Dungarvan, Olympics, Weekend Events...

Dungarvan '10'......No sooner has the feeding frenzy with the Ballycotton '10' entries finished when another one has started with the Dungarvan '10' entries. With the numbers limited at 1,500, the entries are coming in fast and furious at the moment. Last Sunday, they were around 550 entries and they are now (Fri) passing the 1,000 mark. With just 500 entries left, it is obviously going to close pretty soon. This is a good race with a reasonably fast course and it only costs €15 to enter online today. There is no point waiting for January. If you were not able to get into Ballycotton '10' then this is the one to do....get those entries in now! The race is on Sunday the 29th of Jan 2012. Website HERE

Olympics.....The Irish Independent have an article about the support behind Fionnuala Britton's recent success while the Irish Examiner have an article about the Irish athletes heading to the London Olympics.

Weekend events...There are two 5k races this weekend. On Saturday, there is the Shanagarry Christmas 5k near Ballycotton in east Cork. The race starts at 12 noon and the entry fee is a mighty €3! All proceeds to the GOAL mile fund. On Sunday, there is a new 5k race in Newmarket in north-west Cork. Run over a flat fast course, it should attract a large crowd. Preview to follow...

Chanel release new Running shoe

The exclusive fashion brand Chanel have just released a running shoe as part of their 2012 collection. Just before you dump those old Nike runners and take the plunge, the retail price is expected to be in the region of €700!

Apparently, they are constructed from....'canvas and calf skin' no less.

I'm not sure if they would make you run any faster but at least you'd look the biz. Not coming to a sports shop near you ;o)

New Poll on Running Magazines bought in 2011

A few weeks back, I had a post on the blog about Running magazines and whether they represented value for money. Following on from that, I have now put up a new poll on the right hand side of the page.......Which of these magazines did you buy in 2011?

I have it set up so that you can select multiple answers so click on the ones that apply. It's open until the end of the year.

First 2,500 Ballycotton '10' entries...

A list of the first 2,500 entries for the 2012 Ballycotton '10' has now been released.

You can view it HERE

From the organisers....As the 2,500 limit has been reached and as the closing date for AAI club and Summer Series has also expired, we ask people NOT to post any further entries unless they qualify through the overseas exemption (up to January 9th – this is only for people living overseas). 
All unsuccessful applicants will have their entries and fees returned in the New Year. In the meantime, please remember that we don’t have a waiting list and also that under no circumstances can race numbers be transferred

Dutch Marathon discriminates against foreign runners

A Dutch equality watchdog says organizers of this year's Utrecht Marathon discriminated against foreign runners by not allowing them to race for the main prize of 10,000 euros. Organisers asked the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission to investigate their prize policy after the April 25 race sparked angry accusations of racism. Organisers said that the intention was to stimulate Dutch runners and "never to shut out foreign athletes.''

The winner's prize for the Utrecht Marathon was 100 euros, but a Dutch winner also earned a 10,000 euros bonus. The incentive appeared to work, with Dutch runner Michel Butter winning a race often dominated by Kenyans.

Results of the Poll.."How much do you spend on Running?"

This is the full question that was asked........"Including shoes, gear, entries and travel, how much do you spend per year on running?". There was a choice of 6 answers and it was open for approx 2 weeks.

A total of 186 people took part. I have generated the graph below to show the results....in blue....and I have compared it to a similar survey done in the USA by a popular running magazine....in red.

The numbers shown above are the percentages recorded. It's worth pointing out as well that while I followed the same format and bands as the US survey, there is an obvious difference in the value of a Euro and the US dollar. At the time of this survey, one Euro was worth approx $1.30.

On that basis, you could probably take a small part of each blue column and add it to the blue column to the right. For example, if someone spent €400 (=$520), then that should really be in the $500-$750 column. On that basis, the bulk of runners in Cork/Ireland are spending approx €250 to €1000 per annum. I would presume those that are spending €1000+ were probably travelling overseas to Marathons and the like.

My own interpretation of the graph is that the average spend here is higher than in the USA. But why? I can think of two conclusions......

1) Retail prices here are higher in comparison? It's very easy to jump to this conclusion but is it true? I have no idea. What's the price of a popular brand in a US high street store compared to here?

2) Or can it be due to the sheer number of races that we have here in comparison? Do all of those entry fee's add up? There was an article on the blog before by Paul Tucker ,who was an Australian  living in Cork for a while, and he compared Cork/Ireland to other parts of the world like the US and Australia . He had been to the city of Dayton in Ohio which has a population of 177,000 and yet it had nothing near the volume of races compared to here.

Or are there other reasons? Or do you interpret the figures differently? Click on the comment link below...

BBC interview Marathon cheat...

A few days ago, the reional BBC North-East service interviewed Rob Sloan. You might remember him from a previous post back in October when he 'finished' 3rd in the Kielder Marathon in Northumberland and was later found to have hopped on a bus at the 20 mile mark!

Well, now he says that it was a case of mistaken identity and he really did finish 3rd. In the interview, Sloan said: "My argument is, 'who in his right mind runs 24 miles of a 26-mile race, diversifies off the route, manages to find a bus, makes his way back in the race, lies in wait until the first and the second has passed then joins the race and finishes third'?

Indeed, 'diversifying' off the route is never a recommended option.

The race officials say that Sloan was in 8th place at the 13.1 mile mark and at 17 miles, he was in 10th. Then somehow he finished 3rd without anyone seeing him?

In his defence, Sloan showed the BBC the readings from his GPS watch. The BBC said that it "showed him travelling at a constant pace, until the last few miles when the reading "goes fuzzy"."

The interview can be seen HERE

Closing date for cheap entries to the Dungarvan 10 is next Friday...

Just a reminder that the closing date for entries to the Dungarvan 10 mile road race (Sun 29th Jan 2012) in next Friday, the 16th of December. Up to Friday, it costs €15 to enter. After that, it's €20.

This race has grown in popularity in the last few years. Not so long ago, this race would get several hundred entries and the organisers were aiming to hit the 1,000 mark in future years. Now, they have a limit of 1,500 entries and it's full every year.

Before, you could almost forget about this race until the new year and then enter in January. Not anymore. As of last weekend, they had 550 entries which is well up on the number at this point last year. Considering that leaves less than 1000 place and entries will start to come in fast and furious now, it makes sense to get in early at the cheap rate.

Why do it?.........There are several reasons.....
1) If you didn't manage to get into Ballycotton then this is a real alternative. For €15, you get a well organised race with chip timing and a dry-fit running top. Post race, there are loads of refreshments, showers, etc. Parking is easy and it's only 1 hour from Cork City. In many ways, it's a lot easier to get to and a lot less hassle than Ballycotton on race day.
2) As there is a 5 week gap between Dungarvan and Ballycotton, many people will do both.
3) It is also the 1st race of 4 in the John Buckley Sports Munster Ten-Mile Spring Classics Series (Dungarvan/Ballycotton/Mallow/Kilnaboy).

Note from the organisers.....
JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE...Sunday January 29th 1pm

EARLY BIRD ENTRY CLOSES THIS FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH.

The speed at which the entries are pouring in has escalated over the past week and as the event is a pre-entry race only we urge participants to get their entry in A.S.A.P.

Our early bird entry fee of €15 will close on this Friday 16th December at midnight and the final chance to enter will close on January 16th with no entries taken on race day!

You can enter on line with Active Europe ( a small charge applies) or download an entry form from the race website www.dungarvan10mile.org  and post to the address on the form.

11 ways to cheat at a Marathon

From the bizarre to the outright stupid.......11 examples of people cheating at various Marathons.......including the idiot on the bicycle on the left....as if no-one was going to see him?!?!

The short article is HERE

Video...The benefits of exercise

An excellent short 9 minute video showing the benefits of exercise....

Closing date for Ballycotton '10' entries is Thurs 15th Dec...

Just a reminder that the next closing date for Ballycotton '10' entries is next Thursday, the 15th of December. Entries are now only open to the following eligible runners...
1) Members of AAI registered athletic clubs
2) Anyone who completed all 4 of the Ballycotton Summer Series races.

Entries received up to and including Thursday will be accepted. So if you haven't posted your entry form then do so straight away! Overseas entrants have until the 9th of January to get their entries in. More details with a link to the entry form in an earlier post.

So what were the entries like this year compared to last? On the first day (Wednesday) in 2010, they got ~840 entries. This year, they got 1,520 which meant that less than 1,000 were left for the second day of post (Thursday). As a result, not everyone made it on the second day. In 2010, over 400 got in on the third day (Friday).

The first 2,500 entries should be out later in the week.

.....and for a useles bit of trivia! The number of entries on the first day were up 82% on last year. The traffic to this website in November was up by.......82%! The exact same......connection? ;o)

Fionnuala Britton of Ireland wins European Cross Country Championships!

Fionnuala Britton from Wicklow took the gold medal in the Senior Womens race in the European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia. She was in the leading group from the start and halfway through the race, she began to crank up the pace and gradually burnt off her opponents. By the finish line, she was a clear winner with Portugal’s Felix overtaking Steel to win the silver.

Two photos above courtesy of James Veale

Fionnuala's winning time was 25:55 over the 8 km course. For anyone wondering, that works out as 5'13" per mile pace. On a 5k circuit, that would give a time of 16'12".


Race report from European Athletics site...
After finishing fourth in this race last year, Fionnuala Britton of Ireland ran away with the race from the half-way mark and was never seriously threatened, clinching Ireland’s second senior women’s gold medal in the history of these championships. Portugal’s Dulce Felix was second with Britain’s Gemma Steel securing bronze.
After 1km a group of nine had already formed including Britton, Felix and Italian hope Nadia Ejjafini who was to look like a possible medallist for over half of the race before she was to pay for her effort to finish just out of the medals. At 2km in 6:35, it was Britton in the lead from Felix and Ejjafini with Turkey’s silver medallist from last year, Binnaz Uslu, in attendance. After nine minutes of running a group of three containing Britton, Felix and Ejjafini had broken away with Uslu dropping back and destined to drop out.

With three laps to go, Steel had moved into fourth and set about reducing the gap to the leaders. At this stage, it was Felix who appeared to be having difficulty as Britton and Ejjafini opened up a slight gap on the Portuguese. After 15 minutes of running, Steel was now in third and going away from Felix and making clear inroads on the leading duo. Up front Britton was making Ejjafini suffer while Steel was gaining in confidence.
Half way round the penultimate lap, Steel slipped into second with Ejjafini starting to struggle. Coming up to the bell-lap, Britton was gamely holding off Steel and the gap of 30m did not appear to be closing. There was another gap to Ejjafini as Felix was getting her second wind and moving into third six seconds down on the Irishwoman. Any sign that the Irishwoman might falter was dispelled in the final lap as Britton summoned her forces for the final push while Steel was suffering for her effort to get on equal terms with the leader and finally had to settle for bronze.

Mens Race........In the senior mens race, Joe Sweeney finished an impressive 5th and was in the leading pack for most of the race. One to watch for the future...

Irish Results.......
Irish Senior Men:Team 6th/5th Sweeney, Pollock 26th, Ledwith 35th, Hanrahan 50th & Thornton 54th.
Irish Senior Women:Team 8th/ 1st Britton 43th McCarthy, 44th Kelly, Harty 45th, Byrne 46th
Irish Men U23: Team 13th /Mulhare 31st, Jennings 54th, Tremble 73rd, Fitzmaurice 81st & Flynn 84th Team 13th overall
Women’s 23: Treacy 18th, Britton 38th
Junior Men:Team 12th/ J.Byrne 23rd, S.Tobin 45th, R.Finnegan 65th, K.Dooney in 81st and L.Brady in 96th.
Junior Women Team: Team 12th/ S.Clerigh Buttner 49th, C.McCarty 51st , K.Veale 57st, M.Mulhare 71st, M.O’Sullivan 80th.

Video of the race......

Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and 1/2 Marathon flops

Some time back, I had a post about a new Half-Marathon coming to Dublin next summer as part of the European Rock 'n' Roll race series. These are commercially organised events which are very popular in the USA. On Sunday the 4th of December, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon turned out to be a bit of a flop.

Just to give you some idea of how expensive it is to enter, the Half-Marathon costs $130 (~€95) with a late entry fee of $155 (~€115). The full Marathon costs $140 (~€104) with a late entry fee of $175 (~€130). With some 44,000 people taking part, that would mean that they took in some $6 to $7 million on entries alone.

As it turned out, things didn't quite go to plan as they were obviously way too many runners and it was badly organised. Here are some of the media reports...
....water was pumped from a nearby fire hydrant with hoses into a plastic lined garbage cans. Event volunteers then wearing plastic gloves would dip cups into the cans and pass them off to runners.The water tasted metallic and stale.
.....The photos, snapped with cell phones, show thousands of people pouring into Mandalay Bay hallways unable to move. People report being stuck for nearly an hour with numerous people vomiting and passing out.
....."We had heard that lots of people collapsed, Inside the hotel was horrible."
......It was the capstone to a race with 44 thousand people that runners say was too large with too little planning.

Video report from a US TV channel  in this LINK

Let's hope the Dublin Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon goes better!

Results of the Clonakilty Half and Full Marathon...Sat 10th Dec 2011

Results of the 10k mini-marathon are HERE

Results of the Half-Marathon are HERE

Results of the full Marathon are HERE

Photos....
1) A small gallery by Peter Mooney HERE
2) A large gallery HERE

Entries for the 2012 Berlin Marathon closed

Just in case you were thinking about  doing the Berlin Marathon next September, then it's too late as all 40,000 entries have been filled. Registration had opened on the 20th of October and this is a record for it closing so early. Last year, it was February before the entries closed.