Great Ireland Run gains IAAF Road Race Label

Rineanna

Apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere, but I thought it was worth highlighting that the Great Ireland Run has been conferred with an IAAF Road Race Label, making it the first road race in Ireland to gain such recognition:

Last week, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of athletics conferred an IAAF Road Race Label on the Great Ireland Run, in recognition of the event's high standard of organisation, elite participation and media profile. This is the first time an Irish event has been recognised in this way by the IAAF.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/athletics/2010/0111/greatirelandrun.html

emerald007

Just give us back our our national 10km road racing championship race please.

eon1208

emerald007 wrote: »

Just give us back our our national 10km road racing championship race please.

Its good promotion for the sport to have it included in this race. Or have you a real reason for wanting it out. Be hard to find one though......

thirtyfoot

eon1208 wrote: »

Its good promotion for the sport to have it included in this race. Or have you a real reason for wanting it out. Be hard to find one though......

I'd be with emerald007 on this one. No reason why the 10k can't be a standalone race as its a frequently run distance. Here are only some reasons off the top of my head:

• Extra cost to enter
• Will all club athletes be in pens at the front to facilitate a fair race from a club perspective.
• How much revenue will Irish athletics get from the event and how much will go to an overseas company

Good promotion but is it losing the essence of competition and lower the value of a National Competition.

How about staging the National 10k as it used to be and promoting that in its own right to get even more recreational runners running in it.

shels4ever

Tingle wrote: »

I'd be with emerald007 on this one. No reason why the 10k can't be a standalone race as its a frequently run distance. Here are only some reasons off the top of my head:

• Extra cost to enter
• Will all club athletes be in pens at the front to facilitate a fair race from a club perspective.
• How much revenue will Irish athletics get from the event and how much will go to an overseas company

Good promotion but is it losing the essence of competition and lower the value of a National Competition.

How about staging the National 10k as it used to be and promoting that in its own right to get even more recreational runners running in it.

+1
I would have run the national 10k this year, but for someone at my level there will be far too many people in the Great Ireland run

Great that the race has the IAAF label now but won't be one i'll be doing this year.

smmoore79

The one up side for me is that as a non club runner, i can see how close/far off i am from the standard of the top Irish athletes :rolleyes:

TheRoadRunner

smmoore79 wrote: »

The one up side for me is that as a non club runner, i can see how close/far off i am from the standard of the top Irish athletes :rolleyes:

In recent years you could still have run in the national 10k without being a member of a club. You could have still gauged yourself against the top guys but paid a third of the price to do so !

rovers_runner

It doesn't appear that the great run company have done anything to try to improve the start of the race.

They have used corrals and staggered starts in the UK races where there were large fields and unless they do it here I won't be lining up for a 10,000 strong free for all at the start.

average_runner

To be honest this race is a bit of joke. Didnt do it last year but every other year its a nightmare going around that tight roundabout at the start.

Its a race that never starts on time, always a good delay.

Jip

rovers_runner wrote: »

It doesn't appear that the great run company have done anything to try to improve the start of the race.

They have used corrals and staggered starts in the UK races where there were large fields and unless they do it here I won't be lining up for a 10,000 strong free for all at the start.

Are they not doing it like this this year ? On their website it asks your for your estimated time when registering and I'm pretty sure the reason is that there's staggered starts.

Edit, this is the actual wording

We are using a Wave starting system based on the runner's estimated running time. This is an important safety measure and we ask that you enter an accurate time. If you haven't completed a 10k running event before, please make a 'best guess' based on your general fitness and any other running events you may have completed. The average time in 2009 was 65mins

shels4ever

Jip wrote: »

Are they not doing it like this this year ? On their website it asks your for your estimated time when registering and I'm pretty sure the reason is that there's staggered starts.

Edit, this is the actual wording

Sounds ok but what about the club runners, if there is a stagdered start you could have a team with some members in a different wave That wouldnt be idea , or will all club runners go in wave one, so you will have sub 30 min runners and 40/45 + runners in this wave?

RayCun

shels4ever wrote: »

Sounds ok but what about the club runners, if there is a stagdered start you could have a team with some members in a different wave

Apparently you're allowed drop down to a slower wave (but not go up to a faster one) if you want to keep a group together.

shels4ever

RayCun wrote: »

Apparently you're allowed drop down to a slower wave (but not go up to a faster one) if you want to keep a group together.

I dont see how that will work in a team event . So I guess all club runners will start in wave 1 no matter what standard.

RayCun

I must be missing something here, because I don't understand the problem.
If you have two 30 minute runners and a 40 minute runner, all three can start together in the 40 minute group.
Why would you want a 'club runners' start, with everyone from 30 minute runners to 60 minute runner? Isn't that a recipe for congestion?

emerald007

shels4ever wrote: »

I dont see how that will work in a team event . So I guess all club runners will start in wave 1 no matter what standard.

I'd prefer if the AAI could clarify how this will work. There is little point speculating here. I emailed the greatrun.org to ask, and we'll see what reply i get.

Looking at the online registration process, it has an option to select a running club (good) but it only lists UK running clubs (bad).

louthandproud

shels4ever wrote: »

I dont see how that will work in a team event . So I guess all club runners will start in wave 1 no matter what standard.

The start really isn't that bad in my experience, unless you start well back, albeit with the few idiots that stand forward in the field and then walk, but how can you legislate for these?

I don't see any problem with all club runners starting together in the front, slower club runners aren't going to get in too many peoples way in reality (IMHO).

aburke

You STILL can't enter this race online as an Irish club member.
The dropdown list of clubs on the form includes UK clubs only.

I hope that the AAI will clarify how club athletes in the National 10km championships are supposed to enter this race. Granted its a bit of time yet, but I'd like to know its supposed to work.

Will it be the same as at the Dublin City Marathon & National Championships - eg enter online and sign up at the AAI stand at registration.

OR will we be able to enter directly via the AAI.

Are we paying the same price?
Is there a cut off time for entries?

Jip

aburke wrote: »

You STILL can't enter this race online as an Irish club member.
The dropdown list of clubs on the form includes UK clubs only.

A mail to the organisers might help, I work for a very UK-centric organisation who regularly seem to think Ireland is part of the UK and therefore come across issues like this on a weekly basis.

Racing Flat

aburke wrote: »

Are we paying the same price?

20Euro for AAI members, 29 for everyone else AFAIK

emerald007

Racing Flat wrote: »

20Euro for AAI members, 29 for everyone else AFAIK

Where did you see that? URL link please.

Racing Flat

emerald007 wrote: »

Where did you see that? URL link please.

Irish independent yesterday - can't find the link, but was a piece in the launch of the Bupa race by either Cliodhna or Lindie.

RayCun

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/athletics-controversy-over-national-merger-2009405.html

AAI have negotiated that the usual Great Ireland Run entry fee (€29/€32) will be only €20 for registered AAI members which will incorporate their entry into the national championships.

Reaganomical

Just wondering whether in order to obtain this Label, the race organisers had to guarantee that there would be a certain amount of, say, sub-34 minute runners in the field? Hence, the reason the National 10k is now being reduced to a sub-category within the race.

I really enjoyed the 10k when it was in Athenry in 2008 and I don't see why it couldn't have continued as it was...was there a lack of interest from clubs in hosting it?

meathcountysec

schnellimbiss wrote: »

J

I really enjoyed the 10k when it was in Athenry in 2008 and I don't see why it couldn't have continued as it was...was there a lack of interest from clubs in hosting it?

It was in Navan in 2009, 300+ runners (and one jogger:p)

Clum

schnellimbiss wrote: »

Just wondering whether in order to obtain this Label, the race organisers had to guarantee that there would be a certain amount of, say, sub-34 minute runners in the field? Hence, the reason the National 10k is now being reduced to a sub-category within the race.

The Bronze Label would have been awarded on what the race has previously accomplished rather than what it hopes to accomplish. There are loads of criteria to get this label, some being course accuracy, elite participants from a minimum number of nationalities, road closures, electronic timing, participant numbers, coverage, blah blah blah....

For a Bronze Label 10K Road Race the elites have to have run 29.30 (male) or 37.00 (female) in previous 36 months. Not sure how many elites they need though.

robinph

Won't be doing this myself as it will be too soon after Rotterdam so I expect to still be unable to walk.

All the club runners need to start in the same 1st wave though, otherwise you will end up with some starting in the middle of the 1st wave being at a disadvantage to those starting at the front of the 2nd wave.

jinka

Jip wrote: »

A mail to the organisers might help, I work for a very UK-centric organisation who regularly seem to think Ireland is part of the UK and therefore come across issues like this on a weekly basis.

What-!!! Southern ireland or worse still Eire is not part of the mainland?!!!That would by typical alright.Most Irish could buy and sell a brit! We look outwards,they look inwards. I hate this race. Did you ever see Lindie Naughtons views on it!?

Irishathlete_1

I don't really understand the 'controversy' here, as stated in the Indo.

Any club runners/teams with serious intentions of running well would be in the top 2 waves anyway, so the congestion issue is a bit of a non started IMO. Also, the NOVA events tend to merge the front 2 waves just prior to the start, as they do in Manchester, Portsmouth and at the Great North Run. Any elite runners here who have competed at the front of these events will confirm this.

Secondly, it is common practice around the world to have the national 10km/marathon championships held in conjunction with major mass participation events. Why should Ireland be any different? God, the Irish Marathon Champs are held at the Dublin Marathon, yet nobody moans about that. Is it because DM is an Irish owned event v's a British owned event?? I hope as a nation we've moved on from that kind of thinking!

The frustrating thing for me here is that nobody sees this as an opportunity, bar possibly the new CEO who is likely to have signed this off. The Great Ireland Run is now an event that is shown in a number of countries around the world, and domestically is one of the very few running events that gets decent TV/media coverage. Is this not an opportunity to inspire people into athletics and show off Ireland's talent?

If the national championships are handled correctly as part of the Great Ireland run, it could drive those runners who are in the 40-45 minute bracket to join their local club and from that you could find some great talent. Shane Healy anyone?? Increased memberships would see increased revenues for clubs etc etc....

So far I can't see any sustainable arguments as to why this is a bad thing for Irish athletics. If there are, I'll happily come back on and take this back, but I think this is a great opportunity for Irish distance running and it should be embraced.

Irishathlete_1

Just saw this post. Well I guess some of us haven't moved on!

Jinka - I'm assuming you don't watch the BBC/Sky or buy anything that can possibly have originated from across the water??

Idiot.

jinka wrote: »

What-!!! Southern ireland or worse still Eire is not part of the mainland?!!!That would by typical alright.Most Irish could buy and sell a brit! We look outwards,they look inwards. I hate this race. Did you ever see Lindie Naughtons views on it!?

TheRoadRunner

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Just saw this post. Well I guess some of us haven't moved on!

Jinka - I'm assuming you don't watch the BBC/Sky or buy anything that can possibly have originated from across the water??

Idiot.

eh sarcasm maybe !

downthemiddle

I think the best thing is to reserve judgement until we see what happens. I can understand, and would share, some of the reservations but the AAI are showing some initiative so lets see how things develop.

TheRoadRunner

downthemiddle wrote: »

I think the best thing is to reserve judgement until we see what happens. I can understand, and would share, some of the reservations but the AAI are showing some initiative so lets see how things develop.

In theory I don't support this but you're right, maybe we should give it a year and see how it goes. It could be a success and may gie the winner of the national title some exposure that wouldn't normally receive.

louthandproud

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

In theory I don't support this but you're right, maybe we should give it a year and see how it goes. It could be a success and may gie the winner of the national title some exposure that wouldn't normally receive.

+1

Like it or loathe it, the great Ireland run probably gets almost as much coverage as all other athletic events put together on Irish TV in an average year. So maybe this could do some good.

jinka

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Just saw this post. Well I guess some of us haven't moved on!

Jinka - I'm assuming you don't watch the BBC/Sky or buy anything that can possibly have originated from across the water??

Idiot.

No, but hey perhaps a sense of humour pal or maybe you don't deal with companies across the water where this is common place. By the way must be cool to call yourself an athlete!:)

thirtyfoot

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

. Is it because DM is an Irish owned event v's a British owned event??

This would be a factor for my unease with it but not just that its British* but that its non-Irish. There are enough well organised 10K races in Ireland run by Irish clubs that the AAI could piggy back on. Granted they won't be able to afford to have it covered live on TV. Then again, unlike the previous years of the Great Run there may be some benefit to grassroots (the club grassroots that is) athletics in that the organisers are facilitating one of our National Champs instead of just paying the permit fee of €70 or whatever it is.

It could be a good recruitment drive if used wisely on the day. I don't too many will watch it on TV to be honest. Euro Cross got good live TV coverage but I'm not sure what legacy we'll have from that. The benefit could be from the non-club people on the day deciding they want to get involved more in the sport. Now if there was a Usain Bolt style Manchester element to it, then we might get some real interest going and some real interest on TV.

I think I'm going to reserve judgement as downthemiddle suggests and see how it pans out. There were 325 in Navan last year, lets see will that be topped (as regards club entrants). I would think there will be well more than that and who knows all the fears and questions put forward here may be answered in due course.

* It could be French, Danish or Bolivian and it would be the same.

thirtyfoot

jinka wrote: »

a sense of humour

Be carefull with those, they can get you in awful trouble;) I'm with you, I think having to put a smilie after sarcasm on boards defeats the purpose of sarcasm in the first.

violator13

Difficult course for the club runner to get a PB. Lotta hills in the park.Never liked racing there too much.

Irishathlete_1

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

eh sarcasm maybe !

Fair comment! I was rushing out and only glanced at it. Apologies for the "Idiot" remark

Irishathlete_1

Tingle wrote: »

This would be a factor for my unease with it but not just that its British* but that its non-Irish. There are enough well organised 10K races in Ireland run by Irish clubs that the AAI could piggy back on. Granted they won't be able to afford to have it covered live on TV. Then again, unlike the previous years of the Great Run there may be some benefit to grassroots (the club grassroots that is) athletics in that the organisers are facilitating one of our National Champs instead of just paying the permit fee of €70 or whatever it is.

It could be a good recruitment drive if used wisely on the day. I don't too many will watch it on TV to be honest. Euro Cross got good live TV coverage but I'm not sure what legacy we'll have from that. The benefit could be from the non-club people on the day deciding they want to get involved more in the sport. Now if there was a Usain Bolt style Manchester element to it, then we might get some real interest going and some real interest on TV.

I think I'm going to reserve judgement as downthemiddle suggests and see how it pans out. There were 325 in Navan last year, lets see will that be topped (as regards club entrants). I would think there will be well more than that and who knows all the fears and questions put forward here may be answered in due course.

* It could be French, Danish or Bolivian and it would be the same.

Got to say I'm surprised at this post Tingle. Beware anything non-Irish! Christ....So do you do all your running in O'Neills kit? Only drink Guinness/Smithwicks? Only shop at Dunnes or Superquinn?

I was going to write another long post here, but I really can't be bothered to waste my time. This is a great opportunity for Irish running, but people seem more bothered about finding fault then they do about embracing opportunity.

This event has been around for about 6 years I guess? So anyone involved in running knows the quality of the fields, the event and the press coverage generated. So I don't understand waiting to see what happens for next year. How can this not be a good thing with a sport who's current public perception is in the gutter (Under age XC etc., The Coughlan case, McGonagle case etc.)?

thirtyfoot

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Got to say I'm surprised at this post Tingle. Beware anything non-Irish!

Not at all, but I will always support Irish products before non-Irish products. don't see any problem with that if the product is of a similar standard and not over the top in price. Simple ecomonic sense to me - if all Irish people bought 5% more Irish products. I'm more surprised that someone would be surprised that I'd have a Buy Irish (if at all possible) policy.

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Christ....So do you do all your running in O'Neills kit?

No, because the gear is sh*te

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Only drink Guinness/Smithwicks?

Yes on the Guinness but not because its Irish (are Diageo Irish?) but because it tastes good. If not Guinness , its Jameson or Bulmers, again because they taste good. British beer on every level is sh*te.

Irishathlete_1 wrote: »

Only shop at Dunnes or Superquinn?

Yes that is true. Will never go near Tesco due to the fact that there policy here in Ireland has really put the squeeze on many small Irish suppliers. Not saying Dunnes or SQ are angels but at least they don't explicitly decide to source from non-Irish suppliers

Nothing anti-British, just pro-Irish. I'm as a west Brit as the next man who loved the Nat-West Cup, bowls from Blackpool and have watched a Queen's speech or two.

If you believe this is someone in AAI embracing a great opportunity, then credit must go to the previous CEO as this decision was mooted in her (does this mean irish_athlete is giving her some credit:eek:) time well before the current CEO was in situ. I'm sure it'll all work out grand but there are a few of the finer points to be clarified which when you are a runner are the crucial bits. This is no big deal, I'm not tossing and turning in bed worried that AAI are getting into bed with a British race promoter. There are just a few concerns that people are raising, again no big deal, it happens all the time and thats what these forums are usually about. We are not clowns and we know how things work, just airing a few concerns and while you may be operating at a higher level on so many levels than most of us here I believe these concerns are valid for people at our level.

violator13

Irish athlete -you're not a WestBrit now by any chance? big Tim Henman fan?:D Are you a That silly race is a way of making money for "Great" and pays to bring over the big guns. National 10k should be kept seperate and run by an Irish club,it being Irish nat 10k.
By the way the Nat 10k isnt even a big event folks so dont think we should get too hot and bothered either way.

Jip

Jaysus, how did the thread end down the oul Irish vs Brits route

My point was not that English organisers explicitly assume Ireland is part of the UK, it's that when setting up things for the UK and Ireland they often forget the whole Ireland part of it. For example when creating employee benefit schemes they usually forget to get in touch with an Irish provider and therefore any Irish based employees cannot avail of it. This could be something similar, they've been doing this a while and now that you can enter as an Irish club runner, someone just never thought of getting a list of Irish clubs.

shels4ever

violator13 wrote: »

By the way the Nat 10k isnt even a big event folks so dont think we should get too hot and bothered either way.

Tell that to the two lads who batteled to win it last year.

emerald007

right so, the irish national 10k club champion will be the runner who is the

1: First person across the line?
2: The first irish national across the line?
3: The first irish based club runner across the line?

Since BUPA will be bringing in some local and foreign elites, the winner will probally be from cat's 1 & 2 above. At least in last years race, the two guys in the picture above didn't need to promise of a payday to come out and run the national. Will the current national 10km track champion be back to do a double?

Hard Worker

emerald007 wrote: »

right so, the irish national 10k club champion will be the runner who is the

1: First person across the line?
2: The first irish national across the line?
3: The first irish based club runner across the line?

Since BUPA will be bringing in some local and foreign elites, the winner will probally be from cat's 1 & 2 above. At least in last years race, the two guys in the picture above didn't need to promise of a payday to come out and run the national. Will the current national 10km track champion be back to do a double?

The National Champion will be the first AAI club athlete to finish.

Regarding this Uk V Irish thing: they wouldn't allow the Irish to vote in X factor. Otherwise, those two fine DSD athletes would definitely have won.

Trekkie Monster

BUPA are the race sponsors, Nova International organise the Great Run races and presumably they are the ones who arrange for elite athletes to run. I did the Great North Run in 2004 and had an elite number - this was arranged eventually by the disorganised individual in charge, so that's normally how that's done.

I've run in many UK championship races (road and cross-country) as well as many other Irish people and remarkably there hasn't been any crisis at any of them.

louthandproud

Trekkie Monster wrote: »

BUPA are the race sponsors, Nova International organise the Great Run races and presumably they are the ones who arrange for elite athletes to run. I did the Great North Run in 2004 and had an elite number - this was arranged eventually by the disorganised individual in charge, so that's normally how that's done.

I've run in many UK championship races (road and cross-country) as well as many other Irish people and remarkably there hasn't been any crisis at any of them.

All true perhaps except BUPA don't sponsor the Great Ireland run anymore since they don't have any business operation here.

Trekkie Monster

Looks like I'm out of date! They still sponsor all of the UK-based ones, but it seems they don't do the other international ones either (e.g. Australia).

louthandproud

Trekkie Monster wrote: »

Looks like I'm out of date! They still sponsor all of the UK-based ones, but it seems they don't do the other international ones either (e.g. Australia).

Yeah, when BUPA pulled out of Ireland and their business was bought out by Quinn Health Care, Quinn then sponsored the next Great Ireland run at that point which was 2008 I think, last year there was no overall corporate sponsor.