Results of the Ballymacoda 4 mile - Fri 17th May 2019

A grand total of 219 turned out for this 4 mile race in East Cork.

2455    Brian Harty    East Cork AC    MS    21.54
2402    Shane Harrington    East Cork AC    MS    21.56
2628    James Mar    NA    MS    22.18
2476    Evelyn Cashman    Youghal Ac    F45    24.48
2397    Noreen Mackey    North Clare AC    FS    25.00
2395    Ruth Millerick    Youghal Ac    F40    26.12

Full results below...

Results of the Buttevant 4 mile - Fri 17th May 2019

1 Sean Doyle    North Cork AC    M 19:50   
2 Gavin Sweeney    Togher AC    M 20:14   
3 Brian Conroy    Clane AC    M 21:24
13 Carol Finn    Leevale AC    F 24:25   
15 Sorcha Kearney    St Finbarrs AC    F40 24:30   
41 Eadaoin O'Neill    East Cork AC    F 26:32 

Results

Results of the Cheetah Run 5k in Fota Wildlife Park - Thurs 16th May 2019

Breda Gaffney of Mallow AC wins the 2019 Cheetah Run 5k in Fota Wildlife Park. ...Photo: Joe Murphy

Conditions were dry and mild for this years Cheetah Run 5k in Fota Wildlife Park despite the prediction of rain by Met Eireann.

1 Alan O'SHEA    00:15:44  792    M (1)    MS (1)    Bantry A.C.
2 Kieran MCKEOWN    00:16:22  659    M (2)    M40 (1)    Watergrasshill A.C.
3 James GRUFFERTY    00:16:59  117    M (3)    MS (2)    Leevale A.C.
23 Breda GAFFNEY    00:19:11  520    F (1)    F45 (1)    Mallow A.C.
31 Jennifer GOGGIN WALSH    00:19:42  114   F (2)    F35 (1)    Carraig na bhFear A.C.
32 Niamh CRONIN    00:19:43   68    F (3)    F40 (1)    St Finbarrs A.C.

Results

Photos...(Update Fri 17th May @ 22:10)
1) Joe Murphy has three albums ... Album 1 ... Album 2 ... Album 3
2) Derek Costello has a gallery HERE

Notice : Ballymacoda 4 mile road race in East Cork - Fri 17th May 2019

The annual Ballymacoda 4 mile road race is coming up on Friday evening, the 17th of May 2019 at 8pm. Note that there is a free running buff for all finishers.

All proceeds from the race this year will go towards 8-year old Ella Demsey who is a local girl undergoing medical treatment at the moment. More info is this previous post.

Located near Ballymacoda in East Cork, this one is easy to access from the east via Youghal and from the west via Castlemartyr and Ladysbridge...

The course takes in a loop to the north-west of the GAA grounds and like the surrounding countryside is pretty flat. One big change from the Kilcredan road is that the whole race is now on quiet roads where as the 5k used part of the R633.

Looking at the photos of the long straight sections and the Ordnance Survey map, I think this should be a very fast 4 mile course.

There will be showers available to use in the sports field hall changing rooms after the race.

Preview...A full preview of the course with directions and photos can be seen HERE

Results & Photos of the Glen River 5k parkrun - Sat 11th May 2019

Just 49 runners turned out for this 5k parkrun in the Glen despite the fine weather.

1 Sean DOWLING    18:06    VM40-44    M1    Leevale AC
2 Aidan NOONE    18:40    SM20-24    M2
3 Simon SORENSEN    19:03    SM30-34    M3    St Finbarrs AC
23 Niamh SHEEHAN    26:59    SW30-34    F1
25 Claire MCGONAGLE    27:51    VW50-54    F2
27 Nassreen ABDULLAH    28:15    SW25-29    F3

Results

Photos to follow...
1) Small gallery of photos from Mick Dooley HERE
2) The organisers have a gallery HERE 

Results of the Bweeng 5k - Sun 12th May 2019

1 Hiko TONOSA    00:14:32 608    M (1)    MS (1)    Dundrum South Dublin A.C.
2 Paul MOLONEY    00:15:04 606    M (2)    MS (2)    Mallow A.C.
3 Rory CHESSER    00:15:12 605    M (3)    MS (3)    Ennis Track
10 Michelle FINN    00:16:15 761    F (1)    FS (1)    Leevale A.C.
17 Aoife COOKE    00:17:15 714    F (2)    FS (2)    Youghal A.C.
22 Martina KIELY    00:17:55 607    F (3)    F35 (1)    St Finbarrs A.C.

Results

Photos...
1) Photos by Mick Dooley HERE
2) Joe Murphy has 3 galleries Album 1 , Album 2 and Album 3

Guest post : MUNSTER MARATHON OF 1979... by John Walshe

MUNSTER MARATHON OF 1979... By John Walshe (The Echo, 11/05/2019)

There is no doubt only a tiny percentage of runners experience the elation of crossing the line first in a marathon. To win on your birthday then is a much rarer occurrence but one such man who did so 40 years ago this weekend is Jerry Murphy from Douglas.

The occasion was the Munster championship which took place from the town of Rathkeale in Co Limerick on Sunday May 13, 1979. Four decades ago marathons, indeed road races in general, were a long way from what we know today.

A field of 30 to 40 runners was considered a good turnout and in all probability you could have entered that championship on the day for an entry fee of maybe 50 pence – a long way from the €65-€75 that would be asked of nowadays.  

A Munster marathon had been held intermittently during the 1970s and Murphy had already one victory under his belt, along with a best time of 2:24:33 achieved when finishing sixth in the Irish (BLE) National Marathon at Galway four years before.

Promoted by the Southern Region Council and held in glorious sunshine, the course in Rathkeale was typical of the day in that it was simply 13 miles out and back. The outward journey was into a fresh headwind and amongst the leading group were two Limerick men, Neil Cusack (Boston Marathon winner of 1974) and Robert Costelloe. However, both were using the race as a training run and would make their exit at halfway.

A more recent photo of Jerry Murphy with his haul of medals and trophies

The early leader was Paul Mulholland from Midleton who reached five miles in 28:35, just ahead of Davie Browne from Waterford. Mulholland had run 2:33:59 two years before at the BLE Marathon in Loughrea and was the pioneer of marathon running in the east Cork region.

At 11 miles, Mulholland began to drop back and this left Murphy and his Leevale team-mate Liam Horgan in control. In any race there comes a moment where the contest is won or lost and, 40 years on, Murphy still recalls where the decisive point came that day: “At 17 miles, Liam started really pushing the pace. At around the 19 mile mark, I turned to him to say I wasn’t feeling great and to go ahead. When I turned, he looked straight at me and said ‘Jerry, continue on and I’ll try and follow’.”

At the finish, Murphy’s winning margin was almost three minutes as he not alone celebrated victory but his 29th birthday in style, crossing the line in a time of 2:28:47. Horgan – who sadly passed away in 2013 after a lifetime of Leevale service - survived an attack of cramp to hold on for second in 2:31:44 with Mayo-man Michael Joyce taking third in 2:39:16 in front of his St Finbarr’s colleague Flor O’Leary (2:40:17).

Willie Hayes, then of Reenavanna Harriers but a ‘Barr’s man now for many years, finished fifth in 2:40:23 ahead  of Gerry Walsh from the Doheny club in Dunmanway (2:44:27).

The following year, Murphy, Joyce and Hayes travelled to New York for one of the first marathons to take place around the five boroughs of the Big Apple. With all three wearing Discover Ireland singlets, Murphy finished in a time of 2:31:44 with Hayes close behind on 2:31:58 and Joyce – a well-known Cork solicitor these days - recording a personal best of 2:38:05.

“It was after that New York Marathon I feel my problems began,” Murphy recalls. “I didn’t realise at the time but I had diabetes and it wasn’t discovered until 20 years later. I was also unaware at the time that I was celiac as well.”

A mainstay of many a winning Leevale cross-country team, he also has the unique distinction of having competed in over 30 Cork senior championships over the country.

With both Leevale and St Finbarr’s having two runners in the top four, the Munster team race came down to the third scorer and although Donal Burke’s 13th place gave the ‘Barr’s 20 points, John O’Leary in 15th spot gave Leevale the title by a margin of just two points.

Although no veterans (or masters nowadays) were acknowledged, O’Leary would have qualified at the time as he had turned 40 the previous December. Remarkably, then, that four decades later the near-neighbour of Jerry Murphy is still competing - 10 days ago he returned a time of just over 42 minutes for five miles at Midleton.

He too vividly recalls that warm Sunday around the roads of Rathkeale in what was his second marathon: “I knocked around 35 minutes off of my first. I remember it was a boiling hot day and I was wearing a cap from the sun and it blew of after a few miles. There were two or three of us together and I wouldn’t stop but didn’t one of them go back and pick it up, a lovely fellow whoever he was.” 

Just 22 runners, all men, finished that day. Although there was speculation that Jean Folan - one of the pioneering Irishwomen at the marathon distance and who would win the Ballycotton ’10’ the following March – was going to run, it was not to be.

Of course that year of 1980 all things utterly changed with the first running of the Dublin City Marathon and long distance running would no longer be a solitary male pursuit carried out on the lonely Irish roads.        

Munster Marathon 1979 results
1 J Murphy (Leevale) 2:28:47; 2 L Horgan (Leevale) 2:31:44; 3 M Joyce (St Finbarrs) 2:39:16; 4 F O’Leary (St Finbarrs) 2:40:17; 5 W Hayes (Reenavanna) 2:40:23; 6 G Walsh (Doheny) 2:44:27; 7 G Ryan (Premier) 2:48:11; 8 J Carroll (Tipperary Town) 2:49:58; 9 P O’Regan (Limerick) 2:50:55; 10 S O’Toole (Premier) 2:55:55; 11 P Carmody (St Johns) 2:56:08; 12 J Walshe (Midleton) 2:57:45; 13 D Burke (St Finbarrs) 2:58:35; 14 M Minogue (Tulla) 3:01:12; 15 J O’Leary (Leevale) 3:02:15.

Results of the Ballincollig 5k parkrun - Sat 11th May 2019

The numbers were down to 341 for this weeks 5k parkrun in Ballincollig Regional Park.

1 Finbarr ODWYER    16:59    VM45-49    M1    Leevale AC
2 Diarmaid NOLAN    18:16    SM25-29    M2
3 Shane O'CALLAGHAN    18:40    VM35-39    M3
9 Nollaigh O'NEILL    19:34    VW45-49    F1    Leevale AC
31 Siobhan HOLLAND    22:06    VW40-44    F2    Eagle A.C.
41 Maria MADIGAN    22:29    VW40-44    F3

Results

Photos...
1) Colette Ryan has a gallery HERE

New riverside path proposed for Ballincollig Regional Park

9th May 2019... Update on the new riverside walkway in Ballincollig.

From Cork County Council....Last week marked the final contract signing by Cork County Council for improvement works to Ballincollig Regional Park.

Works on the project, carried out by Sole Sports & Leisure Ltd., will link the Regional Park to the 20 acre amenity lands at Fionn Laoi. The development will open a section of the park behind the former heritage centre to the public and create a 1km riverside walk and cycleway. It is anticipated that the work will start on the 20th of May and be completed in July.

This is one of the final projects to be completed by Cork County Council in the park since its acquisition in 1977. Usage of the park, which had formerly been a gunpowder mills, has seen a huge increase in recent years, with over 660,000 visitors for 2018.

In addition to the walkway project, Cork County Council will be planting hundreds of additional trees and developing wildflower meadows and picnic areas.

The park will be transferred to Cork City Council on the 1st of June 2019 for future maintenance.

Results of the Cork BHAA Pfizers 6 mile road race - Wed 8th May 2019

After a damp start to the day, conditions were dry for the start of this years Cork BHAA Pfizers 6 mile road race on Wednesday the 8th of May 2019. For an evening in May, it was pretty chilly with the temperature down at 9 deg C and a strong breeze.

A total of 311 runners turned out for the race.

1 Alan O'Shea M1 00:31:55 Mercy Hospital
2 Colin Merritt 0/45B M2 00:32:09 Army M-B-2
3 Kieran McKeown 0/40A M3 00:32:33 Kieran McKeown Fitness
28 Andrea Bickerdike F1 00:38:53 CIT F-A-2
30 Claire O'Brien F2 00:38:59 Dept of Ed F-A-1
35 Noreen Mackey F3 00:39:12 Irving Oil

Results

Photos...
1) Joe Murphy has three galleries on Facebook... Album 1 .... Album 2 ... Album 3

Results of the Spike Island 5k - Sat 4th May 2019

This 5k race on Spike Island was originally scheduled for a date in April but it had to be cancelled due to high winds. The rescheduled race was held on Saturday the 4th of May and around 130 took part.

Results below...

SPIKE ISLAND 5KM - 04/05/19        
         
NAME    NUMBER    TIME
Aidan O'Mahony    423    18:04
Declan Dorgan    471    19:18
TJ Hegarty    186    19.24
Carol Curley    424    20.35
David O'Keeffe    409    20.4
Ton Moore    149    20.49
Michael Young    194    20.54
John Browne    486    21.05
David Leonard    101    21.1
Alan Murry    55    21.31
Ivan Braidot    201    21.41
Greg Jur    442    21.43
Lukasz Spiewok    480    21.44
Eoin Craven    406    21.48
Niall Kelly    448    21.51
Shane Mulcahy    410    21.54
Conor Murphy    430    21.58
Michael O'Donovan    413    22.05
Siobhan Holland    483    22.13
Jim Walsh    500    23.13
Caroline Horgan    196    23.15
Alan Leonardi    453    23.39
Colin Murphy    54    23.48

Notice : Cork BHAA Pfizers 6 mile road race - Wed 8th May 2019

The next race on the Cork BHAA calendar is the Pfizers 6 mile road race near Ringaskiddy on Wednesday the 8th of May 2019.

Given its proximity to Cork City and Carrigaline, it should attract a good bit of interest.

Directions.......It's very easy to find. From the South Ring Road in Cork City, follow all of the signs for Ringakiddy. As you get closer, you come to the small village of Shanbally.

Follow the signs for Rinaskiddy...straight through the roundabout...and 500m later, take a left...signposted 'Raffeen Creek Sports Club'. Follow the stewards directions on the night on where to park which will probably be next to the playing fields.

Entries, post race refreshments and prize giving will be at the Pfizers club house.

Entries......As with all Cork BHAA events, the race entry will be €5 for registered runners and €10 for non-registered. It's probably best to be there from say 7:00pm to 7:20pm so that you can enter in plenty of time.

This year the course is on its traditional route.

From the organisers...

· 37th anniversary of long running BHAA race

Here’s a list of prizes –

·        The top 4 men and women

·        Men’s category 1st, 2nd & 3rd  in 0/40 0/45 0/50 0/55 0/60 0/65 & 1st & 2nd in 0/70

·        Women’s category 1st, 2nd & 3rd  in 0/35 0/40 0/45 0/50 0/55 & 1st & 2nd in 0/60 + 1st 0/65

·        To mark 50th anniversary of Pfizer in Ireland, there will be a prize for the 50th male & female finisher

· A challenging course, with plenty of climbs and descents

· Legendary post-race refreshments afterwards

Overall.......A longstanding race which is popular with a lot of runners. Parts of the course are challenging yet you should still post a reasonable time. The post race refreshments put on by the staff of Pfizers are second to none and there's a pretty good chance you will eat more calories than you burn off by running the race! ;o).

A race with a long history. Recommended.

Update on the Ballymacoda 4 mile race on Friday the 17th of May 2019

Please note this race for your diaries. All proceeds from this years Ballymacoda 4 mile road race will be going towards the treatment of Ella Dempsey.

If you can help out this special little girl then this 4 miler in East Cork is on Friday the 17th of May 2019. More details to follow but you can see some info from the organisers and Ella's family below.

*****

From the organisers....BALLYMACODA 4 MILE ROAD RACE

“ALL FUNDS RAISED GOING TOWARDS ELLA’S TREATMENT ”

On Friday, May 17th at 8pm the Ballymacoda 4 mile will be held in the sports field at Ahavine,
Ballymacoda, Co Cork.

We invite all members of the community to come out and walk or run our race as all of the proceeds
will be donated to Ella's treatment fund.

All children who complete the walk will get a medal and there is also a free draw for a €300 Irish
Ferries voucher that all walkers will be entered into.

Runners on the night will get a free running buff. There will also be plenty of after race
refreshments!

We hope to see you all in Ballymacoda on May 17th .

Please read Ella’s story below, we would like to thank Ella’s mum and Dad for sending us their
story.

This is our amazing daughter Ella, she is 8 years old and loves to be dancing, singing, playing
Camogie, soccer and horse riding! She’s such a bubbly little person.

Summer 2018 was back and forth to the hospital with pains in her hip, which progressed to a lump
and unfortunately like so many, was misdiagnosed with growing pains!

It wasn’t till she was reeling in pain and rushed to hospital in an ambulance and after scans that she
was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma.

It’s hard to explain the feeling that goes through you when you’re told this life changing news,
September was a blur, the initial aim was to control the pain, it was horrific being by her side and
unable to do anything, thankfully after a dose of chemo the lump shrunk enough to relieve her
sciatic nerve.

Here we are now just about to start round 14 of 18, about to head to Germany for Proton therapy
and finish with surgery in Birmingham.

Ella has been through so much and still has a lot to do but she keeps smiling, cracking jokes and
making us all laugh!

Her two brothers Josh and Sean are brilliant at keeping her laughing too.

We take each day as it comes, making sure we are having as much fun as possible along the way, her
nurses and doctors at Crumlin and The Mercy are incredible, they make hospital trips a fun
experience as best they can.

At the beginning of treatment, we were told there will be chemo, radiotherapy and surgery.
When we were told that we could travel to Germany for proton therapy we grabbed it with both
hands. In the coming weeks Ella will be traveling to Germany to begin her treatment.

Thank you so much,

Tony & Amy, Josh Sean and Ella Dempsey

Results & Photos of the Great Limerick Run Marathon & Half-Marathon - Sun 5th May 2019

The main event in Munster over the Bank Holiday weekend was the Great Limerick Run with thousands taking part in the marathon, half-marathon and 6 mile races.

There were 776 finishers in the marathon this year which is up 7% on last year.

The results of the top 10 men are shown below. The prizes for the first three men and women was €1000, €750 and €500 respectively.

The organisers also gave performance bonuses to Irish athletes for breaking certain times. Sergiu Ciobanu got an additional €1,000 for breaking 2:21 while Peter Mooney got an extra €100 for breaking 2:30.

The performance bonuses for women were awarded at sub 2:50 times. The first woman home was just under 3 hours.

1218 Sergiu Ciobanu Male 1 M35+  1 CLONLIFFE HARRIERS A.C. 02:20:26
516 Peter Mooney     Male 2 M35+   2 02:29:54
970 Christopher Murphy Male 3  M35+ 3 LEEVALE A.C.     02:37:25
607 Joey Feery     Male     4  MOPEN 1 CLONMEL A.C.  02:40:59
1296 Andy Finan Male     5 M35+     4 SLIGO A.C. 02:41:14
752 Philip Niland Male     6 M35+     5 CELBRIDGE A.C. 02:46:18
754 Rory Mooney Male     7 M35+     6 02:46:52
735 Scott Mc Cann Male 8     M35+ 7 02:47:44
1223 Kevin Ward Male     9 M45+     1 LONGFORD A.C. 02:47:55
577 Rob O Brien Male 10 M35+     8 CELBRIDGE A.C. 02:48:35
540 Elaine Walsh Female 1 F35+     1 GALWAY CITY HARRIERS A.C. 02:59:56 42
536 Neasa De Burca     Female     2 F35+     2 GALWAY CITY HARRIERS A.C. 03:00:24 44
517 Joan Flynn     Female     3     F35+ 3     MULLINGAR HARRIERS A.C. 03:02:18 46
897 Jan Corcoran     Female     4 F35+     4 LE CHEILE A.C. 03:04:47 58
582 Kate O Malley     Female     5 FOPEN 1  03:05:51 62
520 Grace Kennedy     Female     6 FOPEN 2     DONORE HARRIERS  03:06:18
1389 Kaitlyn Kiernan Bartolone     Female     7 FOPEN     3  03:06:23
568 Lisa Hughes     Female     8 F45+     1     LE CHEILE A.C.  03:13:54
1348 Danielle Dilworth     Female     9 FOPEN 4  03:24:29     117
599 Louise Mulhare     Female     10 FOPEN 5  03:25:17     124

Marathon results... https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events?event=3135

 In the half-marathon, there were 2185 finishers which is up over 10% on last year.

There were also several Cork runners in the top three...

3404 Peter Somba Male 1 M35+ 1  01:06:24 ... €600
2438 David Mansfield Male 2 MOPEN 1 CLONMEL A.C. 01:07:19 ... €300
3319 Alan O Brien Male     3 M35+     2 EAGLE A.C. 01:08:55 ... €150
2716 Siobhan O Doherty    Female  Borrisokane AC 1 FOPEN 1 01:18:39 ... €600
3507 Claire Mc Carthy Female 2 F35+ 1 LEEVALE A.C.01:20:50 ... €300
2255 Sorcha Kearney Female 3 F35+ 2 ST. FINBARRS A.C. 01:23:18 .. €150

Half-Marathon results... https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events?event=3136

There were 5427 finishers in the 6 mile race which is up almost 29% on last year.

Results... https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events?event=3137

Photos...
1) Ilovelimerick has three albums... album 1... album 2 ... album 3

Belfast Marathon Runners End Up Doing an Extra 0.3 Miles

The 2019 Belfast City Marathon was changed this year to a Sunday fixture which resulted in a 60% jump in numbers. The event wasn't without its problems though as the course was found to be 0.3 miles or almost 470 metres too long.

The organisers blamed the lead car and human error and Belfast City Marathon organisers have apologised after admitting that Sunday's course was 0.3 miles longer than it should have been.

A new route was introduced this year in the hope that people could run faster times.

The course measurer John Glover in his defence was quoted as saying that runners had been taken off the measured route twice which resulted in an extra 469 metre.

A statement from Belfast Marathon chairman David Seaton blamed "human error".

The race organisers that the they were in the "process of adjusting runners' times to reflect the correct distance". This is unlikely to fix the problem though and may well just compound it.

Event chairman David Seaton in a statement said..."I can understand if you have been aiming for a sub three-hour marathon time and because of the mistake you have ended up being just outside three hours on the clock, that you are going to be annoyed.

It's a hiccup that we obviously could have done without. But I don't think it should overshadow what was a very successful day with the numbers up significantly because of the new Sunday date.

People have been coming up to us congratulating us on the day and saying it was a great event with the spectator number also well up on previous years."