Summary of Newsletter...
Weekend Weather:
Weekend events:
Parkrun News: Dungarvan / Bere Island
Race News: Clonakilty RR raise €14,350 for charity / Cobh 10-mile 70% full / Mullingar sells out / Help wanted for Cobh
In Other News: New running group in Kilmacthomas / Athletics Ireland reach 50,000 members / Midleton Greenway opens
Countdown Timer
Some of the posts on the Running in Cork blog over the last week:
Running events Cork & Kerry for March 2024 (Paid subscribers)
Fastest ever Marathon debut by a woman (Paid subscribers)
Sprint training for distance runners (Paid subscribers)
Two-Mile World Record drops to just above 8-minutes (Paid subscribers)
Content of Newsletter in detail…
Running in Cork Newsletter - 8th March 2024
Looking back to last weekend, it was a busy one with 442 finishers in the Cork BHAA MTU 5k race in Bishopstown and 402 finishers in the Karen Fenton 5k in Ballinora. It would be easy to think that most of the runners in Cork City were going to these races.
On my way to both races, I cycled along the Greenways in Rochestown, Blackrock & the Marina and I noticed loads of people out running. I was only on the Greenway for a few minutes and counted about 30-40 people out running. It was a very small sample in a few minutes but it was obvious that there must have been thousands of people going for a run around Cork City and County last Sunday and never went near any race.
It was a reminder that the vast majority of people running are doing their own thing and don't go to most of the races that are on the calendar.
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Weekend Weather: The general outlook for the weekend in Cork is that it will be unsettled. There is a low pressure system to the south of Ireland and that will keep a north-easterly airflow over the country on Saturday and Sunday. The rain will never be far away and Sunday looks like the better of the two days. The current forecast is that there will be showers for the parkruns on Saturday morning and there is a chance of showers for the various road races on Sunday.
Weekend events: In Cork on Saturday, there are the usual 5k parkruns at Ballincollig, Glen River, Mallow, Macroom, Clonakilty, Castehaven, Glengarriff Woods, Bere Is , Youghal & Tramore Valley Park.
Besides the parkruns, IMRA are holding the Nagles trail marathon and half-marathon near Kilavullen which looks like it will be a wet one.
On Sunday, there are a number of races to choose from. At 9:30am, there is the Courcey 5-mile at Garretstown and is also the most expensive with a €20 entry fee.
Mt Hillary AC have their Banteer 5-mile at 10am and you can enter on the day... info - https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/01/notice-banteer-5-mile-road-race-sun.html
In East Cork, the annual Killeagh 4-mile road race starts at 11am and again, you can enter on the day... info - https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/notice-killeagh-4-mile-road-race-sun.html
There is a selection of events on offer elsewhere as well. As always, see the event calendar... https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html
Parkrun News:
New junior parkrun for Dungarvan... Waterford Sports Partnership are looking at starting a new 2km junior parkrun for 4-14 year olds in the town of Dungarvan in West Waterford. The venue for the junior parkrun will be Walton Park which is near the start of the Waterford Greenway. There will be a volunteer information meeting in the Causeway Tennis Club on Wed 13th March from 7:30 to 8:30pm.
Bere Island parkrun... The organisers report that on the 16th of March, they will welcome over 100 parkrunners who will be visiting from the UK with Airy Airways.
Last weekend... Last week at parkrun in Ireland, there were...120 events & 12,171 walkers, joggers, runners and volunteers.
Race News:
Clonakilty Road Runners raise €14,350 for charity... As a result of the inaugural Clonakilty 5 Mile Road Race, the local club have made donations of €10,000 to Cancer Connect and €4350 to Clonakilty Red Cross.
Cobh 10-mile is 70% full... Ballymore Cobh AC have announced that their Cobh 10-mile road race is now 70% full. This race which is coming up on Sun 7th April is capped at 1000 entries.
Mullingar Half Marathon... The organisers of the Mullingar Half-Marathon report that their race in Co Westmeath coming up on St Patricks Day has now sold out.
Help wanted for Cobh… The organisers of the Sonia O'Sullivan Cobh 10-mile road race on Sunday, April 7th are looking for stewards to help out. If you can help in anyway, please contact ballymorecobhac AT gmail DOT com
In Other News:
New running group in Kilmacthomas... Waterford Greenway Joggers describe themselves as “a group of joggers and walkers who meet every week and run/walk in Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford. Our emphasis is on taking part and having fun”. If interested, do a search on Facebook.
Athletics Ireland reach 50,000 members... According to Athletics Ireland, they have reached 50,000 members (adults and juveniles) and it was the earliest that they ever reached that mark. However, they didn't release any club stats to support this claim.
Midleton Greenway opens... The first section of the Midleton to Youghal Greenway opened on Thursday 7th of March 2024. The section is question goes from Midleton to Mogeely and looks great.
Countdown Timer
Limerick Marathon - 5th May 2024 - 8 weeks
Cork Marathon - 2nd June 2024 - 12 weeks
Waterford Marathon - 23rd June 2024 - 15 weeks
Some of the posts on the Running in Cork blog over the last week:
Friday Jigsaw: Karen Fenton 5k - March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/friday-jigsaw-karen-fenton-5k-march-2024.html
Record numbers at Ballincollig junior parkrun event - 3rd March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/record-numbers-at-ballincollig-junior.html
Notice: Banteer 5 mile road race - Sun 10th March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/01/notice-banteer-5-mile-road-race-sun.html
Notice: Killeagh 4 mile road race - Sun 10th March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/notice-killeagh-4-mile-road-race-sun.html
Results & photos of the IMRA Mushera-Boggeraghs 11km mountain race - Sun 3rd Mar 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/results-photos-of-imra-mushera.html
Cork runners on the podium at the Kinvara Rock n Rock Three Quarter Marathon - 2nd Mar 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/cork-runners-on-podium-at-kinvara-rock.html
Podium place for Tony Forristal of East Cork AC at Stook 10-mile - 3rd March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/podium-place-for-tony-forristal-of-east.html
Results & Photos of the Cork BHAA MTU 5k road race - Sun 3rd March 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/results-photos-of-cork-bhaa-mtu-5k-road.html
Results & Photos of the Karen Fenton 5k road race in Ballinora - Sun 3rd March 2024…https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/results-photos-of-karen-fenton-5k-road.html
Results of the Run the Line 5k in Carrigaline - Sat 2nd Mar 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/results-of-run-line-5k-in-carrigaline.html
Results of the 5k parkruns in Cork - Sat 2nd Mar 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/results-of-5k-parkruns-in-cork-sat-2nd.html
Guest Post: March ...by Pat Walsh… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/guest-post-march-by-pat-walsh.html
Running in Cork Newsletter - 1st Mar 2024… https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2024/03/running-in-cork-newsletter-1st-mar-2024.html
And finally...
If anyone wants to get the Running in Cork Newsletter by email, you can subscribe for free.
If you want to support the blog and get additional content then you might consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Races in Cork & Kerry for 9th - 31st March 2024 (Paid subscribers)
5k parkruns - There are free timed 5km parkruns every Saturday morning at 9:30am in the olffowing locations… Cork - Ballincollig, Glen River, Mallow, Macroom, Clonakilty, Castehaven, Glengarriff Woods, Bere Is , Youghal , Tramore Valley Park /// Kerry - Killarney, Tralee, Listowel, Inch, Fenit. Info… https://www.parkrun.ie/
These are the other events for the next few weeks during the month of March 2024…
Kerry ... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (9am)... Tralee Marathon... €55…One of the smaller marathons in Ireland, they had 112 finishers in 2023 so it might be pretty lonely out on the course with big gaps… https://eventmaster.ie/event/8BAeH7qTV1
Cork... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (9am)... IMRA Nagles Marathon 42km trail race... €30*... 1330m ascent... Kilavullen... *annual IMRA membership costing €10 required… online entry only and you must be a member of IMRA for insurance purposes… a challenging event only for experienced marathon runners… info… https://imra.ie/events/view/id/2425
Cork... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (11am)... IMRA Nagles Half-Marathon 21km trail race... €20*... 750m ascent... Kilavullen... *annual IMRA membership costing €10 required... info… https://imra.ie/events/view/id/2429
Kerry ... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (8:30am)... Quest Kenmare Adventure Race - 78km Expert ...€135... Run, Cycle & Kayak... As it suggest, this one is a combination of disciplines… info… https://questadventureseries.com/races/quest-kenmare/
Kerry ... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (9:30am)... Quest Kenmare Adventure Race - 44km Sport ...€130...
Kerry ... Sat 9th Mar 2024 (10:20am)... Quest Kenmare Adventure Race - 28km Challenge ...€120...
Cork ... Sun 10th Mar 2024 (9:30am)... Courcey 5-mile... €20 & fees... Garretstown… Not the cheapest of races but usually gets a good turnout… https://eventmaster.ie/event/6xvLiEpT5G
Cork ... Sun 10th Mar 2024 (10am)... Banteer 5-mile... €15… first race of 4 in the Cork Rebel Run Series… this race to the east of Mallow usually gets a good turnout… entries taken on the day… https://eventmaster.ie/event/7jJVuyeFdv
Cork... Sun 10th Mar 2024 (11am)... Killeagh 4-mile road race... €13...popular 4-mile road race in East Cork… entries taken on the day… https://eventmaster.ie/event/2EDqF2qc0z