After several years of decline, it looks as if it's the end of the road for the Tralee Marathon in Co.Kerry. Usually held around St.Patrick's Day in March, the full marathon had just 139 finishers this year.
The first year of the Tralee Marathon was back in 2013 and at the time, there was a lot of excitement with runners in Kerry opting to do a marathon in their home county. Over time however, several other marathons and half-marathons started up and the numbers gradually declined.
As can be seen from the graph above, the full has been in decline since the inaugural event and it hit its lowest point in 2018. Once the numbers get below a certain level, it's hard to justify a full marathon event.
The event is now being rebranded as the Tralee Harriers Half-Marathon and 10k going forward.
From the organisers..."With declining numbers over the last few years we have taken the decision of not running a full marathon but we will have a 1/2 marathon and 10km on Saturday 16th March 2019"
Addendum : It looks as if there is another marathon in Tralee on the 20th of April and it is a stand alone event. Despite its name, it looks like a completely different event to the one that is cancelled. It is also on the same day as two other half-marathons in Kerry so it will probably be a low key marathon like some of the MCI events.
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