Business Houses Athletic Associations - Cork V Dublin

I'm sure all of you are aware of the Cork BHAA but perhaps some of you may not realise that there is a BHAA in Dublin as well. It runs races along much the same lines as the Cork version and are in fact responsible for organising the Dublin City Marathon every year.

I had always assumed that the Dublin version of the Business Houses Athletic Association was a lot bigger than the Cork BHAA just based on the relative sizes of the 2 cities. Recently, I was looking at some of the Dublin BHAA results and the numbers seemed a bit low. So, I went digging ;o)

I compared the Dublin and Cork results for 2005 and 2008 to see what the figures and trends were like. I only looked at short road races for both years.

Dublin (2005)...They had races between 2 and 8 miles in lenght. They had 10 road races with an average of 187 runners per race.

Cork (2005)...They had 15 road races between 5k and 10k in lenght with an average of 216 runners per race! So, back in 2005, the Cork BHAA seemed to be attracting slightly larger crowds.

Fast forward to 2008 and here is the situation in mid-August...

Dublin (2008)...They had 6 races attracting an average of 217 runners per race. That represents a 16% increase in 3 years. So, Dublin's 2008 average has just caught up with Cork's 2005 figure.

Cork (2008)...They had 10 races with an average of 354 per race. That's an increase of 64% in 3 years!!

So, to summarize, the Cork BHAA are currently in 2008 getting an average of 354 runners per race while the Dublin BHAA are getting 217.

Q...Why are the Cork BHAA getting so many in their races?? Dublin as a city has a population that is way bigger than Cork yet the race numbers in Cork are larger.....a lot larger! Why???

Possible answers...

1) Is it the relay event in the Cork City marathon? Has it introduced a lot of runners to the local race scene and they are now taking part?

2) A big factor may be the entry fee. If I have understood it correctly, the entry for a BHAA race in Dublin is €10 for a registered runner and €15 for a non-registered. The entry fee in Cork is €5 and €7 respectively.

So, why exactly are the numbers in Cork bigger than Dublin?....and why are the numbers in Cork growing so much faster?

Comments???

"Because Dublin people are basically lazy, and Cork people are always on the go, or else in Cork we have too much time on our hands!........Maggie"

"Ouch!!!....thanks Maggie ;o)........John Desmond"

"I think it is a combination of things. First of all, the re-introduction of the Cork marathon...a lot of people kept it up after that. Second reason.........local road races are very well organized and a lot of people realize now that you don't have to be a fast runner to enjoy running these races. Now more than ever, your website is getting the race info out there so people know what's going on, not just in Cork but all over the country. This is vital for better attendances. How many races have I done outside of Cork?...I've lost count. Where do I get the race info.......Running in Cork of course and that's the key. People now know where to find local races, it's obvious by the increase in numbers to your site. And last, it's the huge commitment that club runners put in each and every race....you always see the club runners regulary at each event.....John Dunphy, Midleton AC"

"Apart from Cork being a far superior place and being the real capital, I think your site has a lot to do with it. Nobody in Dublin is putting in this work to provide information on events. This attracts beginners / first time racers........Anonymous"