Results & Photos of the IMRA Canon Sheehan 16km trail race in N Cork - Sun 13th Oct 2024

The IMRA Cannon Sheehan 16km trail race was held on Sunday 13th Oct 2024 on the Cork/Limerick border in the Ballyhoura mountains and attracted a field of 65 runners.

Top 3 men & women...
 1 Seán Quirke 968 M45 1:16:20 Bilboa AC Limerick
2 Owen Fetherstonhaugh 4501 M 1:20:30 Laois
3 Kevin Lenihan 936 M40 1:21:24 Mooreabbey ... Kerry
1 Kealey Tideswell 435 F40 1:20:19 Clonmel AC Tipperary
2 Carol Finn 899 F35 1:21:53 Cork
3 Lianne van Dijk 1386 F 1:28:44 Kerry

Full results HERE

Photos HERE

First woman home... Kealey Tideswell

Results & Photos of the IMRA Canon Sheehan 16k trail race in N Cork - Sun 15th Oct 2023

The IMRA Canon Sheehan 16km trail race was held in the Ballyhouras on Sunday 15th October 2023 on what turned out to be a lovely sunny autumnal day. A total of 71 runners took part in this event which had a total ascent of 480m.

Top 3 men & women...
1 Brian Mullins 108 M40 1:20:00 St. Finbarr's AC Cork
2 Cathal Prior 1544 M50 1:21:29 Cork
3 Joe O'Leary 981 M45 1:22:29 Munster Trail Runners Kerry
1 Mary Louise Ryan 1243 F40 1:30:08 Mooreabbey Milers Tipperary
2 Anita Locke 541 F35 1:31:01 St. Finbarr's AC Kerry
3 Sorcha Kearney 613 F45 1:34:18 St. Finbarr's AC Cork

Full results HERE 

Photos...

1) IMRA have a selection of small photos on their website HERE

Results & Photos of the Ballyhoura Trail Ultra, Marthon & Half-Marathon - Sat 24th July 2021

Saturday 24th July 2021: In addition to the Ballyhoura Moonlight Marathon and Half-Marathon on the Friday evening, the annual Ballyhoura Trail Ultra, Marathon and Half-Marathon took place on the Saturday.

There was a total of 162 finishers across the three events... 36 in the 60km Ultra-Marathon, 48 in the 42km Marathon and 78 in the 21.1km Half-Marathon.

The photo above shows the start of the Ultra in the fog at 7am.

Top 3 men and women in the Ultra....

  NAME NUMBER CAT TIME CLUB COUNTY
1 John McKeogh 655 M35 5:18:03 Limerick
2 Owen Fenton 522 M40 6:10:48 Wexford Marathon Club Wexford
3 Donatas Jocius 258 M35 6:14:40 Crusaders AC Dublin
8 Máiréad O' Keeffe 337 F45 6:44:14 Cork
12 Becky Quinn 552 F45 7:00:00
19 Emma Hand 1175 F45 7:19:34 Wicklow

Ultra Results

The runners not only had to contend with the distance but also the ascent as this photo shows with

the valley floor far below.

Top 3 men and women in the Marathon (Note that the first woman finished 3rd overall!)

NAME NUMBER CAT TIME CLUB COUNTY

1 Edward O connor 1205 M 3:21:01 Wicklow
2 Ian Conroy 240 M40 3:26:58 Raheny Shamock AC Dublin
4 Barry Minnock 1194 M45 3:28:23 Rathfarnham... Offaly
3 Isobel Oakes 165 F35 3:27:44 Leitrim 3rd
10 Sarah Brady 1062 F 4:01:43 Tipperary
13 Ali Wyllie 1326 F40 4:28:00 Cork

Marathon Results

One factor that made it especially challenging this year was the heat.

Top 3 men and women in the Half-Marathon

NAME NUMBER CAT TIME CLUB COUNTY
1 Robert Frewen 752 M 1:41:00 Raheny Shamrock Dublin
2 Stephen Lynch 933 M35 1:54:00 Cork
3 Joe Laffan82 1547 M35 1:57:00 GoTri Adventure Limerick
7 Sophie Daly 902 F 2:01:00 Kerry
14 Katarzyna Bobka 1764 F35 2:08:00 An Bru AC Limerick
21 Elaine Collins 616 F 2:12:10 Cork

Half-Marathon results

Photos & Video...

1) IMRA Munster have two galleries on Facebook ... Ultra Marathon ... Second Gallery

This is a really good video which makes a nice job of capturing the event...

Notice : MMRA Ballinaboola10km trail race in North Cork - Sun 11th March 2018

This is the fifth race of the 2018 Munster Winter/Spring League, of which there are 10 races across Munster on Sunday mornings between January and April. Complete 4/10 runs in the league for a finisher's prize.

The Ballinaboola event is few a few kms south-east of Charleville in North Cork.

From the Munster Mountain Running Association...Another new route, this time in Ballinaboola on the Cork/Limerick border just outside Ballyhea. Entry is €5 (cash entry on the day) but you must pay a one-off annual registration fee of €10 online to be eligible to enter.

More info on the race and how to register at https://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/1548

The junior route starts and finishes near the forest car park. It climbs up forest road, before a flat mucky section and a fast downhill. Juniors: https://www.strava.com/routes/11578481

The senior route is 10k in distance, has an elevation gain of 280m and starts about 1km from the carpark. It goes up and over the summit of Carron mountain with a mixture of forest roads and mucky paths, and a few short steep sections. Seniors: https://www.strava.com/routes/11515826

Getting There: Ballinaboola, Ballyhea, Co. Cork
To get there from the N20 between Limerick and Cork, turn off at Ballyhea by the church. The forest entrance is on the right after about 3.5km, and then 1km up the forest road to the carpark.

https://goo.gl/maps/wut81VsWeK52

Parking is limited, so please make every effort to carpool.

This is the fifth race of the 2018 Munster Winter/Spring League, of which there are 10 races across Munster on Sunday mornings between January and April.

For a full list of races, check out https://corkrunning.blogspot.ie/2018/01/mmra-winter-spring-league-in-munster.html. Complete 4/10 runs in the league for a finisher's prize.

Anger expressed at commercial company spray painting a running route in the Ballyhouras

I came across a post on Facebook which had been shared by some in the hill walking community...

Eidin Clery.....So, the poor ballyhouras mountains have become victim again from a private company running a... Running! Event over next few days...it's quite unbelievable how they are marking their routes..yellow spray paint over, 40km or more of the ballyhoura hills...no place safe I walked 2 km this evening clearing it and cleaning marks off they marked fireroads, trees, grass, roots, earth banks...also all on linear routes where there is no need to mark anything....as far as I can make out...they have no permission, they didn't publicise locally, they do not clean up, they totally disregard our hills, nobody in local community benefits in any way financially or otherwise.... It's a disgrace. Have sent emails to coilte and will ring tomorrow to complain etc if anyone sees event organisers about can u pass on info please....rumour has it its a company called celtic traverse!

There are also a few video videos posted on Facebook HERE

The Celtic Traverse is a six day running tour organised by a commercial company called Primal Challenges in Armagh. They charge in the region of £1,500 for the whole package which  includes accommodation and transport.

Based on the itinerary above, the runs in the Ballyhoura are probably on the 22nd and 23rd of June and on the Kerry Way on the 25th and 26th of June.

Looking through the videos, it would seem that these markers are placed all over the course rather than at some key junctions. Assuming that it is degradable line marker paint then it will probably take about one to two months for them to disappear.

Thoughts?

Results of the MMRA Ballyhoura Trail Race...Sun 18th Jan 2015

The MMRA (Munster Moutain Running Association) season kicked off last Sunday with a trail race in the Ballyhoura Mountains. As you can see from the photo, there was still some snow near the summit of Seefin which at about 500m above sea level, is the highest point in the Ballyhouras.

1 Mike Cunningham    M50    0:36:14    Mooreabbey Milers    Limerick
2 Brian Flannelly    M    37:29    Dooneen AC    Tipperary
3 Paul Deane    M    37:35    Clonakilty Road Runners Cork
23 Ide Kelleher    F40    45:00    Mallow AC    Cork
29 Deirdre Finn    F40    47:10    Tipperary
30 Linda Twomey    F    47:15    North Cork    Cork

The full results can be seen on the IMRA website.

The next MMRA race is in Castlefreke Woods near Clonakilty on Sunday the 8th of February.

New Trail runs in the Ballyhoura area in 2014

The Munster Mountain Running Association are currently trying to promote more trail running in the Ballyhoura region.

See this message below from Tom Blackburn...
We are starting a new Trail run experience in the Ballyhouras this spring, We are asking each club in the area to pick an off road trail that they would use sometimes for training. The idea is to encourage people to use the forest trails for training as an alternative to the roads, also to encourage beginners out into the woods.

We also want to implement a system called the buddy system for all athletes this is a simple system in that you invite a friend to come along as a running partner. As these are not races we would encourage people to run together with the map as reference until they are familiar with the route.

We would also encourage people to carry a mobile phone with them on these routes as an added security device in case they take a wrong turn, coverage has improved greatly in the last few years.

We are inviting you to join us on a run each Saturday morning on these forestry tracks and trails. The courses will be measured and mapped for each run and the map will be posted on Faceook on the Ballyhoura facebook page. If you are not on Facebook please send your email to me and I will email the map to you each week.

Ballyhoura Cork Road Race Series...May to Sept 2013

 In 2011, the Ballyhoura Active Series was established by Ballyhoura Failte with the aim of promoting physical activity and  tourism in the Ballyhoura Region, while, at the same time hoping that the events will be a positive social occasions for local communities. With 9 races in 2011 and 11 in 2012, it has grown to a stage now where there are a total of 14 races this year. To accommodate this growth, the old Active series has been split into two new series.....the Ballyhoura Cork Road Race Series and the Ballyhoura Limerick Road Race Series.

Ballyhoura Cork Road Race Series...
1) Doneraile Park, Dan Byrne Memorial 5km trail race ...Friday 31st of May at 8pm - Mallow A.C. contact Denis Sheehan (087) 2461515 or dasheehan@eircom.net
2) Millstreet Willie Neenan Memoral 10km ...Millstreet A.C. Friday 5th July 7:30pm - Maeve Neenan (087) 2617001 or Maeveosullivan4@gmail.com for more details log onto www.eventmaster.ie 
3) Kilworth Camp 5 mile race ...Friday 12th of July 8pm - Grange Fermoy A.C. contact Clotilde Fitzgibbon (086)3162145 or (086)8299017  Paddyandclo@eircom.net
4) Donoughmore 7  mile road race ...Friday 19th July at 8pm - Donoughmore A.C. contact John Morrisssey (087)2196075 / J.morrissey@ucc.ie or Sean O'Callaghan (087)9678344 / sean.ocallaghan@cit.ie .
5) Mitchelstown GR8km...Friday  August 9th at 7.30pm - Galtee Runners A.C. contact Johnny O Sullivan (086) 2759248 or galteerunners26@gmail.com
6) Doneraile 5 km SteepleRace ...Saturday the 14th of September at 11am - Awbeg Valley A.C.  contact Brian Stack (086)2506932 or briandstack@aol.com
7) Charleville International Half Marathon ...Sunday 22nd of September at 10am - North Cork A.C. contact Michael Herlihy (086)3168954 or northcorkac@gmail.com

As you can see from the map above, the events are located in the northern part of Co.Cork and are within easy reach of people in Cork City and County as well as those in the surrounding counties. The flagship event of the series is of course the Charleville International Half-Marathon which is recognised as being one of the fastest Half-Marathon courses in the country.

All races in the series will have their courses measured accurately by Jones Counter and all have an Athletics Ireland licence. Post race refreshments will also be provided at all events.

Anyone completing 5 of the 7 races in the series will receive a special tech top.

For the duration of the race series, all of the information such as race flyers, directions, course previews will be available here as well of course, all of the results.

In some of the other counties in Munster like Waterford and Tipperary, race series have a hugely positive impact on race numbers. The Ballyhoura Series is still in it's infancy but it's already showing great results. It is hoped that as this series grows, more clubs will join and it will hopefully raise the standard, profile and number of road races in the region.

Details about the Ballyhoura Limerick Road Race Series can be found on the Running in Munster site.

Update on the Charleville Half-Marathon...

The Charleville Half-Marathon and Relay in North Cork is coming up on Sunday, the 18th of September. This is a brand new race on the calendar and with it's flat fast course, it should attract a lot of runners from Cork and Limerick as well as further afield.

Entries are now open and you can enter online HERE or you can enter by post by downloading an entry form HERE

The current entry fee is €25 until the 4th of Sept and there is a Technical Top training shirt for the first 300 entries. More details about entries and the course in this earlier post HERE

For those of you who need accommodation, this is from the organisers.......

Charleville Half Marathon Accommodation.........The Charleville Half Marathon have organised special room rates at the Charleville Park Hotel for participants who want to travel to the race location the night before the start. Runners who are intending on participating are asked to contact the hotel on 063 33708 or email reservations@charlevilleparkhotel.com to ask for the following special rates for the Half-marathon on Sunday September 18th. These are very reasonable rates for a four star hotel. Race numbers and chips can be collected at the hotel the night before the race.
The following rates are available for participants:
2 Nights B&B+1 Evening Meal @ €109pps
1 Nights B&B + Evening Meal @ €80pps
1 Night B&B @ €60pps1 Night Room Only @ €50pps

Upcoming Race...Charleville Half-Marathon & Relay - Sun 18th Sept 2011

This is a notice for another race coming up in September...the Charleville Half-Marathon in north Cork on Sunday, the 18th of September 2011 (10am start).

This is a brand new race on the calendar which is organised by North Cork AC. Located roughly halfway between Cork and Limerick, it will most likely attract plenty of runners from both cities. Charleville is approx 40 kms or a 35-40 minute drive from Limerick city and approx 60 kms and a 50-55 minute drive from Cork city.

Besides the central location, one of the main attractions of this race is the fact that it is a reasonably flat and fast course. Ideal for anyone wanting to try for a personal best time or wants to get a good indication of their fitness level heading into the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October.

I have seen other races promoting themselves as being 'fast' only for runners to turn up and find plenty of hills and drags. The clue to how flat this course is can be seen in the course map above. You can see the grey and white line which shows the route of the Cork to Dublin railway line. Laid in the mid 19th century, these routes were chosen to allow steam powered trains to run on...i.e. no steep hills. Looking at the Ordnance Survey map of the area, the few contour lines that are present are well spaced out so it would certainly seem to fit the bill as a fast course.

Relay....Another feature of this Half-Marathon is that it also incorporates a relay event, similar to the one for the Cork City Marathon. There are 4 legs which are approx 5 km each and relay teams can be made up of 2,3 or 4 runners. The course is laid out so that the 1st and 3rd relay points are in the same place at the start of a ~10 km loop. The 2nd relay point at the 10 km mark beside the church in Kilmallock. People can choose to break up the relay whatever way they want and even do the first and last 5km leg if they so wish while their team mate(s) do the other two ~5.25km legs.

There are also Technical T-shirts for first 300 entries so enter early! The organisers are also making a donation towards St. Josephs Foundation, Charleville. They are hosting the race at their facility and they have built a 200m running track which local athletic clubs use and is to be resurfaced soon. It will also be the warm-up area for the Half marathon and changing rooms will be in GAA Hall next door.

They will be using Chip timing from Champion chip with a 10km split.

Entries.........The entry fees are as follows...
€25 Individual Entry Fee until Sept 4th
€30 Late Individual Entry Fee from Sept. 5th - 18th
€40 Relay Team Entry Fee until Sept 4th
€50 Late Relay Team Entry Fee from Sept. 5th - 18th

The website for the race with contact details can be found HERE

You can enter online for the Half-Marathon HERE and the Relay event HERE

Entry Forms....
Individual entry forms for the Half-Marathon in PDF format can be found HERE

Entry forms for the Team Relay event can be found HERE

More info from the organisers...
Genuinely Flat Course all the way with just one bridge. Designed to yield fast times and personal bests in response to lack of fast courses in Ireland.
AAI Permit approved and accurately measured course.
Final race of 9 races in the Ballyhoura ACTIVE Summer Series of Road Races in North Cork/ East Limerick Region.
Race Information at: www.BallyhouraActive.com
Organised by: North Cork AC in conjunction with St. Josephs Foundation
Special Elite Athlete places available with accomodation and meals
Top six cash prizes for Senior Men and Women
First prize in all categories including special Under 23 category
For any queries - Contact Michael Herlihy (086) 3168954
Email: CharlevilleHalf@gmail.com
Race accommodation deals from www.CharlevilleParkHotel.com

Ballyhoura Active Series......2011

This road race series is now well under way with the 3rd race taking place on Monday evening in Dromcollogher in Co.Limerick.

Results on the Running in Munster website.

The 4th race in the series is coming up at 12 noon next Sunday, the 12th of July. It is a new 5 mile race organised by Grange-Fermoy AC and will be held in the Army grounds at Kilworth Camp. Considering how easy it is to reach with the new motorway from Cork, it should get a big turnout.

More details in a race preview closer to the weekend.

In the meantime, here are some of the other races in series so you can make a note of them...

Results of the Doneraile 5 km race - Fri 4th June 2010

This race in Doneraile Park in North Cork was the 3rd race in the Ballyhoura Active Summer Series and attracted a field of  162 runners. This was the biggest turnout so far and was well up on the 108 that ran on the same course at the end of April.

The full results are now available in PDF format HERE

Paudie Birmingham of Mallow AC has a gallery of 138 photos HERE

Preview of the Doneraile Park Trails 5 km race - Fri 30th Apr 2010 (8pm)...
This is the first race of 8 in the Ballyhoura Active Summer Series and what a start! Doneraile Park is a great spot for a race......no cars, nice trails and a nice scenic backdrop. If you have never seen the park before then it's well worth the trip. It's a real pity that we don't have something like Doneraile Park closer to Cork City!

The race itself is organised by Mallow AC and starts at 8pm.

Getting there....
If you are coming from Cork, then head North from Mallow on the main Limerick road and turn right at New Two Pot House. Follow this road to Doneraile.

Entry.....
The entry fee is only €5 so no complaints there. Last entries are at 7:30pm.

Details about the course, race, etc are up on the race series website

A pictorial preview of the course is available HERE