Three Half-Marathons in Kerry last weekend - 23rd & 24th Oct 2021

On the October Bank Holiday weekend, there were no fewer than THREE half-marathons in Co Kerry which seems a bit crazy. It's a bit like waiting for a bus and then three come along at the same time.

Brandon Bay: The largest event in terms of overall numbers was the Brandon Bay Half-Marathon, 10k & 5k on the 23rd of October. The numbers in the half-marathon were pretty modest with 151 taking part but there were 232 in the 10k and 181 in the 5k which brought the total number of finishers up to 564 which is really good for a running event in Kerry. Results HERE

Considering that the Brandon Bay event was on a beach out on the Dingle peninsula, a lot of people may have used it as part of a weekend away so it probably made sense to have it on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Tralee: The second largest event was the Tralee Half-Marathon on Sunday the 24th of October. This had 199 finishers which is modest enough for a half-marathon. As of how many would they have got if it wasn't on the same weekend as Brandon Bay??? Who knows. Results HERE

Valentia Island: The third event was on Valentia Island on the south-west of Kerry and it seems to have been the one that got squeezed out. There were just 57 finishers in the half-marathon which would have meant there were huge gaps in the field with people running on their own for much of the race. The associated 10k fared even worse with just 26 finishers giving a combined total of 83 participants. Results HERE

Valentia Island is a stunning spot for a race albeit a little hilly. It's not hard to imagine them getting much bigger numbers if they could pick a better weekend.