The 13th edition of the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon was held on Saturday 25th November 2023 with a total of 1237 runners taking part across the three events. The weather was cool and dry which contrasts with some of the previous years which were very wet.
As can be seen from the chart above, the numbers were well down on previous years. The marathon with 240 finishers was well down on the 400 or so which normally take part but at least it didn't get cancelled. The half-marathon had 594 finishers which is a steep drop from the usual 900 or so. The 10k had 402 finishers which is down on the 500 of last year.
Why the big drop???... First off, there was the whole debacle of where the event would be held? Going from Clonakilty to Courtmacsherry and back again.
However, the primary reason for the drop was probably the fact that entries only opened with 10-weeks to go. At that stage, a lot of people will have committed to other events and that's not even looking at the expense of trying to book accommodation in Clonakilty at the last moment. Events like this should be opening at least 6-months in advance.
The Clon Crew get a lot of criticism from a number of people but any event that can manage to attract over 1200 runners to Clonakilty on a cold day at the end of November isn't doing too bad.
1 Tudor MOLDOVAN 2:30:58 1 M MS Clonliffe Harriers A.C.
2 Mike SHEEHY 2:49:31 189 M M40 West Limerick A.C.
3 Mike GRIFFIN 2:52:06 310 M M40 Mayo A.C.
1 Dolores DUFFY 3:39:04 1449 F F50 Watergrasshill A.C.
2 Kate SMITH 3:42:11 55 F FS
3 Emily AHERNE 3:44:36 201 F FS
1 Niall SHEIL 1:16:52 1463 M St. Killians A.C.
2 John O'BRIEN 1:19:35 1475 M Ballymore Cobh A.C.
3 Dan O'SULLIVAN 1:21:11 1690 M Donoughmore A.C.
1 Lorna WOLFE 1:26:24 1547 F Leevale A.C.
2 Karen WALSH 1:30:09 1146 F
3 Anita LOCKE 1:30:25 1657 F St. Finbarrs A.C.
1 Mihai SPRINCEAN 29:51 2442 M Clonliffe Harriers A.C.
2 Mark WALSH 30:40 2438 M Leevale A.C.
3 Nathan Ryan O'HEHIR 32:46 824 M St. Finbarrs A.C.
1 Catherine MURPHY 36:24 2402 F Eagle A.C.
2 Genevieve COLLINS 42:22 2238 F Beara A.C.
3 Kate WALSH 43:14 2019 F
The results of all three events can be found HERE
Photos...
1) MyRunResults has a small gallery HERE
2) The organisers have a number of galleries out on the course...
a) Album 1 b) Album 2 c) Album 3
16 comments:
I did the full but dropped out at mile 19mls, my bag my problem..that said there is aspects about the event that are good but mostly needs to improve. The course is very challenging but that is the attraction of it and is a plus in my view. Runners do like running it. It is v scenic and one for the bucket list. To be fair it's a small event but it is friendly. That said there is a lot of stuff that needs to be sorted. There are mile markers on the course. Bizarre. No halfway timing mats. Alot of people took short cuts. No portal's for runners at key points. No emergency services to check on people in case they got injured or sick. My ankle went at mile 16 or 17 and I had to thumb a lift back to HQ. No traffic management at junctions on some parts. Some finishers got last year medals and no goody bag. Plenty of water on route. Then some people didn't know until the last minute if they were getting a number despite paying 70 euro. This could be a excellent event with real kudos and credibility but it lacks a lot. This is unfortunate but runners are voting with their feet. The organisers are personable people but the event has slipped badly in the years.
Sorry NO MIle Markers
Can't believe that amount of people would pay €50 to do a 10k!
Was the 10km to short this year? Heard some watches measured short
The 10K was 0.4mile/700metres short. Shocking stuff when you consider the 50 euro entry fee
The license for this event should not be granted by Athletics Ireland in future. They clearly do not have the capacity to organise events.
The move away from the old quality hotel as race HQ seems to have been where the event took a turn. Add in the uncertainty if it would even go ahead at all, then the venue change and it was quite the build up.
I only found out the day before that I had a number so ran the 10k just to get some bang for my buck. My watch had me at 9.4km at the finish- saw a lot of folks doing a lap of the show grounds to make up the distance!
You’d wonder if this is it for the event, they dumped all the old medals and shirts on the tables. Usually it’s all “see ye next year “ on their socials but it’s been a bit quiet.
I think a lot of people may be reluctant to enter again which is a pity and so avoidable with some better communication. Moving back to the hotel as race HQ would be a start.
Thankfully, things seem to go well this year. I did the 10k and enjoyed the whole morning.
I did find the lack of mile/km markings on the route strange, but other than that, it seemed to run like clockwork for me anyway.
If people want to pay bigger fool them..no mile markers..
I ran the half...v cheap...its done
A magical marathon course in the hands of amateurs. No mile markers and lack of support through the course bar at water stations made it feal like a normal Sunday run
Looking at the times I can guarantee the 10k was short.... Ridiculous really
I rarely comment but this race needs commentary.
Positives
I prefer the showground start - more room to move around. The hotel last time I ran it were not comfortable with so many folks using the toilets I would say. Plus the start was very crowded. Showgrounds start was fine. Atmosphere was good and plenty of noice goodies afterwards. It's also nice to get a sleevless t-shirt as I have buckets full of the others so this is a nice one to get for summer running.
It made sense to change the route from flat to hills as I suspect out and around Courtmac the roads and surfaces were very poor.
The race is a solid challenge and those damned hills test you hard but that is a nice change too...
Negatives (quite a few)
Possibly super picky but why had they water at 3km? Quite unusual...
No mile / km markers or any sign of tracking of timing chip. For the experienced runner with a good watch this doesn't matter as we/they know their pace without even looking and how far they have run but it is still a nice motivator for all runners to see a number and push along.
At least 3-4 folks have said 10km was short by 250-300M which is not on - clearly not measured by an accredited person.
Traffic management near the finish was poor - I ran the half and as I was pushing hard up the road in the last 1-1.5km at least three cars tried to pull out from parking in front of me.
The price is way too high in comparison to other races and the price for the 10km is frankly a joke.
I think that next year the numbers for this will be even less as the amount of negative feedback on social media about it is quite high and with so many great races out there this one is the only one I see getting such a hammering and folks will vote with their feet and pick other races which would be a pity as it is a great test.
Did the full, great set up I thought , course was extremely tough but weather held up
No Mile markers not a big issue for me or most I would have thought
Very few run without GPS
Better organized than cork marathon in June IMO- at least plenty water !
Could do with a few tweaks here and there re finish line traffic mgmt etc
People were really nice - plenty food at finish
Be interested to see what happens in future
Maybe they will try for courtmac next year again but not November
I did the half and while the weather was kind to the organisers this year they certainly didn't help themselves for many of the reasons quoted above. Water at 3km and then not until beyond the halfway mark?? No distance markers whatsoever. Poor post-race food, unless you like black puddings and cheap biscuits. High entry price of 60euro (Waterford this weekend 35!) I love the course and area, would certainly like to try Courtmachserry but I fear this could be the beginning of the end. Need a change of personnel in charge, just seems like a money-making racket.
What food? Supervalu rich tea biscuits and ALDI choc biscuits and some clonakilty black pudding.
An awful lot of running events are now soley profit driven ( which I think is fine provided the product is good ), people need to do their own research before signing up to races.
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