Haulbowline Junior parkrun to start Sun 14th Jan 2024

Update: - 9th Jan 2024... The inaugural junior 2km parkrun at Haulbowline Park was supposed to start on Sunday 7th January but it can to be cancelled due to ice on the course.

Subject to confirmation, I presume the next date is Sunday 14th January. To be confirmed...

***

In a previous post, I outlined how there were plans for a new 2km junior parkrun for 4-14 year olds in the new public park on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour.

Weather and volunteers permitting, it will be held at the same time on every Sunday at 9:30am.

The course is two 1km loops on a flat tarmac surface and there is plenty of parking at the park.

As can be seen from the map below, the main catchment areas will be Passage West, Monkstown, Carrigaline and of course, Ringaskiddy.

This event is completely free and it will be the eight junior parkrun in Co Cork.

The event website is https://www.parkrun.ie/haulbowlineisland-juniors/course/

Parents can go there, register their kids and get a barcode ID.

For more info on the other junior parkruns in Cork, see the parkrun page.

A snapshot of the junior 2k parkruns in Cork - Sun 27th Aug 2023

The inaugural 2km junior parkrun in Clashduv Park in Togher in Cork City was held on Sunday 27th Aug 2023 with 46 participants. For a wet Sunday morning, it was a good turnout.

In the graphic above, you can see the numbers for all seven junior parkruns in Co Cork on the 27th of August 2023.

The Dromlena Lawn junior parkrun in Dunmanway in West Cork had 43 finishers and this was just their 3rd event. Their long term average is 45. Looking at the population stats, there are 17 larger towns in Co Cork so there must be scope for more junior parkruns in the county.

The Mallow Castle junior parkrun now has 12 events with 38 taking part last Sunday. It's long term average is 63.

St Mary's Health Campus junior parkrun had 26 finishers for their 17th event. Their long term average 51 but has been very low on occasions in the last few weeks. For an event in Gurranabraher on the northside of Cork City, it needs more support.

The Nursery Drive junior parkrun in Ballinlough had 26 finishers with a long term average of 51. It was their 22nd outing.

The Ballincollig junior parkrun is well established now with 114 events under its belt. They had 82 finishers in the local regional park with a long term average of 97.

The oldest junior parkrun in Co Cork is in Cobh and it's now on its 176th event. It had 17 finishers which is lower than their long term average of 51.

All of these junior parkruns are for 4-14-year olds, are completely free and are held at 9:30am every Sunday morning. You can find links to all of the events on this page.

New junior 2km parkrun for Dunmanway in West Cork

In a previous post, I outlined how there were new 2km junior parkruns in the pipeline for Togher, Mallow and Dunmanway. This week, Cork Sports Partnership announced that the Dunmanway event will be starting soon. The venue is at the race field which I believe is at the western edge of the town.

Junior 2k parkruns are for 4-14 year olds and they are held at 9:30am every Sunday morning. All events are free. 

As of May 2023, there are four Junior 2k parkruns in Co Cork... Ballincollig, Ballinlough,  Gurranabraher and Cobh. Dunmanway will be number five. 

It may well act as a seed event for other junior parkruns in West Cork. If a weekly junior parkrun in Dunmanway is a success then why not in Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen or Bantry?

If anyone would like to volunteer or help out at this new event then send an email to matt DOT shields AT parkrun DOT com

For more info on parkrun, visit their website... https://www.parkrun.ie/

If you want to visit any of the existing 5k or 2k parkruns in Cork then follow the links on the parkrun Cork page.

New 2km Junior parkrun at St Mary's Campus in Cork City starts Sun 2nd April 2023

More good news on the Junior parkrun front! In a previous post, I outlined how a new 2km Junior parkrun in Ballinlough would be starting on Sunday the 26th of March 2023. 

It has just been announced that a new 2km parkrun for Juniors will be starting at St Mary's Campus in Gurranabraher on the north side of Cork City on Sunday the 2nd of April 2023.

This junior parkrun had been scheduled to start back in March of 2020 but then the whole pandemic thing kicked off.

The key points are...

1) It will officially called the St Mary’s Campus junior parkrun

2) It will be held every Sunday at 9:30am

3) As with all Junior parkruns, it's for 4 to 14 year olds

4) The course is 2kms which will be 3-laps of the campus in an anti-clockwise direction. Map below.

5) And it is of course free

If anyone is interested in their children taking part in this event then they can get register and download a barcode.

More information on the new website... https://www.parkrun.ie/stmaryscampus-juniors/

Final push needed to get 3 Junior 2k parkruns in Cork City over the line

In January of 2023, I had a post up about a proposed new 2km parkrun for 4-14 year olds in Clashduv Park in Togher. See post HERE

About a year ago, I had a post up about a new 2k Junior parkrun in Ballinlough. See HERE

Back in 2019, I had a post about a proposed new 2k Junior parkrun in Gurranabraher. See HERE

While the Togher Junior parkrun is a new proposal, the other two have been delayed for various reasons.

Finally, it now looks as if ALL THREE will go ahead in 2023 and there will be three new 2km  Junior parkruns in Cork City! That will bring the total number of Junior parkruns in Cork to five with the Ballincollig and Cobh events already on the calendar.

Help needed... To get this project over the line, they are looking for volunteers.  

This is from Cork Sports Partnership... New Junior Parkrun Clashduv Park Junior Parkrun | Volunteer Call Out

Cork City Council, Cork Sports Partnership, Parkrun Ireland, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare’s plans and developments are well underway to set up a new 2k junior parkrun in Clashduv Park Junior Parkrun in Togher! For this to proceed we need volunteers!! Exciting times ahead as Cork Sports Partnership working together with local partners on 3 new Junior Parkrun sites in the city:

St Mary’s Health Campus, Gurranabraher, Ballinlough Park & Clashduv Park, Togher

If you can help out then send an email to john DOT kissane AT parkrun DOT com

Alternatively, you can fill out the form at the end of the information page HERE

What is junior parkrun? - A free, fun, and friendly weekly 2k event for juniors (4 to 14 year olds).​

When is it? - It is held every Sunday at 9:30am.

What does it cost to join in? - Nothing - it's free! but please register before you first come along. Only ever register with parkrun once and don't forget to bring a scannable copy of your barcode. If you forget it, you won't get a time.

Help wanted for Junior 2k parkrun in Togher

As the poster says, there is a group trying to get a free 2km Junior parkrun up and running in Clashduv Park in Togher in Cork City. Just like the normal 5k parkruns for adults that take place every Saturday at 9:30am, the Junior 2k parkruns take place at 9:30am on Sundays.

As of January 2023, there are two Junior parkruns in Cork... one in Ballincollig Regional Park and one in Cobh. There really should be way way more.

One of the criteria for junior parkruns is that the children must be within sight of race stewards at all times. A flat grassland like Clashduv Park is ideal for this. Looking at the map below, it looks like two or three loops of the park might be required to get the 2k distance.

If you want to help get this 2k parkrun up and running in Togher than email john DOT kissane AT parkrun DOT com.

Reminder that the Cobh & Ballincollig 2k junior parkruns have restarted...

I know a lot of runners that are parents read this blog and this is just a reminder for them that the free weekly 2km parkruns for 4-14 year old's have restarted.

There are two in Cork... one in Ballincollig Regional Park and one at Carrignafoy in Cobh.

Last Sunday, the Ballincollig event had 66 finishers while the Cobh one had 48.

These events are open to children aged from 4 to 14 years old and are held every Sunday morning at 9:30am.

These are the links to the respective parkrun websites... 

Ballincollig junior parkrun... https://www.parkrun.ie/ballincolligregional-juniors/

Cobh junior parkrun... https://www.parkrun.ie/cobh-juniors/

New Junior parkrun starting in Ballincollig soon

The group pictured above completed the Sports Ireland Child Protection Course recently in preparation for the new Junior 2km parkrun which will be starting in Ballincollig Regional Park soon.

It will be held every Sunday morning at 9:30am and is open to juveniles aged from 4 to 14 years old.

This will be the second Junior parkrun in Cork. The first one started in Cobh just over a year ago and has been getting good numbers every week.

Update : The start date will be Sunday the 30th of June 2019.

New junior 2k parkrun in Ballincollig on the way!

It looks as if there is a group forming in Ballincollig to set up a junior event there, a separate entity totally from the 5k event.

This event will be for 4 to 14 year olds and will be held on a 2km course in the Regional Park every Sunday morning at 9:30am. As with all parkruns, it will be completely free.

They've already got a course mapped out which they're waiting for approval from the council for & also they're trying to do a bit of fundraising to pay for the startup costs.

If you're interested in being involved or want to help out then send an email to john DOT kissane AT parkrun DOT com

He will then put you in touch with the event director.

History of Cobh junior parkrun numbers up to 24th Feb 2019

As well as the usual 5k parkrun on Saturday mornings for adults, there are also 2k parkruns for 4-14 year olds around the country on a Sunday. The only one in Cork at present is in Cobh.

The chart above shows the numbers taking part since it first started back in May of 2018.

To date, 535 registered 4-14 year olds have taken part.
The average attendance is 90.3.
The average time for the 2k course is 13m 15s.

If you want more information on this event or the concept of a junior parkrun, go to http://www.parkrun.ie/cobh-juniors/

If the interest was there, this could be replicated all over Cork county. It's really a case of an interested group coming together and starting one.

Here is the start line at the Cobh junior parkrun last Sunday...

Another look at the Cobh Junior parkrun... Nov 2018

The 25th edition of the Cobh Junior 2k parkrun was held on Sunday the 11th of November 2018 and attracted a field of 96.

As can be seen from the chart above, it's been doing quiet nicely with an average of 94 per week. To date, a total of 437 teenagers and children have taken part in this free weekly event in Cobh.

Considering the course is 4 laps of a small park, there must be plenty of scope for other Junior parkruns in Cork?

If you are interested in trying out the Cobh Junior parkrun with your kids then remember that..

1) It's free
2) It's on at 9:30am every Sunday morning

For more info, go to http://www.parkrun.ie/cobh-juniors/

Good numbers for the Cobh 2k Junior parkrun...

A new junior 2km parkrun started in Cobh at the end of May 2018 and the numbers are shown above. As with all new events, there is an initial surge due to the novelty and it has slowly dropped off to about the 100 mark now.

What suprised me in particular was just how many are taking part. When I first heard of this event a few months back, I thought it might get something like 30-40 children every week. When I looked at the numbers today, I noticed that they're getting a lot more than that.

This 2km parkrun is held every Sunday morning Carrignafoy, Cobh at 9:30am and caters for 4 to 14 year olds.... a bit like the 5k parkruns on Saturdays except for kids. The event is completely free and all adults need to do is to register their children to get a unique bar code so that they can get their times later. More info on the Cobh Junior parkrun HERE

At the moment, there are only two Junior parkruns in Munster...one in Cobh and one in Tralee. There must be loads of small parks in Cork and Munster where similar event could be hosted?

Sonia O'Sullivan helping out at the Cobh junior parkrun

Notice : Cobh Junior 2km parkrun starts Sun 27th May 2018

It has just been announced that a new 2km parkrun for 4 to 14 year olds will be starting in the small park next to Carrignafoy College in Cobh on Sunday the 27th of May 2018.

This is a free event and parents can register their children here... https://www.parkrun.ie/register/

The course is roughly 4 laps of a 500m rectangular loop. The park is located high above the town and is shown in the map below...

This is what the park looks like from the road. Parents and guardians can stay somewhere central in the park and watch the children run around the course.

Parkrun Ireland and VHI annouce sponsorship deal

While the numbers at some road races in Ireland are in decline or flat, 5k parkruns seem to be going from strength to strength. Earlier this week, parkrun Ireland announced a sponsorship deal with VHI.

Key points :
1) 55 running events to be held weekly in Ireland in 2017.
2) 5 year sponsorship
3) Development of junior parkrun which are 2k runs for 4-14 year olds. There are currently 4 junior parkruns in Ireland and the plan is to roll out more.
4) 5,000 people take pat in parkrun in Ireland every week.
5) Almost 80,000 people registered with parkrun Ireland.

See below...

parkrun Ireland and Vhi Announce Ground Breaking 5-year Partnership