THIS IS THE WAY...

Baba Fett and the Mandalorian in action at the 2022 Dublin Marathon.

A closer look at the Grant Thornton series of 5k races...

Following on from the recent Grant Thornton 5k in Cork and the follow up comments, I decided to have a closer look so that runners can get a better overview of the event and what it's all about.

The first Grant Thornton 5k started in the Dublin docklands back in 2012 and grew to over 4,500 finishers in 2015. Since then, the numbers have eased back a bit but it still gets over 4000 finishers. The 2018 edition will be in September of this year.

Grant Thornton 5k in Dublin

With an entry fee of €100 to €120 for a team of four, at least €100,000 is taken in race fees so it's not an insignificant amount of money.

Contrary to what some people might think, this isn't a charity event. A lot of events like this have what is termed a 'charity partner' and some of the proceeds go towards that charity. The Grant Thornton event is organised by Athletics Ireland and is their way of raising funds from the running boom. While there are hundreds of club races around the country, very little of the money generated finds its way back to Athletics Ireland in Dublin.

Traditionally, inter club races have been organised by Athletics Ireland registered clubs while inter firm road races have been organised by the Business Houses Athletic Association... the BHAA in Dublin and the Cork BHAA locally. The Grant Thornton 5k series is Athletics Ireland's version of inter-firm road races.

The purpose and ethos of their respective races are different and this can be seen in the entry fees.

The BHAA events are designed to have a reasonable entry fee (€5 reg / €10 non-reg), refreshments afterwards and a full prize structure with categories and teams. The Grant Thornton races cost around €20 to €25 per runner and are designed to raise as much money as possible.

In the BHAA events, it's the individual who is paying the entry fee where as with the Grant Thornton events, the company will probably be footing the bill in a lot of cases.

Following on from the success of the Dublin event, other  Grant Thornton 5k races have popped up as shown below...

A 5k was tried at the National Sports Centre in Dublin 2015 & 2016 but the numbers were poor. Probably good enough for a general race but not big enough to raise funds.

The Cork version began in 2015 and had 834 finishers that year. It has dipped a bit since and got 784 this year.

The Belfast version started in 2017 and got 562 runners. The 2018 race is coming up at the end of June.

A new Grant Thornton race was started in Galway this year and had 348 finishers.

Taken all together, the Grant Thornton series of 5k races in 2018 will probably generate in the region of €120,000 - €130,000 in entry fees. Once the costs of organising the event and the charity contribution are accounted for, the funds generated for Athletics Ireland will obviously be just a percentage of this.

It's probably fair to say that a lot of the entry fees paid by the corporate sector is 'new money' as such and would not have made its way into the running scene otherwise. These type of events won't appeal to everyone but they are now part of the overall running scene.

Cork runner Lizzie Lee wins the 2018 VHI Womens 10k mini-marathon in Dublin

One of the biggest  if not the biggest running events in the country is the annual VHI Women's mini-marathon in Dublin. This year it was held on Sunday the 3rd of June and attracted a huge field of roughly 30,000 women.

The title this year is heading back to Cork after Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC won the race in a time of 34 min 18 secs. Siobhan O'Doherty from Tipperary finished 3rd while Leevale athlete Sinead O'Connor finished 7th in 36:25.

1 Lizzie Lee LEEVALE A.C. 00:34:18
2 Laura Shaughnessy DUNDRUM SOUTH DUBLIN A.C. 00:34:30
3 Siobhan O Doherty BORRISOKANE A.C. 00:34:54
4 Ciara Hickey BROTHERS PEARSE A.C. 00:35:32
5 Linda Byrne DUNDRUM SOUTH DUBLIN A.C. 00:36:01
6 Úna Britton KILCOOLE A.C. 00:36:12
7 Sinead Connor LEEVALE A.C. 00:36:35

Full results


Photo : Gearóid Ó Laoi

Anonymous Donor To Help Fund New €3 Million Athletics Track in UCD

Back in 2011, I had a post up about how the running track in UCD in Dublin was being dug up out of 'safety' concerns. It was announced recently that an anonymous donor is now going to help fund some of the cost estimated €3 million it will cost to build a brand new track elsewhere on the campus. It has been confirmed that it will be a full eight-lane IAAF-approved track and it is supposed to be ready for 2020 at the latest.

Ian O'Riordan has the full story on the Irish Times HERE

Additional Links...
1) Dublin loses one of it's most famous tracks
2) UCD apologise for handling of track closure in Dublin...

Traffic Chaos at the 2017 Dublin Half-Marathon

The Half-Marathon in Dublin this year moved from the Phoenix Park near the city centre out to Donabate in North County Dublin and the result seems to have been traffic carnage on the M1. The race was originally planned to start at 9am and had to be postponed as runners couldn't get to the start line.

The runners finally got underway at 10am. However, some runners turned back such was the volume of traffic. The race had 9,200 entries.

The organisers issued this statement....“On behalf of the wider team, our race director Jim Aughney would like to extend his sincere apologies for the Dublin Half Marathon today. A full traffic management review will be underway with all stakeholders present,”.

Michael Harty of East Cork AC wins Rock n Roll 5k in Dublin

While the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin was held on Sunday, the associated 5k race with 2,302 finishers was on the previous day, Saturday the 12th of August.  The winner of the race was Michael Harty of East Cork AC in a time of 15m 17s.

1    Michael HARTY    00:15:17.43
2    Eoin FLYNN    00:15:49.96
3    Efrem GIDEY    00:16:33.17

A closer look at the number of 5k parkruns in Cork, Dublin & Belfast

Following on from a previous post about the new proposed public park on Haulbowline Island, I had a closer look at the number of parkruns in Cork, Dublin and Belfast. It's easy to say how many there are but sometimes an image shows the real differences.

With this in mind, I have three maps below all on the same scale showing the number of parkruns in the three Irish cities.

Cork...As can be seen from the image below, there really is only one 5k parkrun near Cork City and that is of course in Ballincollig. What is not shown on the map is that the next one to the east is way down in Tramore in Co.Waterford and the next one to the north is in the University of Limerick.

 

Results of the National Half-Marathon in Dublin...Sun 7th Aug 2016

The annual Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Dublin was held this year on Sunday the 7th of August. This also doubled up as the National Half-Marathon Championships and around 20 club athletes from Cork took part, about the same as last year.

The provisional results show that there were  6 individual medal winners from Cork.

3rd M35....Alan O'Brien, Eagle AC...1:14:55
3rd M55....Colm Murphy, Leevale AC...1:35:17
1st M60.....Neilus Aherne, Midleton AC ...1:29:10
3rd M70....Tony Dunne, Grange-Fermoy AC...2:10:29

2nd F50....Joan Ennis, Grange-Fermoy AC...1:29:29
3rd F70....Maggie Dunne, Grange-Fermoy AC...2:33::48

Teams.....In the M35 category, Eagle AC finished in 3rd place to take Bronze.

1st...North Sligo AC...03:53:07
2nd...Inishowen AC...03:57:25
3rd...Eagle AC...04:00:39
4th...An Riocht AC...04:04:44

3 Alan O'BRIEN 1133 Eagle A.C. 35 - 39 M35 01:14:55 04:00:39
6 Ronan BOLAND 1032 Eagle A.C. 50 - 54 M35 01:22:07 04:00:39
10 Frank HILL 1102 Eagle A.C. 50 - 54 M35 01:23:37 04:00:39

The breakdown of numbers from Cork clubs was Grange-Fermoy AC 7, Eagle AC 4, Midleton AC 4, Abbey Striders AC 1, Leevale AC 1, Clonakilty Road Runners AC 1, Bandon AC 1 & Carrigtwohill AC 1.

Links..
a) The results for all runners in the Rock n Roll Marathon can be found HERE
b) Individual men
c) Individual women
d) Men's teams
e) Women's teams

Photo finish to 5k race in Dublin last weekend...

The Castleknock 5km road race was held last weekend in Dublin and attracted a field of 556 runners. While only two seconds separated the first two men, the women's race was even closer with fractions of a second separating the first two.

The photo above shows Catherina McKiernan #744 with Caroline Crowley #741 in the final straight. Catherina McKiernan is of course a former Irish international athlete who has won four individual Silver World Cross Country Championship medals and hold the Irish Marathon record. Caroline Crowley was part of the Irish women's team that won Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in France in December of 2015.

As you can see below, it was almost impossible to separate the two at the finish line and the chip timing equipment recorded a difference of 0.001 seconds!

5 Caroline CROWLEY    00:17:33    00:17:33    741    F (1)    FS (1)
6 Catherina MCKIERNAN    00:17:33    00:17:33    744    F (2)    F40 (1)

Results on MyRunResults website.

Photo Credit: MyRunResults

Cork runners take top two places in MSB 5k race in Dublin

The MSB St. Patrick's Festival 5k Race was held in the centre of Dublin on Sunday the 20th of March 2016 and attracted a large field of 1312 runners. The winner of the race was Colm Sheahan of Leevale AC pictured above closely followed by Michael Harty of East Cork AC.

Place   Name           Net Time         Gross Time      Bib     Cat     Sub Cat Club
1       Colm SHEAHAN  14:43   14:43        1175    MS (1)  Leevale AC
2       Michael HARTY   14:42     14:44        1236    MS (2)  East Cork
3       Sean HEHIR      15:05        15:05        313     MS (3)  Rathfarnham WSAF

This is a photo of the top 3 men out on the course.... L to R...Sean O'Hehir, Michael Harty and Colm Sheahan.

If you examine the results closely then you'll see that Michael Harty actually ran the 5km course one second faster than Colm Sheahan but finished second. This was due to the fact that for whatever reason, it took Michael two seconds to cross the start line whereas Colm started at the front.

It doesn't change anything of course as the first person to break the tape wins the race but it reminded me of the recent Ballycotton '10' comments when some runners were debating whether the times should be in order of gun time or chip time.

The photo above shows the holding area before the start of the race. Colm is on the left and Michael is on the right. By the time the runners had moved up to the start line, Michael had lost his front place resulting in a two second delay.

Photo by Stephen McGuinness

Those two seconds would make all the difference though at the finish line.

Photo by Stephen McGuinness

It's just one of those quirks of road racing that is unusual and rarely seen.

The full results can be seen on the MyRunResults website.

Photos...
1) Stephen McGuinness has a nice gallery HERE
2) Sportsworld Running Club has some HERE

A look at the National Sports Campus...Indoor Arena and National Cross Country Track

At present, the National Sports Campus is slowly being developed in Abbotstown in Dublin. Located just off the M50 Ring Road, it is ideally placed near the centre of a large road network which fans out across the country.

There will be a number of sports based in this campus.......GAA, IRFU, FAI, Swimming as well as several others including athletics.

Construction of the new National Indoor Arena began in July of 2015 and it will include a 200 metre track, sprint track, jump and throw areas and seating for up to 1,900 spectators. This is what it is expected to look like....

This is what the outside looked like in January of 2016...

I'm not sure of the completion date? Perhaps the end of 2016?

This will be the second international grade indoor athletics track in Ireland and as it's on the outskirts of Dublin, it's bound to be popular. If you follow athletics in Ireland then you'll know that the indoor track in Athlone has had a huge impact. There seems to be a competition there nearly every weekend at the moment with adults and children using it. What impact the second Dublin based track has on Athlone remains to be seen but if athletics is to develop in Ireland then proper facilities like this are needed.

Also included in the plans for the campus are a National Cross Country Track...

As you can see, it's 1.5kms in length. I presume the red wedge shape is for the start area where the runners will stretch out after the start and funnel onto the main course. The upper red area is the finish area. The general area is pretty flat so perhaps a few man made 'hills' might be included. Whether the final course looks like this is another issue but at least it shows what the general plan is.

Will all major national cross country races be held there? Just some? As outlined already, there is a lot to be said for holding national events at a location which is easy to access from most parts of the country.

In addition to these two developments, the new High Performance Performance Centre on the campus was shown off last January. All good news and bound to give a welcome boost to athletics in Ireland.

Results & photos of the British & Irish Masters Cross Country...Sun 15th Nov 2015

One of the big cross country races last weekend was the annual British & Irish Masters Cross Country Championship which was held in Dublin this year. In among the large contingent of Irish athletes, there was a few from Cork with some wearing an Irish singlet for the first time.

Medals for Carmel Parnell & Carmel Crowley. Photo:Gearóid Ó Laoi

British & Irish Masters Race 1...Women/M65,70,75 XC
In the first race, it was a case of the two Carmels. Carmel Crowley of Bandon AC won an individual Bronze in the W45 category and a team Gold. In the W60 section, Carmel Parnell of Leevale AC took an individual Gold and a team Silver. This was I believe the 10th year that Carmel has won her category in this competition, an amazing achievement and a new record for the British & Irish Masters XC event.

These are some of the other athletes from Cork & Munster......
9. Adele Walsh of St.Senans AC W40....wins a Team Silver medal
18. Rosaleen MacKeown of Leevale AC...W40
1. Jackie Carthy from Wexford...W45 ...Individual Gold and team Gold
4. Niamh O'Sullivan of An Ríocht AC in Kerry...W50... team Bronze
10. Mary Sweeney of St.Finbarr's AC W55
12. Joan Hough of Midleton AC W55
9. Mary Jennings of Waterford AC...W60 ...team Silver
12. Carmel MacDomhaill of West Limerick AC... W60

In the Mens M65 category, Pat O'Shea of Iveragh AC in Kerry won a team Gold. Richard Piotrowski of Eagle AC helped his native England to a team Silver.

The full individual results for W35-W70 & M65-M75 can be seen HERE

In terms of teams, these are the results...

Women 35
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    Ireland    1    2    4    7
2    England    5    6    7    18
3    Scotland    3    12    16    31
4    Northern Ireland    9    10    13    32
5    Wales    14    15    17    46
                   
Women 40
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    2    3    6
2    Ireland    4    6    9    19
3    Scotland    7    8    10    25
4    Northern Ireland    5    11    13    29
5    Wales    12    16    17    45
                   
Women 45
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    Ireland    1    2    3    6
2    Northern Ireland    5    7    10    22
3    England    4    6    13    23
4    Wales    11    12    17    40
5    Scotland    8    16    18    42
                   
Women 50
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    3    7    11
2    Scotland    2    9    11    22
3    Ireland    4    6    13    23
4    Northern Ireland    5    10    16    31
5    Wales    14    15    18    47
                   
Women 55
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    2    3    6
2    Wales    4    5    14    23
3    Scotland    6    9    11    26
4    Ireland    7    10    12    29
                   
Women 60
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    2    3    4    9
2    Ireland    1    6    9    16
3    Scotland    5    8    13    26
4    Wales    7    10    15    32
                   
Women 65
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    Ireland    3    6    7    16
2    England    1    2    14    17
3    Wales    5    9    10    24
4    Scotland    4    12    13    29
                   
Women 70
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    5    8    14
2    Ireland    4    9    10    23
3    Wales    7    11    13    31

Men 65
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    Ireland    1    2    8    11
2    England    5    6    9    20
3    Scotland    7    11    14    32
4    Northern Ireland    4    13    15    32
5    Wales    3    16    17    36
                  
Men 70
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    3    4    8
2    Scotland    5    6    9    20
3    Northern Ireland    2    10    14    26
4    Ireland    11    12    15    38
5    Wales    7    16    18    41
                  
Men 75
Place        1    2    3    Total
1    England    1    3    4    8
2    Scotland    2    6    8    16
3    Ireland    5    7    9    21
4    Wales    11    12    16    39

**************
British & Irish Masters XC Race 2...M50,55,60
In the second race, Eamonn McEvoy of St.Finbarr's AC was in the M60 category

The full individual results for M50-M60 can be seen HERE

In terms of teams, these are the results...

MEN 50
Place        1    2    3    4    Total
1    England    3    4    5    6    18
2    Ireland    1    7    8    9    25
3    Wales    2    15    17    23    57
4    Northern Ireland    18    19    20    22    79
5    Scotland    14    21    24    26    85
                      
Men 55
Place        1    2    3        Total
1    Ireland    1    6    9    x    16
2    Scotland    2    5    15    x    22
3    England    4    11    13    x    28
4    Wales    3    14    17    x    34
5    Northern Ireland    7    10    18    x    35
                      
Men 60
Place        1    2    3        Total
1    Ireland    1    2    3    x    6
2    England    4    5    6    x    15
3    Scotland    7    8    11    x    26
4    Northern Ireland    10    16    18    x    44
5    Wales    13    15    17    x    45

**************

British & Irish Masters XC Race 3...M35,40,45

In the third race of the day, Michael Harty of East Cork AC continued his current fine form to win the M35 title and help the Irish team secure M35 Gold.

Stuart Maloney of Mooreabbey Milers in Tipperary and Tim Twoomey of Leevale AC also won team Gold medals in the M35 category.

In the M45 category, Frank Hayes of East Cork AC won a team Silver.

The full individual results for M35-M45 can be seen HERE

In terms of teams, these are the results...

Men 35
Place        1    2    3    4    Total
1    Ireland    1    4    5    6    16
2    England    2    3    8    16    29
3    Scotland    7    13    15    17    52
4    Northern Ireland    12    14    18    19    63
5    Wales    10    21    25    27    83
                       
Men 40
Place        1    2    3    4    Total
1    Ireland    2    3    4    9    18
2    England    1    6    8    12    27
3    Scotland    7    14    18    19    58
4    Wales    5    16    17    25    63
5    Northern Ireland    15    21    23    26    85
                       
Men 45
Place        1    2    3    4    Total
1    England    1    4    8    9    22
2    Northern Ireland    2    5    10    15    32
3    Ireland    3    6    11    14    34
4    Scotland    7    20    21    23    71
5    Wales    17    22    26    28    93

Photos........(Updated Wed 3pm)
1) Paddy Parrott has a gallery HERE
2) Ray Thornberry has a large set HERE
3) PJR Photography has a large gallery HERE
4) Ballyroan, Abbeyleix & District have a gallery HERE
5) DE Photo Ireland have a gallery HERE

Michael Harty of East Cork AC wins an individual Gold in the M35 category and a team Gold for Ireland

The first Dublin Marathon in 1980

The very first Dublin marathon took place in 1980, with 2,000 athletes taking part. The men's race was won by Dick Hooper with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 14 seconds, followed by Neil Cusack from Limerick and John O’Flynn from Cork.

Of the 2,000 participants, only 70 were women. The first woman was Carey May of the Dublin City Harriers with a time of 2 hours, 42 minutes and 11 seconds.


A news report appeared on RTE later that day, You can view it HERE

Lizzie Lee from Cork wins National Half-Marathon in Dublin...

The Rock n Roll Half- Marathon in Dublin was held on Sunday the 2nd of August and attracted thousands of runners. It also doubled up as the National Half-Marathon Championships.

Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC was the first woman home in a new personal best time of 1h 13m 27s.

Lizzie last won the title in 2013 with a time of 1:14:48 and was missing in 2014 as she was having a baby.

Some other Cork results...
Pos    Forename    Surname    Cat    Club    Time    
4    Mark    HANRAHAN    M    Leevale A.C.    01:06:02
9    Tim    DONOGHUE    M    East Cork A.C.    01:08:21
14    Chris    HARRINGTON    M    Leevale A.C.    01:11:41
21    Lizzie    LEE    F35    Leevale A.C.    01:13:27 ...1st Female
23    Michael    MORGAN    M40    St. Finbarrs A.C.    01:13:37 ..3rd M40
27    Donal    COFFEY    M35    Leevale A.C.    01:15:46
47    James    GRUFFERTY    M    Leevale A.C.    01:20:06
58    Liam    COTTER    M50    St. Finbarrs A.C.    01:22:10
85    David    BUTLER    M    St. Finbarrs A.C.    01:24:46
105    Nollaig    O'NEILL    F40    Leevale A.C.    01:27:10 ...1st F40
113    Colm    MURPHY    M55    Leevale A.C.    01:27:53
139    Brian    O'CALLAGHAN    M35    Togher A.C.    01:29:56
162    Helen    LEONARD    F40    Leevale A.C.    01:32:44
236    Shane    O'SHAUGHNESSY    M35    Eagle A.C.    01:39:33
293    Michael    BRENNAN    M45    Leevale A.C.    01:45:13
387    Cormac    CUSHION    M    Abbey Striders A.C.    01:53:37
518    Maretta    BRENNAN    F45    Leevale A.C.    02:06:40
579    Anne    HICKEY    F50    St. Finbarrs A.C.    02:15:52
626    Maggie    DUNNE    F70    Grange/Fermoy A.C.    02:36:59 ...2nd F70

Over 1000 runners turn out for the Sonia 5k in Dublin...Sat 13th June 2015

A special race called the Sonia 5K was held last Saturday the 13th of June in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Sonia O’Sullivan’s historic victory in the 5,000 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995.

A total of 1070 runners took part with a few traveling from Cork to take part in the event. All finishers were given a replica of the World Championship Gold medal that Sonia won.

11 year old Maggie Sillett of Ballymore Cobh AC finished 12th out of 682 female athletes with a time of 21:32. Sonia finished 2nd in 19:27

The full results can be seen HERE

Short race video below...

National 10k championships fails to get many entries from Cork and Munster

The Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park in Dublin on Sunday the 12th of April also doubles up as the National 10k Championships. Athletics Ireland released a list of club entries today.

One obvious fact from the list is that the vast majority of entries are from clubs close to Dublin or at least are a modest distance by car. Despite it being a National Championships, only 9 club runners from Cork are listed and 5 of those are from Leevale AC.

National 10k Entry List
Cathy Kenneally Female Ballincollig AC None
Carmel Crowley Female Bandon AC None
Mark Hanrahan Male Leevale Athletic Club Senior
Anthony Mannix Male Leevale Athletic Club Senior
John O'Connell Male Leevale Athletic Club 35+
Colm Sheahan Male Leevale Athletic Club Senior
Andrew Sheehan Male Leevale Athletic Club Senior
John Shine Male Leevale Athletic Club Senior
Nick Darmody Male Mallow AC None

It's pretty mush the same story for most of the other clubs in Munster. There are no entries listed for Waterford AC or West Waterford AC. Most of the other clubs in Kerry and Limerick are also missing or have very low numbers. The only exception seems to be Clonmel AC who have a team of 20.

Is it a case of it being too far? Does the fact it's a national championship mean much to most club runners? Or is it just the fact that there are plenty of other local races without having to travel to Dublin for one?

Seminar about Ultra-Running in Dublin...Sat 22nd Nov 2014

One for the headcases...

More info HERE

Highlights of the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon - Mon 4th Aug 2014

The Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin on the 4th of August also doubled up as the Athletics Ireland Half-Marathon Championships this year again. Some 6,500 or so runners took part.

Listed below are the various athletes from clubs in Cork who took part and their respective category position.
8 15090 01:12:23 Michael Herlihy North Cork A.C. Sen Men
9 15093 01:13:27 Tim Twomey Leevale A.C. Sen Men
12 15092 01:13:56 Chris Harrington Leevale A.C. Sen Men
13 15096 01:14:26 Owen Casey Leevale A.C. Sen Men
24 1027 01:17:39 Geoffrey Casey Togher A.C. Sen Men
41 1082 01:24:15 David O'Keeffe Togher A.C. Sen Men
47 1070 01:25:23 David Butler St. Finbarrs A.C. Sen Men
58 2020 01:30:36 Eoin O'Sullivan Togher A.C. Sen Men

4 15102 01:15:05 John O'Connell Leevale A.C. MM 35-39

59 2090 01:43:57 Patrick Buckley Mallow A.C. MM 35-39
67 3051 01:53:43 Tom O Riordan Ballymore Cobh A.C. MM 35-39

3 15105 01:19:25 Finbarre O'Dwyer Leevale A.C. MM40-44

5 1048 01:21:37 Liam Cotter St. Finbarrs A.C. MM45-49

21 1121 01:37:31 Keith Sexton Eagle A.C. MM45-49

3rd Team in Senior Men...Leevale AC...3:41:49...Tim Twomey, Chris Harrington, Owen Casey
9th Team in Senior Men...Togher AC...4:12:30...Geoffrey Casey, David O'Keeffe, Eoin O'Sullivan
3rd Team in M35...3:58:38...John O'Connell, Finbarre O'Dwyer, Colm Murphy

4 2022 01:33:37 Sharon Woods Mallow A.C. MW35-39
94 13005 02:36:37 Trish Hayes Mallow A.C. MW35-39

40 3003 01:56:42 Dolores Gibbons Bandon A.C. MW40-44
 
30 6047 02:00:14 Mary-Clare Healy Grange/Fermoy A.C. MW45-49

6 15073 01:55:39 Mary Mulcahy St. Finbarrs A.C. MW50-54

2 9005 02:26:25 Maggie Dunne Grange/Fermoy A.C. MW65-69

Full club results......Indiv Men.......Indiv Women.......Mens Team.......Womens Team

Munster club results.....HERE

Video highlights from Irish SportsNet. It follows mostly the frontrunners but it gives a feel for what the event is like..

Opinions on this years Rock N Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin in August??

Prior to 2013, the National Half-Marathon used to be held in different locations around the country. Last year, it was held in conjunction with the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin in August. Despite misgivings by some people, it seemed on the whole to go pretty well but it was obvious that a lot of people from outside Leinster didn't bother with it.

This year, it is on the 4th of August with an 8:30am start. Race numbers and race packs must be picked up at the RDS the day before, much the same as for the Dublin City Marathon. The net result is that if you are from outside the greater Dublin area then you'll have to stay in the city over night before the race.

The course has changed this year as well with the start near the docklands and the finish in the Phoenix Park. Overall, the course has a net gain in height.

The following message was sent to me by a reader of the blog....
Athletics Ireland are offering clubs a chance to win €1,000 in the up coming national half marathon in August if the club enters 10 athletes.

This tells me that they are really struggling to get club athletes to sign up for this years event and in turn reduced revenue.

The reason I feel club athletes are not supporting this national event this year is because of the totally change of the course from last year. they are taking over half of the race via the Park over very hilly terrain. It makes no since in having such a course as a national championship. Athletics Ireland should pull back from the R and R event and organise the National Half Championship themselves.

I would like a discussion on this John via comments or some kind of poll.

Seamus...sub 73min HM
(NOT RUNNING NATIONAL HALF DUE TO POOR COURSE IN DUBLIN! - A LONG WAY TO TRAVEL FROM MUNSTER FOR A POOR COURSE)

Do you agree with Seamus? Is the course too hilly? Or is it just too expensive a trip for just a half-marathon?

Martin Fagan wins Terenure 5 mile race in Dublin

In 2012, Irish international athlete Martin Fagan failed a drugs test for taking the performance enhancing drug EPO. After serving a two year ban, he gave an interview to RTE radio in January of this year to say he was thinking of returning to competitive running. In a poll on the site back then, 71% of the respondents said that they thought he should make a return to athletics.

Today (18th of May 2014), he won the Terenure 5 mile road race in Dublin. In a field of nearly 1500 runners, Martin Fagan finished in 24:23 in a sprint finish over Kenyan Freddy Keron Sittok.

1 Martin FAGAN        Mullingar Harriers     M 24:23
2 Freddy KERONSITTUK             M 24:23
3 Gary Murray             M 24:31
4 Conor DOONEY        raheny shamrocks     M 24:35
5 Joe SWEENEY        DSD     M 24:55

This is Fagan's first big win since returning to competitive running. At the start of May, he won the low key Coralstown 5k in 14:45. In that race, the prize for first place was €100 whereas the prize this time around for first place in Terenure was €400.

On Saturday, Ian O'Riordan had an interview with him in the Irish Times.

The womens race was won by Catherina McKiernan in a time of 27:40.

Full results are up on the Precision Timing website.