For this weeks online jigsaw, we have a photo from the Cheetah Run 5k at Fota Wildlife Park.
You can find the 204-piece jigsaw HERE
Welcome to the Running in Cork blog, home of the Cork running community. This is the largest website in Cork & Munster for news on road races and general running news. Included are a current race calendar, race previews, photos, results as well as some local, national and international news items.
For this weeks online jigsaw, we have a photo from the Cheetah Run 5k at Fota Wildlife Park.
You can find the 204-piece jigsaw HERE
A total of 712 runners turned out for this year's Cheetah Run 5k race in Fota Wildlife Park on what turned out to be a cool and windy evening in May.
Top 3 men & women...
Full results HERE
Photos to follow...
1) Mick Dooley has some pre-race photos HERE and some post race photos HERE
2) Joe Murphy has a large gallery HERE
3) Derek Costello as always has loads of photos...
pre start https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQLkG
start https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQLdE
3km part 1 https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQKmy
3 km part 2 https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQLuz
3km part 3 https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQMDH
3 km part 4 https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzQLyT
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First man - Alan O'Shea of Bantry AC |
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Top women (L-R) Carol Finn 1st, Sharon Rynne 4th, Michelle Kenny 2nd & Mary Sweeney 1st F60 |
Chip timing results HERE
Cork BHAA results with categories HERE
Photos...1) Joe Murphy has a gallery HERE
2) Some pre-race photos from Mick Dooley HERE
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First 3 men (L-R)... Shane Collins 3rd, Niall Shanahan 1st & Mark Walsh 2nd - Photo by Mick Dooley |
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First woman - Sinead O'Connor. Photo by Mick Dooley |
Website... https://johnbuckleysports.com/
** Where have all the runners gone? **
For this weeks jigsaw, we have a photo that I took with Mick Dooley's phone at the Glen River 5k parkrun last weekend.
You can find the 204-piece online jigsaw HERE
There are six to choose from with distances ranging from 5k to 10k.
The entry fee for each race is €10.
More info HERE
Top 3 men & women...
Full results HERE
Photos...
1) There is a nice gallery of photos from Dave O'Brien Photography HERE
Final results below (Updated 17th May 2022)
A few weeks ago, the Streets of Kilkenny 5k attracted a huge crowd including a lot of runners from Cork... see previous post.
The organisers Kilkenny Harriers AC have announced that the course was found to be short.
While it's probably a disappointment to some, it was still a race. The winners still finished first, the category winners still got placed first in their category, it's just that times for everyone were faster than they should have been.
Some people like to give the impression that course measurement is some sort of advanced science and all the courses with Athletics Ireland permits are exact. They're not.
Course measurers do a training course that lasts a few hours and they are shown the basics on how to measure a race course. What no-one will tell you is that each course measurer will come up with slightly different values for the length of a course. The hope is that is that they would all be close but it's certainly not exact.
The general principle is that a course should be slightly too long but it should never be too short. That's why a 5k course is never 5k. If it's slightly too long then everyone can be sure they ran at least 5k.
I don't know who measured the Kilkenny course but this only came to light because there were potentially new national distance records. I suspect that there are a lot of other courses which if audited would be found to be short as well.
Some good news! The 5k parkun in Tramore Valley Park in Cork City will be restarting in 2022.
This 5k parkrun started back in September of 2015 and just 15 events were held there. The final one in January of 2016 attracted a huge field of 533 runners thanks to the hype from Operation Transformation.
This in effect was the straw that broke the camels back as the park wasn't able to handle those numbers. The parkrun itself was fine but it was the sheer volume of cars that was the problem. With people unable to drive into the park, there were people running across the South Link Road to gain access and the City Council pulled the plug on safety grounds.
Now in 2022, things are different.
1) There are now 5k parkruns in the Glen and in Ballincollig which weren't there back in 2016. That should help keep the numbers down.
2) The City Council have put in new pedestrian entrances from Douglas and from the Half-Moon Lane which will allow easier access.
What's next??? ...This is essentially a new 5k parkrun as previous team of volunteers have moved on to other things.
A new team of volunteers will have to be put together and they'll probably have to get trained up at other parkrun events. All of this will take time.
I suspect it may well be the end of the Summer by the time it gets going but we'll have to wait and see. The main thing is that it is restarting.
If you want to help out with getting this event restarted then send an email to tramorevalley AT parkrun DOT com
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(L-R) Michelle Kenny 3rd, Sinead O'Connor 1st & Jessica Coyne 2nd |
Full results HERE
Photos...
1) Mick Dooley has a gallery of 80 photos HERE ... and 60 HERE
The Cork BHAA write... "The Pfizer 6 mile race has been cancelled for 2022 due to Covid concerns. We hope to have this race back on our calendar next year."
This follows on from the BHAA UCC 10k which was also cancelled a few weeks ago.
Hopefully both races will be back in 2023 although the construction work for the new N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway should be in full swing by this time next year.
This new road goes right through the middle of the Pfizers 6-mile course so that may cause its own problems.
** Musing, thinking or just being daft ** 🌤
Lots of people are running for various reasons, running for fun, friendship, headspace, social scene, health issues, just to get out of the house. Covid upset many of us but time to regain our roads.
There is also the very competitive section who train hard, race hard and fair play to them.
This is all fantastic but it does bring it share of problems. Why don’t we always get what we think we are capable of.
* Unrealistic expectations
You cannot take up running or return after a long break and set the bar too high. Running a Marathon after a few months is a recipe for disaster.
Injuries, illness from fatigue, mental stress and taking too much out of the body will lead to loss of form and maybe stop running altogether.
By the same token you cannot be competing in shorter races at the front of the field in a few months.
Most people up front have given years of planning and good coaching to get there.
The modern society thinks we can do anything, achieve anything in a short period of time. Sadly running does not conform to this. Be patient
* Improving too much, too soon and ending up injured.
With enthusiasm, energy and lots of training we can improve from a low base fairly quickly. All very good but it will come at a price on the Physio couch as our bodies (legs) cannot adapt quickly enough to match our goals.
Only by careful steady planning, slow improvement in pace and distance can we become runners without a litany of injuries.
You can cheat this get injured, come back, improve again, get injured again – or else – take it nice and easy, improve and increase slowly and you will still be in the same place in 3 years’ time with less Physios and having enjoyed it a lot more.
* Constant chasing PB’s
We all hear after a race. Did you get a PB? This is destroying some races and enjoyment from it.
People are avoiding hilly races as no PB, they won’t run unless feeling a 100% as no PB, they won’t use shorter races as a tempo guideline for form for another race down the road in case their friends think that is the best they have. Mad stuff
Run every race whatever way you want. You paid the entry fee, do what you like.
If it is hilly you won’t PB so promise to return next year to same course and beat that time then.
Better to finish with a smile for the camera, rather than kill yourself and have the horrible pic all over the internet. 📸📷
* I will be in trouble for next 2 but will say it anyway
1. Couch to 5K in 6 weeks is dangerous. You cannot be inactive for years and get to 5K in 6 weeks without problems. Couch to 5K in however long it takes is the answer.
2. A Marathon needs a Year of steady training to build a base and the 6 months to fine tune the Marathon side. If you are running with a few Years then you have the base.
Fine if you want to walk / jog or take part in some challenge, but if you want to do it, enjoy it and not get injured or shattered then take your time and build to it.
* Think why you started running and are you still on that path?
Yes it is good to push it a bit. Get your times down, run your Marathon but please do it in a way that is safe, enjoyable, and sustainable and don’t lose the love of running and have to drag yourself out the door. Will you still be running in 30years? 👍🕺
If it was to just run, lose a bit of weight and have some fun then don’t be losing sight of that.
Be grateful for the Health to run. YOU ARE LUCKY.
Drive on, don’t despair, “nil desperandum” and don’t lose enjoyment.
#PWR #keeponrunning
For this weeks jigsaw, we have a group of runners in the 2022 Midleton 5-mile road race which was held on Thursday 5th of May.
Photo by Derek Costello. You can find the 216-piece online jigsaw HERE
Top 5 men & women...
Full results HERE
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First 3 men (L-R) Vivian Foley 3rd, Michael Harty 1st & Mark Walsh 2nd |
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First 3 women (L-R) Rosaleen MacKeown 2nd, Breeda Gaffney 1st & Carmel Crowley 3rd |
Photos...
1) Mick Dooley has two galleries... Start Line ... and Finish
3) Joe Murphy has a large gallery HERE
See the message below from the Sanctuary Runners who are looking for people to run for them in the 2022 Cork City Marathon, Half-Marathon & Relay...
For this year's Cork City Marathon we're planning on having over 1,000 Sanctuary Runners registered, creating the most diverse and biggest Marathon team ever!
We're a solidarity through sports initiative that brings asylum seekers, refugees and the wider Irish public together as part of one running team. This year will be even more important to us, in light of the emerging refugee crisis from Ukraine.
We are looking for runners/walkers/joggers who would be interested in running a leg of the relay with us. Or the half or maybe even the full marathon!
We hope to create a strong blue wave of solidarity during the marathon - anyone running with us on the day will receive a free running top.
This is not a fundraiser - our initiative is about solidarity rather than charity.
The link below will lead directly to our Registration Guide: https://linktr.ee/TheSanctuaryRunners
We also have a dedicated email address for any questions regarding the marathon: srcorkcitymarathon2022@gmail.com.
Anyone already registered for the marathon just needs to log back into the Marathon registration page on Eventmaster and select ‘Sanctuary Runners’ in the club dropdown menu. Then contact the email address above for their free running top.
The big running event last weekend was of course the Great Limerick Run with thousands taking part.
In the 6 mile race which had around 3200 participants, Jessica Coyne of Leevale AC in Cork was the first woman home in a time of 35m 20s.
This charity event is on Sunday the 19th of June 2022 at 10am and I think it might be of interest to a lot of runners and walkers in the Cork area. .
The entry fee is €10. Entry link and info HERE
First off, this is not a race. This is a charity event where participants run or walk the 21kms from Haulbowline to Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork City. This is pretty much the same as doing a half-marathon.
What caught my interest with this event is that it's different. There a lot of runners who have zero interest in running races and this is a non-competitive run from Haulbowline to Cork City.
It would also make a nice excuse for a club or group to do a training run with a difference.
The route is shown above.
Entry fee... This is €10 but you can always contribute more.
The organisers write... "To support our work, we are asking all those that join us for Challenge 21 to aim to raise €21 from 21 people before walking the 21 km. Of course, we would be delighted with any funds raised, but it is always good to have a goal in mind 🙂"
For more info, go to https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/challenge-21-tickets-239909424547
As this is a linear run/walk going from point A to point B, you'll probably have to arrange your own travel arrangements.
** May Bank Holiday 2022**
Year is flying by and sorry I didn’t post with a while. Like so many others in the last 2 years I eventually tested positive and had to rest and isolate for a little while.It wasn’t pleasant but I’m glad my general health and fitness was good beforehand as it definitely made a difference.
There was some lingering tiredness to deal with but I think that is nearly all behind me at this stage. I am back doing a few miles and I find there is still some buzz missing but it is improving.
It was such a huge part of our lives for the last 2 years but some sense of normality seems to be finally taking hold.
Races, Matches, Concerts and many more events that we were deprived of are now back taking place. Ed Sheeran conquered Cork. Limerick and Belfast Marathons this weekend and a full fixture of great hurling matches.
So it is time to take your place again in the running world at training and races. Many have slipped and if that is you then you are not alone.
May we never go through a time like it again, so try to get back to where we once were. I am firmly convinced that my running fitness has helped me mentally and physically for the last 2 years. I am not elite just an ordinary runner but our fitness levels are higher than general population. I think most runners will feel the same.
We were used to digging deep, we had good running buddies that helped us through the worst of it.
I hope to get back with some decent posts and inspiration in the future and many thanks for all your kind messages.
Thoughts..
Insanity is brilliant as reality can sometimes be boring. 🤣
I was lucky that my isolation and sickness period finished just in time for a foreign holiday we had planned..
No sarcastic comments please…!! I needed a break. 😍⛱⛱
#pwr