Friday Fun: Online Jigsaw - Shanagarry 5k 2016

 

This weeks online jigsaw is from the 2016 Shanagarry 5k road race which was traditionally held on the last Saturday before Christmas Day.

The 150-piece online jigsaw can be seen HERE

There is a selection of previous jigsaws on this page HERE

Friday Fun: Jigsaw - Start of the 2016 Ballycotton 10

Another Friday, another puzzle. This time the online jigsaw is of the start of the 2016 Ballycotton 10-Mile road race.

This one has 216 pieces and with all of the colours, it should be a good teaser.

The link is HERE

Some stats from the 2017 Athletics Ireland AGM

Athletics Ireland held their 2017 AGM at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry on the 29th of April and the minutes of the meeting are now available HERE. The details may be of interest to anyone who is a member of an athletic club.

Some info from the minutes...

1) The numbers in attendance were a bit low with 82 present. There were no representatives from some counties like Waterford, Tipperary, Clare and Kilkenny.

2) On the financial side, Athletics Ireland had a surplus of €3k based on a turnover of nearly €4.7 million and that is after having a €12k surplus in 2015 and a €3k loss in 2014. For an association with such a large turnover, €3000 is very small. In fact, it represents just 0.06% of turnover. While it's positive that it was in the Black, it wouldn't take much to push it into the Red. For example, any legal issues regarding Irish team selections could easily wipe out any surplus.

Charleville voted best half-marathon in Munster in 2016

Catching up on some posts! The poll for the best half-marathon road race in Munster in 2016 closed a few weeks back and the winner was the Charleville Half-Marathon. This race is organised by North Cork AC and was held in September of 2016. This race has grown in popularity over the years and has a reputation for being a well organised race on a fast course.

While the Charleville Half was the clear winner with 46% of the vote, the Clonmel Half-Marathon  finished in second place with 20% while the Waterford Half-Marathon was just behind in third with 18%.

These were the contestants...

Bay Run Half-Marathon (May 2016)
Cork City Half-Marathon (Jun 2016)
Run Killarney Half-Marathon (Jul 2016)
East Cork Harbour Half-Marathon (Aug 2016)
Clonmel Half-Marathon (Aug 2016)
Charleville Half-Marathon (Sep 2016)
Waterford Half-Marathon (Dec 2016)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote.

Thomas Kent 10k voted best 10k in Cork in 2016

The poll for the best 10km road race in Cork in 2016 closed recently and the winner was the Thomas Kent 10k. This race in Castlelyons was organised by St.Nicholas AC and was held last November.

The Bweeng 10k finished in 2nd place while the UCC 10k was 3rd.

These were the contestants...

Cork BHAA UCC 10km road race (Apr 2016)
Bweeng 10km road race (May 2016)
Emer Casey 10km road race in Youghal (May 2016)
East Cork Harbour 10km road race (August 2016)
Liscarroll 10km road race (August 2016)
Rebel Run 10km road race (Oct 2016)
Thomas Kent Memorial 10km road race in Castlelyons (Nov 2016)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote.

Midleton voted best 5 mile race in Cork in 2016

The poll for the best 5 mile road race in Cork in 2016 closed recently and the winner was the Mdleton 5 mile held last May. It got nearly 42% of the total vote which shows how popular a race it was.

The Carrigaline 5 mile race was the runner up in second place with 15% while the East Ferry 5 mile finished in 3rd with 11.8%, just ahead of the Millstreet 5 mile in 4th pace with 11%.

The Midleton 5 mile which was held in May 2016 got a record 654 finishers. Some part of that surge in numbers was no doubt due to the fact that Midleton AC were recording their 50th anniversary.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote.

Poll for the best Half-Marathon in Munster in 2016 now open

The poll for best Half-Marathon in Munster in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

Half-Marathon...
Bay Run Half-Marathon (May 2016)
Cork City Half-Marathon (Jun 2016)
Run Killarney Half-Marathon (Jul 2016)
East Cork Harbour Half-Marathon (Aug 2016)
Clonmel Half-Marathon (Aug 2016)
Charleville Half-Marathon (Sep 2016)
Waterford Half-Marathon (Dec 2016)

You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2XZ7D26

The polls will close late February.

Poll for the best 10 mile race in Munster in 2016 now open

The poll for best 10 mile race in Munster in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

10m...
Dungarvan 10 mile road race (Jan 2016)
Mealagh Valley 10 mile road race (Feb 2016)
Ballycotton 10 mile road race (Mar 2016)
Mallow 10 mile road race (Mar 2016)
Great Island 10 mile road race (Apr 2016)
Blackwater 10 mile road race (May 2016)
Ballynonty 10 mile road race (July 2016)
Killarney 10 mile road race (Sept 2016)
John Buckley Sports Cork City 10 Miler (Sept 2016)

You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/68GR996

The polls will close late February.

Ballintotis voted best 4 mile race in Cork in 2016

The polls for the best 4 mile race in Cork in 2016 have now closed and thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. It was very close at the end with less than 1% separating the top two but the Ballintotis 4 mile road race took the title of top 4 mile road race in Cork in 2016.

The Ballintotis race is always the first evening 4 mile road race in April and never fails to attract a huge turn out. The popularity of the event is reflected in the vote and the top spot.

With Ballintotis taking 24.6% of the vote, the Ballymore Cobh AC 4 mile was just behind in second spot with 24.1%. The Fermoy 4 mile was in third with 17%.

Togher 5k voted best 5k in Cork in 2016

The polls for the best 5k race in Cork in 2016 have now closed and thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. The Togher AC 5k race at Christmas got 25% of the vote and came out on top. Rosscarbery were busy getting the folks out to vote and they came second. The Bweeng 5k race which is a real community affair finished 3rd.

Togher AC have grown their 5k race from scratch and the numbers have grown over the years. It's obvious that it's a really popular race for runners in Cork over the festive period.

Poll for best 10km race in Cork in 2016 now open

The poll for best 10km race in Cork in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

10km...
Cork BHAA UCC 10km road race (Apr 2016)
Bweeng 10km road race (May 2016)
Emer Casey 10km road race in Youghal (May 2016)
East Cork Harbour 10km road race (August 2016)
Liscarroll 10km road race (August 2016)
Rebel Run 10km road race (Oct 2016)
Thomas Kent Memorial 10km road race in Castlelyons (Nov 2016)
You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BS3WDKH

The polls will close in mid-February.

Poll for best 5 mile race in Cork in 2016 now open

The poll for best 5 mile race in Cork in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

5 mile
Bandon 5 mile road race (Jan 2016)
Carrigaline 5 mile road race (Feb 2016)
Midleton 5 mile road race (May 2016)
Ballyandreen 5 mile road race (May 2016)
Millstreet 5 mile road race (June 2016)
East Ferry 5 mile road race (June 2016)
Ballycotton 5 mile road race (Aug 2016)
Kinsale 5 mile road race (Sept 2016)

You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RZTTWD8

The polls will close in mid-February.

Aoife Cooke of Youghal AC wins National Intermediate Cross Country title

The National Intermediate Cross Country Championships were held in Galway last weekend and Aoife Cooke of Youghal AC won the women's title. This adds to the National Novice title that she won in December of 2015 in Dungarvan.

Aoife Cooke's victory came almost 39 years after her aunt, Mary Dempsey (now Sweeney), won the same race over a snow-covered course at Rockwell College in February of 1978.

Aoife also led the Cork team to Gold with a score of 27 points, two points ahead of Dublin on 29.

As you can see below, East Cork AC and Youghal AC turned out in numbers for this race and Youghal managed to take a team Silver.

ID Time PositionName Club Name Club Team County Team
274 20:01 1 Aoife Cooke Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork

207 21:10 5 Fiona Santry East Cork A.C. Cork
276 21:43 9 Ruth Millerick Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork
273 22:33 12 Evelyn Cashman Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork

272 22:50 15 Deirdre Ansbro Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork
206 22:57 16 Eadaoin O'Neill East Cork A.C. Cork
278 23:18 18 Louise O'Brien Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork

275 23:50 23 Julie Keneally Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C. Cork

211 24:20 26 Michelle Ahern East Cork A.C.

279 25:18 33 Margaret O'Mahony Youghal A.C. Youghal A.C

Club Team Points
Place Club Positions Points
2 Youghal A.C. 1, 9, 12, 15 37

County Team ...Points
1 Cork 1, 5, 9, 12 ...27

In the men's race, East Cork AC were in action and managed to field a full team to take a very respectable 5th place.

43 29:41 14 Kenneth Kelleher East Cork A.C. East Cork A.C.
59 31:17 26 Andrew Sheehan Leevale A.C.
38 31:19 27 Shane Harrington East Cork A.C. East Cork A.C
39 31:39 33 Brian Harty East Cork A.C. East Cork A.C
44 32:26 44 Kevin O'Leary East Cork A.C. East Cork A.C.

5 East Cork A.C. 14, 27, 33, 44 ...118

As you can see above, there were 5 men from Cork taking part. As six were required for a county team, Cork were not presented in the inter county competition.

Full results as always on the Athletics Ireland website.

Poll for best 4 mile race in Cork in 2016 now open

The poll for best 4 mile race in Cork in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

4 mile
Ballymore-Cobh 4 mile road race (Aug 2016)
Belgooly 4 mile (Dec 2016)
Ballintotis 4 mile (Apr 2016)
Cork BHAA Stryker 4 mile (Apr 2016)
Carriganima 4 mile (Sept 2016)
Cork BHAA Stryker 4 mile (Apr 2016)
Fermoy 4 mile (Sept 2016)
Boherbue to Kiskeam 4 mile (Mar 2016)
Killeagh 4 mile (Mar 2016)
Glanmire 4 mile (June 2016)
Corkbeg 4 mile (July 2016)

You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/72LSJF3

The polls will close at the end of January.

Poll for best 5k race in Cork in 2016 now open

The poll for best 5k race in Cork in 2016 is now open.

These were the nominations....

5k
VHI Lust for Life 5k in Cork Airport (Sept 2016)
St.Luke's Home 5k (Sept 2016)
Youghal 5k (July 2016)
Shanagarry 5k (July 2016)
Carrigtwohill 5k (July 2016)
Clonpriest 5k in Gortroe (June 2016)
Togher 5k (Dec 2016)
Fota Cheetah Run 5k (May 2016)
Rosscarbery 5k (Oct 2016)
Grant Thornton 5k in Cork City (June 2016)
Newmarket 5k (Dec 2016)
Cork BHAA John Buckley 5k (May 2016)
Bweeng 5k (May 2016)
Kilcredan 5k (May 2016)
Cloyne 5k (Aug 2016)

You can vote here.... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z2SG65L

The polls will close at the end of January.

Club membership numbers in Cork for the end of Dec 2016

Athletics Ireland have recently released the 2016 year end membership stats for clubs in Cork and they show club membership on the rise. This is largely due to new clubs being established in the northern part of the county as well as existing clubs running successful Couch to 5k programmes.

As you can see from the chart above though, the club membership increase is totally due to masters i.e. those aged 35 and above. These would be referred to as 'recreational runners' as opposed to say athletes involved in track and field.

The thing here though is that people just don't get to the age of 35 and then decide to start running. It's safe to say that a large percentage of the 'Seniors' are probably in the 28 to 34 age bracket and that probably grew in line with the masters numbers. That being the case, those aged between 20 and 27 must have declined. This is the very age bracket  for those involved in track and field.

Cork Clubs........These are the clubs in Cork with more than 80 adult members....

Mallow AC have been very successful in attracting lots of new members in 2016 and this was due in no small part to their Couch to 5k programme. They now replace Ballymore Cobh AC as the largest club.

Ballymore Cobh AC and Eagle AC are down a bit while Leevale AC see an increase.

Togher AC is another club with a successful Couch to 5k programme as they pile on the members to take the 6th spot.

As you can see, the rest are up and down a bit while the Dromahane Couch to 5k programme puts them in 12th spot.

These are some of the clubs with 30 to 80 adult members...

As always, numbers aren't everything. Some clubs like East Cork AC are more involved in the serious side of running and their numbers are small as a result. The charts above just show the relative sizes of each club, not how good or bad they are.

The charts also don't show non-AAI clubs like Happy Feet and the Wibbly Wobbly Wonders who are very successful with their own programmes.

The full figures for all the clubs in the country can be seen on the Athletics Ireland website.

Results of the Ballincollig Regional Park 5k parkrun...Sat 31st Dec 2016

The 5k parkrun in Ballincollig Regional Park ended the year on a high note as 227 people took part in this weeks event. As you can see from the chart, the numbers have been pretty good since it started and is testament to the effort of the team of volunteers who turn out every Saturday morning.

1 Conor DOLAN    17:04    SM30-34 M 1
2 Unknown                                   
3 Unknown                                   
4 Lizzie LEE    18:46    VW35-39 F 1    Leevale AC
8 Fiona ROCHE    19:08    SW30-34    F 2    Raheny Shamrock AC
33 Debbie CORCORAN    21:48    VW35-39    F 3

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has a gallery HERE

Results & photos of the Shandrum AC 5k...Sat 31st Dec 2016

91 runners turned out for this inaugural 5k in Shandrum in North Cork. 


1 238 Anthony Mannix M Leevale AC 15.55
2 216 Partrick O'Connor M An Riocht 16.21
3 283 David O' Hanlon m Churchtown RR 18.13
5 239 Niamh Roe F Leevale AC 18.21
15 276 Fiona Boyce F North cork 20.31
18 264 Aoife Carroll M Mallow AC 20.44

Photos...
1) The organisers have a gallery HERE

Results by John Holland of Mallow AC. 


See full results below...

Results of the Togher Ac 5k road race...Tues 27th Dec 2016

A total of 433 runners turned out for this years Togher 5k road raceon Tues 27th of Dec 2016, a massive 50% up on last year.

1    James McCarthy    East Cork AC        15:26    SM    357
2    Ruairi Casey    Togher AC        15:53    SM    258
3    David Fox    Leevale AC        16:03    SM    202
6    Shona Heaslip    An Riocht        16:27    SW    190
14    Emma Murphy    St Finbarrs AC        17:08    SW    260
33    Teresa Murphy    Kent AC        18:16    SW    399

Photos... (Updated Wed 28th @1pm)
1) Michael Herlihy has a gallery HERE
2) Ger Broderick has a gallery HERE
3) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has 500+ photos HERE 

The full results can be seen below...

Results & Photos of the Ballincollig 5k parkrun... Sat 24th Dec 2016

It was a bit milder this week for the 5k parkrun in Ballincollig Regional Park and the numbers jumped up to 230.

1 Conor DOLAN    16:48    SM30-34    M1
2 Dennis LYONS    17:33    VM40-44    M2    St Finbarrs AC
3 Unknown           
28 Bernie CONDRON 21:34    VW45-49    F1
29 Toni O'DONOVAN 21:45    VW35-39    F2    Barrow Runners
49 Kate MARTIN    22:41    SW25-29    F3    Raheny Shamrock AC

The results of the 28th edition can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Joe Murphy has a gallery HERE