It was announced today that the Great Limerick Run held every May will be the official Munster Athletics Marathon and Half-Marathon Championships for 2016 to 2018.
This is a major change from the last few years when the Charleville Half-Marathon in September was the Munster Half-Marathon Championship.
The entry fee according to the race website is €65 for the full Marathon and €50 for the Half-Marathon. The €50 for the Half is in marked contrast to the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin where club runners get a discounted price. The Munster Marathon Championships are a new development.
Another question that arises is how much is this actually worth to Munster Athletics? Will the money be funneled back into athletics? It's an important consideration as the Limerick race is a commercial event.
The Great Limerick Run takes place on Sunday the 1st of May 2016.
Did Charleville do something wrong to lose out, or is it just simply a commercial decision ?
ReplyDeletei'm surprised - it's not run by any of the clubs and is pricier than most of the club run events (half marathon at least)
ReplyDeletei thought munster athletics would look to support club run events first
also there have been problems with how it has been marshalled over the years
the first year i did the 10km as i'm from limerick and wanted to support it but it was meaurely considerably short (?400m i think)
maybe things have changed and it has gotten better......i wouldn't know....i didn't do it again after that
It was short because it's a 6 mile race and not a 10k Never was
DeleteIt's incredible really that AAI show such disregard for clubs with these decisions. They beg clubs to take on the burden of cross country championships which bring in no cash to the club. Then when it comes to something that might be worth a few quid they farm them out to commercial entities. How are these decisions made do they even ask for club input?
ReplyDeleteI truly wonder if you know how much money munster athletics lost at the cross country. The point is 33 males and 27 women only competed in kerry in this year's cross country ( a disgrace). Where are all the so called athletes who are registered with clubs yet can't run at a munster cross country. Those who might be complaining about this move by munster where we're ye for the cross country.
ReplyDeleteThis is my point exactly I do know there is no money in cross country however clubs are begged to host them. But when it comes to an event that can generate a bit of income clubs are not even consulted. As a club officer for a munster club I can assure you there was no contact with us about hosting this competition but we had plenty contact about taking on cross country.
DeleteI did a munster masters xc in cappawhite and it had over 100 men so good numbers I think. If the half and full marathon has non club non competitive runners arriving early and you are running for a club and find yourself behind a few 100 walkers it's not good. Bottle necks all over the place.
ReplyDeleteI have ran the Marathon 3 times .. each one was great. no complaints.. I have found the organizers great and I'm sure a good deal was agreed with munster athletics.. the half marathon is around the city will attract more runners with a much better atmosphere than charleaville ( which I have also ran and wouldn't rate) happy Christmas...
ReplyDeleteNot really surprised by this move. It was badly managed by Charleville half Marathon. When you were signing up on the website it wasn’t stated clearly about the Munster Half. Also the prize giving afterwards was really badly organized. It’s sad to see it moved to a commercial event but it’s the sign of the times.
ReplyDeleteI think the vast majority of runners are not affected by this. Obviously non-club runners are not affected at all and for most club runners, only the top 3 finishers count I think? So that's a tiny fraction of the membership of any AAI club anyway.
ReplyDeleteWith reference to the top 3 finishers, there are also the M40 and F40 masters and the various teams...senior and masters.
ReplyDeletehttp://munsterrunning.blogspot.com/2015/12/kerryresults-of-ger-daly-fundraiser-5k.html
Thanks for that John. Nevertheless, I guess that if you're not in the Top 3 in your category, then you're efforts (representing your club) don't count. Obviously it's up to each runner to try and get into that Top 3 in your club. My point is that a lot of runners don't get a chance to officially score points for their club. It's just a pity it can't be a top 5 or 6 etc etc (especially if every club there had at least 5 or 6 runners there....). This doesn't have to be done for every type of race, but certainly for the bigger ones like this, you'd expect each club to have quite a lot of runners at it, so if this was done even just once a year I think it would be great.
ReplyDeleteCan someone from munster council come out and tell me how much of the entry fee actually goes to munster athletics. ....I would say very little. Remember st. Finbarrs had this competition for years in cork with little support from munster officals.....this smells of money money money for a commercial outfit just like the national half....I will never support a money making athletics commercial event again. .......I'm from Kerry and we have the same issues with run the kingdom......money making outfit not doing anything for development of athletics in the county.
ReplyDeleteThe first year it actually was a 10km. I know this for a fact as I and 3 others ran 10km "pbs" there which of course were false.
ReplyDeleteThey had a 10km, half marathon and marathon.
The following year they changed it to 6 mile