What happens to the body during a marathon...

Reminder...Bere Island Midsummer Run - Sat 4th July 2015

Just a reminder for anyone who wants to try out what is possibly one of the most scenic races in the country...

More info including a video showing the course, preview and maps in this earlier post.

Results of the Corkbeg 4 mile road race...Thurs 2nd July 2015

The annual Corkbeg 4 mile road race was held on Thurs 2nd July 2015.

1    0:19:58    MCCARTHY, James    East Cork AC    M    04:59.4
2    0:20:07    MCGRATH, Sean    East Cork AC    M    05:01.7 
3    0:22:16    CANAVAN, Darragh    Leevale AC    M    05:33.9
23    0:24:41    SANTRY, Fiona    East Cork AC    F    06:10.1
36    0:25:51    GILROY, Helen    Midleton AC    F45    06:27.6 
53    0:26:36    DOWNING, Eilish    Ballintotis Fit4Life    F40    06:38.9 

The full results can be seen HERE

Notice...Youghal 5km road race - Thurs 9th July 2015

This 5km road race is coming up in the town of Youghal in East Cork on Thursday, the 9th of July 2015...

This is essentially a new race having been a 4 miler in previous years. It goes through the main streets of the town and is very flat.

With it's location near the county boundary, the race is sure to attract runners from both East Cork and West Waterford.

The race is on a flat fast course on the streets of the historic town and passes under the iconic Youghal Clock Tower...

Organised by Youghal AC, this race has an Athletics Ireland licence and has been measured accurately by Jones Counter.

Course Preview..........A full preview of the course with maps, directions, photos, etc can be seen HERE

Results of the Cork BHAA EMC 4 mile road race...Wed 1st July 2015

316 runners turned out for the Cork BHAA 4 mile road race in Oven on Wed 1st July. This was the first year of the race over 4 mile having been 5kms in previous years.

1 Micheal Bruton M1 00:21:52 GE Healthcare
2 Micheal Morgan M2 00:22:01 Musgrave M-A-1
3 Michael Corbett M3 00:22:04 Musgrave M-A-1
60 Angela Shine 0/40I F1 00:27:33 Kepak
80 Maria Murray F2 00:28:32 Solarwinds F-A-2
88 Cathy Kenneally F3 00:28:54 EMC F-A-1

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Graham Nudds has a gallery of photos HERE
2) Doug Minihane has a gallery HERE

Membership stats for athletic clubs in Cork...end of June 2015

Athletics Ireland have released some stats recently showing the membership of clubs throughout the country. In terms of adult membership, these are the ones in Cork with more than 50 members at the end of June 2015...

The big change since last month is that Ballymore Cobh AC are now the largest club in Cork in terms of adult membership. Only a few years ago, they were essentially a club for juveniles with a small number of adults to coach them. Fast forward to today and they are the largest.

It's probably worth mentioning as well that this doesn't represent the full story as one of the biggest growth areas in recent times has been that of running groups who are not members of athletics Ireland. There are now a number of these throughout the county and some are quiet large. e.g. Wibbly Wobbly Wonders in Ballyvolane, Happy Feet in Blarney, etc.

The latest stats from Athletics Ireland can be found HERE

Results & Photos of the Grant Thornton 5k race in Cork...Tues 30th June 2015

There was a huge turnout for the inaugural Grant Thornton 5k in Cork City on Tuesday the 30th of June with 832 runners taking part. Considering it was the first year and the sheer number of other races on at the moment, that's an impressive number for a first outing.

The Grant Thornton 5k has been run in Dublin for the last few years and this was the first race outside the capital. It was organised by Athletics Ireland and most of the proceeds went towards their Junior High Performance Programme. 

1 Ryan Creech    The Edge Sports Shop M 15:05   
2 John Collins    UCC M     16:49   
3 Alex O'Shea    Cork City Council M 16:51
1 Carol Finn    UCC F     18:18   
2 Niamh Moore    UCC F     18:51   
3 Karina Teahen    HSE F     18:55    

The provisional results can be seen HERE

The team results can be seen HERE

Proceeds from the event went towards Athletics Ireland Junior High Performance Programme

Photos...(Updated Wed 6pm)
1) There are 3 galleries on the Running in Cork Facebook page..
   a) Start
   b) Finish
   c) Presentation
2) Graham Nudds has some photos near the 1km mark and the finish line HERE
3) John O'Dea Photography has a gallery HERE
4) There are a small number of photos on the Grant Thornton race website HERE

Athletics Ireland have a race video below...
 

Athletics Ireland have a report on the race on their website HERE

First 3 women...Karina Murphy 3rd, Carol Finn 1st & Niamh Moore 2nd

Links...
1) Grant Thornton Corporate Challenge website.
2) Athletics Ireland website

Looking ahead to the Grant Thornton 5k in Cork City this evening...Tues 30th June 2015

The first Grant Thornton 5k kicks off in Cork this evening at 7:30pm. The weather forecast looks reasonable...Dry...maybe overcast with a southerly breeze. Even though the temperature is likely to be in the mid teens, it will feel very humid due to a warm air mass moving up from the south over the country.

From the organisers.....Athletes will be able to pick their race packs (including race numbers and timing chip) at the City Hall on Tues 30th of June from 10am to 6:30pm. Can we ask 1 person per team to collect all numbers.

The race starts on the South Mall outside the Grant Thornton offices and takes in a loop out by Ballintemple before finishing by Kennedy Park.

Preview......A full preview of the course can be seen HERE

Irish runner sets Guinness World Record dressed as a bottle in Waterford Marathon...

Back in early June, I had a post up about Terry Brady who had run the Cork City Half-Marathon dressed as a bottle. This was part of his preparation for the Waterford Viking Marathon which was held last Saturday the 27th of June 2015.

Terry Brady in the Cork Half-Marathon in early June

This is Terry's story in his own words from the previous post.....3 years ago I took up running and have been giving a new lease of life. My biggest personal achievement to date is running a 2:59 marathon in Berlin in 2014 (only 2% of people who line up achieve this).

My godchild, 1 yr old Theo was born profoundly deaf. His Mother (from Clonakility  has built a FB & internet page so people can follow his progress (http://www.theoshope4sound.org). Theo is just 1 yr old and was born with a very rare form of deafness due to his auditory nerves fusing. He has a completely silent world. There are only a handful of specialist surgeons worldwide who are able to implant a tiny device into the actual brain stem where hearing is processed. An ABI (auditory brain stem implant ) will at a minimum give him Environmental Noises but with lots of therapy and hard work maybe even speech. It is estimated that with the cost of surgery, follow ups will be 100,000 EUR which is self-funded. 

Could Ireland Have a Marathon World record holder??

This leads me into what I aim to do: This is to break the Guinness world record for running a marathon dressed as a bottle during the Waterford Viking Marathon on June 27th 2015. Last year Buxton Water supported Paul Simons record breaking attempt in the London Marathon. Many fundraising costume wearing runners normal languish mid pack or to the tail end of a field. I aim to be right up in the top 5-10% of finishers. The current record is 3:31 and I aim to run quicker.

Well, not only did Terry break the record but he smashed it by an amazing 15 minutes finishing in a chip time of 3:16:58. After going through the half way mark in 69th place, Terry ran a negative split in finish 40th overall.

Q & A with Terry......

1) As outlined in a previous post, you've been running for about 3 years and your PB for the marathon is 2:59 in Berlin in September of 2014. What are your best times for some of the other distances? Say Half-Marathon? 10 mile? 5k?
Terry......PB for 5k is 16:55 ran at Dublin graded meet in May. 10 mile is 59:13 at John Tracy Dungarvan last year and Half is 1:19:58 also last year in Bohermeen Meath  I do hope to lower the 10k & half times this year.

2) I see from your bottle outfit that you are sponsored by Orpens Cider. Was it hard to find a sponsor? Can you tell us about the sponsor and where are they based?
Terry....Yes very difficult, I spent 2 months writing over a 100 emails to various drinks company’s with little success. Orpens was one of a few companies to get back and show an interest. Matt from Orpens said my email hit a cord with him and he offered his support straight away .
Orpens are based in the Guinness Enterprise centre in Dublin 8. Its founders are Chris Hill and Matt Tindal and they were involved in the wine business and enjoying the business of selling famous wines from around the world. But they yearned of standing proudly behind an Irish product of similar pedigree and crafting. Both Matt and Chris share a family history of growing apple orchards, so it was a logical step to craft an Irish cider with all the pedigree of a great wine. This is how Orpens was born.

3) What is the bottle outfit made of? How much does it weigh?
Terry......The bottle is made from a foam called Zote and was made by a company called Modal & Prop (http://www.modelandprop.com) its weight 4kgs (does it really weigh that much). Anybody thinking of doing anything similar should contact these guys.

4)  When you ran 1:29 in the Cork City Half-Marathon, you had plastic wrapping on top of it? Was there a reason for that?
Terry........The cling film was for protection!! The forecast was for torrential rain so I wanted to try and protect it for the Marathon itself as much I could

5) What kind of problems do you encounter with the bottle costume? Rubbing? Friction? Heat? Visibility?
Terry......My first two outing’s in the bottle resulted in quite bad cuts on both quads. I got this sorted with some additional padding. Its bangs against my head a bit but I’m use to knocks from playing GAA in Cavan so wasn’t an issue. I can really only see straight ahead and cant hear very well with the constant movement around my head.

6) You ran the Cork Half in windy conditions. Does that impact on you when you are running in a costume?
Terry......The Cork half marathon was the toughest conditions I have ever ran in. I wasn’t  worried about a time so I still found it very enjoyable. In places I nearly came to a standstill when the wind caught it. I was also worried in parts that I has about to lose my head :o)

7) After running the Waterford Viking Marathon in 3:16, what do you think is the hardest thing about running in a bottle costume? What's the biggest difference to say just running in a singlet?
Terry.....The heat, I was very tempted to cut a hole in the neck of the bottle to act like a chimney (suggested by a club mate). I haven’t sweated as much since the morning of my Leaving Certificate

8) What kind of reaction did you get from the crowds in Cork and Waterford?
Terry........Cork was absolutely brilliant in fairness. The race past by in a flash. Waterford was very good also but the volume of supporters wouldn’t of been the same. Parts of the route didn’t have any support. But I had both Stephen & Mel for company the whole way round which helped massively.

Terry Brady running alongside the sea front in Tramore

9) What is the procedure for getting it ratified as a Guiness World Record? What conditions do you have to meet? Does the bottle costume have to be a certain size?
Terry......The bottle needed to get verified by Guinness world records prior to the event in order to ensure it meet all guidelines. I have to provide two race official signed statements. Two signed statements from the official timers who are precision timing. I recorded the whole race with the help of Stephen Connon who ran with me and will the help of Melaine Davis who cycled the whole way and also filmed and took pictures at each mile marker.

10)  How is the fundraising going? How do people donate?
Terry...The support we have received has been fantastic so far. Currently we have raised just over 11k EUR. This will help greatly with Theos operation but the operation and subsequent cost will be well over 100k EUR. If anybody has a few spare EUR they can find the donation page at the following. Theo is just 13 months old and hopefully has an amazing life ahead of him which  we believe will be enhanced by being able to hear his mammy, daddy and his big brothers voices.

http://ww.ifundraise.ie/theoshope4soundIRL

11)  What's next? Any more record plans?
Terry...Plan a wedding in Sept in clonakility, that will be the ultimate challenge :o)
I will definitely try to come up with something else if I can give further help to Theo’s parents Imelda & Stephen. Maybe a race off with the former record holder the Buxton bottle? :o)

Alice O'Leary...Theo’s Aunt and Terry's fiancée ran the half marathon as super women finishing in 1:58

Notice - Run Killarney Marathon, Half-Marathon & 10k...Sat 18th July 2015

One of the biggest races in Kerry is the annual Killarney Marathon, Half-Marathon & 10k and it's coming up on Saturday the 18th of July 2015.

The full marathon starts near Sneem at 8am and follows the quiet R568 road as far as Molls Gap where the half-marathon will start at 8:45am. Both races follow the same route then on what must be one of the most scenic roads in the country to the finish line at the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney.
 

The 10k starts and finishes at the Gleneagle Hotel and takes in a loop inside the national park near Muckross House.

Participants in the full and half marathon will be taken by bus from Killarney to the start lines.

Entry for each race includes...Customised finisher medal......T-shirt.....Chip timing......Prizes.......Massage at finish line......Hot tubs.......Post race party.......Officially measured course......Fully Marshalled route......Fully stocked water stops......Medical safety cover throughout course......Postage of your race pack and number to Irish addresses only

Note that the road from Molls Gap to Killarney will be closed to traffic and it's the only time of the year that you can run on this busy road.

The video clip below gives a feel for what the course looks like...



For more info, go to the Run Killarney Website

Photos of the Irish Cancer Society Colour Run...Sun 28th June 2015

The Irish Cancer Society are oganising a series of Colour Dash 5k runs around the country this summer to raise funds for their work. The Cork event was held near Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday the 28th of June.

Doug Minihane has a gallery of photos HERE

video from the Irish Examiner here...

Results of the Fota Island 8km Trail Race...Sun 28th June 2015

A total of 250 runners turned out for this 8km trail race on the grounds of Fota Island Resort. This is a jump of 30% on last year when it was a combined 5k & 10k race.

It really is a stunning spot for a resort with a mixture of tarmac, wood chip and compact gravel/earth trails. Roughly 6kms of the course were through woodland.

1    Elton HEFFERNAN (478)    00:27:13    00:27:13    All Ages  (1)    Male  (1)
2    Rory O' SULLIVAN (459)    00:27:44    00:27:43    All Ages  (2)    Male  (2)
3    Shane HEALY (684)    00:28:12    00:28:11    All Ages  (3)    Male  (3)
14    Fiona SANTRY (2824)    00:32:15    00:32:14    All Ages  (1)    Female  (1)
23    Maire Griffith (652)    00:34:22    00:34:19    All Ages  (2)    Female  (2)
34    Eadaoin ONEILL (2819)    00:35:20    00:35:18    All Ages  (3)    Female  (3)

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) There are 133 photos on the Running in Cork Facebook page HERE
2) Kieran Minihane has a gallery of photos HERE

Results of the Holy Family School 5k in Doneraile Park...Fri 19th June 2015

A total of 153 people turned out for the Holy Family School 5k in Doneraile Park on Fri 19th June 2015.

1st George Murray 814 Shanballymore 17.30.5
2nd Sean Doyle 673 Charleville 17.51.0
3rd Nicholas Moloney 155 Ballyhea 18.48.8
10th Rose Brennan 247 Kilbrin 22.08.0
11th Deirde O Leary 245 Liscarroll 22.14.4
14th Maria Flynn 252 Mallow 22.46.6

The full results can be seen HERE

Results of the Courtmacsherry 10k road race...Fri 26th June 2015

A total of 325 runners turned out for this years Courtmacsherry 10k road race, a jump of 14% on last years figure of 285.

1    Owen Casey 34:03    Senior  (1)
2    Michael Harrington 35:03    Ages 40-44
3    Alan O Brien 35:13    Ages 35-39
17    Carmel Crowley 39:11    Ages 45-49
27    Una Plant 40:17    Ages 40-44 
31    Anna O Neill 40:55    Ages 45-49 

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) The organisers have a gallery of photos HERE

Results of the Millstreet 5 mile road race...Fri 26th June 2015

The Willie Neenan 5 mile road race was held in Millstreet in NW Cork on Friday the 26th of June and attracted a field of 139 runners. This was up about 4% on last years numbers when it was a hillier 10k course.

Tim O'Connor of An Ríocht AC and Martina Kiely of St.Finbarr's AC...winners of the 2015 Willie Neenan 5 mile race in Millstreet

1 Tim O'CONNOR        riocht    M    MO    26:01
2 Donal COFFEY        Leevale    M    MO    27:22
3 Shane SIMCOX        Mallow AC 1    M    M40    28:03
7 Martina KIELY        ST FINBARRS    F    FO    30:01
40 Karena McCarthy    West Muskerry    F    F35    35:24
42 Geraldine O SULLIVAN    BANTRY AC    F    F55    35:44

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...(Updated 30th June)
1) There is an album of 177 photos HERE
2) TMC Photography has a gallery HERE

Donal Coffey 2nd, Tim O'Connor 1st & Shane Simcox 3rd