Results of the Clonakilty mini, Half and Full Marathon - Sun 11th Dec 2010

With the recent cold spell, there was always a question mark about whether this event would go ahead or not. The thaw just arrived in time and though there was patches of slush and ice on the roads, it was still safe enough for a road race to go ahead.

Weather conditions for the 3 races were good with a temperature of 5 deg C, cloudy and very light winds.

As an event, it really went remarkably well. There have been several events elsewhere in the country this year where things went pear shaped and lots of mistakes were made. Examples were Limerick Marathon, Galway Half-Marathon, Bogtrotters Marathon in Roscommon, Kinnity Castle in the midlands. If you take that list as a percentage of the total then you would expect that nearly half of new events will have large mistakes in them. The difficulty of organising 3 races on one day, all starting together and going well shouldn't be underestimated.

It was very obvious that a LOT of work went into this event in Clonakilty. There were loads of large signs showing the various routes and an army of marshals / stewards manned the many road junctions. Overall, it had the feel of an event that was running for several years.

Now I'm sure that there must have been a few mishaps. I heard that some of the runners at the front of the mini race may have taken a wrong turn? The directions for the Half-Marathon start could have been better.The dry fit tops at the finish could have been a bit more obvious. I'm sure that any lesson learnt from this year will go into improving the event next year.

Mini-Marathon....
This race was 5.98 miles long, They started with the Marathon runners, did a loop around the town and then out by the estuary before heading across a causeway and returning to Clonakilty.

Half-Marathon...
This race started in a slightly different location but used the same route as the Marathon and mini. Again after a loop around the town, it headed out along the estuary. One interesting feature was the out and back section going to Inchydoney. You could watch the front runners in the Half and Full coming back as you headed out. There were a few hills in it....some of them short and pretty steep but nothing that you would consider a show stopper. I know someone who ran a Half-Marathon PB so it can't have been so bad.

As many of you know, this event was going head to head with the Half-Marathon in Waterford. A lot of people from Cork had planned to do one or the other. How do they compare?
Well, having done both then I would say it depends on what you want. If getting a PB or fast time is your main concern, I'd say Waterford is faster. If price is a major issue for you, then probably Waterford. But in terms of a nice route, Clonakilty wins hands down. Running around by the estuary and around the quiet country roads of west Cork is a lot nicer than along the hard shoulder of the road between Waterford and Tramore.

It would be interesting to hear what the Half-Marathon runners thought of the Clon Half-Marathon route? Hard?

Full Marathon...
This was the race that I took part in. While it followed a lot of the Half-Marathon route, we split away around the 8 mile mark as we headed towards the coast. It was a really nice scenic route, especially down near the coast but the hills!! If you thought the Half-Marathon was hard then it was like a fun run in comparison to the Full Marathon ;o)
I don't know how many times we went up a hill only to drop down on the other side back to sea level. Up we went, down we went....it was almost like whoever designed the route has a grudge against Marathon runners! But you know what? It was great! There is a real sense of satisfaction finishing a Marathon like that.
I don't know what lunatic designed that course but I like his style :o))

I've run a good few Marathon routes in Ireland at this stage and I have to say, I'd rate the Clonakilty Marathon as one of the better ones. It may not have the buzz of Dublin or the scenery of Dingle but if you're not too concerned about times and want a good challenging course on a scenic route, I'd recommend it.

Costs......
One of the issues that some people raised before the event was the entry fee which was higher than other similar events. While the organisers can justify their own costs, I'll just give a quick run down of what you got for your entry.........Accurate course measured by the same person that measured the Cork City Marathon route.......chip timing......safe course with loads of race stewards....dry-fit running top....physio.........tea (before! and after)....sausages and some of that Clonakilty Black Pudding afterwards :o).....medal....goodie bag....vouchers which are useful if you live in the area. It's up to each individual to decide if they think that is value for money or not.

Results.........
The mini marathon results in Excel format can be found HERE

Half-Marathon.......
There were 509 finishers in the Half-Marathon. The mens race was won by Alan O'Shea in a time of 1:08:23 and the first lady home was Joyce Wolfe in a time of 1:30:32.
The results of the Half can be found in Excel format HERE

Full Marathon....
There were 201 runners in the Full Marathon and it was won by George Waugh of Rising Sun AC in an amazing time of 2:34:01. That was an incredible time considering all of the hills in it. George already has a Marathon win under his belt having won the Limerick Marathon back in May of this year and surely on a flat course, breaking 2:30 must be a possibility for him.

The ladies race was won by Valerie Glavin of Athenry AC in a time of 3:19:12. Obviously the long trip was well worth it for the Galway athlete.

The results of the Full Marathon in Excel format can be found HERE

Photos....
A slideshow of the full Marathon can be seen HERE

and of the Half-Marathon HERE

Comments....
So what did you think of the event? Which race did you take part in? Click on the comment link below and let others know what you thought of it...