Friday Jigsaw: Charleville Half-Marathon finish 2018

 

For this weeks online jigsaw, we go for a splash of colour at the end of the 2018 Charleville Half-Marathon.

You can find the 187 piece jigsaw HERE

Weather for the week ahead : Fri 5th to Fri 12th March 2021

It looks as if the current dry spell is about to come to an end.

The weather chart above shows the situation at the weekend. There is a high pressure system over the UK which is giving us this our current spell of dry and cool weather. It is also blocking the high pressure systems coming in from the Atlantic.

Starting on Friday, the Jet Stream out over the Atlantic is getting stronger and this has the effect of pushing more and more against the high pressure system. It's possible there may be some rain over the weekend as these front make more progress and the further west you are then the higher the chance of rain.

By the start of next week, the high pressure system moves away which allows the usual conveyor belt of low pressure systems to return. The result is a lot more wet weather next week but at least the temperatures should come back up a bit closer to 10 deg C.

It's not all doom and gloom as there will be plenty of bright spells between the fronts. Make the most of it if you're out for a run.

Here is our 10 day Atlantic Chart, showing the pressure and precipitation🌧️ forecast in 6 hour intervals.https://t.co/9Giuj4CR5m

For our National forecast and Outlook:https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/Ln1uUHWdQY

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) March 4, 2021

Training plans for March 2021 starting now...

 

Now that we're into March, I'll be starting more training programmes this month. Whether you're a beginner, someone who just wants to get fitter or someone who wants to improve their race time from the 5k to the marathon, a plan can be tailored for you.

More info here... https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/p/coaching.html

Warning: Cars are being clamped near Harty's Quay in Rochestown

 

Harty's Quay on the Rochestown Road is a popular starting spot for people running and walking on the local Greenway. When the small car park there is full, many people park somewhere locally including straight across the road in Woodville Estate.

The problem however was that this estate became in effect a second car park and some inconsiderate parking meant that local residents had trouble getting access.

This came to a head on the 1st of March 2021 when cars started to be clamped.

Apparently a lot of people got caught out on Monday. As you can see from the photo above and below, there are plenty of Blue notices up on poles.

If you know someone that uses Harty's Quay on a regular basis, just let them know of the situation.

 

Guest Post: Minister for Inspiration ...by Pat Walsh

 

 ** Minister for Inspiration **

Just being frivolous to lighten the mood. Forgive me
🤣

“I wandered lonely as a long distance runner,
That floats on high o'er vales and hills within his own 5k zone”

Had a nice cycle today to help the legs and took a few pics. I got 5 miles done in 90minutes on the bike. Won’t qualify me for Tour de France but but but there was chatting to be done with people along the way. Few nice pics taken and I suppose I should be quoting Wordsworth or some of the great poets on the beauty of Daffodils.. No way.

 

I had a Kings of Leon Morning and their lyrics were rattling in my head. 

"I can't get there on my own
You can't leave me here alone
I’m just trying to do what’s right
Oh a man ain't a man 'less he's fought the fight" 🎼🎼

Take care, spring has arrived, there isn’t a whole lot of hope ahead but if we give up on ourselves and our friends then we are definitely f***ed.
#pwr #Survive21

Online Jigsaw of the 2019 Greenway Half-Marathon

 

For this weeks online jigsaw, we go back to 2019 and the 2h 10m pacers at the Greenway Half-Marathon in Co. Waterford. This photo was taken on one of the many fine viaducts on this popular Greenway.

You can find the 150-piece jigsaw HERE

Notice: Cork City Virtual Marathon - June Bank Holiday Weekend 2021

As there are unlikely to be any physical road races in the near term, the 2021 Cork City Marathon is going virtual this year.

Some info from the organisers....

Cork City Marathon 2021 is going virtual!
Despite the best efforts of the organisers, it won’t be possible to host a traditional Cork City Marathon on the June Bank Holiday this year. Every possible option for a road race was explored, but the safety concerns for all involved – the runners, spectators, volunteers, medics, suppliers – were overwhelming. Plans to postpone the full event until 2022 and to go virtual for 2021 were finalised today.

The Virtual Cork City Marathon is an individual and team race that is open to runners, joggers and walkers of all abilities. Cork’s younger citizens, aged 16 to 18, are also welcome to take part in the Youth Challenge, as part of the main team event.

The Cork Marathon has a proud community ethos whereby elite athletes and casual runners share the same course. While participants can’t share the course this year, they can still celebrate their own achievements, be it completing a leg of the team event, a half marathon or the classic marathon distance. Participants are urged to run for charity, run for fitness, or to run for no reason other than because they can! If a carrot is needed, there will be lots of goodies to be won throughout the next few months too!

Event website... http://www.corkcitymarathon.ie/virtual-run/

Entries... https://eventmaster.ie/event/YbZDfrOFjv

 * * *

In summary... This 2021 Cork City Marathon, Half-Marathon & Relay costs €11 to enter and there is a medal on offer which may or not be of interest to participants.

The real value of this virtual event is that it's something to focus on as the evenings get gradually longer and the days get gradually milder.. €11 isn't a whole lot and is probably more of a sign of you committing to doing an event rather than anything else. 

Coaching... If anyone is interested in individually tailored training programmes, you'll find details HERE

Good weather on the way - Thurs 24th Feb to Sun 7th Mar 2021

 

After all the rain on Tuesday and early Wednesday, it looks as if high pressure is on the way which should mean dry settled weather. The temperatures during the day will be around 10 degrees C with light winds. When the sun does come out, it may feel warm in sheltered spots as there is now a bit more energy in the sun as we approach March.

There may well be the odd weak front of rain as shown above but it should stay mostly due. The fine weather is expected to last into the second half of next week.

So if you're running, walking or cycling, make the most of it. Once this high pressure system moves away, we'll be back to business as usual with the conveyor belt of low pressure systems coming in from the Atlantic.

Here is the rainfall forecast from Met Eireann for the next 10 days...

Our 10 day Atlantic Chart shows the precipitation and pressure forecast in 6 hour intervals.pic.twitter.com/oO4pbM4nYk

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 24, 2021

Tramore Valley Park open until 7pm from the 22nd of February

Please note that the Tramore Valley Park in Cork City will remain open until 7pm as of the 22nd of February 2021.

Slowly but surely, the evenings are getting longer.

Guest Post: Health is Wealth ...by Pat Walsh

 ** Health is Wealth **

Another week has just passed us by and it hasn’t differed radically from the last 6 or 7 weeks, or for much of the last Year. There are a few more of those ahead of us before we see some relief in our restrictions and movement.

I have spoken to you of picking a goal to help motivate yourself and glad to see so many have done so.

Sadly, there are many who we have lost to running, who found the whole situation so difficult and lacked the motivation to keep going. I can see it in some of my own gang and I am reading it in other pages I visit. 🏃‍♀️

I have spoken about the Mental benefits from exercise but may I also dwell on the physical benefits in the hope it will get you going again.
This pandemic mainly attacks the immune and the respiratory system.
Running helps the lungs and running plus some speed work has been shown to increase lung capacity.

Running in daylight hours helps load the body with Vitamin D which in turn helps the immune system.
Running takes you out in the open air and you are more likely to see and speak to other people.
Folks, no-one can do it for you. You must get up, get out and look after yourself as best you can.🤓

The majority of us runners are not in an age bracket to receive this vaccine for a while yet and it could be anything up to 6 months before you will get an invite. (Of course there are exceptions through some underlying conditions or because of your work situation)💉

What I am suggesting is regardless of your running goal, think of the actual physical benefits to running a few times a week to help yourself.

 

The stronger, fitter, nearer to ideal weight, that you can present yourself gives you a better sporting chance of getting through this whole mess. Saying that my lungs are good and my immune system is strong is no guarantee of anything but it does increase your odds of avoiding or coping with it. Just being healthier is a better way to live your life anyway.

I stress I am no expert, have no medical qualifications and all above is just general advice and common sense.😎

I am still running towards my Paddy’s Day 10 mile, ☘️ but I have taken all forms of pressure from myself in regards to time. If it doesn’t appear on posted finishing times of a race and if there is no photographer to snap me dying on the last half mile then why would I care about my watch.⌚️

The mixed messages we are receiving from ‘On High’ about resumption of anything would lend you to think 2021 is a wipe-out in terms of Big races or anything else that involves a crowd of people, so it is better to be planning yourself and staying in control.

Stay safe, Stay healthy, Stay well, Stay strong, Stay in control.

2nd Annual PWR Marathon is looking more likely as every week passes.
#pwr #survive21

 

Notice: Karen Fenton 5k Memorial Virtual 5k - 16th to the 19th of April 2021

The Karen Fenton Memorial 5k is usually held in April every year and it  helps raise much needed funds for an Ovarian Cancer Charity. This year, the organisers are holding a virtual event and are asking runners to take part.

You can register HERE

 From the organisers... Unfortunately due to Covid the 'Karen Fenton Memorial Run' in 2020 was unable to go ahead, the organisers were hoping to follow up with a great event this year but unfortunately in these unprecedented times they are still unable to host a real event.

🌼As an alternative please join Karen Fenton's family & friends for a virtual 5km run/walk during April 2021. 

🏃‍♀️🚶Run or walk anytime or anywhere between April 16th and 19th and upload your results to myrunresults.com portal.

There is an option to donate further to the Karen Fenton Ovarian Cancer Fund during registration.
👕 Remember the day with an option to purchase event merchandise.

Register @ https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/KarenFentonMemorialRun

We are continuing to raise much needed funds for cancer awareness, research and to support the operation of the cancer machine in CUHC. To date we have raised over €120,000 and recently we donated €80,000 to go towards the purchase of the “Ion Torrent Genexus Integrated Sequener” machine, a new innovative machine that had been unavailable to cancer patients in Cork. The machine is located in CUH, where Karen spent her final two months. Once fully commissioned the machine will operate under the expert guidance of Medical Oncologist Dr. Dearbhaile Collins and Clinical Director for Cancer Services, Dr. Richard Bambury. Dr. Collins specialises in gynaecological malignancies, including Ovarian Cancer. This state of the art technology will analyse cancer mutations and find new “precise” treatments for patients.

Any additional donations are welcome as we continue to fundraise for this worthy cause.
Visit http://www.karenfenton.ie/ for more information.

Part of the Carrigaline to Crosshaven walkway to close for 2-3 weeks for repairs

Cork County Council have announced that they will be starting work to resurface part of the Carrigaline to Crosshaven walkway on Monday the 15th of February 2021 and as a result, part of it will be closed for 2-3 weeks.

 

Update 19th Feb 2021: The good news is that the works only took one week to complete!

 

 

As you can see, they made a fine job of it.

150-piece online Jigsaw of the 2016 Ballycotton 10

 

 

For this weeks online jigsaw, we go back again to the 2016 Ballycotton 10 mile road race.

You can find the 150-piece jigsaw HERE

May 2021 Dingle Marathon postponed...

The organisers of the Dingle Marathon announced recently that that their Full and Half Marathon which was scheduled for Saturday 8th May 2021 has been postponed. 

All HALF MARATHON participants for the May event have now automatically been transferred to SATURDAY 7TH MAY 2022 and all FULL MARATHON participants for the May event have now automatically been transferred to SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2021.

The Dingle event is normally held on the first Saturday in September every year. When the pandemic impacted the 2020 event, they initially sought to move it to May 2021 and then hold their September 2021 event as per normal. As such, the two events in 2021 would have compensated for the loss of the 2020 event.

Now that the May 2021 event has been postponed, it means a real loss in revenue for both the organisers and the whole hospitality sector in Dingle. As for whether the September event will go ahead, we'll have to wait and see. I think a lot of people suspect it will be 2022 before things get back to some sort of normality.

Once this pandemic passes and it will, it's possible that some races may have disappeared from the calendar forever but the Dingle event is one of the most popular in the country. It is probably one of the most scenic locations in the country for a race, it makes for a great weekend away and it will bounce back stronger than ever.

Statement from the organisers....

 ***EVENT UPDATE***
We very much regret to inform you that due to COVID 19 restrictions it obviously is not possible to proceed with the Dingle Full and Half Marathon which was scheduled for Saturday 8th May 2021 (which had been postponed from September 2020). Accordingly, all HALF MARATHON participants for the May event have now automatically been transferred to SATURDAY 7TH MAY 2022 and all FULL MARATHON participants for the May event have now automatically been transferred to SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2021.

We fully appreciate the disappointment that this will bring but we must put the health and wellbeing of all our runners, walkers, crew, medical providers and all our community, team, and families first. We feel that it is only fair to make the decision now in order that people can plan accordingly.

We have emailed all registered participants and we fully appreciate the inconvenience that the date changes may have to peoples individual circumstances so please feel free to contact us by email at run@dinglemarathon.ie if you have any queries or if we can assist in any way.

We look forward to brighter days in the beauty of Dingle Peninsula and we can’t wait to welcome you to Dingle when the time is right.

Killeagh 4-mile road race cancelled...

The Killeagh 4-mile road race is held on the first Sunday in March every year. As you might expect, the upcoming race had to be cancelled.

Hi all just to confirm our four mile road race, which is usually held on the first Sunday in March each year, has been postponed due to the current restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Our committee will meet in July to assess if we can proceed with the race in autumn of this year.

We look forward to seeing  you all back in Killeagh, hopefully in the not too distant future,

Stay safe.

Killeagh 4mile road  race committee.