A look at the numbers for the Cork BHAA evening road races for 2026

The Cork BHAA hold some of the most popular road races in Cork and they recently had their last summer evening road race for 2026. I had a look at the numbers to see if there are any trends.

The following 11 evening races were held in both 2025 and 2026... John Buckley Sports 5k, PwC 5k, Gas Networks Ireland 5k, Musgrave 5k, Stryker 4m, Sterling 5k, Apple Employees 5k, Pfizers 6m, J&J MedTech 4m, ThermoFisher 4m &  Carey Tools 5k. 

Out of those, six were up in 2026 while five were down when compared to 2025. Doing the same exercise for 2025 versus 2024, it was five up and five down. This in itself is a rather imperfect method of seeing a trend but it does suggest that not much has changed.

To get a more accurate picture, I worked out the average number of finishers for all eleven events and the figure was about 530. 

Regardless of whether numbers are going up or down, the fact that there were an average of 530 finishers in the Cork BHAA evening races during the summer of 2026 just shows how popular they are.

If we now compare the same eleven races to 2025 then we can see there is a 2% drop in numbers. That's a very small drop and it pretty much says that there is no real change.

The BHAA have seven races which were held every year from 2022 to 2026. These are some of the more popular BHAA events and the average number of finishers in 2026 was 650.

The 2026 numbers were down just 1.5% on the number for 2025 and the averages for these seven races are shown above.

In conclusion... While some of the club races seem to be gradually reducing, the numbers at the Cork BHAA races seem reasonably steady. 

The 2026 numbers suggest that any growth in numbers in 2027 is unlikely and the challenge for the Cork BHAA will be to hold on to the numbers that they have.

At the end of the year, I'll look at the Cork BHAA numbers for the year as a whole.

Parkrun Ambassador Conference in Limerick

Parkrun Ireland held their annual Ambassador Conference in Limerick last weekend with attendees from all over Ireland.

Parkrun Ireland writes... "We had the absolute pleasure of bringing our parkrun Ireland ambassadors together for our annual Ambassador Conference this weekend in Limerick 💚 

Our ambassadors play such an important role in supporting local events and communities, and it was fantastic to see so much passion, energy and enthusiasm in the room!

The conference weekend also provided an opportunity to connect with local parkrun communities, with visits to both Limerick parkrun and Shelbourne junior parkrun. It was a great chance to meet the teams, see the events in action and hear more about the experiences of their local communities.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and to everyone who continues to give their time, energy and expertise to parkrun 🧡 "

Guest Post: A visit to the Chelmsford Central parkrun... by Tom Scriven

Tom Scriven at the 650th edition of the Chelmsford Central 5k parkrun

Being a registered parkrun participant, a little addiction seemingly creeps into your life. Whereas many might check if a particular venue had leisure or swimming facilities, a registered person is now more likely to check if an accessible parkrun is scheduled in the locality. 

Thus, being in the Chelmsford of London area for a family wedding,  the search for a parkrun was very fruitful, an event is held in the city park each week. The course winds it's way through the park, in an approximate figure of eight. The surface is primarily on tarmac paths with a portion on grassland. The recent exceptional Summer weather ensured the grassed section was dry and firm. The attendance numbered in the hundreds, with the usual runners,  walkers, parents with children or buggies and dog owners.

The course was well signposted with the km markers. (Each kilometre equates to 20% of the total course, using this formula to harness any psychological advantage possible). The course is virtually flat, a little undulating but minimally so. 

The volunteers coped adequately with the finishing numbers, despite hundreds taking part. Volunteers were also present at the junctions, one had to resist saying 'Go raibh maith agat' in appreciation in Chelmsford! 

As usual, the customary email arrived with the details (Like the old mobile phone joke, 'how well they knew where to find me'!) Similar to all parkrun events I've experienced,  it was efficiently organised, instructions followed the usual formula. Hopefully, I'll be in Tramore Valley next Saturday, who mentioned a little addiction!

Multiple finishing chutes to handle the 738 finishers

Notice: Churchtown 10-mile road race - Sat 14th Nov 2026

The Churchtown 10-mile road race in north Cork is coming up this year on Saturday 14th November 2026. The race starts at 10am. 

After a successful three years, this will be the fourth edition of this race. Please note that entries close on  Wednesday 11th November at 11:30pm.

Entries HERE

Churchtown is located just 4kms west of the N20 Cork to Limerick road so access couldn't be easier.

There will be a beanie hat and race mug for finishers as well. The 2025 versions are shown below and info on the 2026 versions will be updated soon.

All runners in the race will receive a beanie hat as shown above in time for the winter weather.

In addition to the beanie, there is also a special race mug for all finishers!

Course... The 10-mile route is shown below...

As you can see, the course is a 10-mile loop to the north-east of Churchtown. The road on the right is the N20.

I have a brief preview of the course  here... https://munsterraceroutes.blogspot.com/2013/01/cork127.html

Family day out??... It might be worth mentioning that the Donkey Sanctuary is only 4kms away near Liscarroll if anyone wants to make it a family day out.

From the organisers... "We are delighted to announce that we will also have course record prizes of €300 for male and female also.

Current 10-mile course records - Men: Karl Fitzmaurice Shannon AC 53:43 (2024) // Women: Kealey Tideswell Clonmel AC 59:57 (2024)

(Note that the times for the 2025 race don't count for the course records as two 5-mile loops were used)

Dublin Marathon Number Available

From Shane Mullaney in Tipperary... "I have a number available for this years Dublin Marathon, i was going to run it myself but can't. I thought you might know someone who might be interested. The closing date is tonight September 23rd at 11:59pm. I would just need their first and last name and email and they then would be sent a link and have to pay a fee of €20 to the organizers."

email - shanemullaneythatruns AT gmail DOT com

Results & Photos of the Echo Women's 6km mini-marathon - 20th Sept 2026

First place finish for Niamh O'Mahony

The Echo Women's 6km mini-marathon was held on Sunday 20th of Sept 2026 on a dry and overcast day. There 3280 finishers this year which is down about 18% on last year.

As far as I know, there was no increase in entry fee this year and the weather was fine so there's no obvious reason for the large drop.

The first woman home was Niamh O'Mahony of An Ríocht AC who was clear of the rest of the field by 45-seconds. Niamh was also the first woman home in the Ballydesmond 5k on Friday evening, just two days earlier.

The next four finishers all finished with a three second window.

Top 10 women...
1 Niamh O'Mahony An Ríocht AC 20:29
2 Hannah Smith Leevale AC 21:14
3 Sinead O'Connor Leevale AC 21:16
4 Lizzie Lee Leevale AC 4. F F45 21:17
5 Orla Drumm Cork City AC 21:17
6 Evita Volginaite Glanmire AC 21:33
7 Lucy O' Sullivan Millstreet AC 22:27
8 Emma Fitzpatrick Leevale AC 22:33
9 Grainne Murphy Leevale AC 22:35
10 Linda Kelly Watergrasshill AC 10. F 23:20

Full results HERE

Photos...

1) Derek Costello has the following galleries...

part 1   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658371959625269&type=3
part 2   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658379599624505&type=3
part 3   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658386342957164&type=3
part 4   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658392889623176&type=3
part 5   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658398372955961&type=3
part 6    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658406062955192&type=3
part 7    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658414129621052&type=3
part 8    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658421619620303&type=3
part 9    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658427452953053&type=3
part 10  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1658432649619200&type=3

2) Joe Murphy has the following...

a) Pre-race b) Start 1 c) 

Guest Post: Running ...by Pat Walsh

* Running *

' That is no country for old men '

I realised this week I have been posting under the PWR banner and writing weekly posts for 11 years. Is this enough pain and suffering to inflict on the general running population about slow running?

When do we become irrelevant, repetitive or just boring and I don’t want to do that. I used to be writing at this time of year when I was training for Dublin Marathon about strategies and tips to help performance. I was in that zone and had some perspective.

That life is gone, the ship has sailed and now my life is a few easy runs and parkrun family on Saturday mornings. It is good to be still moving and I do miss those long 20 mile runs early on a Saturday when everything seemed a possibility. 

I am still a runner but a greatly modified version of a previous self. But I am still a runner. Beautiful run this morning in Midleton and just met so many nice people.  There was visitors from Scotland, Bere Island and a few Norries from Cork. Actually the less you run the more time you have to engage, mix, talk, learn about all the people who present themselves at a start line. Maybe a late career as a running journalist talking about butterflies and blackberries is my calling.

Story… 

Last week as I walking in Midleton town a car beeped at me to call me over. It was my friend Billy ( who has been previously mentioned in my posts as a daily 5k man ) . 

He had a book for me about the life of Emil Zatopek. 1952 Olympic champion in 5k, 10k and Marathon. A remarkable life and the story is fascinating account of adversity and resilience. If it was good enough for Billy it was good enough for me. He said to me he found it useful for training tips and he thought I might get something from it to help me. 

Just as I’m easing into a life of old age and easy running this tale of heroic achievement drops into my lap. Will it inspire me or finish me? My friend Billy is 88 and I’m 63. We are both runners but am I a journalist or a bluffer? 

'Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.' Yeats. 

#pwr

Results of the 5k parkruns in Cork - Sat 19th Sep 2026

Results of the 5k parkruns around the county on Saturday 19th September 2026. Approximately 1164  runners and walkers took part in the 10 events in Co Cork.

Windy but dry was the order of business for the parkruns this Saturday.

Youghal... There is no parkrun in Youghal for the foreseeable future so we're back to ten parkruns in Co Cork every week going forward. See this previous post.

If I missed anyone who passed a notable milestone like 100, 200, 250 or above parkruns then let me know.

Upcoming milestones....

Macroom is the oldest parkrun in Co Cork and they will be holding their 600th event on the 24th of October 2026.

***

Ballincollig results... https://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/442/

Tramore Valley Park results... https://www.parkrun.ie/tramorevalley/results/220/

Glen River results... https://www.parkrun.ie/glenriver/results/329/

Midleton Greenway... https://www.parkrun.ie/midletongreenway/results/83/

Mallow results... https://www.parkrun.ie/mallowcastle/results/247/

Macroom results... https://www.parkrun.ie/macroomcastledemesne/results/595/

Clonakilty results... https://www.parkrun.ie/clonakilty/results/549/

Glengarriff results... https://www.parkrun.ie/glengarriff/results/472/

Bere Island results... https://www.parkrun.ie/bereisland/results/563/

Castlehaven results... https://www.parkrun.ie/castlehaven/results/483/

For more information about the weekly 5k parkruns in Co Cork, go to this page HERE.

Results of the Ballydesmond 5k - Fri 18th Sep 2026

The inaugural Ballydesmond 5k in NW Cork was held on Friday evening the 18th of Sept 2026. This was the last evening race on the calendar in Cork and 344 runners took part.

Top 3 men & women...

1 Kane COLLINS #69 15:22 M MS
2 Killian LYNCH #220 16:19 M MS
3 Daniel MURPHY #276 16:37 M MJ
5 Niamh O'MAHONY #340 16:50 F FS
9 Carol FINN #109 18:15 F FS
12 Martina KIELY #194 18:34 F F40

Full results HERE

Notice: Ballydesmond 5k - Fri 18th Sep 2026

 The inaugural Ballydesmond 5km road race organised by Duhallow AC in north-west Cork is coming up on Friday the 18th of September 2026 at 7pm. This is one of the last evening races on the calendar as the evenings are rapidly getting darker.

Parkrun introduce seven new milestones!

 

Up to now, parkrun had seven milestones that participants could target...  10 (for under 18s), 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 Saturday 5k parkruns.

During the week of parkrun’s 22nd anniversary... the start of October 2026, seven official new milestones will go live across the website, app, results pages, and profile pages!

They are 200, 300, 400, 600, 700, 800 & 900. The colours are shown above.

The same milestones are available for the volunteer credits as well.

While milestones may not be of interest to some, a lot of people like having a target to reach. Up to now, there was a nice progression from 25 to 50 to 100 but there is a gap of 150 to reach the next milestone of 250. 

With one parkrun a week, that's about three years for someone doing a parkrun every week. For someone doing say 30 parkruns a year, it would take about five years to get from 100 to 250.

They are keeping the 250 milestone for now but it may look like an oddball milestone in years to come. It wouldn't be a surprise to see it discontinued at some future date.

While the new milestone t-shirts will be put on sale in the parkrun shop, the most obvious change is that all the new milestones will make an appearance in the weekly results.

British PM Andy Burnham completes Great North Run

The Great North Run in NE England is the largest half-marathon in the world with 63,000 runners taking part.

The 2026 edition was held over the weekend and a surprise finisher was Andy Burnham, the new British prime minister. He finished the 21.1km course in a time of 1h 57m 34s.

Results of the Charleville Half-Marathon - Sun 13th Sep 2026

The 2026 edition of the Charleville Half-Marathon was held on Sun 13th of Sept and there were 1771 finishers, up 12% on last year.

Top 5 men & women...

1 1 John TRAVERS Donore Harriers A.C. 1. M M 1:05:05 
2222 2 Liam NAUGHTON Ennis Track A.C. 2. M M 1:06:23 
2237 3 Kane COLLINS Donore Harriers A.C. 3. M M 1:06:42 
2213 4 Julian MOYNIHAN Cambridge and Coleridge AC (UK) 4.  M M 1:06:58
846 5 David MEEHAN Tulla A.C. 5. M M 1:07:00 
2182 17 Niamh ALLEN Leevale A.C. 1. F F 1:10:47
2169 27 Sorcha NIC DHOMHNAILL West Limerick A.C. 2. F F40 1:13:04
4 46 Ide NIC DHOMHNAILL West Limerick A.C. 3. F F40 1:15:58
2181 56 Brigid DENNEHY Iveragh AC 4. F F 1:17:25
2235 65 Dee GRADY Ennis Track A.C. 5. F F 1:18:02

Full results HERE

Photos... (Updated 15th Sep)

1) Joe Murphy has the following photos... a) Finish 1 b) Finish 2 c) Finish 3 d) Finish 4 e) Finish 5 f) Finish 6 g) Finish 7 

2) Graham Meikle has the following... a) Finish 1 b) Finish 2 c) Finish 3 d) Finish 4 e) Finish 5 f) Finish 6 g) Finish 7 h) Finish 8 i) Finish 9 j) Finish 10 k) Finish 11 

3) Derek Costello has the following... a) Start part 1 b) Start part 2 c) Start part 3
d) Finish part 1 e) Finish part 2 f) Finish part 3 g) Finish part 4 h) Finish part 5 
i) Finish part 6 j) Finish part 7 k) Finish part 8 l) Finish part 9 m) Finish part 10 n) Finish part 11 

Results of the 5k parkruns in Cork - Sat 12th Sep 2026

Results of the 5k parkruns around the county on Saturday 12th September 2026. Approximately 765  runners and walkers took part in the 10 events in Co Cork.

A bit of a damp morning this week.

Glen River... The one and only Mick Dooley reached the 250 milestone! 163 of these were at the Glen.

Ballincollig... Kay Birch completed her 200th parkrun. 

Mallow... Coleman Cronin reaches the 200 mark.

Youghal... There is no parkrun in Youghal for the foreseeable future so we're back to ten parkruns in Co Cork every week going forward. See this previous post.

If I missed anyone who passed a notable milestone like 100, 200, 250 or above parkruns then let me know.

Upcoming milestones....

Macroom is the oldest parkrun in Co Cork and they will be holding their 600th event on the 24th of October 2026.

***

Ballincollig results... https://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/441/

Tramore Valley Park results... https://www.parkrun.ie/tramorevalley/results/219/

Glen River results... https://www.parkrun.ie/glenriver/results/328/

Midleton Greenway... https://www.parkrun.ie/midletongreenway/results/82/

Mallow results... https://www.parkrun.ie/mallowcastle/results/246/

Macroom results... https://www.parkrun.ie/macroomcastledemesne/results/594/

Clonakilty results... https://www.parkrun.ie/clonakilty/results/548/

Glengarriff results... https://www.parkrun.ie/glengarriff/results/471/

Bere Island results... https://www.parkrun.ie/bereisland/results/562/

Castlehaven results... https://www.parkrun.ie/castlehaven/results/482/

For more information about the weekly 5k parkruns in Co Cork, go to this page HERE.

A look at the 2026 Dingle marathon numbers

The big running event in Munster last weekend was the Dingle marathon with just over 2770 participants between the marathon and half marathon events.

In the half-marathon, there were 2022 finishers which is up 11% on last year. As the chart shows below, the last time there were over 2000 finishers was back in 2018 and 2019.

In 2025, Dingle was the 13th largest half-marathon in Ireland and it looks likely it will close to the top 10 again in 2026.

There were 751 finishers in the full 42.2km marathon and as can be seen from the chart below, it was a record year.

It's not hard to imagine what impact all of these runners have on the local economy in terms of accommodation, food and refreshments at a time when the tourist season is effectively over.

Results... These are the top 3 in each event...

Marathon...

1 Ben MATHEWSON #467 2:47:14 M MS
2 Gary CANTWELL #84 2:47:51 M MS West Waterford A.C.
4 Daniil MIASOEDOV #524 2:49:35 M MS
3 Lillian BRADLEY #938 2:48:37 F FS
11 Gillian CLYNE #105 3:06:43 F F45 Clane A.C.
42 Katy EVANS #1012 3:23:09 F FS

What really stands out here was that the first woman was the 3rd finisher overall with a time of 2h 48m 37s and just 83s behind the first man.

Half-Marathon...
1 Shane COLLINS #4286 1:11:53 M M40 Leevale A.C.
2 Matthew DOHERTY #4018 1:12:23 M MS
3 Karol CRONIN #2297 1:12:46 M M40 Sportsworld A.C.
15 Jette BEERMANN #3922 1:23:32 F FS
27 Leanne BUTLER #2126 1:27:38 F FS Kilkenny City Harriers A.C.
31 Helen MUSSEN #4256 1:29:04 F F50

Full results HERE

Shane Collins of Leevale AC was the first man in the half