Report on 70th Cork City Sports ...by Joe Hartnett

70th Cork City Sports a rousing success.

The 70th Cork City Sports held at MTU stadium in Bishopstown provided an extremely high standard of track and field athletics on Tuesday night with two Meeting and Stadium records and one national record. The  crowd was highly involved and entertained and showed their appreciation to all the athletes including the six Irish athletes present that have been selected for the Paris Olympic Games..

The meeting opened with a meeting record by almost two meters from world ranked number three, Brooke Anderson USA, in the women's hammer, with a throw of 73.10 eclipsing the old record of 71.19. Anderson took the title in difficult windy conditions from world ranked number two Janee Kasanavoid USA and Ireland's Paris Olympics bound Nicola Tuttle.

2023 Cork City Sports cancelled

The organisers of the Cork City Sports have announced that the 2023 edition has been cancelled due to ongoing works of the athletics track at MTU. Over the last few year, things haven't been going well for this athletics event. First of all, it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. It went ahead in 2022 but now it's cancelled again.

The organisers released this statement... " It is with deep regret that we announce the cancellation of the highly anticipated Cork City Sports World Athletics Continental Tour 2023. This decision was made due to significant delays in the resurfacing of the athletics track at the Munster Technological University (MTU).

The decision to cancel the Cork City Sports Continental Tour was not taken lightly. The organising committee, in collaboration with the MTU, has been closely monitoring the progress of the resurfacing project. Unfortunately, technical challenges encountered by the specialist contractor in achieving World Athletics International Standard Certification requirements have led to significant delays, making it impossible to complete the athletics track in time for the event.

The organisers understand the impact that this cancellation has on the athletes who were eagerly preparing to compete in Cork. We recognise the countless hours of hard work, dedication, and sacrifices made by athletes from around the world. Rest assured, we share in their disappointment and regret any inconvenience caused.

The organising committee, together with the MTU, will focus on completing the resurfacing works as soon as possible track to ensure that the Cork City Sports Continental Tour will return stronger than ever in July 2024."

Results of the 2017 Cork City Sports...Tues 18th July 2017

The 2017 Cork City Sports is on Tuesday the 18th of July. The live feed is above and the timetable of events is HERE

There is some coverage on TG4 as well.

Results HERE

Photos...
1) Michael Meade has a gallery HERE 

Resutls & Photos of the Cork City Sports...Tues 7th July 2015

The annual Cork City Sports was held on Tuesday the 7th of July. The meet video can be seen below....


 
00:00-28 mins...Juvenile events
Junior Women 1500m...42 mins .......only two taking part which was pretty disappointing.
Junior Men 1500m...48 mins ....huge field by contrast.
Men 5000m walk...57 mins
Women 100m...1h 18m
Men 100m...1h 29m
Men 400m hurdles...1h 45m
Women 3000m...2h 08m
Men 800m...2h 24m
Men's mile...2h 30m
Women's 100m hurdles...2h 45m
Women's 800m...2h 48m
Women's 200m...2h 56m
Men 200m...3h 07m
Men 3000m...3h 21m
Men's Open 3000m...3h 31m...Race for Irish club athletes

The results can be seen HERE

Photos.........(updated Thurs 9th 11am)
1) There are 190 photos on the Running in Cork Facebook page HERE 
2) Derek Costello of Eagle AC has a gallery of photos HERE 
3) Graham Nudds has a gallery of photos HERE 
4) Gearóid Ó Laoi has a gallery of photos HERE 
5) Grianghraf Media has a gallery HERE 
6) Martin Collins has an album HERE
7) Der O'Donovan has a number of albums... #1 ... #2 ... #3 ... #4

Notice...Cork City Sports - Tues 7th July 2015

The Cork City Sports are coming up at the CIT track in Bishopstown on Tuesday evening the 7th of July 2015. For anyone with even a slight interest in athletics, this is worth going to watch as it's the only time of the year that you have such a quality field assembled locally for an athletics meeting.

Tickets may be purchased in John Buckley Sports which is just across the river from the Opera House in Cork City. Alternatively, tickets can be bought at the door on the night.

Cork Airport...One of the many local 
businesses sponsoring events 
on the night.

As well as there being a number of international athletes, some of the best talent locally and in Ireland will also be competing.


Programme of Events

Track Events
5:30 p.m.    Juvenile 300m events
6:30 p.m.    1500m Junior Women
6:40 p.m.    1500m Junior Men
6:50 p.m.    100m Women
7:00 p.m.    100m Men
7:15 p.m.    400m Hurdles Men
7:25 p.m.    3000m Women
7:40 p.m.    3000m Walk
7:55 p.m.    100m Hurdles Women
8:05 p.m.    800m Women
8:10 p.m.    800m Men
8:20 p.m.    1 Mile Men
8:30 p.m.    200m Women
8:35 p.m.    200 Men
8:40 p.m.    3000m Men
8:55 p.m.    3000m Open Men

Field Events
6:00 p.m.    Hammer Men
6:15 p.m.    Long Jump Women
6:30 p.m.    Pole Vault Women
6:30 p.m.    High Jump Men
7:30 p.m.    Long Jump Men

Entry to the stand area costs €15 while entry to the grounds costs €10.

More information about the Cork City Sports including the start lists can be seen on their website... http://corkcitysports.ie/

Scott Gibson of Bandon AC is the Cork City Sports Athlete of the month for Sept 2014

Scott Gibson of Bandon AC has been awarded the Cork City Sports Athletics Person of the Month for September 2014. 17 year old Scott was part of the Bandon AC team that traveled to the Group B European Champion Clubs Cup Track & Field juniors competition in Leiria in Portugal back in September. Bandon AC were the only Irish team taking part and Scott won the 400m race.

Results & Photos of the Cork City Sports...Tues 8th July 2014

The 63rd Cork City Sports were held at the CIT track in Bishopstown on Tuesday the 8th of July. The numbers attending seemed to be pretty much the same as last year with the stand area mostly full and plenty of people spread around the ground area as well.

The weather on the evening was sunny but there was a strong blustery wind from the north-west. As well as keeping things a bit on the cool side, it resulted in a strong headwind in the back straight and a tailwind in the home straight.

Overall, there was a very good atmosphere with the crowd really getting behind the Irish athletes.

These are a few of the performances that stood out for me...

Mens 400m hurdles....The Irish record holder 22 year old Thomas Barr finished 3rd in a time of 49.95 seconds.  This was about 1 second outside his best of 48.90 seconds which he set in Geneva last month. Any result under 50 seconds in those conditions is really an excellent performance.
1 Culson Javier                84    PUR      48.41           
2 Dutch Johnny                 89    USA      49.27           
3 Barr Thomas                  92    IRL      49.95   

In the womens 3000m, Fionnuala Britton finished 3rd in a time of 9:01.01. For much of the race, Fionnuala was at the front with Helen Clitheroe sitting behind looking comfortable. Eventually Hall and Duncan took over at the front and the field began to string out behind. It looked as if Fionnuala was beginning to fade away in the penultimate lap but then really pushed for home with about 300m to go and passed Clitheroe and then Penney to finish third.

Womens 3000m. Photo: Gearóid O Laoi

1    99    Hall Marielle                92    USA      8:54.48          
2    94    Duncan Melissa               90    AUS      8:58.14          
3    82    Britton Fionnuala            84    IRL      9:01.01          
4    83    Penney Lauren                90    USA      9:01.33          
5    104    Clitheroe Helen              74    ENG      9:03.95          
6    86    Mori Yuika                   88    JPN      9:05.57          
7    81    McCambridge Maria            75    IRL      9:05.66          
8    101    Omori Naksuki                JPN      9:09.54          
9    85    Nowakowska Dominika          85    POL      9:10.79          
10    98    Treacy Sara                  89    IRL      9:12.35          
14    88    Purdue Charlotte             91    ENG      9:19.86          
15    92    Durcan Ciara                 86    IRL      9:22.70       

Womens 100m...In the womens 100m, Phil Healy of Bandon AC was on fire running a time of 11.36 seconds. A significant factor here was the tailwind of 3 metres per second which for sprinters makes a huge difference. The legal limit is 2 metres per second so any times set don't count as personal bests or as records. However note Phil's time....11.36 seconds. The Irish national record is 11.40 seconds. Phil is still only 20 years old so the chances of her breaking the Irish record in the future must be a real possibility.

Phil Healy of Bandon AC...2nd in the 100m. Photo: Gearóid O Laoi

1 VanBuren Cleo                86    USA      11.35           
2 Healy Phil                   94    IRL      11.36           
3 Whelan Niamh                 90    IRL      11.68           
4 McManus Catherine            92    IRL      11.73           
5 Kiernan Louise               87    IRL      11.83           
6 Buys Elzette                 92    RSA      11.95

Mens 3000m race walk....One of the top performances of the evening was that of Alex Wright in the mens 3000m walk. Alex used to be one of the top race walkers in the UK and declared for Ireland at the start of this year. He is a part of Rob Heffernan's training group in Cork and they are often seen out on the roads locally training. Alex's time of 10:58.47 was a new Irish record and beats the previous record of 11:10.02 which was set back in 2002 by Rob Heffernan. Rob who is of course the world champion over 50 kms also broke his old record.

Alex Wright of Leevale AC...setting a new national record in the mens 3000m walk. Photo: Gearóid O Laoi

    1    238    Bird-Smith Dane              92    AUS      10:56.23           
    2    239    Campion Kevin                88    FRA      10:58.16           
    3    235    Wright Alex                  90    IRL      10:58.47           
    4    230    Heffernan Robert             78    IRL      11:09.08           
    5    233    Hickey Luke                  94    IRL      11:27.81           
    6    232    Boyce Brendan                86    IRL      11:35.92           
    7    237    Treanor James                92    IRL      11:44.96           
    8    234    Lynch Evan                   95    IRL      12:06.33

(The Irish Examiner have an article on this race HERE)

Womens 100m hurdles...In the womens 100m hurdles, Sarah Lavin from Limerick finished second and only two one-hundredths of a second behind the winner. She possibly could have won except for knocking a hurdle in the middle of the race. Sarah's time of 13.30 seconds was very close to her personal best of 13.23 seconds which she set in Geneva last month. The following wind for this race was 1.7 metres per second so it was ok for records.

Sarah Lavin in the 100m hurdles. Photo: Gearóid O Laoi

1 Solomon Serita               90    ENG      13.28           
2 Lavin  Sarah                 94    IRL      13.30           
3 Drew Karla                   99    ENG      13.69           
4 Kleinhaus Erika              99    RSA      14.00           
5 Marrs Megan                  98    IRL      14.15           
6 McManus Catherine            92    IRL      14.33           
7 Williams Sirena              USA      15.78

In the womens 800m race, Laura Crowe and Ciara Everard finished 6th and 8th respectively.
    6    64    Crowe Laura                  87    IRL      2:04.64          
    8    73    Everard Ciara                90    IRL      2:08.29    

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...(Updated Wed @11am)
1) Sportsfile has some photos HERE 
2) Gearóid O Laoi has 200+ photos HERE 
3) Graham Nudds has a gallery of photos HERE 


Video...
1) Video coverage of the whole meet from AerTV...
Coverage starts at 36 mins.
0:36 to about 1:30.....coverage of the juvenile races
0:58...start of the field events
1:34...1500mjunior women
1:43...1500m junior men
1:55...400m hurdles men
2:07...400m women
2:20...400m women
2:32...3000m women
2:47...100m women
2:51 & 2:58...100m men
3:08...3000m walk men
3:25...100m hurdles women
3:32...Mile men
3:44...800m women
3:52...3000m men



2) Flotrack has interviews with several of the international athletes HERE

Cork's First Sub 4 minute mile - July 1974

The article below was written by John Walshe and appeared in the Evening Echo last Friday the 4th of July 2014. It is reprinted here with his kind permission.

1974 – CORK’S FIRST SUB-FOUR-MINUTE MILE

(EVENING ECHO, July 4, 2014 by John Walshe)

At half-past-eight on Tuesday night, a hush will fall over the crowd at the CIT Athletics Stadium. It will signal the start of the Cork Airport men’s mile at the 63rd Cork City Sports and once again the four laps (pus nine metres) of the track promises to be a cracker.

Just a few weeks ago, Paul Robinson showed he can mix it with the best of the Africans and Americans when setting a new personal best of 3:54.77 at the famed Bislett Games in Oslo and he will be joined by an array of other top-class middle distance exponents.

This year of 2014 is, of course, a special year in that it marks the 60th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s historic first sub-four-minute-mile. But it’s also a significant milestone (if you pardon the pun) in the annuals of the Cork City Sports.

For on a July evening all of 40 years ago, John Hartnett achieved the same feat on the old grass track at the Mardyke, making it the first time the Cork public had witnessed such a performance.

Since then, a further 105 sub-fours have been achieved in Cork but, like Bannister’s momentous effort, the first to do is always recalled with awe. For Ballyhooly man Hartnett, that night was his third appearance at the City Sports.

In 1972 he had finished second to Ian Stewart in the 5,000m and the following year – having broken Ron Delany’s 15-year-old Irish mile record with a time of 3:54.7 at Eugene, Oregon - he failed by just seven tenths of a second to break four minutes at the Mardyke.

Hartnett at the time was on scholarship at Villanova University and he had started off the year of 1974 in brilliant fashion. On a Saturday night in January at the Knights of Columbus Games in New York he ran the fifth fastest time on record for two miles when covering the 22 indoor laps in 8:26.6.

He finished almost eight seconds ahead of Grant McLaren from Canada (8:34.4) with another Irishman, Neil Cusack, third in 8:37.2. Of course Cusack would go on three months later to win the Boston Marathon in an Irish record of 2:13:39.

Hartnett’s amazing form on the boards of North America continued the following month at the Maple Leaf Indoor Games in Toronto where, before a packed attendance of over 16,000 fans, he ran the first sub-four-minute indoor mile witnessed in Canada.

His 3:59.6 was achieved ahead of a glittering field which included the current and future Olympic 1500m champions, Pekka Vasala of Finland and John Walker from New Zealand.

Hartnett also won the NCAA indoor two-mile championship in a meet record of 8:33.6 and added the IC4A title over the same distance in a similar time of 8:33.2.

Before returning home for the summer, he added the Irish 1500m record to his list when clocking 3:38.1 at Bakersfield in California.

On that magical night at the Mardyke where a cold wind made conditions difficult, Hartnett was paced through the first lap of 57.1 by Tony O’Leary of Leevale. Tom Gregan and a young Eamonn Coghlan – both fellow students of Hartnett’s at Villanova – then took over with the halfway mark tracks passed in 1:57.5. When the bell was reached in 2:56.2, the crowd rose to the occasion and amidst the deafening cheers the man in the Grange AC singlet powered around the final circuit to cross the line in 3:56.3, still one of the fastest times achieved on a grass track.

Much like Bannister’s time ushered in a new era of miling, John Hartnett was also the pioneer of the world-class times that would be achieved over the distance at the Cork City Sports. Since that July evening 40 years ago, many of the world’s finest have taken on the distance at both the Mardyke and CIT tracks with fastest of 3:49.42 standing to Sydney Maree of the USA from 1982.

Former Olympian Donie Walsh of Leevale AC unveiling a commemorative plaque in Ballyhooly in 2010

Hartnett is still remembered with affection in his native village of Ballyhooly where for the past number of years a 10km road race has been held in his honour every

August.

This year’s race takes place on August 10th and two years ago the village’s most famous son – who now resides in New Jersey – was on hand to start the race and present the prizes, as well as reminisce with his many admirers on what was a remarkable and honour-laden career.

Addendum....
1) Another article on John Hartnett can be found HERE

Notice...Cork City Sports - Tues 8th July 2014

The Cork City Sports are coming up at the CIT track in Bishopstown on Tuesday evening the 8th of July 2014. For anyone with even a slight interest in athletics, this is worth going to watch as it's the only time of the year that you have such a quality field assembled locally for an athletics meeting.

As well as there being a number of international athletes, some of the best talent locally and in Ireland will also be competing.

Just some of the top Irish athletes to watch are...
1) Thomas Barr from Ferrybank AC in Waterford in the mens 400m hurdles...he literally flying at the moment
2) Phil Healy of Bandon AC in the womens 100m....one of the rising stars in sprinting
3) Sarah Lavin from Limerick in the womens 100m hurldes.....now that Derval O'Rourke has retired, Sarah is probably the fastest hurdler in the country
4) Laura Crowe in the womens 800m.....how close to 2 minutes will they get?
5) The mens mile.......is a sub 4 minute mile on the cards?
...plus plenty more.

Programme of Events

Track Events
5:30 p.m.    Juvenile 300m events    Cork County Board AAI
6:30 p.m.    1500m Junior Women    Cork County Board AAI
6:40 p.m.    1500m Junior Men    Barry’s Tea
6:50 p.m.    400m Hurdles Men    Cork County Council
7:05 p.m.    400m  Women    DPS Engineering
7:15 p.m.    400m Men    Cork County Council
7:25 p.m.    3000m Women    Irish Sports Council
7:40 p.m.    100m Women    Centra
7:50 p.m.    100m Men    SuperValu
8:05 p.m.    3000m Walk    Leisure World
8:20 p.m.    100m Hurdles Women    TQS Integration
8:30 p.m.    1 Mile Men    Cork Airport
8:40 p.m.    800m Women    Henry Ford & Sons
8:50 p.m.    3000m Men    John Buckley Sports

Field Events
6:00 p.m.    Hammer Men    Cork Educational & Training Board
6:00 p.m.    High Jump Women    AON Hewitt
6:15 p.m.    Long Jump Men    Cork Airport
6:30 p.m.    Pole Vault Women    Athletics Ireland
7:15 p.m.    High Jump Men    FMC International
7:30 p.m.    Shot Putt Women    The River Lee Hotel
7:45 p.m.    Long Jump Women    Cork City Council

Entry to the stand area costs €15 while entry to the grounds costs €10.

More information about the Cork City Sports including the start lists can be seen on their website.

Orla Barry is Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month for June 2013

At a special presentation ceremony in Cork today, Orla Barry of Leevale AC was presented with an award for being the Cork City Sports Athlete of the month for the month of June. Orla who is from Ladysbridge in East Cork secured her best ever result at a major Championship by winning silver in the F57/58 women’s discus at the Paralympic Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France.

Results and Photos of the 2013 Cork City Sports...Tues 2nd July 2013

Conditions were pretty much ideal for the Cork City Sports this year. The wet weather that was present in the morning had well cleared by evening time and the wind had dropped to a gentle breeze. A fair size crowd were on hand to watch the event with the stand area being pretty full with the ground area less so. While it was maybe not as busy as last year, it was certainly a lot busier than the weekend event of previous years.

The best thing about the Cork City Sports is of course that it's live. You get to notice things that you won't see on TV and you get a different perspective on the speeds that the athletes are running. Watching and having the noise of a crowd does of course makes for it's own unique atmosphere which adds to the event, something that's hard to convey on TV. The biggest problem of course is that there's no action replay! ;o)

If there was one disappointment on the night then it was that some more of the big names in Irish athletics were not in attendance. I know from looking at a multitude of websites on sports that athletics is very much a minority interest. Other than the odd occasion when an Irish athlete wins a medal at a major championships, Irish athletics can be largely ignored. There was no better example of this recently when there was no coverage by RTE of the European Athletics 1st League in Dublin yet Portugese TV thought it important enough to provide a live feed on their website. The likes of the Cork City Sports and the Morton Games in Dublin are a great way for Irish athletes to connect with the general public and they deserve all the support that they can get.

Here are a selection of the results from the evening...

In the mens 100m, one performance to note here was Marcus Lawler. Just 18 years old and having just finished his Leaving Cert exams this year, he is already the 6th fastest Irish man ever on the record books. One to watch for the future.

Men 100 Metre Sprint
 Name Year Team Finals Wind
 1 Akani Simbine 93 South Africa 10.48 -0.3
 2 Judah Simpson 92 England 10.55 -0.3
 3 Marcus Lawler 95 Ireland 10.58 -0.3
 4 Dean Power 96 Ireland 11.16 -0.3
 5 Michael Hynes 89 Ireland 11.20 -0.3
In the mens mile, both Paul Robinson from Kildare and David McCarthy from Waterford ran under the 4 minute barrier. For 22 year old Paul Robinson who runs with St.Coca's AC, it was a new personal best time having broken his previous best of 3:58.47 set in Dublin in July 2012.

David McCarthy of West Waterford AC and Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC in the mens mile race. Pic. Gearóid O Laoi

Men 1 Mile Run
 Name Year Team Finals
 1 Cameron Page 91 Australia 3:54.77
 2 Jordan McNamara 87 USA 3:55.76
 3 Garrett Heath 85 USA 3:55.91
 4 Paul Robinson 91 Ireland 3:56.18
 5 Ben Blackenship 88 USA 3:56.66
 6 David McCarthy 88 Ireland 3:57.85
 7 Jerry Motsau 90 South Africa 4:00.58
 8 Eoin Everard 86 Ireland 4:03.68
 9 Emanuel Rolim 93 Portugal 4:05.07
 10 Brett Robinson 91 Australia 4:06.32
 11 Sean Tobin 94 Ireland 4:06.66
 12 Will Lear 85 USA 4:07.21

Men 3000 Metre Run
 Name Year Team Finals
 1 Collis Birmingham 84 Australia 7:47.97
 2 Hassan Mead 89 USA 7:52.00
 3 Elroy Gelant 86 South Africa 7:54.97
 4 Andy Vernon 86 England 7:55.88
 5 Philip Pfieger 90 Germany 7:57.25
 6 Clement Bleistein 90 Germany 8:00.56
 7 Shane Quinn 92 Ireland 8:04.81
 8 John Coghlan 88 Ireland 8:09.22
 9 James McCarthy 84 Ireland 8:23.88
 10 Gary Thornton 79 Ireland 8:24.17
 11 Carl Smith 90 England 8:24.75
 12 James Grufferty Ireland 8:33.92
 13 Joe Townsend 89 England 8:37.76
 14 Dave Fitzmaurice 90 Ireland 8:39.27
 15 Cillian O'Leary 80 Ireland 8:40.31
 16 Michael Carmody Ireland 8:41.74
 17 Thomas Maunsell Ireland 9:09.65

In the mens 3,000m walk, Rob Heffernan of Togher AC set a new Irish record for the distance.
3000 Metre Race Walk
 Name Year Team Finals
 1 Robert Heffernan 78 Ireland 11:11.94
 2 Wayne Snyman 85 South Africa 11:34.60
 3 Brendan Boyce 86 Ireland 11:36.98
 4 Colin Griffin 82 Ireland 11:51.39
 5 Evan Lynch Ireland 12:37.63

David Cussen of Old Abbey AC...Pic. Athletics Ireland

In the mens High Jump, 17 year old David Cussen from Old Abbey AC in Cork finished in 5th place overall. He cleared 1.90, 1.95 and  2.00 metres on his first attempt. With the bar raised to 2.05m, he cleared it on his 3rd attempt, just one cm short of his personal best of 2.06m. When the bar was raised to 2.10 metres, David failed on the first two attempts but cleared it on his last and final jump setting a new personal best in the process. This moves him up to joint 15th highest Irish man ever and he is still only 17.

In the womens 100m sprint, two of the big Irish names went out due to false starts.
Women 100 Metre Sprint
 Name Year Team Finals Wind H#
 1 Jessica Young 87 USA 11.43 1.0 1
 2 Bianca Williams 93 England 11.50 1.0 1
 3 Cleo VanBuren 86 USA 11.57 1.0 1
 4 Louise Bloor 85 Scotland 11.58 1.0 1
 5 Catherine McManus 92 Ireland 11.81 0.2 2
 6 Phil Healy 94 Ireland 11.91 1.0 1
 7 Kelly Fogarty 89 USA 11.97 1.0 1
 8 Sarah Murray 93 Ireland 12.16 0.2 2
 9 Louise Holmes 92 Ireland 12.23 0.2 2
 10 Fiona Morrisson 88 New Zealand 12.24 0.2 2
 -- Kelly Proper 88 Ireland DQ 1.0 1
 -- Ailis McSweeney 83 Ireland DQ 1.0 1

Laura Crowe #56 at the start of the womens 800m...Pic. Gearoid O Laoi

In the womens 800m, Laura Crowe of An Riocht AC ran 2:02.90, just 0.21 seconds outside her personal best time of 2:02.69 set in Oslo in mid March. The Irish record for this event is 2:00.69 set by Sonia O'Sullivan in Russia in 1994.
Women 800 Metre Run
 Name Year Team Finals
 1 Heather Kaapf 87 USA 2:01.56
 2 Phoebie Wright 88 USA 2:01.91
 3 Angie Smit 91 New Zealand 2:02.01
 4 Laura Crowe 87 Ireland 2:02.90
 5 Emma Jackson 88 England 2:03.76
 6 Zoe Buckman 88 Australia 2:05.98
 7 Clare McSweeney 87 Ireland 2:07.71
 8 Selma Kajan 91 Australia 2:08.62

Sarah Lavin...sets a new personal best in the 100m hurdles...Pic. Doug Minihane

In the womens 100 metre hurdles, Sarah Lavin set of new personal best time of 13.36 seconds. At just 19 years old, she maintains her position as the third fastest Irish woman ever. Only Derval O'Rourke and Susan Smith have run faster....12.65 and 13.12 seconds respectively.
Women 100 Metre Hurdles
 Name Year Team Finals Wind
 1 Kristi Castlin 88 USA 12.84 -0.5
 2 Chelsea Carrier-Eades 89 USA 13.09 -0.5
 3 Serita Solomon 90 England 13.21 -0.5
 4 Sarah Lavin 94 Ireland 13.36 -0.5
 5 Fiona Morrison 88 New Zealand 13.51 -0.5
 6 Sandra Lawler 90 Ireland 14.19 -0.5
 -- Gemma Bennett 84 England DQ -0.5

Results...The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Doug Minihane has a gallery of photos taken from the ground area HERE
2) John Quigley of Eagle AC has a small gallery of photos taken from the stand HERE
3) Gearóid O Laoi has a huge gallery of over 1000+ photos HERE 
4) Sportsfile have a small number of commercial photos HERE

Event notice...Cork City Sports...Tues 2nd July 2013

The biggest athletics event in Cork for the year is coming up next Tuesday evening with the 62nd International Cork City Sports at CIT in Bishopstown.

For anyone who has any interest in athletics, it really is well worth attending. It isn't every day you get to see the top Irish athletes compete against an international field and if you're in Cork, it's on your doorstep.

If you are coming from outside Cork and you are not sure where exactly the CIT track is then you can see a map HERE...just zoom in and out.

Schedule of events...
Start Time
Track Events...Sponsor
5:30 PM    Juvenile 300m Events     Cork County Board AAI
6:30 PM    400m Hurdles Men     Cork County Council
6:40 PM    400m Women     AON Hewitt
6:50 PM    400m  Men     DPS Engineering
7:00 PM    3000m Women     Irish Sports Council
7:20 PM    100m Women     Centra
7:30 PM    100m Men     SuperValu
7:40 PM    3000m Walk     LeisureWorld
8:00 PM    100m Hurdles Women     Maher Sports
8:10 PM    1 Mile Men     Cork Airport
8:20 PM    800m Women     Henry Ford & Son Ltd.
8:30 PM    3000m Men     Cork City Council
8:40 PM     1 Mile Junior Men     Barrys Tea

Field Events
6:00 PM    Hammer Women     Cork Education and Training Board
6:30 PM    High Jump Women     Johnson & Perrott Ltd
6:30 PM    Pole Vault Men     Athletics Ireland
6:30 PM    Long Jump Men     FDC Financial Services
7:45 PM    High Jump Men     FMC
7:45 PM    Long Jump Women     Cross Hire Ltd

Updated 2nd July........Start lists...Track and Field

Red FM interview with Ciarán Ó Lionáird...

At last weeks Cork City Sports, Ciarán Ó Lionáird made his first appearance on the track since since he sustained an achilles injury in the Spring. He finished 5th in the mile race in a time of 3:58.84 which is all the more impressive when you consider his lack of race fitness.

A few days ago, local radio station Red FM caught up with him and carried out this short interview...



All going well, Ciarán should be taking part in the Morton Mile in Dublin on Wednesday.

Name...........PBs and SBs:
Ayanleh Souleiman (DIJ) 3.5.21 SB 3.50.21
David Torrence (USA) 3.50.01 SB 3.52.01
Ryan Gregson (AUS) 3.52.24 SB 3.53.62

Ciaran O’Lionaird (IRL) 3.54.76 SB 3.54.76

Garrett Heath (USA) 3.55.24 SB 3.55.24
Will Leer (USA) 3.55.66 SB 3.58.49
Silas Kisorio (KEN) 3.55.84 SB 3.55.84
Zane Robertson (NZL) 3.56.13 SB 3.56.13
Ricky Stevenson (GBR) 3.56.31 SB 3.58.91
Craig Miller (USA) 3.56.41 SB 3.56.41
Jack Bolas (USA) 3.58.31 SB 3.58.31
Ryan Hill (USA) 3.58.33 SB 3.58.33

Paul Robinson (IRL) 3.58.70 SB 3.58.70

John Coghlan (IRL) 3.59.32 SB 3.59.32

John Travers (IRL) 4.04.25

Rory Chesser (IRL) 4.04.38

Feidhlim Kelly (IRL) pace

The Morton Mile is the climax of the Meet with a 9.00 p.m. start on the 25th of July. The International Programme in the Morton Games opens at 7.15 p.m.

Update.....8pm....There was also a piece on NBC Olympics about Ciarán today. In it,  they write......
With the first of three rounds of the Olympic 1500m scheduled to take place in just 11 days, O'Lionard said he just has to take things one round at a time, and not project too far forward. He's realistic about his chances, but said that he's a good tactician which should help him to advance.
"I don't think worrying's going to do anything for me," he intoned. "At this point, my body is what it is. I've been dealt the cards I've been dealt and I have to play them the best that I can."

The full NBC interview can be seen HERE

Results of the Cork City Sports...Tues 17th July 2012

Despite the dull and overcast conditions, a large crowd still turned out on Tuesday evening for the 2012 Cork City Sports at the CIT track. Certainly, moving the event from a Saturday afternoon to a weekday evening seems to have been a big success.

In terms of conditions, it was hardly ideal with a strong westerly breeze but that still didn't stop some fine times being posted by the Irish and International athletes.

In the mens 200m, Steven Colvert posted a time of 20.68 seconds despite a strong breeze. His time was just 11 hundredths of a second outside his personal best time of 20.68. The Olympic A standard is 20.55

Steven Colvert of Crusaders AC...Second in the 100m with a time of 10.71 seconds

1   126 Luke Fagan          88 Great Britain            20.65  -2.5  2
  2   125 Steven Colvert      90 Ireland                  20.68  -2.5  2
  3   121 Manteo Mitchell     87 USA                      20.88  -2.5  2
  4   135 Leemarvin Bonevaci  89 Curacao                  21.20  -2.5  2
  5   123 Joel Redhead        86 Grenada                  21.39  -2.5  2
  6   129 David Hynes         85 Ireland                  21.43   0.5  1
  7   138 Julien Watrin       92 Belgium                  21.54  -2.5  2
  8   131 Dara Kervick        91 Ireland                  21.67  -2.5  2
  9   105 Ofentse Mogawane    82 South Africa             21.98   0.5  1
 10   130 Marcus Lawlor       95 Ireland                  22.05  -2.5  2
 11   137 Tim Crowe           91 Ireland                  22.26   0.5  1
 12   136 Greg O'Shea         95 Ireland                  22.30   0.5  1
 13   132 Jamie Davis         89 Ireland                  22.34   0.5  1
 14   128 Andrew Boudrie      85 Australia                22.99   0.5  1
 15   134 Andrew Barnes       88 South Africa             23.02   0.5  1 

In the womens 400m, Joanne Cuddihy looked like she might take first place but faded a bit in the last 100 metres. Her time of 51.86 seconds was just fractions of a second behind the winner and close to the Olympic A standard of 51.55 seconds.

1   153 Keisha Baker        88 USA                      51.51   (Heat 2)
  2   141 Shericka Williams   85 Jamaica                  51.74   2
  3   142 Joanne Cuddihy      84 Ireland                  51.86   2
  4   143 Carol Rodriguez     85 Puerto Rico              52.69   2
  5   145 Jessie Barr         89 Ireland                  53.78   2
  6   146 Catriona Cuddihy    86 Ireland                  54.69   2
  7   147 Grainne Moynihan    94 Ireland                  55.80   (Heat 1)
  8   148 Becky Pile          81 Great Britain            56.26   1
  9   151 Jessica Neville     93 Ireland                  57.96   1
 10   149 Tamara Hamond       81 Australia                58.36   1
 11   152 Christine Neville   93 Ireland                  58.75   1

In the womens 3,000m, Stephanie Reilly took second place in 9:02.91. Just to put into context how fast that is, it's 4:51 per mile pace! Stephanie will be going to the London Olympics in a few weeks to take part in the 3,000m steeplechase.

 Stephanie Reilly in the middle of the 3,000m pack...(fourth from right)

1   350 Kim Conley          86 USA                    9:01.47 
  2   347 Stephanie Reilly    78 Ireland                9:02.91 
  3   341 Eloise Wellings     82 Australia              9:03.82 
  4   354 Alemitu Heroye         Ethopia                9:08.32 
  5   342 Maria McCambridge   75 Ireland                9:10.81 
  6   346 Charlotte Purdue    91 Great Britain          9:11.54 
  7   349 Beverly Ramos       87 Puerto Rico            9:13.38 
  8   344 Emma Pallant        89 Great Britain          9:15.63 
  9   353 Michelle Finn       89 Ireland                9:52.51 
 10   351 Lizzie Lee          80 Ireland                9:57.23 
 11   352 Mary Mulhare        93 Ireland               10:21.51

The highlight of the evening however was probably the mens mile and they didn't disappoint with no less than five runners breaking the 4 minute barrier!

  1     1 Ryan Gregson        90 Australia              3:57.98
  2    10 Liam Boylen-Pett    85 USA                    3:58.38
  3    13 Elliott Heath       89 USA                    3:58.48
  4     5 Paul Robinson       91 Ireland                3:58.70
  5     8 Ciaran O'Lionaird   88 Ireland                3:58.84
  6     7 Bartosz Nowicki     84 Poland                 4:01.23
  7    12 Malcolm Hicks       87 New Zealand            4:02.33
  8    11 John Coghlan        88 Ireland                4:02.44
  9    14 Mark Hanrahan       85 Ireland                4:02.92
 10     6 Zane Robertson      89 New Zealand            4:03.05
 11    16 Michael Coe         87 USA                    4:17.99

Of special in this race was of course Ciarán Ó Lionáird who finished in 5th in 3:58.84. Having struggled through the spring with a Achilles injury, he has now recovered and is putting in the final touches to his preparation for the 1500m in London. Post race, he posted this on Twitter......"So happy to be out and competing again. Didn't think it would happen this year with injuries and doubts. Went out at the back, moved up throughout. Perfect position with 100 left, pulled trigger and nothing there. That's called rust. More to come."

In a post race interview, he said......"Right now I’m as healthy as I’m going to be this year but I’m able to train at almost full capacity. With the Achilles injury, it’s been difficult. When you train through injury you have to manage it and the other obstacles that may occur. In my case the obstacles involved my other leg — my right side took a lot of beating. But I have done some good sessions in the past thee weeks — the kind of stuff I was doing before the World Championships in Daegu. The only thing missing has been competitive racing and that’s why Cork City Sports is a crucial part of my build-up to the Games. I need to race competitively to show me where I’m at. More likely than not, I’ll race again in Dublin next week but that will depend on how I come off tomorrow’s meet and if my Achilles holds up. I have really good momentum right now. I am training well and I am confident we can get it turned around. I’ll be having a hard session after this race tomorrow night and I’ll be working right up to the day of my heat in London. I’m really excited about the sessions over the past three weeks."

The full results can be seen HERE 

 Rob Heffernan and Olive Loughnane...respective winners in the mixed 3,000m race walk.

Photos.......

1) Series by Sean Power HERE 
2) Gearoid O'Laoi has 171 photos HERE

Photos courtesy of Gearoid O'Laoi

1953...The day the Cork City Sports included a road race

With the Cork City Sports coming up at the CIT grounds on Tuesday evening, it might be time to have a look back at some of the history of the event. The following article was written by John Walshe and appeared in the Evening Echo.

WHEN A ROAD RACE TOOK PLACE AT THE CITY SPORTS......By John Walshe

The date was Tuesday July 7, 1953, when the Cork City Sports took place at the GAA Grounds at the Mardyke, under the laws of the NACAI. All the track races were over the imperial distances and ranged from a 220 yards youths sprint up to the 880 yards (or half-mile). The only metric distance on the programme was the 1500m Irish senior championship.

Cycling races, then a huge attraction at the grass track meetings, included the two miles Irish championship and a three miles open handicap. But there is one event which stands out from that July evening all of 59 years ago and which took place for the one and only time at a Cork City Sports - an eight mile road race.

It started at the Grand Parade Monument before proceeding out Washington Street and the Western Road, then out the Carrigrohane Straight before turning right onto the Lee Road, past St Josephs Hospital at six miles and the Mental Hospital to finish back at the Gaelic Grounds in the Mardyke.

Nowadays, giving the popularity of road running, numbers in excess of 600 are not unusual for an evening race but on that occasion just 13 runners toed the line at the Grand Parade. It was a handicap race, with most of that small field starting off two to two-and-a-half minutes ahead of the scratch man, Joe West of the Rising Sun club. The nearest to him at the start was Johnny Harte from Carrigtwiohill who had just a one-minute handicap.

Joe West is one of the forgotten men of Irish athletics. He was born and reared in Carrigaline and started off his career with the local Owenabui club, winning the Cork senior cross-title on three occasions. In 1947, he emigrated to England and joined Coventry Godiva Harriers. While across the water, he won several road races and also gained honours at regional and national level with the famous Godiva Harriers.

In 1952, he was invited back to Dublin to take part in the marathon trial for that year’s Olympic Games in Helsinki. Never having run further than 15 miles, he duly won the race and followed that up with an 11th place in the historic Polytechnic marathon from Windsor to Chiswick, recording a time of 2:32.

At the Olympics in Helsinki, West gallantly completed the distance in a time of 2:56:22, finishing in 49th place in a race famously won by Emil Zatopek who had already taken the gold medals in both the 5000m and 10,000m on the track.

And so, on that July evening almost 60 years ago, the large attendance at the Mardyke were able to witness one of their own, an Olympian marathoner, come into the Gaelic Grounds as winner of the eight-mile road race. West’s time was 45 minutes and 44 seconds and in second place was Ted Geary from Ballymore near Cobh with P Reid from Dowdallshill in third.

That Cork City Sports meeting was described as easily the most successful sports fixture seen in Munster for many years. A new Irish record of 14.8 seconds for the 120 yards hurdles was set by E F Kinsella from the St James Gate club in Dublin but the outstanding athlete of the evening was Finbarr Callanan of UCD who won the 100 yards, the long jump and finished second in the hurdles.

For his efforts, he was duly awarded the American Trophy which was presented to him by Mrs Taft, wife of the American Ambassador to Ireland, William H Taft.

Results of the recent poll on the Cork City Sports

Back at the start of July, the 2011 Cork City Sports at the CIT track attracted what could be considered at best, a very modest crowd. Just after the event, I put up a post asking peoples opinions as to why they didn't go. I also put up a poll asking two questions and I left it open for one week.

The first question was simple.......Did you go to the Cork City Sports?

The answer was 70% No and 30% Yes.

Some points...
1) Thanks to the 102 people who took part in this poll. That number is probably large enough to get an accurate answer.
2) As you might expect, the vast majority of visitors to this blog are probably runners and are probably based in the Cork region. It raises a serious issue for the organsiers of the Cork City Sports...if they are failing to attract local runners to the event then what hope have they of getting the general public to attend? Remember that in it's heyday back in the early 80's, in excess of 10,000 people would fill the Mardyke grounds to watch.

The second question was Why didn't you go to the Cork City Sports? and 61 people answered this.

A...39% said that no-one of interest was taking part.
B...25% said they had no interest overall. Taken together, that's 64% of those that didn't go found there was nothing there to attract them.

C...20% of those that didn't go said that they didn't know it was on. If that is taken as a pecentage of the whole then it might suggest that 14% of all runners didn't know that the Cork City Sports was on. If this is supposed to be one of the main sporting events in Cork and some runners don't know about it, then a very high percentage of the general public must be unaware of it.

D...16% thought it was too expensive. It was €15 to get into the stand and €10 to get into the grounds.

So after all that, what conclusions can we draw?

It's obvious that money and sponsorship is a big issue. It is supposed to cost €120k to organise the Cork City Sports. Without the money, they can't attract the big names which in turn won't attract the crowds which in turn won't bring in the money. It's a bit of a catch 22 situation.

Possibly the list of events could be improved? Personally, I'd have no interest in watching a 1500 or 3,000 metre race but I think it would be great to watch someone attempt a sub 4 minute mile. Despite the fact that everything has gone metric, runners still think in minutes per mile and there is a certain mystique and history to the mile distance.

I'm not sure how the organisers advertised the event but obviously they are not getting their message out there. I only really noticed it when I came across a poster on a website about 1 week before the event. Again, if the message isn't getting to all of the running community then what hope have they of attracting the wider public?

A lot of interesting comments and suggestions were left under the earlier post if you want to have a look. You can leave a comment there or under this post if you want to. Click on the link below.

Cork City Sports....Did you go?....and if not, why?

Now that the 2011 Cork City Sports are over, I came across 2 recent newspaper articles which raise a number of issues....

In the first article from the Irish Independent, the Chairman of the Cork City Sports is reported to be angry with some Irish Athletes and Athletics Ireland for their lack of support for the event. The event costs approx €120k per annum to hold and it's obvious that it is a struggle to raise the required funds.

In the second article from the Irish Times, the author put's foward the case for Athletic meetings like the Cork City Sports and that they are worth supporting.

In preparing this post for the blog, I asked someone who had attended the event what they thought of it. He said that the "stand was pretty empty. Three rows of seats in one section were reserved for sponsors. Very few of these were occupied."  He estimated the number attending to be around 1,000 to 1,500 which he thought was well down on last year.

When I asked as to why the numbers were down, he thought it is due to the "absence of World Class Irish, particularly Cork, athletes.  In the past, there was: Marcus O'Sullivan, Frank O'Meara, Sonia, Coghlan, to name a few.  We have few of that calibre competing anywhere now, let alone Cork.  Nobody there to capture public's imagination. Back in the Mid 80's to early 90s - 15 to 20 thousand people would pack the Mardyke to watch the Cork City Sports."

So this raises the question, why didn't more people go to the Cork City Sports last Saturday?

It would seem that the most likely people to go to this type of event are people involved in running or athletics in general so where better to ask the question than here on the blog.

Was it down to a lack of interest?
Did people realise it was actually on?
Too expensive to enter? It was €10 to get into the ground or €15 to get into the stand.
No one of interest taking part?

I have 2 polls set up on the right hand side underneath the upcoming races......one asks if you went...Yes/No.........and the other one asks why you didn't go.

Click on the comment link below and let us know why you did or didn't go and what you thought overall.

Results of the 2011 Cork City Sports...

Blue skies and sunshine welcomed the athletes this year to the 2011 Cork City Sports at the CIT track.

The full results are now available in PDF format HERE


Article in the Irish Examiner about Paul Hession in the 100m and 200m.......HERE
Video Clip of mens and womens 100m, mens long jump and mens 3k walk...


.......and plenty more action here...


....and part 3 is here...

Cork City Sports...Sat 2nd July 2011

Cork City Sports...Sat 2nd July 2011