So, did it make any difference? Here are the numbers for 2017...
Marathon....For the full 26.2 mile marathon, the numbers were up by just 43 extra runners. As you can see, there was no return to the peak numbers from 2010 to 2012. It looks as if the change to Sunday had no real impact on the marathon numbers.
Relay......The number of relay teams dropped by 23 this year and are more or less in line with previous years. Like the full, the change to Sunday made no difference.
Half-Marathon.....In contrast to the full and the relay, the numbers in the half were up this year. One caveat here is that the numbers were restricted in some of the previous years so you need to take that into account when looking at the half-marathon graph above. Did the change to Sunday account for the boost in numbers? Going off the evidence for the full and relay, it probably didn't. The numbers would probably have been much the same if it was held on the Bank Holiday Monday.
Looking at the chart above, I think that while most people prefer the Sunday, they would have done it anyway if it was on the Monday.
Numbers.......If we assume that there was a full team of 5 runners for each relay team then there were a total of 6801 people taking part in the Cork City Marathon last Sunday... 1153 in the full, 2333 in the half and 3315 in the relay.
Some of the relay teams obviously had less than 5 so the total numbers may well have been down around 6600-6700. That's remarkably close to the 6671 that took part in the Limerick Marathon event.
Gender Balance...In the full marathon, 23.2% of the field were women, up a tiny bit on previous years. For the half, it was 46.1% which is much in line with previous years.
Half-Marathon Flooding!!....A lot of you who ran the half-marathon may have noticed that the grass verge was pretty muddy down next to the Atlantic Pond, just after the one mile mark. There is a faulty flap valve in the Atlantic Pond at present and the footpath now floods at high tide as seen by this photo taken on Tuesday afternoon.
The half-marathon started at 10:45am on Sunday, roughly two hours after low tide which was around 9am. If the tides had been different, a new route would have had to be found.
Will it stay on a Sunday???.........Looking forward, the one question is whether the Cork City Marathon will stay on a Sunday? Most runners seem to want it. One thing to consider is that this year, the GAA Pairc Ui Chaoimh stadium is under development. What will happen when it's finished? What if there was a match in the stadium? To put things in perspective, how many people would turn up to watch say a inter county GAA match as compared to the 7000 or so involved in the marathon?
From what I understand, the current plan is to keep the event on a Sunday although long term, I wouldn't be so sure.
I think the prize money should be increased.
ReplyDeleteKeep it to the Sunday because people can recover on the Monday and it surely brings in more money to Cork having it on the Sunday?
Great marathon!
IT HAS TO STAY ON SUNDAY!please
ReplyDeleteWell, as I live outside of Ireland, I hope it stays on Sunday or it'll be my one and only time doing it. The organisation and City Council also have to consider those who spent money around town on Sunday and Sunday night as opposed to other years where people have to head home almost immediately after the race. If there is a match on, it could surely be a late afternoon/evening game at that time of year. There shouldn't be a massive clash. Either that or liaise and make sure any Cork home games take place the weekends previous to or following Marathon weekend. Every major marathon in Europe happens on Sunday. If others can do it, so can Cork. It's not THAT different!! A big thumbs up from me anyway, everything went smoothly on organisation front for the full distance.
ReplyDeleteMoving it back to the Sunday was a bad move in my opinion. Not everyone was able to go out afterwards and it also clashed with the Derry City Marathon. Monday worked fine for 10 years, but what works for other marathons doesn't necessarily work for Cork.
ReplyDeleteSunday is a much better day, irrelevant of what the numbers say. Great to have the day after off and I am sure more people stayed in the City after for socializing. If there is a match, move the match....
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting to know how many travelled from outside of Cork compared to other years. I would have thought one of the main reasons for moving it to Sunday would be to attract more visitors from outside of the City, which in turn would bring an increased financial benefit to the City in terms of money spent in hotels, bars and restaurants etc.?
ReplyDeleteWhy was there no real increase in numbers? Was it purely down to marketing and promotion (or lack thereof outside of Cork)? Or did it really not matter at the end of the day? What worries me is that the organisers (fair play to them) listened to the calls to have it on a Sunday and ended up with a lot of work on their hands planning a new route, getting the required permissions etc. I wouldn't blame them for thinking that maybe it was work they didn't need to do, and to perhaps discount future calls for change. On the other hand we'll never know what the numbers would have been if they had held it in the Monday - would it have been a lot lower than it was?
With regards to matches in Pairc Ui Caoimh, there will be absolutely no competition between 6,500 runners and 45,000 GAA fans. If it's moved back to the Monday, then we loose the advantage of having it on the Sunday. Likewise, if it gets moved to a different weekend that's not a Bank Holiday then you might as well have it on the Bank Holiday Monday. It's a bit of a head scratcher alright. Whatever happens it'll be a disaster for it's reputation if the date gets moved after people have registered (and potentially booked accommodation, made travel plans etc.) so that's something which will have to organised sooner rather than later.
I know that the British/Northern Ireland bank holiday was the weekend before the Cork Marathon. Is this always the case and if not then we could see an increase in numbers next year for this event. I was in Belfast for the Marathon in May bank holiday and eventhough they got a good turn out I didn't see too many non Northern Irish runners taking part.
ReplyDeleteNone the less do we need bigger numbers? This is the Cork Marathon after all so should be held on a day that suits the majority of the people who will turn up anyway. Keep it on Sunday I say. It has proven to work everywhere else.
With a parochial attitude like that this event will never grow. Of course we need more numbers. This event should not be just about Cork runners. We should be trying to attract runners from all over the country and beyond in an effort to show off our beautiful city and increase the already great atmosphere around this event. And also attract more money into the local economy and the BHAA with will benefit us all - both runners and non runners alike. We have to think bigger as a City in all areas to be honest. If we remain inward looking we will never succeed. We should probably follow Charlevilles lead and stick the word "International" into the title! I thought it was great that Chris Mocko was invited over this year and hopefully we'll get some of his fellow countrymen over next year. I hope to see this event getting bigger and better as the years pass and that it becomes a "must do" event like Dublin. Incidentally I noticed a lot more Dublin club singlets this year so we're attracting more "outsiders" already.
DeleteUK has bank holiday at start and end of May so depends on when the Monday falls I guess. As for Belfast, where I stayed it was all European runners. I myself am English though live in Dublin. I think race numbers were posted as I don't recall an expo like Dublin has the day before? It didn't 'feel' much bigger an event than Cork.
DeleteThought the move to Sunday was a huge success. The changes in the course made it a little harder than previous years but the Sunday running more than made up for this. We stayed around the city for a few hours afterwards and there was a great buzz. Met quite a few who were from outside the county and staying on for the night as well. Obviously it's difficult to say if more stayed around or travelled to Cork but it has the potential to grow a bit more I believe if they stick with the Sunday. I think a move back to Monday after one year would be a mistake.
ReplyDeleteCork marathon is my local marathon, i have run dublin a few times and I think cork has some way to go in matching the "event" status of dublin. Even when you register cork does not make enough effort around organizing a trade show for approx 7000 people. I like the Sunday schedule however the route for the half marathon for the first 2 miles is not suitable to cater for thousands of runners.
ReplyDeleteYour dead right. We have to think bigger. Someone somewhere will cop on before long that there's money to be made here at our expense and we'll loose this event to some commercial crowd. The National Half got subsumed into the "Rock n' Roll" event in Dublin. Money talks.
DeleteI say all this as a proud Corkonian who would like to see an event that will at least have the same reputation as Dublin (I'm not sure if we could cope with one the same size).
As for the half start - there's plenty of ideas out there as to how to fix it. But will anyone listen?
This might all sound a bit ungrateful - I am still proud of this event and very thankful to the organisers and volunteers for such a wonderful day. It's just every time I take part I can see the great potential this event has to grow.
Comment mentions Rock n' Roll. As a running them coming in wouldn't be a bad thing. Their prices are a lot lower than what Cork City Marathon were charging this year (and probably previous years). I decided not to do the half due to the crazy price.
ReplyDeleteBe great to see a Rock n' Roll in Cork. It has the ability to attract large foreign runners due to the brand. Unless Cork City Marathon drop their prices I will not support it, whatever day it is on.
Cork was a ghost town when I left on Monday at around midday. Shops shut etc, most odd for a bank holiday
ReplyDeletethere are 20,000 entrants for Dublin though. They have also moved the day of the marathon. I agree with your comment re the expo
ReplyDeleteDid the relay this year for the first time, have done the half and full twice over the previous 4 years. It is great to have an event like this in Cork. Like most I want it to grow and attract bigger numbers. Firstly any chance we could change the event to mid April, better time of year in terms of weather, distance in time to Dublin marathon.For the half they could promote for those who will do Ballycotton 10 as the next challenge. If not has to stay on a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteOn the event itself: Relay - can we look at getting splits for each leg. All it needs is mats at each changeover point and a race band (like triathlons) that is changed at each point and records the times. Half Marathon - Start it at 11:00.
Full Marathon - Start it at 08:00 with the relay starting at 08:30 (Not sure how practical this is but am a firm believer that the marathon guys are the ones who deserve all the credit, leader on the road should always be the marathon leader)
DIdn't make a lot of difference to me re Mon v Sunday to me personally, I'd lean towards the Monday & course before the changes, but not a problem either way.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there could be a 2nd day to collect the number/shirt next year for half/full. Agreed on the expo, it's a big hall, would be nice to see more in it. Perhaps a display of previous years shirts/medals/pictures? Perhaps people giving talks/advice, something to make it feel more like a big event?
Support around the course was great, my own run went badly, and was nice to have the encouragement from supporters and other runners.
having being involved in the last few years,didnt get involved this year and dont see myself being involved over the next few years,for me its not about whether its sunday/monday for me the debate should be to bring it back to april...june is just not the time of year to run a marathon?
ReplyDeleteFolks, we all have our opinions but this April thing I can't agree with. There are lots of European marathons on in April and it means training from December to March in preparation. Short days, miserable weather. Whereas the early June, I think, is great timing. Training in March, April and May. Best months of the year. I know it's kind of a personal thing but I'd try to promote the Sunday element and leave it at June. What the event needs is more and better promotion. Get to other Spring marathons and promote the event at their 'expos'. A bit more imagination on Social Media and so on. The basics are in place, it just needs some work (and I guess funding).
ReplyDeleteId totally be for April marathon much better time to prepare for the autumn marathon then, Cork is not far away from being a super marathon, simple things like better marketing, a better expo and the ability to track runners like Dublin with a few extra placemats here and there would make a difference.
ReplyDelete