The 2022 Athletics Ireland National Masters Cross Country Championships were held in Castlelyons last Sunday the 13th of February. Someone suggested that this was the reason the numbers at the Cork BHAA race were down so I had a look at the numbers.
The 2019 Championships were held in Dundalk, the 2020 Championships were held in Wicklow in February before the pandemic kicked off and this year was in Castlelyons in Cork.
As can be seen from the chart above, the numbers were down this year but not excessively so. It's likely that the further the championships move away from the greater Dublin area then the numbers are always likely to drop.
The chart above shows the clubs and counties as shown in the results.
To make up a team, four club members need to finish. For an all-Ireland competition, the number of clubs able to actually field a team is surprising small.
To make up a county team, six men or four women are required. As can be seen from the graphic, just four counties were able to field an O35 men's team which makes it pretty much uncompetitive.
For an athletics organization where 83% of the adult membership is aged 35 and over, that's a very low number. It seems as if a small number of counties have any interest in cross country events.
For example, it's not unreasonable to expect the host county and all of the nearby counties to field a county team for what is a national championships.
For the men's O35 team event, there was a team from Cork and Limerick but none from Kerry, Clare, Tipperary or Waterford.
For the women's O35 team event, there was a team from Cork, Clare and Tipperary but none from Kerry or Waterford.
As for the drop in the BHAA numbers at Little Island, it's likely the cross country race had some impact but it wouldn't have been responsible for all of it. Just like all those other counties, the vast majority of runners in Cork have little or no interest in cross country events.
The results of the cross country championships can be viewed on the MyRunResults website.