Results of the Cork BHAA ESB 5k cross country - Sun 7th Jan 2024

 

The first race of the 2024 Cork BHAA calendar was the ESB Cross Country 5k in Beaumont Park in Sunday 7th January. With the thermometer hovering around 1 deg C, it was a bitterly cold morning and most of the roads in Cork were unsuitable for a road race so it was probably just as well this race was on grass.

A total of 180 runners crossed the finish line which is down a bit on the 190 of last year but still in the ballpark of previous years.

Top 3 men & women...
1 Barry Twohig 0/40M M1 00:17:54 Emerald Fencing
2 Michael Harrington 0/50M M2 00:18:00 Harrington Upvc Ltd
3 Trevor Cummins 0/40M M3 00:18:07 Train with Trevor
26 Siobhan Hoare 0/45F F1 00:21:22 Bon Secours
27 Breda Gaffney 0/50F F2 00:21:29 Avondhu MF F-A-1
32 Carmel Crowley 0/55F F3 00:21:57 Stockhealth

Full results HERE

Video... Proinnsias O'Keeffe has a short video HERE

Photos... Mick Dooley has some photos HERE

Results & photos of the Cork BHAA ESB Cross Country 5k - Sun 9th Jan 2022

166 runners turned out on what was a damp morning for the Cork BHAA ESB Cross Country 5k race in Beaumont Park in Cork City. This was the first race of the year for the BHAA.

As can be seen from the chart above, the numbers are down a bit on recent years.

Top 3 men & women...

1 Nick Hogan 0/40A M1 00:18:51 UCC
2 Barry Twohig 0/40A M2 00:19:55 Emerald Fencing
3 Alfie Davis 0/45B M3 00:19:04 UCC
18 Niamh O'Sullivan 0/55L F1 00:21:36 Tralee Physical Therapy
19 Sinead O'Driscoll 00:21:45 Temp Reg
24 Linda O Connor 0/45J F2 00:22:01 Musgrave

Full results HERE

Photos...

1) Joe Murphy has loads of photos... Album 1 ... Album 2...

ESB bans 'recreational jogging' at Moneypoint Power Station

The ESB power station at Moneypoint in Co.Clare is one of the largest in the country and is located on the shore of the Shannon Estuary. Recently, the ESB management at the site banned employees from running during their lunch breaks.

“As part of a careful review of site traffic management, we have asked all personnel on site to refrain from recreational jogging and walking during lunch breaks and free time. As one of Ireland’s largest power stations, Moneypoint is a live and busy workplace and activities such as these do not align with modern health and safety practices.”

In response, more than 50 employees at the power station staged a protest walk of two miles on the site in direct contravention of the ruling.

A local union official said...“A lot of people are employed here and many of them like to walk and run on the grounds during their break times, it is a health and well being issue for us. After the meeting on Thursday, 50 of us walked to the main gates and back on Friday lunchtime as a protest. The walk was done in defiance of the orders from management. I can’t see any way that people will stop walking and jogging at the site. We are doing it on our own time — it’s during our breaks. There hasn’t been an accident or any incident from someone walking or jogging on the site for 30 years.”

Results & Photos of the Cork BHAA ESB Cross Country...Sun 10th Jan 2016

A total of 127 runners turned out for this years Cross Country race at Beaumont Park in Cork City, a drop of 31% on the 2015 figure.

1 Fergal Curtain M1 00:18:25 Army Surplus Store
2 Darren Molloy M2 00:18:52 Navy M-A-1
3 Alex O'Shea 0/40A M3 00:18:58 Cork City Council
51 Irene Eighan 0/35H F1 00:24:34 Novartis
54 Caitriona Santry F2 00:24:40 Dept of Ed F-A-3
55 Anita Murphy 0/35H F3 00:24:42 Cork County Council

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Kieran Minihane has a gallery HERE
2) Doug Minihane has a gallery HERE 
3) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has a gallery HERE

Results of the Cork BHAA ESB Cross Country 5k...Sun 11th Jan 2015

A total of 185 runners turned out for the first race of the year for the Cork BHAA.

1 Darren Molloy M1 17:14 Navy
2 John Durcan 17:27 Temp Reg
3 MICHAEL HARRINGTON 0/40A M2 17:41 Harrington Upvc Ltd
35 Ronnie Barry 0/40I F1 21:29 Cork County Council
52 Jessica Bruton F2 22:12 Dept of Ed F-B-1
72 Eibhlin Cleary 23:05 Temp Reg

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) A gallery from Kieran Minihane can be seen HERE
2) Doug Minihane has a large gallery HERE
3) A slideshow of photos from Joe Murphy of Eagle AC

Results & Photos of the Cork BHAA ESB X-Country...Sun 12th Jan 2014

Conditions were pretty awful for this years Cork BHAA ESB Cross Country race in Beaumont Park in Cork City. As is often the case with Irish weather, there was blue skies and sunshine just three hours later.

1 Alex O'Shea  18:57 Cork City Council
2 Trevor Woods 0/40 19:20 UCC
3 Darren Molloy   00:19:42 Navy
20 Michelle Kenny  22:24 DEPT OF EDUCATION
22 Maura Regan 0/35 :22:31 HSE
41 Ann-Marie Hayes  24:36

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos
1) Kiernan Minihane has a gallery HERE
2) Doug Minihane has a gallery HERE
3) Michael Dunne has a small gallery of five photos HERE 
4) Joe Murphy of Eagle AC has a slideshow HERE

Results of the Cork BHAA 'ESB' 5 km road race...Sun 21st Feb 2010
This 5 km race in Mahon in Cork City attracted 272 entrants, down  slightly on last year's figure of 288.

The full results are now available HERE.

Results of the Cork BHAA 'ESB' 5 km road race (Mahon) - Sun 1st March 2009

Roughly 290 runners turned out for this race along the walkway in Mahon, about 20-30 down on last years figure. I presume some people are holding off for the big one next Sunday, the Ballycotton 10 mile road race.

Results...The full results are HERE.

Here are the category results...

ESB 5KM Road Race (Cork BHAA), Mahon, Cork
1 C Murphy (temp-reg) 15:41; 2 W Sosnowski (Dairypower) 15:55; 3 C O’Connell (UCC, M45) 16:07; 4 C Marshall (HSE) 16:14; 5 S Simcox (Leisure World) 16:16; 6 E O’Sullivan (temp-reg) 16:18; 7 E Heffernan (D&T) 16:22; 8 G O’Sullivan (Avondhu Motors) 16:32; 9 M O’Sullivan (temp-reg) 16:47; 10 T O’Connor (temp-reg) 16:51; 11 E Meade (temp-reg) 16:53; 12 R Duggan (temp-reg) 16:54.

M40: 1 M O’Keeffe (Quality Hotel) 17:51; 2 K Devine (UCC) 18:12; 3 K Fraher (De-Care) 18:30.

M45: 1 N Curtin (Quality Hotel) 17:01; 2 M Bickerdike (Blarney School of Motoring) 17:59; 3 T Shanahan (Erin Foods) 18:14.

M50: 1 M Murphy (Novartis) 17:36; 2 J Collins (Team adidas) 17:40; 3 P Murphy (UCC) 19:31.

M55: 1 D Kennedy (DMP Enterprises) 20:06; 2 F Linehan (Plant Hire) 22:24; 3 J Quigley (Statsol) 22:37.

M60: 1 P Gyves (ITW-Hi Cone) 21:41; 2 D Cotter (Cork Painters) 21:57; 3 J Murray (HSE) 22:27.

M65: 1 J Cotter (ESB) 22:29; 2 J O’Mahony (UCC) 23:20.M70: 1 J O’Leary (Bookdeal) 23:13.

Team: (Grade A) 1 D&T 46; 2 UCC 91; 3 Quality Hotel 100. (Grade B) 1 An Post/Eircom 185; 2 EMC 590. (Grade C) 1 Naval Service 180; 2 Midleton News 286; 3 UCC 386.

Women: 1 R Lynch (GE Healthcare) 18:19; 2 J Vonhatten (C Harrington Construction) 18:34; 3 N Hunter (C Harrington Construction) 19:07; 4 A-M Healy (HSE, F35) 19:18; 5 M Sweeney (Private Hospitals, F45) 19:26; 6 H Leonard (Shournagh Childcare, F35) 19:37; 7 M Nolan Midleton News, F35) 19:41; 8 S O’Connor (C Harrington Construction) 20:23; 9 A Bickerdike (C Harrington Construction) 20:27; 10 H Kelleher (HSE, F40) 20:56.

F45: 2 M O’Keeffe (Quality Hotel) 20:59.

F50: 1 A Hayes (HSE) 26:58.

F55: 1 M Barry (Midleton News) 25:11.

(...with thanks to John Walshe of Ballycotton Running Promotions for the above results)

Preview of the Cork BHAA 'ESB' 5 km race in Mahon - Sun 1st March (11am)
This is the 2nd road race of the year in the Cork BHAA calendar. Considering it is only 5 kms long, a lot of people will run this even though the Ballycotton 10 is only a week later.

Registration...This is in the Mahon Community centre, shown as a X on the map. It's very easy to find. If you are travelling down into Mahon on the Skehard road, just turn left at the church and the Community centre is in about 300 metres on the left. To get your bearings, click on this LINK. Use the + and - to zoom IN and OUT and try MAP and SATELLITE to get a clearer view.
Course...It's a short run of few hundred metres down to the start. See the map above. The race starts along the road on the way down to Blackrock Castle. After a few hundred metres, you need to follow the stewards instructions and veer off right into the car park and accross it. Now you need to be careful. Just as you get onto the walkway, you need to take a very sharp right. It's not so easy when the runners are still bunched, running fast and then have to brake and change direction. Once you get onto the walkway, you are on the nicest part of the route. You are running on a smooth tarmac surface along the water's edge with scenic views over the inner harbour. It's pretty straight and dead flat for the next 1.5 miles. Just one word of caution here. This walkway is not closed off for the race. It is a very popular amenity with plenty of people out walking with their kid's and dog's. Just keep it in mind. After the 2 mile mark, you are heading back past the large radio mast on your right. You run accross the weir, up a small ramp and then out and right onto another walkway. Here's the tough part. You need to run up and over the pedistrian bridge that goes over the South link road. It's probably a good 50 metres of uphill running and more than enough to leave you panting. The bridge is wide enough for about 2 people so if there are walkers there, runners will need to run in single file. Once you run down the other side of the bridge, you have a flat and dead straight run into the finish. The thing to remember here is that the finish is just beyond the tunnel under the main road. Once you see it, you know you're almost there.

Apres Race...That tunnel you just ran through was in fact under the Skehard road. To get back to the Community centre, just follow the road down and turn left at the church, a jog of about 1 km.If you want a closer look at the course, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website. I plotted the course in the SATELLITE view so it should be the more accurate option to look at.

Overall...A flat and fast course with one blip. The sections by the water are scenic and the path surface is good. Just watch out for those walkers!