There were about 900 runners in this Half-Marathon in West Cork between the towns of Glengarriff and Bantry. That's an impressive entry considering the recent controversy with the Cork AAI asking clubs not to support the event and the fact that there were 2 other major events elsewhere on the same day in the form of The Great Limerick Run Half and Full Marathon and the Wexford Half-Marathon.
So did you take part? What did you think of it? Was the entry fee worth it? Was it well organised?
Click on the Comment link below
Results......
The full results are now available in Excel format HERE
Photos......
A gallery of 274 photos by Joe Murphy of Eagle AC HERE
8 comments:
I took part, my second year.
It is definitely a rip off but I will probably run again next year.
It is a great scenic run with most of the hardship out of the way early on. Nice t-shirt this year compared to last years rag. Food was better last year at the finish though.
Any one wanting to run this race should enter early at the cheaper price.
It is definitely a rip off but I will probably run again next year ..... ???
Positives:
Tough, but fair course, very scenic for first half of race.
Bus-transfer to Glengarriff hassle free.
Nice t-shirt
Lots of water
Great atmosphere around Bantry on day before race.
Sports Massage at end of race is nice touch.
Negatives:
Its a very strung out race and even though it starts at 9am, for most part you run on a road thats not fully closed off
Move to first water station on to a flatter section, trying to take on water on the toughest part of the course is prob not the best idea?
Get an AAI permit, would attract higher quality field, as clubs may "release" athletes.
Registration on sat evening (collection of chip) was a bit of a joke, seemed very disorganised, still putting chips into envelopes when we got there.
Goodie bag poor, there's races held by Waterford clubs where for 8euro you get 5x more bang for your buck as they say+chip timing!
the big one, baggage collection area at end of race was a complete disaster, everybody just decided to go in and get there own bags, as the crowd running it were clueless!
I am amazed by the continued negativity around this event. For those preparing for cork this is a great event. This is my fourth year taking part, and was delighted with PB, and getting into Top 20 (probably was more to do with lack of top athletes). I must have counted over 20 buses on the morning taking runners to start line.
Is it cheap no, but for €50 I stayed of the drink Friday/Saturday, was first in the Japanese hot tub, followed by 20 min massage. We collected quality running top. Met my 2 young kids after the event where there was some street entertainment. All in all excellent and I will be back.
Bag collection area at the end was rubbish. Making runners stand in line for 15 minutes having completed a race just to collect their tracksuit is all wrong.
No water station at the start line for runners to pre-hydrate was an omission as well.
People at the water stations throughout were good & helpful.
Nice weather for running!
Second year taking part, must say I really enjoyed the Japanese Hot Tubs at finish line, great friendly competitors this year at least they spoke, Bantry was great fun with huge crowds staying on after the run, Love the T-shirts & medals this year they were great, I think people liked them given the amount out that night with them on!! I agree with water stations, the first one is a disaster on a hill, would love to see more upbeat music at the start - mid way & again at the finish line.. would help us slow pacers.. I think the €50 is steep but there was also fab pasta the night before in the hotel if you were down to enjoy it ...think a later start @11.00 would suit more spectators
I also ran this year.
Yes, it does appear to be expensive.
Most of this race was very professionally organized.
There were plenty of road signs, traffic marhalls in hi-vis vests. etc.
This year, people were told to "run on the left" as soon as they had returned through Glengarriff.
Every mile was marked clearly.
There was a chip point just after 5 miles, not quite half-way.
There was one wide sweep to the right, at which last year everybody seem to drift across the road.
This year, there were several marshals, and a traffic barrier (just one!) to keep people on the left side. This may increase your time slightly?
I have to agree with Comment #3, that the baggage drop-off and collection were a problem area.
Just like last year, you had to drop off your bag into a bus, but this time the bus was parked facing the other way, almost up against a wall.
At the end of the race, there was a queue directly from the finish line to the collection point, which was a much smaller marquee than 2009.
Nobody seemed to be in charge. And some runners had put on the teeshirt in the goody bag, making it hard to distinguish runners from organizers.
I was in the queue for 5 minutes, before I gave up, and went back to my car, and came back later.
It would be better to have a long tent, similar to the one where you pick-up your number just before the race in Glengarriff, with a table, and assistants who will retrieve the bag, not the runners.
Otherwise, just tog out in Bantry, before you get on the buses, and just bring a disposal bottle of water with you to Glengarriff, and avoid all the hassle.
The road was not closed to traffic.
It's very difficult to close roads, unless there's huge numbers taking part, or it's the Olympics, etc. We depend on the goodwill of the people living in the area, and closing the roads may be asking too much. For most of the course, this was not a problem. However the last 200m, was a real squeeze. More effort should be make there to stop people parking on that side of the square ???
The finish line is virtually outside the local Fire Station.
twas my first race and i entered before reading the discussion on the race here prior. i'm glad i did it though because it sets me up for the summer of stuff nicely, as a novice runner. bag collection was a complete joke, idiotic, and nearly spoiled my day completely to be honest. learned my lesson though-don't get involved. all i wanted was water at the end and not more rubbish. baths and massages are all gimmicks that most people have no time to queue endlessly for but all pay for. transfers were good. water elves were great. traffic was a worry at times but in fairness to motorists they were very patient with people running pretty much in the centre of the road all along. overall I think it went well and i enjoyed it and thanks to all the proper runners for not turning up which meant people like me climbed the ranks!! ha!
Martin McCarthy
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