The Running in Cork Facebook page now has over 20,000 followers...

A few weeks back, the Running in Cork Facebook page passed the 20,000 mark in terms of the number of followers. At the time of writing, it has 20,494 followers.

What impact does this have? With Facebook, it's all about the algorithm. When you put up a post there, they don't show that post to all of your friends or followers. They first see what kind of initial response the post gets and that then determines how many people they will eventually show the post to.

The number of followers here is an important consideration. If a page has 200 followers, you're pretty much talking to yourself. If it has 2,000 followers then you're starting to get places. When you have 20,000 followers, you can really get the word out.

A case in point is the new Midleton Greenway 5k parkrun. On the 7th of January, I put up a post on the blog about the new parkrun and I then put up an associated post on the Running in Cork Facebook page. That post was viewed 86,398 times on Facebook and reached 52,184 accounts there.

On the 28th of January, I put up a reminder on Facebook and it got 41,999 views there and reached 32,401 accounts. On the 31st of January, I put a guest post by Pat Walsh up on the blog and the associated graphic on Facebook got 15,896 views and reached 12,016 accounts.

Add up all of those views on Facebook and the number of visitors to the blog and it was probably no great surprise that the inaugural Midleton Greenway parkrun had 636 finishers and according to Pat, broke the record for Ireland for a new parkrun by about 250.

If we look at the recent Dungarvan 10m, then it's important that the winners get credit and as much publicity as possible for winning. My photo of Fearghal Curtin on Facebook got 53,683 views and reached 39,770 accounts. My photo of Niamh Allen got 71,406 views and reached 52,952 accounts.

And then of course we have the photo of Birthday girl Maggie Dunne! Maggie who was aged 80 when she ran this years Dungarvan 10 got 77,283 views and reached 58,197 accounts!

If anyone wants to follow the Running in Cork page on Facebook then you'll find it HERE

Running in Cork photos go viral on Facebook...

In the last few weeks, I have two photos which went viral on the Running in Cork Facebook page.

I took a photo of Olympic rowing Gold medalist Paul O'Donovan at the finish line of the Newmarket 5k on the 19th of December 2021. When I put the photo up on the Running in Cork Facebook page, it reached in excess of 235,000 people which is pretty amazing.

At the end of Togher 5k race, Mick Dooley took a photo of the first three women including Olympian Michelle Finn and sent it on to me. I then posted that on the Running in Cork Facebook page and it reached over 87,000 people!

I know there are loads of running related pages and groups on Facebook but many are a bit like bubbles, just reach a small number of the usual people and just get lost in the 'noise'.

I would hope that Facebook posts like those shown above reaches a much wider audience and makes a lot of people aware of the running scene in Cork.

Running in Cork Facebook page passes 13,000 'Likes'

Over the last week, the Running in Cork Facebook page passed the 13,000 'Likes' mark. As of today, it now has 13,032 followers which is pretty huge considering it's mainly just about running and races in Cork.

When I checked the stats this morning, it said the Page had reached just over 236,695 people in the last 28 days.

Over the last few years, Facebook has changed a lot. As more and more users and pages popped up, they have restricted more of what users can see.

What this means is that with 100 followers, you're basically talking to yourself and a few friends. With 1000, you're starting to be heard but your reach is limited. With 10,000, you really start to be a presence reaching huge numbers of people.

To make sure you see the posts, then either visit the page directly or try and 'Like' or 'Share' some of the posts. That way, you are engaging with the page and Facebook knows you are interested in seeing it.

If you're on Facebook and you haven't followed it yet then go to https://www.facebook.com/Running-in-Cork-179702618707109/

Running in Cork Facebook page passes 12,000 'Likes'...

Over the last fortnight, the Running in Cork Facebook page passed the 12,000 'Likes' mark. As of today, it now has 12,100 followers which is pretty huge considering it's mainly just about running and races in Cork.

When I checked the stats this morning, it said the Page had reached just over 165,000 people in the last 28 days.

Over the last few years, Facebook has changed a lot. As more and more users and pages popped up, they have restricted more of what users can see.

What this means is that with 100 followers, you're basically talking to yourself and a few friends. With 1000, you're starting to be heard but your reach is limited. With 10,000, you really start to be a presence reaching huge numbers of people.

To make sure you see the posts, then either visit the page directly or try and 'Like' or 'Share' some of the posts. That way, you are engaging with the page and Facebook knows you are interested in seeing it.

If you're on Facebook and you haven't followed it yet then go to https://www.facebook.com/Running-in-Cork-179702618707109/

5000th post and 11,000 Facebook 'Likes'

I only noticed yesterday that the results of the Kinsale 5 mile race was post number 4999 on the site so this one is number 5000! The website is nearly 10 years old at this stage and so much has changed in that decade. Back in 2006, a blog was just an easier way to have a website with less of the maintenance issues. In the last 10 years year, there has been the explosion of social media with the likes of Facebook now being a major presence.

In that time, the 'Blog' has spread out over these other platforms as well and the Running in Cork Facebook page recently passed the 11,000 followers mark.

I look after quite a number of Facebook pages for myself and for other clubs and races. It's fascinating to sometimes see what the difference in scale can mean. With 100 followers, you're basically talking to yourself and a few friends. With 1000, you're starting to be heard but your reach is limited. With 10,000, you really start to be a presence reaching huge numbers of people.

For example in the period from the 8th of August to the 4th of September, the stats say that the Running in Cork Facebook posts reached 328,872 people which is pretty enormous.

The one thing about Facebook though is that they restrict what you as an individual can see. If you don't interact with a page then Facebook will assume you're not interested in it and will show you fewer posts.

To make sure you see all the updates then go to the Running in Cork Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/Running-in-Cork-179702618707109/

Make sure you click 'Like' and you should see the following menu...

Click 'See first' and click where the red arrows point.

You should get this page if you click the second one. Tick Photos, Links and Status Updates to make sure you keep up with everything. I usually don't post more than twice a day on average so your news feed won't be clogged with stuff. Make sure you click 'Done' as well.

Another good way to keep track of everything is to engage with the page. Like and share some posts to show Facebook that this is a page you want to keep seeing.

If you want to follow on Twitter, then join the other 2000+ followers at https://twitter.com/runningincork

On a final note, another stat I noticed is the race calendar on the Running in Cork site is heading towards half a million pageviews!  It's at 462,114 at the moment. There is an identical copy on the Running in Munster site with 211,776 views so the combined total is 673,890.

As for the total of pageviews that blog gets then I can see that the blog stats go back as far as May 2010 and it has gotten 9,417,667 in that time. Add in the three and half years before that date and the total must be well over 10 million.

Facebook Competition...Free Entry to the Bandon Half-Marathon and 10k

The Bandon Half-Marathon and 10k is coming up on Saturday, the 12th of May. The closing date for pre-entries is next Monday, the 7th of May. More info in an earlier post.

The organisers of the race have offered a free entry for a competition on the Running in Cork Facebook page.

The question....What will be the winning time for the first woman in the Midleton 5 mile race race??? This takes place next Thursday evening at 8pm......info in an earlier post.

Entries for the competition close at 7:30pm on Thursday evening, 30 minutes before the race starts.

Running in Cork Facebook page...

For those of you who may not have noticed, I now have a Facebook page up for the Running in Cork blog. What it basically does is to allow Facebook users keep track of new posts on the blog which will then appear on their Facebook wall.

Occasionally I may put additional info up there but it's sole purpose is to compliment the blog, not replace it. I know that a lot of people don't use Facebook because of privacy issues or are just not interested in it so don't feel obliged that you should sign up just in case you are missing out on something. However, if you have a Facebook account already then just go to the Running in Cork Facebook page and click the 'Like' button.