The November edition of the free 'Run the Line' 5k on the Carrigaline to Crosshaven walkway was held on Saturday 30th Nov 2024.
As can be seen above, there were 16 finishers in contrast to the 39 in October.
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The November edition of the free 'Run the Line' 5k on the Carrigaline to Crosshaven walkway was held on Saturday 30th Nov 2024.
As can be seen above, there were 16 finishers in contrast to the 39 in October.
The annual Waterford Half-Marathon organised by Waterford AC was held on Saturday 30th Nov 2024 on what turned out to be a windy, misty but mild morning. This is in marked contract to last year which was bitterly cold.
Numbers... There was a total of 2162 finishers this year, a jump of just over 22%. This makes it the 9th largest half-marathon in Ireland for 2024 and it's certainly the largest half in the south-east.
It's also worth noting that it is far bigger than the Viking Half-Marathon which takes place in late June every year. Not sure why?
Why the big jump this year? In 2023, the organisers didn't open the entries until the start of 3rd of October, just two months before race day on . A lot of people had been wondering if the race was going ahead at all and by the time the entries opened, many people had made other plans. Even by the end of November 2023, they were still taking entries.
The end result was a 6.7% drop in numbers from 2022.
For the 2024 race, thing couldn't have been more different. The club opened entries on the 6th of December 2023, just 3 days after the 2023 race. There was no doubt about the 2024 race going ahead and people had most of 2024 to enter. It sold out on the 12th of November and the jump in numbers can be seen in the chart above. It was in fact the 4th highest ever in terms of numbers for this event.
Results...
Full results HERE
Was the course short??? ... At least three different people told me that the course was short. One said that they got 12.95 miles on their GPS watch for the course rather than just over 13.1 miles. They felt that the course was about 320 metres too short.
It's worth noting that there was an out and back section on the course as well as some obstructions from evergreen trees in places which can play havoc with GPS. Still though, there is still a valid concern about how accurate the course was.
Waterford AC had this route map online for the 2024 race...
You'll notice that there is a reasonable out and back section. I pass this point while I was cycling from the race start to Dungarvan and I took this photo by chance...
The photo shows the start of the out and back section. Was the error here? Was it somewhere else?
It seems to have the only glitch on what was a good event.
Good news! It has just been announced that the remaining section of Greenway from Mogeely to Youghal in East Cork will open to the public on Thursday 19th December 2024.
The 8km section from Midleton to Mogeely opened in March of 2024 and with this new section opening, the total distance will be in the region of 22kms.
Local councillors got the following notice... "The current plan is to open the Mogeely to Youghal (Tides Car Park) section of the Greenway to the public on the 19th of December 2024. Work on the trail head at Youghal will continue into 2025. The official opening of the Greenway will be arranged for early 2025 and councillors will be kept updated on this."
As you can see, there's still a bit of work to do at the Youghal end but essentially, nearly all of the Greenway will open.
It will be no doubt be very popular with people walking, running and cycling over the Christmas period.
I've been writing about the Midleton to Youghal Greenway since 2016... https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2016/11/iarnrod-eireann-propose-abandoning-old.html
It's been a long journey but it looks as if we're finally there.
Greenway between Mogeely and Killeagh |
Works are continuing on upgrading the extensive new park at the Marina in Cork City and Cork City Council recently released some photos showing the new elevated walkway that is being installed.
This section is located near Barrington's Folly which is just to the east of the Atlantic Pond.... shown below in purple. It seems likely that a lot of the work will be completed by early 2025 and the whole project by the end of the year.
Over the next decade or so, there are plans for large residential developments in this general area and across the water in Tivoli which will hopefully be linked by a new bridge.
As so many people will be living in this area in the future, it raises the question of whether a parkrun is viable? Be it a 5k for adults or a 2k for juveniles.
There are loads of paths to make some routes and the greenway to Rochestown could be used for an out and back section if needs be.
Is anyone interested in this be it as an organiser or a participant?
Parkrun have a contact page here is anyone wants to try and get something going... https://www.parkrun.com/about/join-us/start-your-own-event/
With the Met Eireann RED weather warning in place, nine out of the ten 5k parkruns this week were cancelled. On Bere Island, the worst of the weather had cleared by 9:30am and it was the only parkrun in Cork this Saturday.
There were 13 finishers as compared to 42 last week.
Top 3 men & women...
Full results... https://www.parkrun.ie/bereisland/results/466/
Not a bother... 400 5k parkruns for Finola Crowley in the F80 category |
Well to Bere Island regular Finola Crowley who completed her 400th 5k parkrun! Finola who is 80-years old did her first 5k parkrun back on the 20th of Sept 2014.
399 of the 400 parkruns have been on Bere Island with the exception of one in Killarney back in 2017.
Finola also has 288 volunteer credits!
Met Éireann have released a RED weather warning for Cork for Saturday 23rd November 2024. As Storm Bert passes over the country, very heavy rainfall with some flooding is expected.
As of Friday 22nd, there is still plenty of snow lying on high ground after Wednesday. In addition to the heavy rainfall on Saturday, it's likely that all of that snow melting will add to the deluge coming down off the hills.
It's very unusual to get a RED weather warning so take note.
These are the 5k parkruns that have been cancelled so far.... (Updated 9:12am)
A section of the N73 road from Mallow to Mitchelstown has been refurbished recently and Ballygown National School has an organised run on it near the school.
The event was called the 1st Dash on the N73 and it was held on Sun 17th Nov 2024.
While most of the participants were walkers, there were some runners there as well.
A photo galley of the runners can be seen HERE
Cork County Council have just announced their plans to upgrade an existing 2km long stretch of Greenway in Passage West. It will go from the Cork County/City boundary to Mariner’s Quay, Passage West and includes widening the existing 2.5m path to 4m.
This follows on from the stretch of Greenway from Mahon over the Douglas Estuary to Rochestown and then east to the city limits. Planning for that section was approved in 2023 and it's just a case of starting it.
A lot of people use these routes for running and exercising and it's very likely that large parts of the Greenway will be closed to the public while the works are going on.
For more information, go to https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/resident/planning-and-development/public-consultations/active-part-xab-development-consultation/part-xab-proposed-passage-west-pedestrian-and-cycle-route-passage-west-co-cork
Other than the plan to widen the Greenway, the biggest change as far as I can see from the drawings is the removal of a car park in Passage West and the reduction of an existing park to facilitate on street parking.
In time, the plan is to have a Greenway going from Carrigaline to Cork City via Monkstown & Passage West.
Existing 2.5m wide section of Greenway near Passage West |
The next Dublin Marathon is coming up on the 26th of October 2025. The organisers have recently released the details on how to enter.
Note the key entry dates... Mon 18th Nov 2024 & Thurs 21st Nov 2024.
Irish Life Dublin Marathon 2025 entries... "The Irish Life Dublin Marathon 2025 entries will open to the 2024 participants for 72 hours from Monday 18th of November to Wednesday 20th of November. It will also open for the same time frame for all women who entered the 2024 Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon, this is to encourage and support more female entrants to the marathon.
Applications for entries for the 2025 Irish Life Dublin Marathon via the lottery system will go live on the event website (https://irishlifedublinmarathon.ie/) on Thursday 21st of November 2024 and will close midnight on Wednesday 27th of November.
There is an administration charge of €5 per lottery entry which is redeemable against an entry fee of €110 if successful and non-redeemable if unsuccessful.
Registrants will learn their entry status from the lottery via email / SMS on Monday 2nd of December. One entry per person is permitted."
The first race of five in the Cloyne Commons Winter Series was held on Sun 17th Nov 2024 with 336 runners taking part.
Top 3 men & women...
Full results below...
The Cork BHAA Clearstream 5k was held in Cork City on Sun 17th Nov 2024 on what was a nice mild sunny morning.
There was a total of 487 finishers which is up 2.5% on the 475 last year.
Full results HERE
Photos...
1) Derek Costello has three galleries... Album 1 ... Album 2 ... Album 3
The second edition of the Churchtown 10-mile road race in N Cork was held on Saturday, 16th Nov 2024 with 379 runners crossing the finish line, a jump of 17% on last year.
Top 5 men & women...
Full results HERE
Photos...
1) Eamon Doody has a gallery of about 450 photos HERE
2) Susan Daly has a gallery of photos HERE
Members of Blarney Happy Feet at the Churchtown 10-mile road race. Photo: Eamon Doody |
100 parkruns for Niall Cronin |
Century for Grainne Finn |