The final race in the Grant Thornton 5k Series was held in Dublin on Tues 4th Oct 2022 with 2,560 crossing the finish line, a drop of about 40% on the numbers for the last edition in 2019.
This is a commercial race organised by Athletics Ireland with the aim of raising funds and the Dublin event is by far the biggest money spinner. The Cork and Galway 5k events are much smaller with 384 (down 58%) and 291 (up 2%) respectively.
Two and a half thousand runners in a race in Dublin is still a good turnout and will still generate money for the association, it's just a huge drop on previous years.
Why this is important is that it means the revenue source from the new €2 charge on non-club runners at road races is even more important (See previous post). Should a club or county board try to overturn the new €2 charge at a future Athletics Ireland congress, delegates will be reminded that there is little other option in light of falling revenue from events like the Grant Thornton series. It now looks even more likely that €2 fee is there for good regardless of whether the clubs like it or not.
Race marketing and hype... I noticed a few days ago that Athletics Ireland Facebook feed was trying to get people to enter the race with this notice...
My first thought was really? Race numbers are generally down and they're saying that the entries are extended due to 'huge demand'?
Sometimes there is actually huge demand and they decide to keep entries open. Sometimes what the race organiser means is that the numbers are way down and they have to extend the closing date to try and get more people in.
A good example of don't believe everything a race organiser says.
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