Cork BHAA calendar for 2024 announced

The Cork BHAA have released their provisional calendar for 2024 and there are 19 events listed. They compares to 17 events in 2023 and 14 events in 2022.

Here are a few of the things that I've noticed...

1) New Races... The two new races are the Amazon 5k in the Tramore Valley Park in late March and the Thermo Fisher 5k in Currabinny at the end of July.

2) UCC 10k... There's no sign of the UCC 10k this year. This was one of the oldest BHAA races on the calendar but hasn't been held since March 2019. It looks as if this one is gone for good.

3) Cork to Cobh... Another one on the missing list is the Cork to Cobh 15-mile. It was put on the calendar for the last two years but I think that was out of hope more than anything else. It looks as if this is another one gone for good as well.

4) 10am is the new 11am... For long as I can remember, nearly all the Cork BHAA races on a Sunday morning have been at 11am. It now looks as if the new de facto start time on Sundays is 10am. It's probably a good move as the roads will be a bit quieter an hour earlier.

5) Tramore Valley Park... You'll notice that the Tramore Valley Park is going to be used twice for races in 2024. One of the challenges of holding a race in or near Cork City is trying to find a quiet and safe course. The Tramore Valley Park has plenty of parking and the course is safe. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more 5k races in there in the years ahead.

Here is the list of events for 2024. Note that it's provisional so there might be some changes.

Sun 7 Jan 10am ESB Cross Country Challenge 5km Beaumont Park, Blackrock
Sun 21 Jan 10am Dupont – IFF 5km Little Island
Sun 11 Feb 10am Janssen Pharmaceuticals 5km Little Island
Sun 3 Mar 10am MTU 5km MTU, Bishopstown
Sun 24 Mar 10am Amazon 5km Tramore Valley Park - NEW

Wed 10 Apr 7.30pm PwC 5km 1 Albert Quay, Cork
Wed 8 May 8pm Pfizer’s 6 Miles Ringaskiddy
Tue 21 May 8pm John Buckley Sports Online entries 5km Lee Rowing Club
Wed 12 Jun 8pm Musgrave 5km Cork Boat Club
Wed 26 Jun 8pm DePuy Synthes 4 Miles Ringaskiddy
Wed 3 Jul 8pm Sterling 5km Sterling (formerly Novartis)
Wed 17 Jul 8pm Gas Networks Ireland 5km Cork Boat Club
Wed 31 Jul 8pm Thermo Fisher 5km Currabinny - NEW
Wed 14 Aug 7.30pm Stryker 4 Miles Community Centre, Carrigtohill
Wed 28 Aug 7.30pm Cork Mental Health (Martin Lawlor Memorial)  5km Little Island

Sun 29 Sep 10am Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Cork 5km Little Island
Sun 13 Oct 10am Defence Forces 5km Tramore Valley Park
Sun 17 Nov 10am Clearstream / Deutsche Börse Cork Marc O’Sullivan Memorial Race 5km Marina
Sun 15 Dec 10am Cork Simon Christmas Run 5km Blackrock Hurling Club Proceeds Cork Simon

If there are any changes, I'll update the race calendar.