[Conor74]

Why?

The Dublin and Cork ones seem to be in the Mondays of Bank Holidays, is it a traffic thing?

[Stark]

Pretty much.

[Zuppy]

For the church going folk.

[Itziger]

Every other country seems to manage fine with Sunday or Saturday evening as is the case here. Monday ruins it for me, living abroad. I'm not holding my breath for a change either.

Yes, I know Boston is Monday.

[robinph]

The Monday thing makes it trickier to get any foreigners to come over and take part so cutting themselves off from a big bit of tourism cash there.

[sideswipe]

Originally Posted by Conor74

Why?

The Dublin and Cork ones seem to be in the Mondays of Bank Holidays, is it a traffic thing?

I don't know why, I don't like Mondays.

[Brianderunner]

Yeah its all about traffic. They will always pick the day which will have the least impact on people. I'm more cynical, for me its a case of the city saying "here you go, take it or leave it".

I'd love if DCM was on a Sunday, but with it being a working day in the UK i wont be running it this year.

[opus]

Think everyone would prefer them to be on a Sunday, after all if London or Berlin can manage it why can't Dublin & certainly Cork which is way smaller.

A friend of mine used to run in the relay in Cork every year but she'd decided to drop it cause she was fed up having to behave herself for all of the long weekend

[Condo131]

It's mainly because of
a) Traffic
b) Less businesses open
c) Availability of Gardai and
d) Less Rugby/GAA/Soccer matches (Imagine organising a marathon on a big day in Croke Park or, worse, Aviva..or Pairc Ui Caoimh in Cork!! - end of story/show over = no Marathon!)

Gardai Traffic Div. will not sanction Cork on Sundays for all of the above.

[Hard Worker]

Originally Posted by Condo131

It's mainly because of
a) Traffic
b) Less businesses open
c) Availability of Gardai and
d) Less Rugby/GAA/Soccer matches (Imagine organising a marathon on a big day in Croke Park or, worse, Aviva..or Pairc Ui Caoimh in Cork!! - end of story/show over = no Marathon!)

Gardai Traffic Div. will not sanction Cork on Sundays for all of the above.

Yes, all of the above.
Plus - the Gardai get double time for Sundays. Monday ( even bank holidays ) is just an ordinary day for them.
You also have to factor in the number of churches on the Dublin route.

[Itziger]

And yet Spain, Poland, Italy and Portugal manage to run marathons on the Lord's Day.

I find the excuses a little pathetic tbh. The conservative forces flexing their muscles.

Imagine having to WALK to mass in Dublin on some Sunday. As for the GAA, what massive games are played at the end of October?

[Krusty_Clown]

Why should it be on Sunday? It's a bank holiday in Ireland. They get lots of international runners already (and numbers are swelling). Nearly all of the big city marathons take place on Sunday and we all go back to work the next day. Dublin, Cork (and indeed Boston) take place on the last day of a long weekend and we all go back to work the next day (no difference). It's also an established tradition at this stage.

So, what is the argument for having it on a Sunday? Is it so that people can enjoy a good hangover? Does it just suit a handful of individuals better?

[robinph]

Unless the royals are planning on giving me some extra days off again next year then the Sunday suits me better as the bank holidays don't sync otherwise. I'd still be taking the day off work after a marathon I'd have to travel far for though, whatever day it's on so I can recover.

[Condo131]

Originally Posted by Itziger

And yet Spain, Poland, Italy and Portugal manage to run marathons on the Lord's Day.

I find the excuses a little pathetic tbh. The conservative forces flexing their muscles.

Imagine having to WALK to mass in Dublin on some Sunday. As for the GAA, what massive games are played at the end of October?

Pathethic excuses????

It sounds as though you haven't been involved in organising races? Organising any race is a major logistical operation. Organising a Half-Marathon is a huge operation, in comparison with, say, a 5k. Organising a Marathon is orders of magnitude greater than a HM. Doing it on closed roads is orders of magnitude greater again. Many marathons in Ireland are run on Sundays, but you'll find that these are not in the larger cities and, importantly, they are often not run on closed roads.

If you're not closing the roads, things are a lot easier and cheaper - it costs over €300k to close the roads for Dublin.

Wrt "massive" GAA games; massive was never mentioned - even the smallest function at any of the venues mentioned would cause major disruption to both the marathon and the event. Matches are not the only things that cause problems. Over the years, there have been major headaches for the DCM due to funerals on the route. Afaicr, the start in Dublin was delayed one year by about 20 min, to allow for a funeral (in Harold's Cross ?), quite a way down the route.

What I'm trying to say, is that it is essential for Marathons, in particular, to be organised in co-operation with ALL concerned parties: Race Organisers, Gardai, Businesses on/near route/Emergency Services/Public Transport/Civil Defence/Sporting Bodies/etc/etc. Anyone who might say "Just organise it on a Sunday", and let everyone else fall in line, just isn't being practical or realistic.

[belcarra]

I think what Itziger is getting at is that it's possible in major cities the World over so what makes it more difficult in Ireland?
All the reasons put forward would make it difficult for sure but if they can get past them in other countries why not here?

Regarding matches...most of the countries mentioned by Itziger would be likely to have bigger events (25,000+ crowds for Soccer matches in most of the main cities every weekend) clashing with marathons. Do foreign police forces not charge double-time for Sundays also?