There's a bit of a saga with this one. The Clonakilty Waterfront marathon, half-marathon & 10k is usually held in late November /the start of December every year. There was some doubt if it was going ahead this year until the organisers announced the date eventually with just 10-weeks to go.
1) It was going to be held on Saturday the 25th of November 2023
2) It was going to be held in Courtmacsherry which is 15kms from Clonakilty... a kind of a Ryanair job.
So it was going to be the Clonakilty marathon but just not in Clonakilty.
I'm sure a lot of people didn't mind as it looked as if the three courses would be easier with fewer hills.
On the 11th of November, the organisers announced that they were going back to Clonakilty!
They wrote this on their website... "After the endless heavy rain falling over the past two weeks and the forecasted rain due to fall in the coming two weeks ,to avoid disappointing or cancelling the race we have taken the hard decision to move back to our original race course in Clonakilty and our Start /finish line in the Showgrounds based on the link N71 road next door to The Clonakilty Park Hotel .
We know some people may be disappointed in not running the stunning Courtmacsherry Bay route, we can only say we too are disappointed having tried everything to make it happen but unfortunately the weather is out of all our control as clearly witnessed by the devastating flooding all around Cork and the rest of the Country in the past few weeks .
We can only look forward and focus on providing a safe and great race day in Clonakilty this coming November 25th and we appreciate your understanding, support and patience."
Again, a lot of people won't be bothered but it does mean that the courses will be hillier. They had issues last year with a very muddy finishing stretch in Clonakilty which generated a lot of complaints so I don't know if that will be sorted this year?
One of the big problems with the Clonakilty Marathon is the time of year as they're at the mercy of the weather at the end of November. Even at this stage, there's no guarantee that the marathon route by Long Strand won't be flooded.
No doubt the change of venue will generate some complaints but the event has a large fan base as well who will turn up regardless.
So for now, it's the 25th of November 2023 in Clonakilty......weather permitting.
9 comments:
I entered because I like courtmacsherry and the proposed course however... I knew entering that given its history, something could potentially happen and what I signed up to may not be what I end up running. I think that's the mindset we need to have with this race now. Over the years so much has happened I think it's partly on us as entrants to now realise it's like the mystery tours of marathons! You can end up anywhere... including muddy fields (which I'm lead to believe are removed from the route this year?!) and you'll only be told a few hours before kick off where you're running!!! I did wonder though if it would go ahead when they had no set start or end point for courtmac....the alarm bells were ringing. It's a love-hate run. You take it and its organisation at face value and it is what it is (although I wish it was still in courtmac!)
Fair play to people who can afford €50 for a 10k!
Wow, that is incredibly disappointing. I signed up for the marthon because of the course, Courtmacsherry, Timoleague and Kilbrittain provide stunning sea views.
Why am I reading it here, why have they not informed us, the racers, directly? Very poor form.
Does this surprise anyone?
Course might change, worst race organisation never does
I for one my delighted to be going back to Clonakilty. The weather will do what it wants, and we just have to go with the flow. Best of luck with everything to all the Clon crew who do their very best each year to avoid disappointment. We need to stop complaining about stuff no one has any control over.
It's a monetary event purely focussed on making coin, no charitable donations and certainly not considering any of the runners. This course change is drastic for anyone who was planning to run a fast time over a flat course. Instead the course is now a series of very challenging hills.
Save your money for an event that appreciates the sport as well as the effort and commitment of runners.
50 euro to run a 10km race, 60euro for half and 70 for full marathon. Extortion.
Run this year's marathon, get last year's t-shirt and medal
Only if you confirmed you were still going at that.
Thought the email was an option to change distance, never selected an option so I’m not registered.
Dunno who’s to blame here, myrunresults (no replies to multiple emails and DMs) or Sideshow Bob Hilliard.
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