How many races were there in Munster in 2012???

Back at the end of December, I had a post up which looked back at the year and I had mentioned that were approximately 88 events in Cork in 2012. This basically included everything from cross-country to road races to charity races to fun runs.

In addition to putting up the results of every race on the Running in Cork site, I also updated the Running in Munster site with results for all of the races in Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Waterford. In 2012, I had as far as I know links or results up for practically every race. Between the two sites, it came to a total of 239 events!

The graph below shows the number of events broken down by county...

As you might expect with it's population, Cork County has the largest number but some of the other counties aren't far behind.

Using the same order, lets have a look at the population of each county in Munster based on the 2011 census...

As you can see, the population of Cork is way bigger than the rest. Notice how Limerick has the second largest population yet it has the lowest number of races.

To get a proper picture, I put together a graph showing the ratio between the number of events and the population of each county....

In this case, the lower number, the better. Based on the stats above and having followed every race in the province, here are my observations...

Waterford........Waterford has the highest number of events per available population....in other words...for 2012, there was one race in Waterford for every 2,200 people in the county. Considering the relatively small local population then it might suggest that there isn't much scope for holding too many more short races in the county?

Tipperary.......For 2012, there was one race in Tipperary for every 2,500 people. Possibly the number of races in the south of the county is enough but there is probably scope for more short races in the north of the county.

Kerry.......One race per 2,750 people. Essentially there are two main population centres, Tralee and Killarney. Despite the fact that Tralee is bigger, Killarney has a lot more races. There is probably room for more short races in the north of the county. There also seems to be almost a complete lack of any race in the far south-west of the county. Anyone living in say Cahersiveen / Waterville / Sneem has a long drive to get to races on a regular basis.

Clare.......One race per 2,800 people. There are no shortage of events in Co.Clare although a lot of them tend to be of the fun run / charity run variety rather than a proper road race over an accurately measured distance. There is probably room for more short races in the south east of the county especially near Limerick city.

Limerick........One race per 4,700 people. Despite the fact that the county has the lowest number of races, it's actually an improvement over a few years ago! I know when I first started to look at the races around Munster back in 2008, the one obvious thing was how quiet Limerick was compared to Cork. The Limerick Sports Partnership then introduced their Feet on the Street series in 2011 which has helped a lot but there is probably scope for a lot more races in or near Limerick City.

Cork.........Despite the fact that it had the highest number of races in 2012, it also had the lowest number of races compared to the available population....i.e.....one race per 5,900 people. When compared to other counties, there are no shortage of people available for races especially in or near Cork City. This is borne out in the race numbers as well. In a typical short race in Cork, some 300+ people might turn out. Elsewhere in Munster, 150 or so might seem more common.


While it might initially suggest that Cork City itself might support a lot more short races, the problem of a limited number of suitable free dates on the calendar might however be another issue?

Overall........Whatever about last year, it was certainly pretty hectic in terms of the number of races on offer. As to how does Munster compare to the other provinces? I don't really have any hard facts but I'd imagine it must be one of the most active in Ireland. When I look at 237 events in 2012, I think back to an old article here about an Australian who came to Ireland and was amazed at the number of races available. That was a few years ago and it's got busier since! Looking forward, 2013 looks likely to be another bumper year for races in Munster.

Comments requested for the Cork Track and Field League...

As you may gather from the race calendar, there are a glut of road races throughout the year in Cork and Munster but there were up to recently, very few athletics meetings. In an effort to address this, the Cork County Board of Athletics Ireland initiated a graded league in 2011 and John Buckley Sports came on board as the sponsor to make the whole thing possible.

After holding six meetings in 2011, a further eight were held in 2012. The graph below shows the average number of people attending each of the meets...

Considering that the number of meets increased from six to eight, the slight increase in average numbers from the Cork clubs represents a real improvement. One figure to note however was the number of people coming from outside of Cork to take part. Perhaps it might suggest that there is some scope for similar types of leagues to start in the other counties???

With two years of the graded league now complete, the organisers would like to get some feedback and suggestions. They have issued this message....."The committee responsible for the John Buckley Sports sponsored County T&F League is conducting a review of the 2012 league. It would be much appreciated if athletes/coaches/interested parties would take time to fill out the questionnaire and return it Fergus O’Donovan c/o corkathletics@gmail.com "

You can find the questionnaire HERE

There are some stats on the 2011 league HERE and HERE and the 2012 league HERE and HERE

It would be wrong to think of the graded leagues as some sort of competition only for elite athletes. There are a wide variety of events on offer like the 800m, 1500m, 3000m, etc and they are ideal way for the ordinary club athlete who may be just used to road races to try a low key athletics event to see what it's like.

You can see the list of events that were on the 2012 programme in this previous post . It might be something for you to consider for 2013?

Recent Sports Awards in Cork...

At the recent function for the Cork City Sports Awards, prizes for the Athletics Award of the Month went to the following...

Photo by Gearoid O'Laoi

Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC was awarded the Athletics Award for December 2012 for her part in the Irish team that won Gold at the European Cross Country Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Fergus O'Donovan who is a coach with St.Finbarrs AC won the October 2012 award for his work in organising the very successful graded leagues at CIT last summer.

Carmel Parnell of Leevale AC won the November award for winning Gold in the F55 category in the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country in Belfast.

In a separate awards ceremony, Ultra Runner Ruthann Sheahan was crowned West Cork Sports Star of the Year for 2012. Ruthann who is originally from Leap in West Cork represented Ireland at the World and European 24 hour championships in Poland and finished 5th woman in Europe. This was also a new Irish record. The award was presented by Bill O'Herlihy of RTE who said..."I knew nothing about ultra-marathons and the idea that someone would run for an entire 24 hours, 229 kilometres and break the record by 23 kilometres is absolutely unbelievable in my estimation".

The Southern Star will have a special two page spread on this award on Thursday.

Progression of the mile record...

Of all the world records, the sub 4 minute mile is possibly one of the most famous. This video clip shows how it has progressed over the years...


3:59.4...Roger Bannister     United Kingdom    6 May 1954 Oxford
3:58.0...John Landy     Australia    21 June 1954 Turku
3:57.2...Derek Ibbotson     United Kingdom    19 July 1957 London
3:54.5...Herb Elliott     Australia    6 August 1958 Santry, Dublin
3:54.4...Peter Snell     New Zealand    27 January 1962 Wanganui
3:54.1...Peter Snell     New Zealand    17 November 1964 Auckland
3:53.6...Michel Jazy     France    9 June 1965 Rennes
3:51.3...Jim Ryun     United States    17 July 1966 Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1...Jim Ryun     United States    23 June 1967 Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0...Filbert Bayi     Tanzania    17 May 1975 Kingston
3:49.4...John Walker     New Zealand    12 August 1975 Göteborg
3:49.0...Sebastian Coe     United Kingdom    17 July 1979 Oslo
3:48.8...Steve Ovett     United Kingdom    1 July 1980 Oslo
3:48.53...Sebastian Coe     United Kingdom    19 August 1981 Zürich
3:48.40...Steve Ovett     United Kingdom    26 August 1981 Koblenz
3:47.33...Sebastian Coe     United Kingdom    28 August 1981 Bruxelles
3:46.32...Steve Cram     United Kingdom    27 July 1985 Oslo
3:44.39...Noureddine Morceli     Algeria    5 September 1993 Rieti
3:43.13...Hicham El Guerrouj     Morocco    7 July 1999 Rome

Will Fionnuala Britton move up to the Marathon???

On the Off the Ball sports programme on Newstalk radio last week, there was a discussion with John Treacy and Mark Carroll about whether Fionnuala Britton will move up to the Marathon distance? It was suggested that with the correct training, Fionnuala might be able to run a Half-Marathon in under 70 minutes and around 2:24 for the full Marathon.

The current Irish record holder is Catherina McKiernan who ran 2:22:23 in Amsterdam in Nov 1998.

The interview can be heard from 37:10 to 48:55...
 

Photo by Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC

Results of the Kilmacsimon Rowing Club 6k Fun Run...Sun 13th Jan 2013

A 6km fun fun organised by Kilmacthomas Rowing Club was held in Bandon on Sunday, the 13th of January 2013.

Runners Results:
1) Kevin Wilmott 20.52**First Mens Open**
2) Ciaran Burke 22.03
3) Jamie Gahan 22.27
14) Ronnie Barry 25.16 ** First Ladies **
24) Margaret Callahan 26.36 **first ov 45 ladies**
25) Pellegrina Picone 26.46

The full results can be seen HERE

Results of the Cork BHAA Cross Country...Sun 13th Jan 2013

The Cork BHAA season got off to a start with their annual Cross Country race in Beaumont Park in Cork City. The mens race was won by John Meade and the womens race by Aisling Moran. A total of 137 runners took part, down a bit on last year's figure of 160.

Photos...
1) Doug Minihane has his usual crop of excellent photos HERE

Position Name Company Cateogry Time
1 JOHN MEADE JOYCE WOLFE PHYSIOTHERAPY 00:17:40
2 ALAN WHITAKER UCC 0/40A 00:17:59
3 RORY O'SULLIVAN Clarke Level Construction 00:18:07
31 AISLING MORAN REAL EVENTS 00:21:14
32 MICHELLE KENNY DEPT OF EDUCATION 00:21:24
38 MARY SWEENEY FIT 4 LIFE 0/50K 00:21:43 

The full results are HERE


Photo courtesy of Doug Minihane

Fionnuala Britton wins Antrim International Cross Country...Sat 12th Jan 2013

The current European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton continued her winning streak today by finishing first at the IAAF Cross Country Race in Antrim (Sat 12th Jan 2013). Fionnuala finished a full 12 seconds ahead of her nearest rival Louise Damen in second place.

Photo by Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC

This was also the second time that Fionnuala Britton has won this race having won it before in January 2012 as well.

Fellow Irish international Linda Byrne also had an excellent race finishing in 4th place after a closely contested competition with the Kenyan Magdalyne Masai for third spot.

1. Fionnuala Britton (IRL) 18:17...$2,500
2. Louise Damen (GBR) 18:29...$1,500
3. Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 18:45...$1,250
4. Linda Byrne (IRL) 18:48...$1,000
5. Eunice  Kales (KEN) 18:57...$750
6. Freya Murray-Ross (SCOT) 18:57...$500
7. Steph  Twell (GBR) 18:58
8. Beth Potter (SCOT) 18:59
9. Stevi Stockton (GBR) 19:28
10. Elspeth Curran (SCOT) 19:35
11. Katie Brough (ENG) 19:41
12. Emma Clayton (ENG) 19:43
13. Gladys Ganiel, North Belfast Harriers (N IRL) 19:57
14. Katie Walshaw, North of England 20:06
15. Gemma  Kersey, Basildon (ENG) 20:20
16. Melissa Courtney, South of England 20:26
17. Samantha Johnson, North of England 20:57
18. Danielle Fegan, Armagh AC 21:18   
19. Jessica Craig, North Down AC B (N IRL) 21:34
20. Fionnuala Diver, Letterkenny AC 21:42

Full senior results for men and women HERE 

Start

Finish...

Post race interview...

 

Entry Statistics for the 2013 Ballycotton 10 race...

Now that the final entry list is out for the 2013 Ballycotton 10 race, it's time to have a look at some of the stats.

Number of entries......As you can see from the graph below there was a slight drop in entries this year, down from 3,582 in 2012 to 3,473 in 2013.

As such, it's only a small drop so the new mix of postal and online entries this year doesn't seem to have had much impact on overall numbers. A possible reason for the drop is given further down.

Gender Balance......As can be seen from the graph below, the number of women taking part in the Ballycotton 10 continues to grow...

There was a big jump in numbers this year and women are likely to make up almost 40% of the field on race day. Considering that this is 39.9% of 3,473 entries then it's not some statistical error. This shows a very real growth in the numbers of women taking up running.

This is a breakdown of the female entries by age...

As a side note, any properly organised race should have a prize structure that reflects the gender balance. In other words, if 40% of the field are women then 40% of all the prizes should be for women. Looking at the prize structure for the Ballycotton 10, it's 38.7% for women which is very close to the percentage entered last year.

Entry by Athletic Clubs.....Pride of place goes yet again to Midleton AC with 151 entries, up from 144 last year. In second place, St.Finbarr's AC keep their second spot with 111 entries, down from 123 in 2012. Eagle AC have just 3 fewer entries this year with 94 to keep third. Mallow AC stay in fourth with a slight increase from 57 to 62.

The big change in the top 5 is with the non-Cork clubs. Back in 2008, West Waterford AC were the largest club by entry with 87 entries. With the increasing popularity of their own Dungarvan 10 mile road race, it seems that many are opting for that instead and this year, there are 38 entries from West Waterford AC as they move out of the top five. In their place, Kilkenny City Harriers take fifth spot with 55 entries, up from 38 last year.

These are the other clubs with 10 or more entries....
Youghal AC 43 (2011=29), West Waterford AC 38 (2011=60), Galtee Runners AC 35 (2011=40), Donore Harriers 33 (2011=43), Waterford AC 33 (2011=40), Slaney Olympic AC 32 (2011=37), Leevale AC 28 (2011=22), Sli Cualann AC 25 (2011=18), Rathfarnham-WSAF AC 22 (2011=18), Bandon AC 20 (2011=23), Donoughmore AC 19 (2011=20), Limerick Country Club AC 19 (2011=30), Bridge Milers-Olympic Harriers 15 (2011=0), Brothers Pearse AC 15 (2011=8), Limerick AC 14 (2011=20), Thurles Crokes AC 14 (2011=8), East Cork AC 13 (2011=18), Grange-Fermoy AC 13 (2011=15), Ballincollig AC 12 (2011=11), Clonakilty Road Runners 12 (2011=6), Clonmel AC 12 (2011=20), North Cork AC 11 (2011=20), St. Catherines AC 11 (2011=2), Crusaders AC 10 (2011=10), Mullingar Harriers 10 (2011=19), Raheny Shamrock AC 10 (2011=21)

Having a closer look at some of those stats, there are 16 clubs from Cork. From that 16, there were 640 entries in 2012 and 643 in 2013...i.e. hardly any change in the number of people from athletic clubs in Cork taking part.

Looking at the 20 largest non-Cork clubs by entry, there were 387 in 2013 compared to 451 in 2012. That's a 14% drop which is significant. Why the drop? Is it the cost of travel? Is it the fact that there are more choices of races locally available now and there is less need to travel? If that was a trend that continued then it might suggest perhaps some of the other 10 mile and Half-Marathon races during the year may find it harder to attract people from outside their local area.

Non-Athletic club entrants.....This year, 37.8% of the total number of entries are members of athletic or running clubs....

That's actually a drop from the 2012 figure which was 40.7%. Considering that the number of non-club runners was restricted somewhat by the initial 2,500 limit, it seems as if it's the 14% drop in club runners from outside of Cork which is mostly responsible for the decline in the overall athletic club percentage and probably why the numbers overall dropped slightly this year as well.

So in summary...
1) Numbers steady for the Ballycotton 10. If 2012 is anything to go by then 2,310 runners should turn up for this year's Ballycotton 10 race.
2) More women taking part.
3) Numbers from local clubs steady, big drop by non-local clubs.
4) There is a huge number of non-club runners now taking part. Obviously this means that there is plenty of opportunity for clubs to grow but it also means that a lot of people are quite happy doing their own thing and don't feel any need to join a club.

Thoughts?

Acknowledgements....Thanks to John Quigley of Eagle AC for the raw data for the stats.

Exercise in moderation...

Back in late 2011, I had a post up about how running too many Marathons make up damaging your heart.

In this video clip from Dr.James O'Keeffe at a TED conference, he gives a talk which again says that too much exercise is bad for you. In it, he says....
1. The maximum benefit of vigorous is gained at roughly 40 minutes. After that, there is a plateau effect.
2. By contrast, light exercise is a straight line graph....the more you do, the better.
3. He recommends 10 to 15 miles a week max.



By the way, he is NOT saying exercise is bad for you! The worst thing you can do is to do nothing.

Just exercise in moderation.

How to get rid of that Christmas tree ;o)

Final list of entries for the 2013 Ballycotton 10 race...

The final list of entrants for the 2013 Ballycotton 10 mile road race is now available.

The list in numerical order is HERE

The list in alphabetical order is HERE

By the way, there are 109 runners less this year. Sign of a peak in numbers?

Note from the organisers...
(1) We do not have a waiting list or cancellation policy. We allow for a certain percentage of ‘no shows’ and therefore accept more than we can accommodate.
(2) We do not refund people unable to take part.
(3) If unable to run, ON NO ACCOUNT can you give your number to another runner (when you signed the form, you agreed to this).
(4) All unsuccessful applicants will have their entries and fees returned over the next couple of weeks.
(5) The race packages (number, programme, etc) will be posted out approx two weeks before the race day of March 3rd.

Corrections to the list below (name, category or club, etc) please email John Walshe at jowalshe@eircom.net

Please note this is for corrections ONLY.

Fionnuala Britton makes the front cover of Athletics Weekly magazine...

Following her Cross Country win in Edinburgh last weekend, Fionnuala Britton is featured on this weeks issue of Athletics Weekly which is described as the UK’s No.1 magazine for track & field, cross-country and road running.

Kenyan Marathon runner tackled by Psycho

In the Kings Race Marathon in Cuiaba, Brazil last Sunday, Kenyan runner Edwin Kipsang Rotich was tackled by a spectator. After officials dealt with the individual, Rotich went on to win the race. Police later said that the attacker has a history of psychiatric problems.

Time for Parkruns in Cork???

Parkruns...what are they? Basically, they are free 5 km races which take place in parks during the weekends. Each race is timed and takes place on a variety of surfaces...from urban parks, country parks and seaside promenades to nature reserves, woodland and open fields.

Back in August 2011, I had a post up about Parkruns in the UK and I asked the question if they should be in Ireland. The first event started in the UK in 2004 and by mid 2011, it had grown to around 80 events and had spread to Belfast as well. Towards the end of 2012, one started in Malahide in Dublin and there is another one in the pipeline for Marley Park.

So is it time for a Parkrun in Cork?

From what I understand....
1) Each Parkrun costs some €7,000 to set up (one off cost for equipment, etc). The Parkrun organisation itself may fund 50% of this leaving the local organising group to find €3,500.
2) Expressions of interest have already been recieved from groups in North Cork and Clonakilty.
3) There may be grants available from local sports partnerships.

It's pretty obvious that considering the initial costs and the limited number of grants available that the most obvious place for a Parkrun is in Cork City itself. Once the novelty of the event dies off and it becomes a regular feature then it needs to be near a large population source for it to be a success.

What are the options?

The Cork BHAA have a 5 km route in Mahon that could be used straight away. Perhaps once the Tramore Valley Park opens, it could then be transferred there?

The big issue now is for some group to organise it. Maybe one of the athletic clubs or several of the clubs taking turns? Maybe a group of individuals?

If you are interested then contact Matt Shields at matt@parkrun.com

ParkRun Ireland have a website at http://www.parkrun.ie/