Archived News 2007

July 2007

Civic Reception for Volunteers & Sponsors.

As a token of appreciation to the wonderful volunteers and sponsors of the 2007 Cork City Marathon, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Donal Counihan, hosted a Civic Reception at the Millennium Hall on 26th July. The occasion was a joint reception with our friends from the Ocean to City marathon rowing race and was attended by a large crowd from both events.

Michael Dooley, Chair Cork BHAA, Noreen Murphy, Chair Cork Branch AAI, Cllr Donal Counihan, Lord Mayor, Jim O'Donovan, Race Director Cork City Marathon, Donagh McArtain, Director Ocean to City (Photo: Tony O’Connell)

The Lord Mayor acknowledged the invaluable contribution of everybody involved in supporting and organising the two events. Cllr Counihan paid tribute to the individual volunteers and organisations that helped to made both events so successful.

Roy Fahy (right), 3rd in Cork City Marathon 2007, with his coach, Donie Walsh, at the Civic Reception (Photo: Tony O'Connell)

Our thanks to the Lord Mayor and Cork City Council for hosting a very enjoyable evening.

June 2007

Chilling out in the morning heat before Cork City Marathon. (Photo: Miki Barlok)

We had an astonishing day on June 4th. The first marathon in 21 years in Cork was reinstated with an extraordinary response from the athletes and spectators alike. For those watching, the weather couldn’t have been better. While the weekend had been wet, miserable and grey, Bank Holiday Monday was all about clear blue skies and glorious sunshine. Not ideal conditions to run in a marathon, but great for the thousands who came out onto the streets to cheer the athletes on their way to the finish line.

For the organisers, it was an incredibly emotional day. Many of the athletes involved in the preparations had waited years to see a marathon on the streets of Cork and they were thrilled to be at the finish line to greet Alan O’Shea home in first place. Alan had a truckload of pressure on him, having won all the major local road races in the run up to the marathon, but he crossed the line looking like he could have gone another 26 miles on the day! It was a privilege to be around the finish line and to watch the fabulous run of “West Waterford – the Best” win the team relay and to see Tracy Guilfoyle cross the line as the fastest woman on the course. (We’re delighted that, at 25%, we had a far higher percentage of women than is the norm in marathons.)

There were many extraordinary moments in the day, but one of the most emotional of those was watching Catherine O’Connor come home to a hero’s welcome from her family and friends (and us admiring on-lookers) after 8:01:01.

Paul McGrath put in an appearance at the bowling alley in Bar Bucha after the marathon

After a frenetic day, we headed to Bar Bucha for the after-race party. Many thanks to Jackie and the staff at Bar Bucha for hosting the party. It was a great opportunity to meet up with some of the athletes and a very welcome chance to relax after the long weeks of preparation. (And, as if the day hadn’t been good enough, some of us even got to meet the legendary Paul McGrath afterwards!)

Dragging ourselves back to reality a few days later, we began our review of Cork City Marathon 2007, looking towards improving the race for 2008. We already knew some of the areas that we fell short on (medals, t-shirts, water, information....whoops, there were a few) and have put plans in place to ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes again.

There were others aspects, such as the course itself, the relay event, water bottles, signage, traffic, entertainment, supporters, etc., that required an athlete’s perspective for the review process. We received a phenomenal response from participants and we are genuinely grateful to everyone who has sent us their comments and suggestions – it is invaluable to get such balanced and constructive feedback and each and every response has been incorporated in the appraisal.

Despite the hiccups, the overwhelming consensus is that it was a fabulous day for most who took part, be it running, jogging, walking, stewarding, organising or supporting. It was one of the most successful events the city has seen in a long time. The extraordinary atmosphere was created not only by the heroics of the participants but by a sense of Cork taking the marathon and team relay to its heart. Throughout the city and suburbs, people came out of their homes to support the sun-belted athletes, offering additional water, sweets, fruit and the very welcome offering of a garden hose spraying cooling water for the athletes (thanks to the family on the Model Farm Road who organised that). Cork did itself proud and we thank everyone who made that possible!

Special thanks also go out to the relay participants, who created an exciting, supportive and festive feeling out on the course. The relay provided a fabulous mix of impressive and determined running, great fun and enjoyment and a very strong sense of personal achievement. It really seems to have caught the imagination of the participants and supporters alike.

Several marathoners who were sceptical about the relay before the race contacted us afterwards to praise the Relay athletes for their support around the course. One marathon athlete summed it up by saying “I thought the full marathon and the relay complimented each other really well. For me the best parts of the course were the relay changeover points. The relay people gave great encouragement and support to those of us running the full marathon. No doubt many of the relay people will give the full marathon a go next year.” Those sentiments were echoed by the marathon winner, Alan O’Shea, who said that the course would have been a very lonely trek without the relay changeover stations. We’ll be treating those relay stations with a lot more respect next year. The top relay teams didn’t receive the kudos they deserved on the day, and that’s another area we’ll be improving for 2008. Congratulations to everyone who took part and especially to the wonderful ‘West Waterford – the Best’ team, who surprised us all by coming home too early for our finish line preparations!!

Kevin Cummins, Jim O'Donovan, Mick Dooley, Cathy Buchanan & Kieran Henry represented Cork City Marathon in Belfast.

So now it’s over. What next? Well, the 2008 Cork City Marathon of course! We hope to formally announce next year’s event later this summer. Now that we have one marathon under our belts, we’ll be looking towards improving next year’s race. One thing that’s for sure, we won’t be running out of medals or t-shirts next year, regardless of numbers! We had participants from 25 countries this year, but we’ll be promoting the Cork City Marathon more widely for 2008 so expect competition from even further a field! We’ve already mentioned the superb feedback we’ve received, but keep it coming…if you’ve any suggestions for the 2008 race, we’d be happy to hear them.

May 2007

Given that we borrowed the Relay idea from Belfast, we thought it might be a good idea to head north and experience the race for ourselves. Belfast City Marathon is now in its 27th year and hosts a massively successful Team Relay, with 1,700 teams taking part in 2007. The ‘Cork City Copy Cats’ team finished the marathon in a very satisfying 450th place. We were particularly proud of our own Race Director, Jim O’Donovan, who ran his first-ever road race as part of the team! We were also very proud to watch Corkman Cathal O’Connell lead the Irish marathon contingent across the finish line.

March 2007

Relay Stages Announced

With the official course measuring well under way, we were finally able to announce the 5 Team Relay stages last week.

• Stage 1: to Silversprings (c. 4.8 miles)
• Stage 2: to Ringmahon Road (c. 5.4 miles)
• Stage 3: to Victoria Road (c. 4 miles)
• Stage 4: to Model Farm Road (c. 5.5 miles)
• Stage 5: to St Patrick’s Street (c. 6.5 miles)

(Please note that the stages and distances are still subject to change.)

February 2007

The Marathon for Everyone!

The 2007 Cork City Marathon is not just for elete or experienced runners and to make that point, Cork sports stars of all codes took to the streets in February to urge people to get their teams together for the relay element of the city’s first Marathon in 21 years.

“We all spend a huge part of our lives training but this event means that anyone can get into the healthy side of exercise and complete a marathon with their friends,” said Munster hooker Frankie Sheehan.

“Running is sometimes seen as an individual sport but this event gives people the opportunity to build a team and take part in something really special,” he added.

He was launching the relay event with fellow sports stars Marverly Nettles, of national champions The Montenotte Hotel Ladies Basketball team, and Cork duel camogie and football star Briege Corkery.

“The relay is for everyone – you can run it, jog it or walk it and everyone can take part. It’s going to be a great spectacle,” said Cork-based US basketball star Marverly Nettles.

Up to five people can enter as a relay team with the five stages in the race being in the range of four to seven miles. Teams of two, three and four can run with some members running consecutive stages.

“The relay will be a race within a race but it really is all about participation,” said Marathon Event Manager Gina Johnson. “People all over the country are forming teams and if you are looking to join up, then Leisureworld in Cork is just one of the places where you can put a team together with like-minded people. Our nominated charity, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, is also looking for teams to run for their cause.

“We’re expecting a huge amount of entries and already many teams from different charities are getting together – and that’s one of the big plusses of this part of the event.”

January 2007

Entry for The Montenotte Hotel Cork City Marathon is now open.

Just as some were doubting that it was ever going to happen, the entry forms for the 2007 marathon were released on Monday 29 th January. If you've sent your contact details in to the Cork Marathon office and haven't yet received a copy of the entry form, please be patient – hard copies of the form are currently being posted.

26th January 2007

Official Launch of The Montenotte Hotel Cork City Marathon