Welcome to the Running in Cork blog, home of the Cork running community. This is the largest website in Cork & Munster for news on road races and general running news. Included are a current race calendar, race previews, photos, results as well as some local, national and international news items.
It was announced recently that a new 5k parkrun is on the way for Dungarvan in Co Waterford!
It looks like it will be on the Waterford Greenway and the start and finish will be near the Railway Cottage in Ballinroad which is about 4kms to the east of Dungarvan town.
I had a look at a map and they can fit in a 2.5km out and back course between the Railway Cottage and the first set of gates. If this is the case then it will be very like the Midleton Greenway parkrun.
It would seem as if plans for the new parkrun are at an advanced stage and they are looking for volunteers. The provisional start date is for sometime in October of 2026.
There is an information evening at the Park Hotel, Dungarvan, on Thursday, 24th September 2026 at 7pm if anyone is interested in finding out more and how to get involved.
For more info, email Thomas at tshawhamilton AT waterfordsportspartnership DOT ie
Once launched, Dungarvan parkrun will take place every Saturday at 9.30am from the Railway Cottage on the Waterford Greenway.
West Waterford Athletic Club recently signed a lease with St Augustine’s College to develop a new 8-lane athletics track in Dungarvan.
West Waterford AC press release... "In 1842 Irish Augustinian Friars established Villanova University in the USA, one of the most prestigious Universities for Track and Field in the world. This is the University where Irish Olympic Gold medallist Ronnie Delany, Eamonn Coghlan and Sonia O’Sullivan along with a host of other Irish international athletes all studied and competed.
St. Augustine’s College, Dungarvan is steeped in athletics tradition lead by the Brother Patrick Lennon OSA. The school is listed 4th in an Athletics Ireland “Top Irish Athletics Schools of All Time”.
Both St. Augustine’s College and West Waterford A.C. have nurtured the talents of many students who have excelled on both the national and international stage over many years. The Friary has been the home of West Waterford A.C. since the club was founded in 1994, hosting numerous County, Provincial and National athletics cross country championships as well as club training sessions and the annual primary school sports.
School Principal John Keane, Bro Patrick Lennon OSA & members of West Waterford AC
February 27th 2026 will be remembered as a red letter day in the history of the club and St Augustine’s College as it was the date a lease was signed between both parties for a parcel of land for West Waterford AC to construct an 8 lane athletics facility.
Such a facility will serve all the athletic clubs in the region as well as schools and the wider West Waterford community.
Principal of St Augustine’s College John Keane stated “Everyone in the St. Augustine's school community are delighted with the news of this fantastic project. It will provide excellent opportunities for the students in our college and the people of Waterford. I would like to thank the members of West Waterford Athletic Club for their commitment to this development and the Augustinian School Trust for their generosity in providing access to the site. We look forward to working together to deliver this athletics track and facilities over the coming years”.
Olympian and West Waterford AC Trustee Jamie Costin stated “Having travelled the world as an athlete and competed on many different athletics tracks, it has always been a dream to have an athletics track and field facility in Dungarvan. Such an amenity will provide opportunities for the next generation of children in the region to try the various disciplines the sport has to offer. There is a long road ahead before this project is delivered however with the support of Waterford City and County Council and the wider community we can construct a facility that we can all be truly proud of.”
To mark the occasion of signing the lease, the club made a special presentation to their club President Brother Patrick Lennon OSA.
Br Patrick Lennon OSA, Kate Veale, Tom Leahy
West Waterford AC will now move to the design phase before submitting a planning application to Waterford City and County Council in the coming months.
If you are interested in supporting this project please email wwactrackdevelopment AT gmail DOT com or contact any member of the committee.
- ENDS -
***
Analysis... This is a major development for athletics in Waterford and east Cork. There are existing 400m athletic tracks in Waterford City, Cork City and Clonmel but they are all quite a distance from Dungarvan. It's 30kms or a 30 min drive from Youghal to Dungarvan so it's not hard to imagine this new track having a big impact on athletics in east Cork.
It costs something like €1.5 million to develop a new athletics track so this is quite an undertaking for the club. West Waterford AC already hosts the second largest 10-mile road race in Ireland so that should hopefully fund part of it over time.
There will obviously be some government sports grants in the mix along the way but signing the lease is an important first step in what will probably be a long journey.
How long will it take? West Limerick AC developed an athletics track in Newcastle West in Co Limerick over the last decade. The final feasibility study for the project was published in 2016 and the track opened in 2023... i.e seven years.
If we apply the same criteria to Dungarvan then we get a completion date of 2033.
Back at the end of July 2020, I had a post up about how the Government had granted €80,000 to Cork County Council to investigate the route for a new proposed Greenway from Mallow to Dungarvan.
While Cork County Council will be looking at the route from Mallow to the county border near Ballyduff, Waterford County Council also got a matching €80,000 to investigate the route from Dungarvan to Ballyduff.
In this post, we'll look at the Waterford section...
While the old railway line from Mallow to the county border by Ballyduff is 39.6 kms in length, the section from Dungarvan to Ballyduff is slightly shorter at 35.4 kms.
When I looked at the Cork section of the line, I could see from Google Maps that roughly 44% of the route was still intact. The Waterford section however is in a much worse state and I could only see roughly 18% of the old route remaining.
On the section between Dungarvan and Cappoquin, the old route has largely disappeared into farmers fields and looking at a satellite view, it's hard in places to see where the old line might have been.
In terms of attractiveness, the western section of the old line is probably the nicest as it passes Cappoquin, Lismore and follows the River Blackwater west.
The remains of the old railway bridge over the Blackwater is still there near Cappoquin and would make for a nice feature on the Greenway.
This is a satellite view near Cappoquin showing the location of the railway bridge and the route of the old line to the west.
It's worth pointing out that the new Greenway that is being developed from Midleton to Youghal is on the old railway line that is still in state ownership. I'm not sure what the status is of the old line from Mallow to Dungarvan but it looks a lot more complicated.
If the overall project gets the go ahead, I suspect the Cork section may well start from the Mallow end as it's a large town and it can be put to immediate use while the remaining sections are completed.
From a Waterford perspective, it probably makes sense to start with the section nearest to Dungarvan first. There are already bike rental companies there and a new section from Dungarvan to Cappoquin would be immediate extension to the existing 46km Greenway to Waterford City.
Update Fri 1st Nov:
8:30am... Entries are now open.
11:00am... Entries closed.
In due course, West Waterford AC will probably release details about entry transfers and elite entries.
From West Waterford AC.... 29th ANNUAL JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10 . Welcome To The 29th John Treacy Dungarvan 10 Mile Road Race - Entries Open November 1st
As and from November 1st, entries will open for the 29th Annual John Treacy Dungarvan 10 which will be held on Sunday February 2nd 2020, with a start time of 1.30pm. West Waterford Athletic Club have announced details of the event which has established itself as a must run race on the Irish road running calendar with participants from all four corners of the country and beyond participating. The race has grown year on year and is a pre entry race which will close when 3,000 entries is reached. ( please note this race was full in a very short time last year ).
John Treacy Club Challenge - The John Treacy Club Challenge is now a firmly established Competition Nationwide, previous winners of the men's team event include the host club West Waterford AC and Clonliffe Harriers AC and East Cork AC while Eagle A.C. Leevale AC and St.Finbarrs AC have been to the fore in the Ladies event. The current holders are Leevale AC in the men's with a combined finish time of 2.42.27 while St. Finbarrs AC hold the ladies title with their finish time of 3.16.53 Who will be the next club to take the title? https://www.dungarvan10mile.org
The big race in Munster this weekend of course is the Dungarvan 10 mile road race and there are well over 1000 runners from Cork making the journey. The entry list is HERE
The weather conditions for the race look like it will be around 7-8 deg C with a breeze from the west. The big question is whether a rain bearing weather front will pass over during the race?
In terms of race conditions, it's probably going to feel pretty chilly. With that westerly breeze, the 7 deg C may feel like 4-5 deg C.
A short sleeve top might be ok if you are racing. A long sleeve top with maybe a singlet over it if your aim is just to get around.
As for the wind, it's likely to be from the west. Out on the course, it's likely to be a headwind between miles 3 and 5. Otherwise, I'd expect it won't be a major factor.
In terms of clubs, these are the ones with 20 or more entrees....
213 - West Waterford AC 102 - Clonmel AC 87 - Mallow AC 74 - Midleton AC 59 - Eagle AC 59 - United Striders AC 57 - Watergrasshill AC 53 - Kilkenny City Harriers 53 - Youghal AC 47 - Ballymore Cobh AC 43 - St.Finbarr's AC 43 - Waterford AC 43 - Aghada RC 41 - St.Nicholas AC 38 - Bweeng Trail Blazers 38 - Grange Fermoy AC 37 - Ballintotis Fit4Life 34 - St.Catherine's AC 31 - Slaney Olympic AC (Wexford) 30 - Saturday Road Runners (Waterford) 27 - Togher AC 27 - Leevale AC 26 - Bridevale AC (Rathcormac) 23 - Happy Feet (Blarney) 21 - North Cork AC
Please note that entries to the 2019 John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race open at 9am on Thursday the 1st of November 2018.
This is quite simply one of the best 10 milers in the country and all 3000 entries are likely to sell out within a day. Last year, it took just a few hours.
Update Thurs 1st Nov 9:32am: System is overloaded with 'Bad Gateway' message. 9:39am : Page is back up again. 9:40am : Spoke too soon. Down again. 9:45am : From West Waterford AC..."Our chip timing team tell us primo online entry system Has crashed please be patient they will have it up again ASAP" 9:50am : From Primo... "Hi Everyone, Just to make you all aware we are experiencing some issues with our system at the moment due to high demand. We are aware of this and we are working to get it back up and running again as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused." 9:57am : "Event is currently closed due to technical issues with capacity. Further details to follow" 10:56am : Still down 11:34am : Still down
11:48am : Major Update from Primo... "We would like to apologise for the technical issues that everyone has experienced when trying to enter. Due to the extremely fast selling nature of the event we have decided the fairest way to handle entries is by operating a ballot system.
To register your place in the ballot please join the waiting list below which will close by Friday 2nd November @ midnight . Successful applicants will be contacted by email on Monday 5th November with instructions on how to claim your place."
10:25pm : Another update... "NOTICE --John Treacy Dungarvan 10. We have received an overwhelming interest to apply for a place in the 2019 Dungarvan 10. We have now been over subscribed beyond expectations. We have now closed the offer to apply for a place. We will start the offer process from tomorrow, Friday the 2nd. If you receive an e mail offering you a guaranteed place, please note that you will have 3 days (Monday midnight) to accept your place.
The remaining participants will be added to our waiting list. We would like to apologies for the technical issues that everyone has experienced when trying to enter earlier."
From West Waterford AC.... 28th ANNUAL JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10 . ENTRIES OPEN ON NOVEMBER 1ST.
As and from November 1st entries will open for the 28th Annual John Treacy Dungarvan 10 which will be held on Sunday February 3rd 2019, with a start time of 1.30pm. West Waterford Athletic Club have announced details of the event which has established itself as a must run race on the Irish road running calendar with participants from all four corners of the country and beyond participating.
The race also incorporates the popular John Treacy Club Challenge Cup for men's and ladies teams which has proved to be hugely competitive. We will again be calling on all the athletic clubs of Ireland to take on the challenge in 2019. The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 brings together the ideal race combination of fun runners, joggers, club athletes and top class internationals who compete over a fast flat 10 mile course around the historic town of Dungarvan, we look forward to welcoming you to our town on February 3rd 2019.
The Munster Masters Cross Country Championships were held in Dungarvan on Sunday the 20th of November and West Waterford AC were the host club.
As is common with these events, the fields for both the men's and women's races were dominated by more local clubs. For example, in the women's race, there was no county team from Limerick or Clare. In the men's event, only Cork, Waterford and Tipperary had enough for a county team.
Overall, the standard for Masters was pretty high and many fast runners finishing well down the field.
The annual Dungarvan 10 mile road race was held on Sunday the 31st of January and a huge number of runners from Cork made the trip to West Waterford. Conditions for the race on the whole were pretty good with mostly dry conditions although there was a strong headwind from miles 3 to 5.
See statement from the organisers.... Update on Race Results.......We are still working through the race results and will have them published in full on Thursday Morning. As you know we had a technical difficulties with our chip timing system but as any good club would, we had a back up plan in the event of any failure. However it just takes some time as there was over 2000 finishes and a lot of footage to go through. Times will be accurate once published. Please bare with us. Thanks! once they are cross checked.
As for club finishers, here is a breakdown of some of them.... West Waterford AC 161, Clonmel AC 83, Eagle AC 64, Midleton AC 56, Mallow AC 54, Wibbly Wobbly Wonders 53, Waterford AC 52, Youghal AC 41, St.Finbarr's AC 37, Slaney Olympic AC 31, Galtee Runners 31, Ballintotis Fit4Life 28, Kilkenny City Harriers 24, Togher AC 19, Tramore AC 18, Watergrasshill AC 17, St.Catherines AC 16, Thurles Crokes AC 16, Leevale AC 14, Waterford Tri Club 14, An Brú AC 13, Carraig na bhFear AC 12, Grange Fermoy AC 12, West Limerick AC 9, Bandon AC 8, Donoughmore AC 8, Carrick-on-Suir AC 8, St.Senan's AC 8, Carrigtwohill AC 7, Dromahane Road Runners 7, Kinsale Tri Club 7, Aghada Running Club 6, Ballymore Cobh AC 6, Tracton AC 5, Dooneen AC 4, Happy Feet Running Club 4, Riverstick Kinsale AC 3,
Top men...
1st Sean Hehir Rathfarnham AC 50.15
2nd Tim O Donoghue East Cork AC 52.44
3rd Alan O Shea Bantry AC 54.04
4th Frank Quinlan Waterford AC 54.39
5th John O'Connell Leevale AC 54.43
6th Michael Morgan St.Finbarrs AC 55.00
7th Brendan Murphy Crusaders AC 55.17
8th Danny Smyth Ballynonty AC 55.41
9th Declan Power Clonliffe Harriers AC 55.45
10th Raivis Zakis West Waterford AC 55.50
Junior. Andrew Maher Togher AC 71.43
MENS CATEGORIES
O/40...1st Michael Harrington Bantry AC 57.58 // 2nd P.J. Scollard Waterford AC 59.03
0/45...1st Tony Kelleher Togher AC 56.51 // 2nd Paul Duggan St.Finbarrs AC 58.47
O/50... 1st Paul Moran Rathfarnham AC 57.24 // 2nd Kevin Murphy Slaney Olympic AC 60.13
O/55...1st Gerry O'Connell Ind 59.19 // 2nd Gerry Cantwell West Waterford AC 67.33
O/60... 1st Joe Gough West Waterford AC 64.02
O/65...1st Maurice Tobin Grange Fermoy AC 72.54
LADIES RESULTS 1st Barbara Sanchez Clonliffe Harriers AC 57.35 2nd Siobhan O’Doherty Borrisokane AC 59.06 3rd Jane Ann Healy Meehan Athenry AC 59.37 4th Maria Mc Cambridge Dudrum South Dublin AC 60.32 5th Una Plant Murphy Ind 63.41 6th Clare Annan Clonmel AC 64.27 O/35...1st Karina Tehan St.Finbarrs AC 65.00 // 2nd Gail Phibbs Lakeshore AC Striders 66.02 O/40... 1st Adele Walsh St.Senans AC 66.29 // 2nd Siobhan McHugh Clonmel AC 70.48 O/45... 1st Anna Doris Midleton AC 65.46 // 2nd Dolores Duffy Watergrasshill AC 67.39 O/50... 1st Joan Ennis Grange Fermoy 64.50 // 2nd Helen Gilroy Midleton AC 71.35 O/55... 1st Mary Sweeney St.Finbarrs AC 69.39
TEAM PRIZEWINNERS 2016 (Provisional)
MEN CLUB.......(Taken from those who are outside the individual prizes)
1st...Leevale A.C....David Comber 15th, Michael Creed 30th, Conor Collins 31st...Total 76 points
2nd...St. Finbarr’s A.C....Eoin O Keeffe, 17th, Christopher Murnane 35th, Michael Corbett 40th...Total points 92
3rd....Eagle A.C.....Alan O Brien 12th, Edwin Sutton 25th, Vivian Foley 65th.....Total points 102
LADIES CLUB 1st...West Waterford A.C....Sandra Prendergast 267th, Liz Nyhan 479th, Laura Flavin 518th...Total points 1,264
JOHN TREACY CLUB CHALLENGE...MENS TEAM PRIZEWINNERS 2016
1st Club...Rathfarnham WSAF A.C....Sean Hehir 50:15, David Power 56:37, Paul Moran 57:24 ......Total time 2:44:16
JOHN TREACY CLUB CHALLENGE...LADIES TEAM PRIZEWINNERS 2016 1st Club.......St Finbarr’s A.C........Karina Teehan 1:05:00, Niamh Cronin 1:06:13, Mary Sweeney 1:09:39...........Total time 3:20:52
Photos...(Updated Mon 1st Feb 21:30) 1) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has a gallery HERE 2) Paul Condon Photography has an album HERE 3) Susan Parker Laste Photos have a gallery HERE 4) The Wibbly Wobbly Wonders have two albums... HERE and HERE 5) There is a gallery of photos on the Running in Cork Facebook page HERE and HERE 6) DC Images has a gallery HERE
Photos.......(Facebook account required to view) 1) Tom Flynn has a gallery HERE 2) Trevor McGrath has a small gallery HERE and a larger one HERE 3) Martin T Landers has a gallery HERE and HERE 4) John Troy has a gallery HERE
New recruit for the Wibblies???
Video clip from West Waterford AC about the club and the race...
The 25th Annual John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race is coming up next Sunday the 31st of January and 2,532 people have entered this year. Out of this, well over 1,000 are from Co.Cork.
Here are some stats from West Waterford AC......
1) Over 2,500 entries made up of 56% men and 44% women . 2) The average age of runners is 41 with the youngest runner being 19 while the oldest is 74. 3) The highest number from any county is Cork who will have over 1,000 runners. 4) As for food it will be... a) 2,500 bags of crisps b) 2,500 500ml bottles of water c) 2,500 chocolate bars d) 2,500 flapjacks e) 6,000 250mls bottles of water f) Over 150 pan loaves of sandwiches g) 200 Barn Bracks h) 200 Madeira cakes, i) 4000 tea bags j) 80 litres of milk ........plus lots more!!
It just goes to show the scale of the operation when 2,000 or so runners descend on the sports hall in the town for the race.
As for club entries, here is a breakdown of some of them.... West Waterford AC 208, Clonmel AC 110, Midleton AC 79, Eagle AC 78, Mallow AC 72, Youghal AC 59, St.Finbarr's AC 59, Wibbly Wobbly Wonders 58, Waterford AC 54, Kilkenny City Harriers 27, Slaney Olympic AC 32, Ballintotis Fit4Life 29, Leevale AC 27, Thurles Crokes AC 24, Tramore AC 23, Togher AC 22, Watergrasshill AC 19, Waterford Tri Club 18, An Brú AC 18, Grange Fermoy AC 16, West Limerick AC 14, Bandon AC 12, Carraig na bhFear AC 12, Carrigtwohill AC 10, Dooneen AC 10, Carrick-on-Suir AC 10, Kinsale Tri Club 10, St.Senan's AC 8, Tracton AC 8, Ballymore Cobh 7,
The National Novice Cross County Championships were held this year in Dungarvan with West Waterford AC being the host club. It was a particularly good day for the clubs in East Cork with Aoife Cooke of Youghal AC winning a national title. Aoife also led Youghal AC to a national team Gold and the Cork team to Gold as well. A remarkable performance especially when you consider there were teams from all over the country.
Club Team Points Place Club Positions Points 1 Youghal A.C. 1, 11, 27, 48 ...87 pts (1st Aoife Cooke, 11th Ruth Mellerick, 27th Evelyn Cashman, 48th Julie Keneally) 2 Dundrum South Dublin A.C. ...5, 6, 24, 54... 89 pts 3 Galway City Harriers A.C. ... 9, 14, 39, 42... 104 pts
County Team Points Place County Positions Points 1 Cork 1, 10, 11, 16... 38 pts (1st Aoife Cooke - Youghal AC, 10th Niamh Moore - Cork Varsity AC, 11th Ruth Mellerick - Youghal AC, 16th Fiona Santry - East Cork AC) 2 Dublin 7, 21, 23, 25 ... 76 pts 3 Meath 15, 17, 19, 32... 83 pts
The only other team from Cork was East Cork AC who finished 9th.
In the mens novice race, the Cork team finished in 4th place.
In a interesting twist, it turns out that Aoife Cooke is coached by her aunt Mary Sweeney who is a well figure on the local race circuit. Athletics Ireland have the story HERE
In terms of numbers, it was interesting to compare this year to last year when the National Novice XC Championships were held in Santry, Dublin.
In 2014, there were 133 women taking part with 16 teams from clubs and 10 counties being represented. This year, it was down to 89 women with 11 club teams and 9 counties.
By contrast, the mens numbers were up. 211 men this year compared to 197 in 2014. 24 teams from clubs this year compared to 23 last year. The number of counties represented remained the same...12.
Photos....... 1) James Veale of West Waterford AC has loads of photos of the mens and womens race HERE 2) Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC has a gallery HERE
Mary Sweeney of St.Finbarr's AC...Aunt & Coach of the womens winner Aoife Cooke
The big race today was of course the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race in West Waterford. Almost 1,600 people completed the 10 mile course in what could be described as fairly brutal conditions. I think we got all 4 seasons in the space of 30 minutes with wind, rain, sleet...sometimes almost horizontal, calm and sunshine. I remember looking at people at the side of the road at the two mile mark tying their laces and thinking I was glad I didn't have to do it as I could no longer feel my fingers ;o)
As always, a well organised race by West Waterford AC.
These are the top 3 men and women...
1 FITZPATRICK THOMAS Male TALLAGHT A.C. Male Senior 49:48
2 HEHIR SEAN Male Rathfarnham WSAF AC Male Senior 49:59
3 MC CARTHY JAMES Male EAST CORK Male Senior 50:23 34 O' DOHERTY SIOBHAN Female BORRISOKANE A.C. Female Senior 56:53 42 GANIEL GLADYS Female NORTH BELFAST HARRIERS Female O/35 57:27 56 HODGINS JILL Female N/A Female O/35 58:36
Photos...(Updated Mon 27th Jan @10pm) 1) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has a slideshow of photos near the start and early stages HERE 2) Joe has another gallery HERE mostly of finishers under 64 mins. 3) Joe's third gallery are finishers over 64 mins. See HERE 4) Gearóid Ó Laoi has a gallery HERE 5) Derek Costello has a gallery HERE
Now as we head towards the end of 2013, it's time to look ahead to the Spring of 2014 and what lies ahead. This is the traditional season for 10 mile road races in Munster and the four big ones are Ballycotton, Dungarvan, Mallow and Cobh.
The first one up is the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race on Sunday the 26th of January 2014. This is for me one of the best road races in Munster and it attracts runners from all over the country. Please note there is an entry limit of 2,000 this year and it will almost certainly close well before race day. The entry fee is €20 and that includes a Nike dry-fit running top. It really is an excellent top and as good as you'd get in any race. The entries are flying in already so enter asap
Here is some details from the organising club West Waterford AC...
At a photo launch recently in the towns Walton Park, John Treacy along with race sponsors and club committee members, details were announced of the 23rd Annual John Treacy Dungarvan 10 Mile Road Race.
The event now in its 23rd year has established itself as a must run race on the Irish road running calendar with participants from all four corners of the country and beyond participating. The race has grown year on year and is a pre-entry race only with the close date January 13th for the January 26th 2014 race or when 2,000 entries is reached .Please note that race entries closed in a matter weeks last year leaving hundreds disappointed on not being able to participate.( please get your entry in immediately )
To stage such a big event of course requires good sponsors and we are fortunate to have the support of the local authorities, Go Dungarvan, GlaxoSmithKline, Dungarvan Shopping Centre, Glanbia, Optimum Nutrition, Tipperary Water, Flahavan’s, Nike Ireland along with many other local businesses and individuals who are all giving valuable support helping to make the day a great occasion for the town of Dungarvan.
Introduced to the event three years ago the John Treacy Club Challenge Cup for men’s and ladies teams is proving to be highly successful. We will again be calling on all the athletic clubs of Ireland to take on the challenge in the 2014 event.
The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 bring’s together the ideal race combination of fun runners, joggers, club athletes and top class internationals who compete over a fast flat 10 mile course around the historic town of Dungarvan as we all look forward to an even bigger and better event on January 26th next.
Elite entries will be accepted up to Friday 18th January the standards set down are Men 55 minutes and Ladies 60 Minutes. These times must have been posted within the last 3 years. Proof of these qualifying times may be required.
The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race will start at 1pm on Sunday, the 27th of January 2013.
The article below was written by John Walshe and appeared in the Irish Runner magazine back in 2005. It is republished here with their kind permission. Even though the article is some seven years old, I believe that it is still as relevant today as it was back then. At present, there are a number of evening winter leagues taking place mainly in east Munster. I have details of these up on the Running in Munster website...just look for the series adverts on the right hand side of the page. These could be replicated in any large town or city in the country with a bit of planning. Evening leagues are suitable for new and experienced runners alike. If you are in a position to help start one in your area next winter, you might give it some thought...
West Waterford's Allrounder League is a proven winner and a template could be copied countrywide.
"We must tell the whole country about this, why can't every town have one?" The enthusiasm of West Waterford AC Chairman James Veale, is palpable as he talks about the sight of 340 runners heading off on a dreary November night around the streets of Dungarvan, reflective bibs shining in the darkness.
The Allrounder Winter League takes place every Wednesday night from early November to the end of February, with just a short break at Christmas, making it 15 weeks in total., Started ten years ago with just seven runners, its phenomenal growth has mirrored that of the West Waterford club itself, playing a significant role in their rise to become one of the most vibrant athletic clubs in the country.
"I suppose a whole combination of things has contributed to making it so successful," muses Veale as he tries to come to terms with the huge organisational input the League now requires. "The coverage in the local newspapers has a lot to do with it. Our two papers here in Dungarvan - The Leader and The Observer - give two or three pages a week to the club and we also advertise it in many of the local factories."
There is a choice of two distances each week, a 2.7-mile catering for beginners and a 6-mile for the established runners. After the first night, a handicap system comes into operation, with the slowest person each week going off first the following week. First across the line is awarded one point, and so on down the line. The person with the lowest number of points at the end of the league is the winner. After Christmas, both leagues are divided into several divisions to sustain everyone's interest.
"It's just €2 for members of the club each night and €3 for non-members". explains James Veale. "This year, people are travelling from a wide area and now a similar league has commenced in Waterford City, such is the interest."
Dungarvan Sports Centre serves as the league headquarters. Out on the road, up to 20 stewards are required, with another 12 to 15 at the finish looking after car parking and entries and recording numbers and times.
"A lot of the helpers wouldn't be members of the club; some of them having been roped in over the years. They give great commitment - even my own father has been there since day one," says Veale. This year, in the interest of safety, a new long route was devised consisting of a two-mile out and back with a loop around St.Augustine's College in the middle.
The times at the finish are recorded by Noel O'Doherty; no mean feat with over 70 runners a minute coming in at the peak. The results are compiled on computer, with handicap times deducted from finishing times. Full results appear on the club's website and in the local papers within a week.
It was back in 1994 that Tony Ryan first established the Allrounder Winter League. "I remember we used to meet at the Dungarvan Crystal Centre and had seven runners the first night, increasing to around 23 by the end of the winter. The format was the same as today, culminating in the Mystery Tour and prize-giving night."
The famous Mystery Tour was another of Ryan's innovative ideas. "On the last Friday in February we head off on a bus tour to a pub, the destination of which is known to only two people. Here we present all the various prizes for the league, including the leading people in each of the divisions.
"The key to the success of the Winter Leagues is that people realise you don't have to be a good runner to take part. Also, the handicap system gives everyone a chance of actually finishing first."
"If some body like the Irish Sports Council started one of these in every county in Ireland, in ten years time you could imagine the impact it would have," concludes Ryan.
It's certainly a suggestion that maybe John Treacy, Chairman of the Irish Sports Council and one of Tony Ryan's contemporaries from his own juvenile athletic days, should consider.
