Races next weekend in Munster.....Sun 31st Jan

There are no road races next weekend in Cork which is mainly due to the fact that the Dungarvan '10' Mile road race is on in West Waterford. This is part of the Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series and has attracted a record number of entries.

Elsewhere in Munster, there is a 4 mile road race in Farranfore in Kerry and a 5k charity run near Newcastle West in Limerick. More info on the Running in Munster website.

Results of the Cork BHAA 'FMC' 4 Mile Road Race...Sun 24th Jan 2009

Despite the blues skies and winter sunshine, the temperature only hovered around 0 deg C for the start of this 4 mile road race. This resulted in some frosty spots out along the course but nothing too serious. The BHAA were taking no chances however and duly warned all runners before the start of the run that it was no longer a 'road race', it was a 'charity event' for Haiti and people should run it accordingly. Well, if it was a charity run then it certainly was the fastest 'charity run' that I was ever in!! Looking at the times, some people seem to have run faster than they normally do. Maybe we should have more of these 'charity runs'? ;o)

From what I hear, somewhere in the region of 410 runners took part which is probably a record number for this event. If this is anything to go by then can we expect 2010 to be another record year for race numbers?

Results........(Updated Thurs 28th Jan)

The full results are now available at this LINK.

Photos.......(Updated Thurs 28th Jan)

There are loads of photos for this race and they look great in the bright sunshine.

The first batch of 194 photos are from Irene Hartigan of UCC AC. Click on this LINK and use the controls at the bottom of the screen to slow down the speed, pause or step backwards.

2nd Set of Photos........Jorge Ruiz Villasante was out and about on the day as well and captured some excellent shots. A full slideshow of his race photos can be seen HERE.

3rd Set of Photos.......There is yet another set of over 200 photos taken by Joe Murphy of Eagle AC available HERE.

Latest News items.....Mallow 10, County Roads, Bantry 10, etc...

Mallow 10........

The Cork AAI County board held their meeting on Saturday, the 23rd of January and have given their approval for the Mallow 10 race to take place on Sunday, the 7th of February at 12:30pm. That's one week after the Dungarvan 10 and one week before the Bantry 10.

Bantry 10.........

This race is coming up on the 14th of February and it is a new race on the calendar. The entry fee is only €10 and you can enter on the day of the race. By the way, this race takes place in the very scenic Mealagh Valley to the north-east of Bantry and not in the town itself. A new website will be online soon with more details.

Cork AAI County Road Championships......

This was due to take place on the 7th of Feb and had to be moved to make way for the re-scheduled Mallow 10. There was some talk about holding it in Ballinhassig in conjunction with the Rising Sun 4 mile race. The Cork AAI County Board have now decided against this and it will be held instead at some other future date.

GOAL Mile for Haiti.........

There will be a special charity GOAL mile at the CIT track in Bishopstown next Saturday between 2pm and 4pm for the eathquake victims in Haiti. Some recent estimates put the number of dead at nearly 200,000 which if true, is approaching the number that died in that Tsunami in 2004. The big difference is that the Tsunami victims were spread out over a large part of the Indian Ocean whereas in Haiti, the victims are concentrated in a relatively small area.

More details about the GOAL mile below from the Cork County Board...

Everybody is aware of the recent disaster in Haiti, which has caused so much harm to this impoverished nation. A fundraising mile run/jog/walk will be held in the CIT Track on Saturday next (January 30th) to raise funds for the GOAL charity. The event will be the same as the Christmas Goal Mile. The event is being fully supported by the Athletics Community in Cork and the Track is being made available by the Cork Institute of Technology free of charge. There will be no overheads so every cent raised will go straight to the Goal Charity.
There is no minimum or maximum donation. The event is open to all ages and abilities.

Ballycotton '10' Entries....

Just a reminder for everyone that the FINAL list for Ballycotton '10' entries has still not been finalised! A lot of people seem to be under the impression that the list of 2,500 entrants published a few weeks ago was the final entry list. It's NOT!!

The organisers are still processing entries for all those club runners and others who qualified for the later closing dates. The final list will be available soon.

Preview of the Cork BHAA 'FMC' 4 Mile Road Race - Sun 24th Jan 2010 (11:00am)

With all of the cancelled races over the Christmas period, no doubt a lot of runners are currently suffering from 'cabin fever'. It seems like ages since we had a major race in the Cork area and there should be a huge turnout for this one, the first road race in the Cork BHAA calendar for 2010. It takes place in Little Island next Sunday, the 24th of January at 11am. The registration point is the community centre which on the map above, is more or less exactly at the 1 mile mark.

Directions...If you are coming out of the city, the best way to get there is probably to enter Little Island from the Tunnel roundabout on the North side of the Jack Lynch tunnel. The Little Island/ Tunnel Management road is just to the left of the tunnel entrance, so one needs to be in the left-most lane, when approaching the tunnel. At the top of this short road, there is a small roundabout. Take the exit marked "Little Island Ind Estate". Keep going for about one mile.You will pass Pfizer's, Henkel/Cognis, and Punch Industries (all on the left). You will see a small ruined castle and a mobile phone mast on the left. The Little Island Sports Complex is next (next to the 1 mile marker). The advantage of this route is that one will pass over both the Start and Finish lines, and you should have less difficulty finding that Start line, after registering.

Parking.....There is ample parking in front of, and behind the Sport Complex, so there is no need to park on the main road. There is plenty of space accross the road in the industrial estate as well.

Registration....Inside the hall, there will be 2 queues....one for registered runners and one for non-registered. Considering that this is the first race of the year, the non-registered queue is likely to be very long. With the big crowd expected, it might be no harm to get there early especially if you are a non-registered runner.

Course...First a word of caution for new runners...you will need to run/jog 1 mile from the community centre back to the start line which is not too far from the Jack Lynch tunnel. The course is reasonably flat with no real hills. There are a few slight inclines but nothing worth talking about. As you can see from the map above, it really is a case of running along the main road in Little Island, a loop around an industrial estate and back the same way. One unique feature of the race is that near where the race loops around, you can see others in the race going the opposite direction...it's a bit like running a race and spectating at the same time!!

Overall...It's not exactly the most scenic of routes but this race always seems to get a good turn out. It's almost as if most people use it as their first race of the year. Last year, they got just under 400 entries and they should get something similar this year.

Extra notes...If you want to have a closer look at the course, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website. If you zoom in there and press the SATELLITE button, you will see an aerial photo of the course and you can see the Community hall with it's car park.

New possible date for the Mallow 10 mile road race....Sun 7th Feb???

As most of you know, the Mallow 10 was due to take place on the 10th of January but had to be cancelled due to the icy weather conditions. Mallow AC have now applied to the Cork AAI to hold the race on Sunday the 7th of February.

Considering that it is only one week after the Dungarvan 10 mile race, it's not exactly ideal but it's not like there is a great choice of dates to choose from. If you look at the race calendar on the Running in Munster website, you'll see that nearly every Sunday is busy with some event for the next few months. Given the choices, it's probably the best date that could be picked.

It does however clash with the Cork AAI County Road Championships which was originally scheduled for the 7th of Feb. The proposed solution is to hold the Road Championships in conjunction with the Rising Sun 4 mile road race on St.Patrick's Day.

A final decision will be made next weekend and we should know the result next week.

'Why expensive trainers could be worse than useless'...

Over the last few months, several people have commented to me that they had been reading a book called Born to Run about the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. They live in a remote part of the country and are famous for running huge distances, often barefoot or with very basic shoes.

Just a few days ago, an interesting article appeared in the online version of the Daily Telegraph debating the pros and cons of barefoot running and also mentioned that book. The writer contends that "those expensive running shoes you've been relying on may be worse than useless: they could be causing the very injuries they're supposed to prevent ". The basic argument is that most people with modern shoes tend to land on their heel and 'pound the road' whereas people running barefoot adopt a different style of running to protect the feet which results in a softer landing...i.e. no pounding.

The article goes on to say..... "When the Tarahumara aren't barefoot, they wear nothing more cushioned than thin, hard sandals fashioned from discarded tire treads and leather thongs. In place of artificial shock absorption, they rely on an ancient running technique that creates a naturally gentle landing. Unlike the vast majority of modern runners, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land lightly on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair. "

Also......."Out here in the non-Tarahumara world, where we have access to the best in sports medicine, training innovations and footwear, up to 90 per cent of all marathoners are injured every year. The Tarahumara, by contrast, remain spry and healthy deep into old age. "

Needless to say, there is an opposing opinion as well. The full article which is a bit long can be found at this LINK.

Closing date for the Dungarvan 10 race coming up...

This is just a reminder that the closing date for entries for the Dungarvan 10 is next Monday, the 18th of January. You cannot enter on the day of the race which is Sunday, the 31st of January. This has become one of the main events in the local running scene and attracts a lot of runners from Cork. They expect to get close to 1000 entries this year.

More information on the Running in Munster website.

Due to the cancellation of the Mallow 10 race, this has become in effect the 1st race of the Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series.

Results of the East Cork AC 3 km road race - Tues 12th Jan 2009

This 3k road race in Midleton went ahead in the end after all of the rain today washed away the snow and ice. By the time the race took place, most of the rain had subsided and the overall conditions were pretty good for the race. Obviously the doubt over whether it was on or not deterred some people from making the trip and this is reflected in the number of runners taking part.

East Cork AC 3Km Winter Series Race 5 12/01/10

1 James McCarthy East Cork AC 9.14

2 Roy Fahy East Cork AC 9.52

3 Denis Coughlan St Finbarrs AC 9.56

4 Alan O'Reilly East Cork AC 10.00

5 Eoin Casey Midleton AC 10.04

6 Dermot Sheehan East Cork AC 10.25

7 Conor Tierney East Cork AC 10.27

8 Denis Dunne Cork 10.32

9 Frank Hayes East Cork AC 10.36

10 Jason Nicholl St Finbarrs AC 10.45

11 Eamonn McEvoy St Finbarrs AC 10.51

12 Denis McCarthy East Cork AC 11.00

13 Ronan O'Donoghue C.I.T. 11.13

14 Owen O'Connell Midleton 11.16

15 Josh O'S-Hourihan Midleton College 11.16

16 Declan O'Connell Cloyne 11.21

17 Edmond O'Sullivan Midleton AC 11.26

18 David Murphy Midleton CBS 11.32

19 Annette Quaid Leevale AC 11.34

20 Dermot Murphy Midleton 11.36

21 Laurence Collins Mount Uniacke 11.42

22 Martin O'Reilly St Finbarrs AC 11.49

23 Ian O'Sullivan East Cork AC 11.55

24 John Cashman Midleton AC 11.56

25 Fergal Curtin Youghal AC 11.59

26 Noel Curtin Youghal AC 12.00

27 Billy O'Sullivan Midleton 12.08

28 AJ Murphy Midleton 12.09

29 Kevin O'Reilly Midleton AC 12.20

30 Jim McEvoy Midleton AC 12.31

31 Simon Thompson Midleton AC 12.39

32 John O'Riordan Rising Sun AC 12.40

33 Ted O'Leary St Catherines AC 12.43

34 Brian Healy Midleton AC 12.44

35 Nigel Sheehan Mogeely 12.48

36 Angela McEvoy St Finbarrs AC 12.48

37 Joseph McCarthy Midleton AC 12.49

38 Emmet Foley Whitegate 12.53

39 Eibhlin Cleary East Cork AC 12.56

40 Batt Kearney Leevale AC 12.58

41 Elaine Guinane Eagle AC 13.00

42 Philip O'Mahony Midleton 13.13

43 Paul O'S-Hourihan East Cork AC 13.16

44 Paul Kierans Carrigtwohill 13.18

45 John Walshe East Cork AC 13.23

46 Martin Carr Midleton 13.35

47 Padraig O'Regan Ladysbridge 13.36

48 Noreen Mackey C.I.T. 13.45

49 Yvonne Kelly Midleton AC 14.08

50 Jimmy Murray Rising Sun AC 14.10

51 Donal O'Donoghue Little Island 14.17

52 Caroline Fletcher Midleton 14.18

53 Danny McCarthy Midleton AC 14.22

54 Dermot Cashman Carrigtwohill 14.26

55 Mary O'Keeffe Midleton AC 14.34

56 Austin Murphy St Finbarrs AC 14.35

57 Ciara Coughlan Midleton AC 14.51

58 Vincent Murray Glanmire 15.04

59 Finbarr Lyons Midleton 15.18

60 Ger O'Brien Glanmire 15.27

61 Trish Murphy Midleton AC 15.30

62 Tom Cusack Midleton AC 15.45

63 Jim Curtin East Cork AC 15.56

64 Mike Dorney Midleton 15.57

65 Linda Hegarty Midleton AC 16.07

66 Harry Farmer Cloyne 16.08

67 Willie O'Mahony Youghal AC 16.15

68 Frank O'Brien Carrigtwohill BNS 16.16

69 Mary Kenneally C.I.T. 16.17

70 Margaret Beausang Midleton AC 16.20

71 Pauline Casey Midleton 17.23

72 Tom Casey Midleton 17.24

73 Joan McCarthy Midleton AC 17.57

74 Clare O'Leary Midleton AC 18.05

75 Marie McGrath Midleton AC 18.32

76 Gordon Callnan Midleton 19.14

77 Olive Hallahan Midleton AC 19.35

78 Sheila Kierans Carrigtwohill 19.41

79 Mary Toher Midleton AC 20.56

80 Conor la Mere Ballinacurra 24.43

81 Chuck la Mere Ballinacurra 24.43

Status of East Cork 3km road race - Tues 12th Jan 2009...

Only 24 hours ago, you could almost say for certain that this race would be called off but with a big thaw on the way, it's now 50:50. The problem is that there is an awful lot of ice on the footpaths that will need to be melted before the race can go ahead. Will all of the rain on Tuesday and the predicted temperatures of 6-7 deg C do the trick? Possibly not. Almost certainly with all of the melting snow/ice and the additional rain on Tuesday, there is going to be a lot of surface water on the road.

Here is the statement from East Cork AC regarding the race. Please note that they are advising non-local runners that the event may be cancelled at a late stage. Remember this in case you end up making a wasted trip.

"A decision on whether to go ahead with tomorrow nights 3 k race will be made at lunch time tomorrow (Tues). Tonight the lap is in the worst state I have ever seen it. The slush and surface water, particularly on the footpath, have frozen to an extremely dangerous level (much worse and more widespread than the way it was when the 4th leg of the series was called off). A notice will appear on the East Cork AC web site at about 2pm to update the situation.

In any event anyone (non locals) intending to travel any more than a few miles to the event would be advised to give the race a miss in case it is called off at the last minute..........Liam O'Brien.....East Cork AC"

Proposed changes to the Cork City Marathon route for 2010...

It looks as if there will be some major changes to the route of the Cork City Marathon & Relay on the 7th of June 2010. Click on the map above for a larger version...

The RED dots show the new route

The GREY dots show the old route

As you can see, the early stages are still the same....start in the city, a loop out around Blackpool, down the lower road, through the tunnel and up into Mahon. When the route gets to the end of Mahon, instead of running past Blackrock castle, it now turns right onto a public walkway right next to the river. After a big loop, this joins the old Cork to Crosshaven railway track which is now a walkway. Up and over a narrow footbridge over the South Link Road and then along a long straight walkway until you re-join the old route near Pairc Ui Chaoimh on the Marina.

The next proposed change is to get rid of the loop around the Lough. Some of you might remember that this section caused problems last year when some of the relay runners ended up taking the wrong shorter route due to poor stewarding.

And the next change gets rid of the hills out near Ballincollig. Because of the extra long loop near Mahon, the route is now able to turn right just after the Tennis Village on the Model Farm Rd and onto the Straight Road. This elimates the long drag from Inchagaggin out to Nangles Nursery which is a welcome change.

The final change is that the route now goes along the Mardyke instead of the Western Road.

It's probably too early to say that this is the final route as it is subject to change. Some additional information with photos from John Quigley is now available on the Eagle AC website.

If you would like more info on the 2010 Cork City Marathon & Relay event then click HERE.

A second look ahead to 2010...

A few days back, I put up a post outlining some of the events coming up in Cork in 2010. Now I can update some of that information.

1) I had mentioned that there was a 10 mile road race coming up in Cobh. Well, that particular race is on Sunday, the 18th of April and the organisers have a special website for it........http://www.greatisland10.com

2) A additional race that I didn't mention because I wasn't sure if it was going ahead is the brand new Dunmanway 10k. This will be on Sunday the 20th of June at 2pm........so you have plenty of time to get ready for that one ;o)

3) I also mentioned the fact that there was a new 10 mile race in Bantry coming up on the 14th of February. I hope to have some more info on this race in the next week or two.

4) Those of you who made the trip to Killarney at the end of 2009 for the Feet First 5 k series might be interested to know that there will be another series of Killarney 5k races starting soon.

5).........and finally, I have updated the Running in Ireland website which has a list of all the medium and long distance races in Ireland in 2010. It's not really a blog per se but more of a useful list with links to all of the various race websites to help people plan their year ahead.

Mallow '10' cancelled!!

It looks as if the Mallow '10' is the latest victim of the current cold snap. After examining the course today, some members of Mallow AC found it was largely ok but there were a few problem spots. With no sign of a thaw coming in the next few days, the club has decided to cancel the Mallow '10' race next Sunday. They hope to hold it sometime in the next few weeks.

With Mallow out of the picture for the moment, no doubt some of you are thinking ahead to the Dungarvan '10' on the 31st of January. West Waterford were going to have an entry desk at the Mallow race so this was an obvious way for many people to enter. Note that for the first time, the Dungarvan '10' is pre-entry only this year.

So you can either enter online or by post. The link for online entries is HERE and the link for an entry form that you can print off and post is HERE. The closing date for entries is Monday, the 18th of January.

Update on the Mallow '10' next Sunday...

With the current cold spell, no doubt some of you will be wondering if the Mallow '10' will be cancelled next Sunday or if it will go ahead? The latest info is that the course is in pretty good condition and unless the weather gets worse in the meantime, it will go ahead. A final decision will be made on Saturday afternoon so check then for the latest info.

More details on the Mallow '10' tomorrow but here is some info in the meantime. Note the new start and finish points!

Key Points for participants and spectators.

• As the numbers have grown by 300% over the past four years, the course has changed as we have been forced to avoid the town centre
• The start is to the left of the petrol station, just by Davis College. (a few hundred metres from the old start) in a mainly residential area.
• The finish is now by the roundabout bar on the main Cork/Limerick Road. While this is not ideal we have struggled to find a better option
• Runners will not be allowed run back out the course once finished
• Runners will not be allowed use headphones/music players
• Once leaving the finish area runners will be asked to use the footbridge to cross the road and return to hall

The Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series starts next Sunday, the 10th of January 2010...

The next big event on the local scene is the Mallow '10' mile road race next Sunday, the 10th of January. This is also the 1st race of 4 in the increasingly popular Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series.

This series started back in 2003 and every year it has attracted more and more entrants. The sponsor for 2010 is John Buckley Sports and there will be a special series t-shirt for anyone completing all 4 races.

The 4 races in the series are...

Mallow '10'...Sunday 10th January 2010 (12:30pm)...Online entry and entry on the day

Dungarvan '10'...Sunday 31st January 2010 (1pm)...Online entry only!! No entries on the day.

Ballycotton '10'...Sunday 21st March 2010 (1:30pm)...Entries now closed.

Kilnaboy '10' (Co.Clare)...Sunday 11th April 2010 (2pm)...Enter on the day.

More details on the series later...

Just one extra note.......If you are interested in running the Dungarvan '10' then read on!

West Waterford AC will have an entry desk in the sports hall at the Mallow '10' next Sunday.

Looking ahead to the first half of 2010...

Before we get too far into 2010, it might be an idea to have a look ahead and see what's coming up in the 1st half of this year.

As always, the big event at this time of year is the Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series. I'll have more info about this series in a day or two but enough to say that the first race next Sunday, the 10th of January is the Mallow '10'.....details on Wed.

In terms of shorter races, the Cork BHAA will be kicking off their 2010 calendar with their race in Little Island towards the end of the month.

In mid-February, there will be a brand new 10 mile road race in the scenic Mealagh Valley near Bantry in West Cork.

In March, we have the Ballycotton 10 for those of you lucky enough to get in while there are plenty of other local races on the calendar for those that didn't.

There is talk of a charity 10 mile race in Cobh sometime in the late Spring / early Summer?

Heading towards the Summer, we have a new Cork BHAA race in Macroom which is a welcome addition to the calendar. There is no shortage of races near Cork City or in the East of the county but runners in West Cork and Kerry don't have so many to choose from.

In June, we have the Cork City Marathon of course with it's increasingly popular Relay event. This year, the numbers are likely to be up again on last year.

If you can't wait until June and are prepared to travel, there is a brand new Marathon in Limerick City in May this year as well.

So that's what the first 6 months looks like and that's without even looking at the regular events on the calendar. Overall, it's going to be a busy 2010!