Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: May 2020

Thursday, May 28, 2020

2020 Cork City Marathon Cancelled...



The organisers of the Cork City Marathon have just announced that the event will NOT be held this year. The rescheduled event had been planned for early September.

Anyone who had already entered will have their entry deferred until June 2021 with the option of a refund if they so wish.

This news doesn't come as any great suprise. As indicated by a recent poll, the vast majority of runners in Cork didn't expect the event to go ahead anyway.

Parkrun Ireland say there will be no events during June 2020


It should probably come as no great suprise that the parkrun organisation have announced that there will be no 5k parkruns anywhere in the world during the month of June 2020.

Statement from Parkrun Ireland here... https://blog.parkrun.com/ie/2020/05/26/covid-19-coronavirus-update-26-may-2020/

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

2020 Dublin Marathon Cancelled...


The organisers of the Dublin Marathon have announced that the 2020 event will NOT be held.

Anyone who has an entry will have it deferred to 2021. Alternatively, a refund can be obtained.

In a statement, race director Jim Aughney said: “We know this is extremely disappointing for all runners, especially those who secured marathon entries. We made the difficult decision in the best interest of the health and wellbeing of all those involved in making our events such a success from runners, supporters, volunteers, sponsors, to suppliers. We explored many alternatives for running the events safely but ultimately none were viable.”

View full statement HERE

Friday, May 15, 2020

Notice: Glen River Virtual 5k parkrun - Sat 16th May 2020


The organisers of the Glen River 5k parkrun are organising a virtual parkrun every Saturday!

Just run a 5k on your own on Saturday the 16th of May 2020 and upload your time to this website before 5pm the same day.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Results of the Poll - Will the 2020 Cork City Marathon go ahead in September?

Thanks to the 170 or so of you that took the time to vote on the online poll. There were two reasons for conducting the poll...

1) It gives an overview of what the general running community think about the future race situation as opposed to the opinion of an individual.

2) There is a concept called the 'wisdom of the crowd'. If you ask enough people a question, the answer you get can be remarkably accurate.

The poll question was... Do you think the 2020 Cork City Marathon will go ahead in September?

Now the results!...

52% said definitely not.
36% said probably not.
7% said maybe.
5% said probably will.
0% said definitely will.

Even though it's easy to be wise after the event and say that the results are as expected, I would have thought more people might have opted for the middle 'maybe' option.

Considering that 88% of people think the Cork City Marathon won't go ahead then it's very likely that it will be cancelled. It's hard to imagine that many people entering with those figures.

I would think the poll also suggests that we are very unlikely to see any type of the usual road race in 2020.

I saw that one politician say yesterday that 'social distancing' will be the new norm for the next 18-14 months. We probably have a long way to go before the running scene is back to normal.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Guest Post: CARRIGALINE HALF-MARATHON OF 1984 ...by John Walshe

CARRIGALINE HALF-MARATHON OF 1984 (John Walshe)

During the first running boom of the early 1980s, races over the half-marathon distance and even longer were fashionable. After falling out of popularity in the ‘90s, it is only since the noughties that half-marathons have returned to the fixture list, many of course now held in conjunction with events over the full distance.  

For a couple of years in the mid-1980s the Carrigaline People’s Half-Marathon took place around the Ballygarvan and Five-Mile-Bridge areas. As the attached report and results from Marathon Magazine of the time show, the 1984 event on April 1st attracted a good turnout of around 240 with the race up front featuring two Corkmen who were then at the peak of their powers.

Tony O’Leary of Leevale was the impressive winner, his time of 66:05 giving him a clear advantage of one minute and 21 seconds over Liam O’Brien from Midleton. O’Leary had just returned from New Jersey where the previous week he had had been the sixth scorer on the Irish team who had finished a fine 10th at the World Cross-Country.


O’Leary had gained that Irish representation with a fifth placing at the BLE senior C-C held at Kilmacow on February 26th where Liam O’Brien had finished 12th, 40 seconds in arrears of the Leevale man. But the most significant indication of O’Leary’s form came in between those two races when he turned the tables on O’Brien at the Ballycotton ‘10’ on March 11th, his winning time of 48:22 giving him the title by 16 seconds.

O’Brien’s main ambitions for the year undoubtedly lay on the track and running a half-marathon at the start of the season may not fit the textbook approach. But then that was nothing unusual for the Midleton teacher. The attraction of the first prize of a ‘miniature’ television might have had something to do with his appearance and, as events proved, it certainly didn’t do him any harm.

Over two months later, at the AAA championships held at Crystal Palace, O’Brien established an Irish record of 8:27.24 for the 3000m steeplechase – it still ranks him number two on the Irish all-time list. This qualified him for that year’s Olympics in Los Angeles where he reached the semi-final on the biggest stage of all.

Donie Walsh took third spot at Carrigaline and it marked a busy four weeks for the Leevale man. After a below-par 13th at Ballycotton (despite running 50:43), Walsh finished second to his brother Michael a week later at the Friends of the Irish Wheelchair Association Cork Half-Marathon. He then followed that up on March 25th with another runner-spot at the Cork-Cobh 15 miles behind Tony Ryan from Dungarvan.

The women’s winner at Carrigaline was Catherine Hourihan of St Finbarr’s in a time of 80:49. Catherine had finished third at Ballycotton (58:47) and over the longer distance had well over a minute to spare over Catherine Hennessy from Kilkenny with Mary Sweeney (then of Youghal) in third ahead of her future St Finbarr’s club-mate Marion Lyons.

Incidentally, equal first prizes for men and women had yet to become the norm as the female winner received a bicycle compared to the men’s ‘miniature’ television set!

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Poll: Will the 2020 Cork City Marathon go ahead in September???

As the country comes very gradually out of lock down due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it looks as if we might have to get used to 'social distancing' for some time yet.

The Cork City Marathon which was originally due to take place at the end of May 2020 has been postponed until the 6th of September.

Knowing what you know now in the middle of May, how likely do you think it will go ahead in September?

Take part in the online poll HERE

Tuesday, May 05, 2020

Carrigaline Road Runners launch virtual runs

Now that the limit for personal exercise has been extended from 2kms to 5kms radius from home, people should have a lot more options in terms of routes. As outlined in a previous post, the Cork City Marathon route would almost fit inside a circle with a 5km radius. If you examine most of your own running routes, you'll probably find that you never get further than 5kms from home anyway as the crow flies.


Carrigaline Road Runners are encouraging people to take part in a virtual run once a week. The distance is up to you.

If you want to post your runs then go to their Facebook page.

Friday, May 01, 2020

COVID-19: 2km limit for exercise from home extended to 5kms


The Government has just announced that the limit from home for personal exercise will be extended from 2kms to 5kms on Tuesday the 5th of May.

To see your limit, go to this website and select 5kms... https://2kmfromhome.com/

Going from 2kms to 5kms may not sound like much but it's a major change. A 2km radius covers an area of almost 13 square kms. A 5km radius covers an area of almost 79 square kms.

And of course within that 79 square km area, there are going to be a lot more roads and paths to choose from. The map above shows a 5km limit based on Patrick's Street in Cork City. As you can see, it covers a large area.

I checked my own 5km limit and practically all of my usual short and medium running routes fit inside the 5km radius.

What next??... Well, it looks as if the 'social distancing' of 2-metres apart is going to be with us for a long while to come. With the removal of the 2km limit, there are likely to be plenty of 'virtual runs' starting up as many charities will have seen their fundraising dry up with the lockdown.

As I come across them, I'll start putting them up on the race calendar.

Update: Just to illustrate just how much can be done within a 5km radius, the map below shows that the 26.2 mile Cork City Marathon almost fits completely within the 5km limit.


There are plenty of options there if people take the time to explore new routes.

The Marina in Cork City will be closed to traffic for the next 3 months


With the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, there is a need for more public space for pedestrians, runners and cyclists to be able to exercise properly and keep the required 2-metres 'social distance' from each other.

It has now been announced that the Marina in Cork City will be closed to traffic for the 3 months.