Review of the year 2007...

Looking back at 2007, it was a very busy year with plenty of races. While they are all different, there were 2 races during the year which were special for me.

The first one is a race that I did in Normandy, France, back in March. It was the 15.4 km Alencon-Medavy and it was, for me, my best run of 2007 (...it's a bit like the Ballycotton 10 with the airport hill at the end!). I'm up there somewhere in the photo above, over on the left in the middle of the crowd around the 1km mark ;o)

On the local front, the highlight for me had to be the Cork City Marathon. It was a great day. The weather was nice, it was well organised and it seemed to give a big boost to the sport of road running in the Cork area. Even though I did the full Marathon myself, I thought the relay was a great idea. I wasn't too sure beforehand but looking back in hindsight, it gave a lot of new people the chance to participate in the event without having to do the full Marathon distance. The extra numbers with the buzz and excitement around the change-over stations, really added to the atmosphere.

So, I wonder what was the highlight of the year for you and why? Leave a comment below and let others know what race you thought was so special.

One very noticable feature in 2007 was the very welcome increase in race numbers. It started with the 10 mile classic series, with nearly every race getting record numbers. As we headed into the Summer, all of the races seemed to be up. I'd guess that the numbers are up at least 10% on last year. Reasons??? I think the Cork City Marathon & Relay brought in a lot of new runners. I know that some of the newer runners are using this blog to find out what the races are on. Maybe running is just getting popular again? Whatever the reason, let's hope it continues in 2008.

And just one final thought for 2007. It would be impossible to have such a vibrant local running scene if it were not for all those people who give up their time to organise and plan all of the races. The likes of John Walshe and the gang at Ballycotton Running Promotions, the guys in the Cork BHAA with their excellent series of races and all of the officials in the various clubs who put on their own races. I think that everyone in the local running community owe's them a debt of gratitude for all of the time and hard work that they put in over the last year.

Well done and thanks.

And on a final, final......I would just like to wish all of the readers of this blog a very happy new year :o)
....and load's of PB's in 2008!!

John Desmond

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Hi John. For me, it had to be the Cork to Cobh race, I really enjoyed that race. I suppose because it was the longest distance I ran since I started running last April and I had convinced myself that if I got as far as Fota Island, then that would have being good enough for me. But to my amazement, I felt really good by the time I got there and increased my pace from Fota Island to the finish line in Cobh as I'm so familiar with the 5 mile distance. I thought, lets step it up a bit now and try and do it in under 2 hours, which I did so that was really a good achievement for me for 2007 in running. I'd like to echo your comments on thanking all the organizers of the races in 2007. Well done and thank you to all. They were all well organized and enjoyable.
Happy new year to all.
Regards.....John Dunphy

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Had to be the Cork City marathon.It was my first attempt at the distance and my own personal performance was dissapointing but the whole day itself was very enjoyable and to my mind a major success. I'll be back for more this year. Hopefully they get the numbers they are expecting. Happy new year and thanks for all the excellent info on the site.....AJ