Results of the Cork BHAA 'Cork to Cobh' 15 mile road race - Sun 5th Oct 2008 (Updated Fri 17th Oct 1pm)

What a perfect day for a road race...Blue skies, sun shining and hardly any wind. It really could not have been any better. It may be only the start of October but I can confidently predict that the 5th will be the best day of the month.
Last year they got exactly 600 finishers for this race. For the 2008 event, they got a record number of roughly 670 finishers. In fairness, the Cork BHAA put on a great race today.....plenty of stewards, plenty of water stations and a very good spread afterwards. No doubt the 300 plus pre-entries helped things go a lot smoother on the day.
It really is a very strange race. Most races take the form of a big loop with the start and finish lines closeby. Looking at all the people finishing yesterday in Cobh, the start line back in Cork City seemed such a long way away. Perhaps the fact it is so unusual is the reason it attracts such a big crowd? Certainly, it is the only day in the year that you could actually safely run on the main road to Cobh!


Mile Markers.......After the race, someone mentioned to me that thought some of the mile markers in the centre of the race were in the wrong place? Did anyone else find this to be the case? I know that in my own case, I was trying to keep track of how much I was inside 6'40" miling. I was fine until around the 9 mile mark when all my times seemed wrong and I got completely confused ;o)
Note to self.......the middle of race is not a good time to do mental arithmetic!!

Cars.........I hear that there might have been a spot of bother with some car/cars out along the road near Little Island/Fota. Some driver doing the maggot??


Photos........If anyone has any photos of the race, they might let me know and we'll see if we can get them up on the net for people to see. I understand that there might be a batch of photos ready sometime on Tuesday night for viewing.
1st Set..........Thanks to Richard Cuddy for this set of 261 photos taken near the 5.5 mile mark near Glounthaune.
2nd Set.........Paudie Birmingham of Mallow AC came up trumps again with this set of 252 photos just before the finish line in Cobh.

3rd Set........Joe Murphy of Eagle AC took 294 shots near the 5 mile mark and near the finish in Cobh.

4th & 5th Set..........West Waterford AC have a selection of 56 photos on their website. They are mainly of West Waterford runners but there are a few others in there as well. Click HERE and HERE.

'Nutter in an Escort'

'Nutter stopped in his Escort'

Results...The full results are now available HERE.

Comments......???
"First of all John, I found your blog a very helpful source of information before the race. It actually contained everything I needed and I couldn't find anything elsewhere. Thanks for that great job! ........Radek"
"I agree, a great day and a great race - I must particularly praise the junior water station staff - incredible - Could do with them on other runs! The start on summerhill north was a bit bunched and there were plenty of fun runners too far forward. If the event remains this popular it might be a good idea to have a segregated start like the marathons or Ballycotton........Richard"
"Re: segregation, i would say that Ballycotton is one of the worst examples of this around. If you want to be near the front at the start, then get there early. To segregate a crowd of 600 or even 2500 (Ballycotton) would require serious manpower and effort, that unfortunately BHAA/Ballycotton cannot provide due to the voluntary nature of organisations.
Get there early is the answer. Too many people expect to be near the front as they stroll to the start line with 2-3 minute to spare. Don't complain if you are at the back of the crowd if you come late...(end of rant!)
I do agree that some runners make their way to the front even if they are 10 minute milers. This is a race etiquette thing that should be promoted a bit more.....Rich"
"Don't get me wrong about the segregated start, I know where I fit in and I had no problems yesterday. I did witness a mini-pile-up as someone dropped a mobile phone at the start and nearly got wiped out as they tried to pick it up.
I think your last point about race etiquette is the real point that needs to be brought home to people. If you are a 10 minute miler or it's your first time at a race then maybe a bit more use of the tannoy will prevent these people being pushed about at the start. While it is difficult to get past these people at the start, it must be harder for them being pushed and shoved by people getting up to speed............Richard"
"Hi John. Yep I think miles 9 to 11 were a bit mixed up. I was putting in around 7:08-ish miles but mile 9 to 10 took me 7:29 and 10 to 11 took me 6:55. The rest were fine. Nice race and felt like a summer’s morning. Well done to the BHAA for another well run event. P.S. Should have pictures of the finish later this week. ............Paudie"
"Thanks for the info Paudie. Actually, that make's sense because in my case I was running just inside a certain pace and I had a more or less constant cushion. Around Belvelly bridge, I thought I was actually slowing down and picked up the pace to compensate. In reality, I was probably running at the correct speed and then started to accelerate. No wonder I was knackered in Cobh ;o)
Let me know when those photos are ready and I'll stick up the link.....John Desmond"
"The car incident occurred halfways between the Dunkettle and Glounthaune junctions. I myself was running at the leftmost edge of the tarmac, almost onto the grass. A Ford Focus type car drove very close to the runners, and blew the horn loudly. Some minutes later, as we were making the left turn at the top of the slip road, we could see a Garda taking notes from the driver..........Donal O'Donohue"
"John, I have uploaded my photos of the race. These were taken at about 5.5 miles, just as you were coming into Glounthaune. Note that some of the shots were taken by my 5 year old, and others when I had a two year old in my arms, so might be a bit wonky. Please excuse quality. http://picasaweb.google.com/richard.cuddy/CorkCobh2008# .................Richard Cuddy"
"Excellent shots Richard. Interesting to see who was where ;o) Very hard to judge when you are in the race........John Desmond"
"Hi John, Great event. Well done to all. I've just one issue. Why did they move the start? I think its mad to start a race on a hill and then a sharp left to make it even worse!! I know they wanted to avoid the Dublin road but surely they could have made up the distance somewhere else along the way? Would like to hear if I am alone on this view..........Anonymous"
"Yea I heard about the guy at the start that went back to pick up his phone/walk-man. I heard something went flying off his arm and hit the ground. He ran on for a few seconds then thought better and turned around, ran back to pick it up causing a mini pile up. Sounds crazy.....Anonymous"
"It was only my second race and I thought it was great but Summer Hill was crazy..Perhaps along by the quay would be better and turn right for St.Patricks church and right again for Cobh.Most of the drivers were very courtious but a few were quite rude.Thanks to all who worked on the day......Ian.....(A very stiff 1st time Cork to Cobh entrant.)"
"Not only were a few of the car drivers dangerous (the person in the car with the Littleisland Lunatic was so embarassed she covered her face) but some cyclists dressed as cyclists about to race (not the slow ones supporting runners) were ridiculously dangerous especially on the Cobh road and should be ashamed of themselves.They were a disgrace to their sport.They cycled so close and so quietly that runners were very lucky no to be hit.There are enough roads that they could cycle on that there was no need to be where they were.We as runners do not go out and run in the middle of their races............Anonymous"
"Just to emphasise that the last comment was about cyclists on the Cobh road. Not about the guys near Little Island who were enjoying some good humoured banter with one of their buddies who was in the race. I can't say I noticed anything really on the Cobh road so perhaps it might have been where the road gets narrow. It might be worth pointing out that it is a public road and it was not closed. Any cyclist had as much right to cycle on it as we had to run on it.................John Desmond"
"And the walkers!! Was there a walking race to cobh on the same day? I had to duck and dodge between 4 of them on the bends near belvelly bridge. They were all over the place :-) ............Anonymous"
"One slight criticism, at Belvelly bridge a steward told the group of runners I was in to move to the right hand side of the road, presumably so as to cross the bridge on the footpath? Yet the water station immediately after the bridge was on the left so that either you got no water or had to cross the road again to get it there were a lot of cars passing at the time and it was an extremely dangerous situation.............Anonymous"
"I can't believe you got a photo of the nutter in the car! I was expecting it to be a boy racer though...............Anonymous"

"I was so glad seeing this idiot stopped by Gardi...........Radek"

"Hi JohnGreat race. I enjoyed it immensely. OK the start was a bit rough, it took me until we went around the corner at the bottom of the hill to get up to any kind of speed but i suppose thats what happens when you have such a big crowd. I must say though that the positioning of a water station just at a bad bend at belvelly was a recipe for disaster, people were wandering all over the place on both sides of the road when i passed through. In general it must be hard to race 15 miles on those roads without some incidents with motorists,cyclists,walkers and runners everywhere( still no excuse for the nutter in the escort). Best of luck to you and anyone else doing the Dublin marathon!.......... AJ "
"Did anyone else notice the number of people still wearing headphones in this race? I counted at least six despite all the notices. Even you John had it big and clear on this site. What is it with these people who do not obey the rules of the race organisers? In future their numbers should be taken and they should be banned from BHAA events until they obey the rules...........Anonymous"

"Hi there, I nearly got killed by that looney in the escort. He has done this before, the Gardai should take a closer look. Great event as always and the sponsor was brill..........John"