A look at the athletics track in Clonmel - Aug 2024

During the recent Clonmel Half-Marathon, I had a look at the new 400m athletics track which is part of a sports hub located off the N24 which runs along the north side of the town.

Here are some of the key points...

The multipurpose sports facility was built on a 1.88-hectare site, was developed by TUS (Technological University of the Shannon) in partnership with Tipperary County Council and built at a cost of €5.5 million.

Clonmel AC is one of the anchor tenants, along with Clonmel Cycling Club and Clonmel Triathlon Club.

The facility also includes a playground, skatepark, a cycle (pump) track and a walking/running trail.

The official opening of the Clonmel Regional Sports Hub was in June of 2023 by the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The photo above shows the start line on the south side of the athletics track.

The photo above shows the view from the north-east part of  the track. You can see the start line for the 100m with a full 8 lanes. Note also that there is a full cage in place for events like the discus and hammer. Behind the cage is the high jump shed.

The photo above shows the same area but from a different angle. Note the lighting and the elevated bank which gives a good view out over the full track.

This is the view from the north-east part of the site but looking to the south-west. You can see that it is really wide open to the westerly winds.

The photo above shows the main finish line. The chip timing company was setting up the finish gantry for the half-marathon at the time.

The photo above shows the view from the south-west side of the track. On the left is the dark grey sports building. The light grey area to the right is a terrace for spectators. In the foreground and on the far right is the water jump for the steeplechase.

The photo above shows the security turnstyle which limits access to the 400m athletics track.

There is a cost of €5 for students and €7 for adults to use the track, the rest of the hub is free to use.

Additional notes... I hope the above info and photos will give a good idea of what the new sports hub looks like. Looking though some media reports, I noted some issues...

1) Security... The sport hub hadn't even opened when it suffered from some issues from vandalism. The sad reality is that any facility like this requires fencing and some sort of security. This is an ongoing cost for the owners of any sports facility.

2) Insurance... Any club that wishes to use the new Clonmel Sports Hub needs to have the necessary insurance paperwork or documentation.

3) Location... As the facility is next to the N24, the travel times to some other towns are reasonable. For example, it's a 41 min drive to Fermoy and 44 min drive to Dungarvan. Mitchelstown is 35 mins away.

Carraig na bhFear AC have been reported as using it as follows... "...staying in the Talbot Hotel for two nights early next month, when they will train in the hub and avail of a team-bonding session and training camp for the forthcoming track season."

In conclusion... It's no small feat to get a full size 400m athletics track up and running. As can be seen above, not only is there the initial capital cost but there are likely to be quite substantial ongoing operational costs as well. This doesn't include fundraising for the eventual replacement of the track surface after 10-15 years.

There are quite a few athletic tracks being developed at the moment and I suspect that those that are part of sports hubs sharing costs with other sport disciplines will be the most successful.

Addendum... This video shows the development of the sports hub...