Welcome to the Running in Cork blog, home of the Cork running community. This is the largest website in Cork & Munster for news on road races and general running news. Included are a current race calendar, race previews, photos, results as well as some local, national and international news items.
The big marathon in Europe over the weekend was in Berlin, a course noted for being flat and fast.
Looking through the results, there were several hundred runners from Ireland.
Here are the top finishers from Cork & Munster... sub 3:00 for men and sub 3:30 for women.
Sub 3:30 men...
Place Pl. AC Name Number AC Club Overall time Chip time 23 116 Kinsella, John (IRL) 67127 40 Bilbao AC 02:28:49 02:28:40 45 2112O Sullivan, Tadhg (IRL) 26197H Bweeng trail blazers 02:33:40 02:33:30 137 1377O Hehir, Nathan Ryan (IRL) 2619030 St Finbarrs AC 02:43:32 02:43:14 211 9361Hoc, Pawel (IRL) 1996840 Clonmel AC 02:51:44 02:48:52 229 519 Cotter, Liam (IRL) 1555755 St Finbarrs AC 02:51:17 02:50:10 357 7606O Brien, Paul (IRL) 7489440 Eagle AC 02:59:19 02:57:05
Sub 3:30 women...
201 231 Ryan, Clara (IRL) 7963230 St Finbarrs AC 02:49:43 02:48:14 328 614 Murphy, Catherine (IRL) 2559945 Eagle AC 02:59:53 02:55:48 469 853 Grogan, Linda (IRL) 6229340 Dundrum AC 03:01:49 03:00:39 520 9117 Knox, Emily (IRL) 67521H Leevale AC 03:10:59 03:03:46 569 645O Donoghue, Brenda (IRL) 2618445 Togher AC 03:11:23 03:06:29 589 852O Donoghue, Aine (IRL) 2618345 Togher AC 03:12:25 03:07:31 679 5163 Dunlea, Heather (IRL) 16602H Leevale AC 03:18:38 03:11:25 744 539 Crowley, Lisa (IRL) 1564250– 03:20:39 03:13:49 957 7163 Barry, Pamela (IRL) 5196645 Aghada RC 03:35:21 03:20:58 128 78316 Kane, Sinead (IRL) 2116740– 03:35:52 03:29:41
Sinead Kane is a visually impaired runner from Youghal and is a regular on the ultra running circuit.
Results of the 5k parkruns around the county on Saturday 28th Sept 2024. Approximately 902 runners and walkers took part in the 10 events in Co Cork.
Report... It was cool but sunny for this weeks ten 5k parkruns in Co Cork in marked contrast to all the rain that is expected tomorrow.
Castlehaven... Well done to John Santry who completed his 250th 5k parkrun at the Castlehaven parkrun! Out of the 250, John has done 91 in Ballincollig, 88 in Clonakilty and 26 in Castlehaven.
If I missed anyone who passed a notable milestone like 100, 200, 250 or above parkruns then let me know.
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Ballincollig Regional Park: 278 this week, 283 last week.
First 3 men & women...
1 Anthony MANNIX Male VM35-39 Cork Track Club 16:39
2 Govinda O'SULLIVAN Male SM25-29 Eagle A.C. 17:22
Please note that the upcoming 10k race in Castlelyons on Sunday is cancelled.
From St. Nicholas AC... "Due to the Orange weather warning on Sunday, the committee has decided to cancel the Thomas Kent 10k on Sunday 29th September.
The safety of runners and stewards is our priority. We will be in contact with all who have entered our race as soon as possible, so please bear with us."
Entries for the 2025 Dingle Marathon & Half-Marathon opened on the 25th of September and sold out in a day. It's pretty amazing for an event that is a year away.
On the 25th of September, Sport Ireland announced that they were giving a grant of €404,820 towards a new 400m athletics track in Bandon.
Bandon Athletic Club - 2023 - Outdoor athletics track, field events & jog track €404,820
Bandon AC are currently building a new 400m athletics track which will no doubt be used by locals as well as many of the clubs in the west Cork region. An artists impression of the facility is shown above.
The photo above shows what it looked like in the spring of 2024. Proceeds from the club's 5k road race last April went towards this project.
The latest photo taken in August of 2024 shows that a lot of the ground work is now completed.
The club has a fundraising goal of €550k for the first phase of the development. The new track is located about 3kms to the south of Bandon on the R603 road to Kilbrittain.
On the 25th of September, Sport Ireland announced their largest ever funding for sports facilities... press release HERE
One of the recipients was St Catherine's AC in Conna who received €43,486 for the development of a 4 Lane Sprint Running Track, High Jump & Long Jump. See artists impression above.
This will be located at the Conna Community field which is about 1.5kms to the east of Conna.
St Catherines AC write... “St Catherine’s AC are building a 100 metre sprint track and associated long jump / high jump facilities in Conna Community field to cater for their ever growing membership base.
With the ongoing issues of track facilities in the greater Cork area, this initiative has been greatly supported in the local area with many initiatives already launched (Donate a Calf Campaign) and new initiatives planned over the next 9 months (Lip Sync being the main one).
We are calling on the Cork athletic community to support this initiative by making a donation towards the fundraiser – we have an iDonate page here to donate - https://www.idonate.ie/event/stcatherinesacsprint “
As can be seen from the artists impression below, there is already a 460m gravel track going around the outside of a pitch for walking and running. The new 100m is ideally suited for juveniles to train with proper facilities locally.
It's interesting to look at the number of finishers over the years and as can be seen from the chart below, it is gradually getting back to the pre-pandemic numbers.
The ever popular Rebel Run 5k & 10k is coming up this year on Sunday 20th October 2024.
This is the 12th edition of this event and it takes place as per usual at the Munster Technological University (MTU) in Bishopstown.
The 5k starts at 9.30am with the 10k starting at 9.45am. The start line for both events is the tiered carpark at the rear of the MTU Athletics Track Stand.
All registered participants receive a goody bag containing a special edition Cork Rebel Run T-Shirt and an EDGE Sports water bottle.
Update: 24th Oct - Both the 5k & 10k events are now sold out.
The annual Echo women's mini-marathon in Cork City was held this year on Sunday 22nd of September 2024 on what was a overcast but mile day.
Top 5 women... 1 Sinead O'Connor Leevale AC 17:18 2 Lizzie Lee Leevale AC 17:28 3 Lisa Hegarty Leevale AC 17:32 4 Holly Carroll Blarney Inniscarra AC 17:45 5 Carol Finn Leevale AC 17:56
Reminder: If you did this event then it's really important that you return any sponsorship to your chosen charity. Despite fact that the organisers took in about €100,000 in entries, none of that goes to charity.
The charities really depend on the participants to send on their own sponsorship.
Photos... (Updated Mon 3rd Sept 6am)
1) There are about 800 photos up on the Running in Cork Facebook page.
Cork County Council recently announced that the Cork to Kinsale Greenway Project Team have opened their second Public Consultation. This one is focusing on Route Corridor Options.
This Public Consultation will run from Friday 6th September 2024 to Sunday 13th October 2024.
They will be holding the following in-person events;
17th September 2024, 14:00 – 20:00, The Viaduct, Old Bandon Road, Co.Cork. T12 ND34.
The information for this public consultation including maps showing the route corridor options can also be found online on the project website, www.corkkinsalegreenway.ie
Routes... Let's have a look at the route options...
The Red route more or less follows the route of the old railway line. The Blue route follows the N71 from Cork City to Halfway and then roughly the R607 to Kinsale. The Green route goes cross country to connect to Riverstick and Belgooley and on to Kinsale. The Pink option is a more westerly route from Crossbarry to Kinsale.
Note that each route isn't exclusive. The letters on the map are Corridor Switchover Nodes where the route can change from one colour to another.
Let's break the routes down into stage. First the northerly leg coming from Cork City.
Northern Section...
The BLUE route starts by the Bandon Road Roundabout (A) and then proceeds south through the valley, most likely under the Chetwynd Viaduct (C) and then pretty much stays close to the N71 Cork to Bandon road. It passes through or very close to the village of Ballinhassig before proceeding west to point D near Halfway.
The RED route pretty much follows the old railway route. It starts at point B which is near the Chetwynd reservoir and would connect to the planned greenway which is due to be built which goes to the Kinsale Road Roundabout.
The red route would cross over the Chetwynd Viaduct and head over towards Waterfall. It then heads south before going through the Goggin's Hill tunnel.
This tunnel is about 800m in length with some spectacular ventilation shafts along the way, a great feature to have on any Greenway.
The image below is of the tunnel from the southern entrance.
Note that the tunnel is curved and you can't see the other end. It also means that it's very dark inside so some discreet lighting would be required. There are two ventilation shafts along the way which provide some light and a constant shower of water from above.
From the southern bore of the tunnel, there may be options to drop down the hill to join the proposed blue or green route for the rest of the route.
Route Profile... At first glance, you might think that the blue route following the N71 would be the easier route but that's not the case. The profile for the two routes is shown below and I've adjusted the vertical scale so that you can make a direct comparison...
The reality is that the red route has a much more gradual profile.
Some points...
1) Point B starts at an elevated height already near the Chetwynd reservoir whereas point A is down near the Bandon road roundabout.
2) The red route uses the viaduct and tunnel to avoid the steep gradients.
3) On the blue route, the saddle that the N71 passes through is about 135m above sea level (ASL). The red railway route passes through a saddle with an elevation of about 120m ASL.
Opinion... In terms of routes, I think the red route is by far the preferred option for the northern section. The gradient is more gentle which is better for walkers, runners and cyclists. It's feature rich with the viaduct, old bridges and the tunnel. It takes in the village of Waterfall which will be then be very easy to access by bike. It runs through the countryside and will be mostly very quiet.
By contrast, the route next to the N71 will be noisy and largely unattractive.
It's not hard to imagine say in 20 years time large numbers of people using the red route on a Sunday.
Southern Section... For the southern end, there are a load of options...
The GREEN route takes in the population centres of Riverstick and Belgooley.
The BLUE route is kind of the most direct route from Kinsale to the Googins Hill tunnel.
The RED route more or less stays true to the old railway route.
The PINK route is pretty much a token gesture connecting Kinsale to what will become the main Cork City to West Cork Greenway.
Gradient profile of the southern section... These are the various profiles adjusted to the same scale...
As you can see, the PINK option reaches the highest elevation and goes the furthest to the west.
RED probably has the gentlest profile but the dog leg west to Crossbarry is going to be an issue for someone who just wants the most direct route from Cork City to Kinsale.
It's worth noting that the old railway line is more or less gone from large sections of the RED route. When I was looking at the satellite maps, I had trouble finding where it might have been.
Opinion... My own preferred route for the southern section is the Green one mainly because it connects the population centres of Riverstick and Belgooly to Cork City and Kinsale. It's not hard to imagine plenty of locals walking, running and cycling on the greenway. One issue of the more central red and blue routes is that they are likely to be very quiet once you get away from the town of Kinsale.
In conclusion... If we take some of the shorter options on the maps then the overall distance of the Cork - Kinsale Greenway is in the region of 30kms. It's about 10kms between Ballinhassig and Cork City and the balance of 20kms is from the Ballinhassig/Halfway area to Kinsale.
I'd invite you to visit the project website, examine the maps and make a submission... www.corkkinsalegreenway.ie
There are going to be people who will object to this just because they don't like change and they'll moan about anything.
There will be farmers who will have genuine concerns about their farms and the impact of a potential Greenway.
And there will be a small number of home owners who will have genuine privacy concerns.
It's important though that if you support the project that you make a submission. It's very easy for a project to get watered down to an extent that the end result is an unattractive Greenway that no-one really wants to use.
You only have to visit the Waterford Greenway and see how the section from Dungarvan to the Ballyvoyle tunnel is a tourism magnet. The Chetwynd Viaduct and Goggins Hill tunnel has the same potential for Cork City.
Who knows, in the dim and distant future there might even be a Greenway 10k from Halfway to Cork City or a race from Kinsale to Cork.
Addendum: This old video clip gives an idea of what the old railway line from Halfway to Cork City looked like...
I was in the Kingdom last weekend in a support / assistance / water-boy role at the Kerry Way Ultra weekend.
Distances of 200K, 100K and 59K were on offer to the participants. I suppose for someone like myself who has run maximum 42k in a marathon and no further then it is comical that 59K can be classified as the Lite option….!
I was impressed at the resilience, commitment, never say die attitude of those who took part. Completely different to anything I have ever seen or taken part in. Hats off to everyone whatever time they finished in. It is a test of endurance and where your own limits are.
What is in it for us the ordinary runner? I’m not suggesting we all go off for a 200K next weekend but there is some take away points to be noted. Take these into your weekly routine and race planning.
Mental Strength: Far more important than the actual fitness, though that is needed too quite obviously. Get up and go, time and time again. Don't let the demons inside beat you.
Time: No one was actually too bothered about that from what I saw. Challenge set out and accepted. Make it over the finish line was the goal.
Preparation: All participants had the correct gear, the refueling strategies, the maps, the backpacks and whatever they felt was needed.
A Plan: No point taking off like a scalded cat at the start line when you were going to be out there for a very long time. Controlled pace, walk when needed, try to maintain forward motion, take on your fuel and keep the head in the correct place.
No Moaning: You had a trail that was marked and up to you to follow it. No point moaning at lack of stewards at crossroads. Up to yourself to navigate your way home.
So what do we take from it.
Do you know where your limits lie? Does your head rule your body and prevent you from going further? Do you let your finishing time be the decider of a good day or not? Do you prepare properly for your events? Have you a plan when you race or are you the scalded cat? Is your life full of smiles and laughs or do you just like to moan? Wouldn’t it be nice to know where our limits are.
Don’t go mad but life is for trying. Failure is never trying to do anything just in case of ….! Engrave it on my headstone. ‘Feck I had a go’
1.10Hugh ARMSTRONG1. M Ballina A.C. 1:04:35 2.1664Ryan CREECH2. M Leevale A.C. 1:04:54 3.3Eoghan TOTTEN3. M Newcastle & District AC 1:05:56 4.1345Killian MOONEY4. M Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 1:07:02 5.1John TRAVERS5. M Donore Harriers A.C. 1:07:15 28.8Shona HEASLIP1. F An Ríocht A.C. 1:10:57 74.1378Grace LYNCH2. F Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 1:15:38 92.671Ciara WILSON3. F D.M.P. A.C. 1:17:18 103.704Niamh MOORE4. F Leevale A.C. 1:18:03 116.819Kate PURCELL5. F40 Raheny Shamrock A.C. 1:19:02
Results of the 5k parkruns around the county on Saturday 14th Sept 2024. Approximately 838 runners and walkers took part in the 10 events in Co Cork.
Report... It was overcast but dry for this weeks 5k parkruns in Co Cork.
Bere Island... Congrats to Joanne Sullivan who completed her 400th 5k parkrun today!
As far as I know, Joanne is the first person in Cork to have hit the 400 mark! Joanne has done all of her parkruns on Bere Island and her first one was way back on the 6th of September 2014.
Ballincollig... Well done to Jane Moffatt who has now volunteered 200 times!
Glengarriff... Well done to Colin Penny from the UK who completed his 100th 5k parkrun in Glengarriff!
If I missed anyone who passed a notable milestone like 100, 200, 250 or above parkruns then let me know.
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Ballincollig Regional Park: 283 this week, 295 last week.
First 3 men & women...
1 Shane MCQUILLAN Male SM25-29 St Finbarrs AC 18:46
2 Steven HOLMES Male JM15-17 19:38
3 Eoin THOMAS Male JM15-17 19:40
26 Sally-Ann LYNCH Female SW30-34 21:39
32 Emily WALES Female VW45-49 Carrigaline A.C 22:06
Top 3 women in the half (L-R) Edel Gaffney 2nd, Aoife Cooke 1st & Susan Glennon 3rd
One of the main running events in Munster last weekend was the 2024 Dingle Marathon held on Sat 7th of September. Between the marathon & half-marathon events, there was a total of almost 2,500 finishers.
In the half-marathon, Cork runner Aoife Cooke finished first in the women's race in a time of 1h 24m 48s. In the men's race, another Cork runner John Meade finished in second place.
Top 3 men & women in the half-marathon...
1 Daire FINN 1:13:22 2485MMS 2 John MEADE 1:13:433024MM40St. Finbarrs A.C. 3 Oliver HILL 1:14:424019MMSWatford Joggers 1 Aoife COOKE 1:24:482267FFSEagle A.C. 2 Edel GAFFNEY 1:28:252557FF40Trim A.C. 3 Susan GLENNON 1:29:572579FFSMullingar Harriers A.C.
Top 3 men in the half (L-R) Oliver Hill 3rd, Daire Finn 1st & John Meade 2nd
In terms of numbers, there were 1771 finishers in the half which actually makes it the 6th largest half-marathon of the 70 or so in Ireland so far this year.
As can be seen from the chart below, the numbers in the half are recovering since the drop for the pandemic.
In the full marathon, there were 718 finishers which is a pretty decent number as far as marathons in Ireland go. The big problem with some of the smaller marathons with lets say 200 runners is that the gaps in the second half of the race can be huge and people can end up running on their own. With just over 700 finishers, the gaps are much smaller and it feels more like a race.
Top 3 men & women in the marathon...
1 Ian VANDERVEN 2:44:091343MMS 2 Evan DINGLE 2:54:09997MMSCentral Park Track Club - Tracksmith 3 Matt DOHERTY 2:56:27999MMS 1 Niamh O'RIORDAN 3:28:191226FFSGalway City Harriers A.C. 2 Natalie CAPITO 3:30:37944FFS 3 Aoife O'BRIEN 3:36:44580FFS
The chart below shows the recent history of Dingle marathon finishers...
For the full marathon, the numbers have recovered really well post pandemic and have passed the figure for 2019.
This charity 5k & 10k was held in MTU on the western suburbs of Cork City on Sunday 8th Sept 2024. Proceeds from the event went to the Breast Cancer Ireland charity.
The day itself was overcast and dry and there seemed to be well over 1000 taking part. The event wasn't timed but I have a lot of photos up on the Running in Cork Facebook page.
