This year's Echo Women's Mini-Marathon in Cork was won by Sinéad O'Connor, just ahead of her team mate Lizzie Lee who chased her all the way to the finish line.
2 Lizzie LEE
3 Hannah STEEDS
4 Fiona SANTRY
5 Lisa HEGARTY
Full results HERE
Photos (Updated 19th Sept 1pm)...
1) There are some photos on the Running in Cork Facebook page...
a) A few start line photos b) Finish - 20:34 (1st) to 30:30 c) Finish - 30:30 to 33:50 d) Finish - 33:50 to 37:39
2) Joe Murphy has some great photos again... Part 1 ... Part 2 ... Part 3 ...
3) RedFM have a few snaps HERE
4) Mick Dooley has some great photos... Start Line ... Post Race
Huge Drop in Numbers... One notable feature of this year's mini-marathon was the large drop in numbers. In 2019, there were 6118 finishers, in 2022, it was 2708... a huge drop of 56%.
Before the event started, the person on the PA system was giving the excuse that the numbers were capped due to Covid restrictions and yet, they were still taking entries in Goldbergs pub before the event started which makes a nonsense of that excuse.
Why the huge drop in numbers? It's likely that the increased entry fee was a major factor.
Traditionally, the entry fee for the Echo mini-marathon has been pretty modest and the participants then raise huge amounts of money for local charities in the way of sponsorship.
The Echo mini-marathon is a for profit event and none of the entry fee goes to charity.
With chip timing and a cheap medal from China, the net cost per individual for this race is probably in the region of €7. If the entry fee was €10, the organisers would make a profit. €15 would result in a really good profit.
This year, the organisers hiked the entry fee up to €20 to gouge as much money out of the participants and to make as much money as possible.
Nobody can blame the weather for this one, just the greed of the organisers.
This seems a bit harsh. I have absolutely no connection to the organisers but you mention chip timing and a cheap medal, which you could say about most races. What about road closure? I've often heard that mentioned as a cost. (Just seen that the race is only 6kms, yeah 20 sounds a bit steep alright. Why these in-between distances? 6kms means little to anyone)
ReplyDeleteYou’re echoing every word I said to my husband when he collected me after the race. Saying in the same sentence that covid was the cause of the low numbers yet delaying the race by 5minutes to allow the late registered time to get to the start!
ReplyDeleteCould It Be Anything To Do With The Very High Cost Of Insurance For Holding These Events John?
ReplyDeleteGood to see people getting some sense about the high entry fees for some races. Parkrun has 3 superb 5K events in Cork City every single week, lets support these 1st.
ReplyDelete