560315
Tony Higgins writes... "Yesterday evening, St. John’s Eve, our great friend John lost his long battle against illness in Cork University Hospital, with his wonderful wife Sheila by his side.
Of the many hundreds of friends I have made through parkrun in the last nine years, none was more special than John. Although John and Sheila were at our inaugural parkrun in Tralee in 2015, I didn’t really get to know him until I visited his beloved Bere Island parkrun later that year. It didn’t take long to realise that John was what you might call an unpolished diamond – a bit rough on the outside but with a jewel for a heart. I love visiting Bere Island and my favourite visits were those when I ran with John, the 5K turned into 3K and I learned something new about the island every time. It will not be the same without him and my next visit will be a sad one, yet I still look forward to it.
John and I were among the first to be asked by Matt Shields to take on the role of parkrun Ambassador, and John’s contribution to parkrun has been immense, not just the wonder that is Bere Island parkrun, but to many other events in Munster and beyond.
A proud Corkman who grew up in Mayfield, he was an even prouder Bere Islander, and of course parkrun was just one small facet of his huge dedication to his local community in this very special place. In 2019 he was elected Chairman of the European Small Islands Federation and so many other islands benefited from his knowledge and expertise.
John’s loss will be felt through the parkrun community, this is a lovely message from Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of Parkrun:
“I met John at Bere Island parkrun very early in the events life. We immediately became friends. While we didn’t talk on a regular basis, John always remembered to be in touch for the important things and he was always so kind, generous and funny.
I know this is a major loss to John’s family and so too for Bere Island but also for Ireland and our family. This is a desperately sad day for us all. RIP John. May the memories of your impact live forever.”
To me, John was a great friend, a practical advisor, a trusted confidant and my parkrun roommate at our annual conferences. He was liked by everyone who knew him and I was privileged to have shared some of my parkrun journey with him.
Rest in Peace John, and my sympathies to Sheila, Laura, Aoife and Adam and all John’s family and friends.
Tony Higgins
Tralee parkrun and parkrun Regional Ambassador"
Dermot was involved with the Cork BHAA and was a regular in the past at their races.
This is the notice... https://rip.ie/death-notice/dermot-bates-cork-midleton-560286
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
The Thoroughbred Marathon is a multi-race event held in Kildare every year and this year, it had about 1200 participants spread across the full marathon, half-marathon, 10k and 5k events.
After the event finished this year, the organisers took to social media to explain that approximately 1100 bottles of water had been stolen!
They write... "Unfortunately we have become aware that there were water shortages on the route on Sunday. We realised early on Sunday morning that 37 cases of water had been stolen from the course. This was 37 cases of 30 bottles per case, (1100 bottles). We replaced this water by buying all available stock in local shops but unfortunately other water stations had the stock partially stolen and we were not aware of this until water stations ran low.
We sincerely apologise to all of you and in particular to those of you that did not get water when and where needed on the day.
It is a learning experience for us to say the least!"
It was a lovely mild evening for this year's Donoughmore 7-mile road race on Thurs 20th June 2024 with a total of 214 runners crossing the finish line.
Full results HERE
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| Lorna Wolfe & Barry Twohig... winners of the 2024 Donoughmore 7-mile road race |
The marathon programme is 18-weeks and it starts on the 24th of June. The cost is €135.
The length of programme really depends on where you are as a runner and what your initial endurance fitness is like.
After an initial consultation and we agree on what days you can train, a programme is sent out every week by email and weekly feedback is required. That will determine what the programme is like for the following week.
If interested, send an email to johndesmondrunning AT gmail DOT com
If you have another event in mind then send an e-mail to the above address.
This charity half-marathon from Haulbowline to Pairc Ui Chaoimh was organised by Cork Down Syndrome and had 182 finishers. (202 in 2023)
Full results HERE
This 5k was organised by Kilmurry GAA and was held in the local woods on Fri 14th June 2024.
Back on the 7th of March 2024, the 8km section of Greenway from Midleton to Mogeely opened and it has proved to be very popular with walkers and runners. According to some sources, the remaining 15km section from Mogeely to Youghal is supposed to open by the end of the 2024.
I've checked the remaining section out over the last few weeks and large parts of it are complete with a nice tarmac surface. The image below shows the section east of Killeagh.
Other sections in the village of Killeagh and in Youghal still need quite a lot of work to finish. When I passed during the working week, there was no obvious sign that any major work was ongoing.
We'll have to wait and see but I wouldn't be surprised if it slips into 2025 before it opens.
Video... DRONEHAWK posted a video of the section from Youghal to Mogeely on their YouTube channel and it shows what the line looks like as of June 2024.
I have no doubt that once it opens, the section from Youghal to Killeagh will prove to be very popular with walkers, runners and visitors.