Cork City Marathon 6/6/2011

opus

4 stars (good)

elnino23 wrote: »

Thats really annoyed me! when did you get that invite? i entered in late febuary and never got that invite!
Id have loved to have gone on that!

Not sure to be honest, I entered last Dec & got an email about the event in CIT on March 23rd. Luck of the draw maybe?

elnino23

3 stars (average)

yeah maybe! plus maybe the fact im a relative newbie

jcsmum

elnino23 wrote: »

Thats really annoyed me! when did you get that invite? i entered in late febuary and never got that invite!
Id have loved to have gone on that!

I assumed everyone got this invite, I could have given you mine.
I also entered in Feb.
Maybe it was a random selection.

mickhen

Any ideas on the numbers entered for the full. I have a feeling numbers could be down on last year

Gringo78

Entry fees increase from midnight tomorrow for relay and marathon.

RICHIE-RICH

4 stars (good)

mickhen wrote: »

Any ideas on the numbers entered for the full. I have a feeling numbers could be down on last year

Dunno, but I entered at end of March, before first price deadline, and got a number around 750.
I guess that they will get surges in entries just before price increase deadlines.
As far as I know they dont reserve a block of numbers for elites, so my entry 750, should be legitimate entry number 750 - A few years ago, I entered VERY early, and was given number 3, or 5 (below 10 anyways).

opus

4 stars (good)

RICHIE-RICH wrote: »

Dunno, but I entered at end of March, before first price deadline, and got a number around 750.
I guess that they will get surges in entries just before price increase deadlines.
As far as I know they dont reserve a block of numbers for elites, so my entry 750, should be legitimate entry number 750 - A few years ago, I entered VERY early, and was given number 3, or 5 (below 10 anyways).

Think that's true, I was amazed that I got a number of < 20 (can't remember now what it is) when I entered last year until I found out two friends had gotten even lower numbers!

anymore

Maybe people are put off by the poor quality of the marathon site; of the marathons I have run, this is by far the poorest quality site without even a proper map. They should have had a look at the Dingle site etc.

RoyMcC

anymore wrote: »

Maybe people are put off by the poor quality of the marathon site; of the marathons I have run, this is by far the poorest quality site without even a proper map. They should have had a look at the Dingle site etc.

It's not great but, as the old saying goes, never judge a race by its website.

anymore

RoyMcC wrote: »

It's not great but, as the old saying goes, never judge a race by its website.

Well I understand the point you are making but as a Cork person, I would prefer to think that the Cork site was at least as good as other Irish ones and the fact they cant even manage a decent route map is a bit embarassing :eek:.
The reality is that there is lots of competition out there now for marathon runners and we are spolied for choice. So organisers need to do all they can to attract runners. And, to be honest, for the price they are charging, a decent site is a minimum.

RoyMcC

anymore wrote: »

Well I understand the point you are making but as a Cork person, I would prefer to think that the Cork site was at least as good as other Irish ones and the fact they cant even manage a decent route map is a bit embarassing :eek:.
The reality is that there is lots of competition out there now for marathon runners and we are spolied for choice. So organisers need to do all they can to attract runners. And, to be honest, for the price they are charging, a decent site is a minimum.

I'm a great Cork loyalist, my favourite part of the world. Really though I think a race should speak for itself. I'd never be attracted to an event by a website - sure this one probably needs a revamp. If you saw two races priced at €50 would you go for the one with the best website? It's way down my list of criteria.

Tipp man running

4 stars (good)

mickhen wrote: »

Any ideas on the numbers entered for the full. I have a feeling numbers could be down on last year

Overall I'd say numbers will be up but I'd say most people will be doing the half-marathon and not the full one. I hope they have the relay points better marshaled this year as its no fun running through a crowded relay point were you can barely keep running without been blocked by people waiting.

ultraman1

3 stars (average)

RoyMcC wrote: »

If you saw two races priced at €50 would you go for the one with the best website?

all things being equal,a proper website would give the impression of a more professional event organiser and point to a better organised event,although this is not alwaysthe case....edit..i dont go for fancy websites and have done cork last year and found it to be very well organised

anymore

RoyMcC wrote: »

I'm a great Cork loyalist, my favourite part of the world. Really though I think a race should speak for itself. I'd never be attracted to an event by a website - sure this one probably needs a revamp. If you saw two races priced at €50 would you go for the one with the best website? It's way down my list of criteria.

One of the things that enticed me to run my first marathon , which was Dingle, was the website. I had done all my running until then on my own and was quite uncertain of running a marathon. I know Dingle fairly well and the site was definitely a very good representation of the area and I looked at it a good few times before deciding to enter. So for me a novice, the presentation of the site was a factor. So as to your question, if i had to choose between two runs in areas I was not familiar with, I would be influenced to some extent by the sites. I ran a marathon in a town in Holland in feb that I had never heard of before and again i visted the site a few times before entering. The truth is i would be unlikely to have run marathons at all if it were not access to information on them on the web. Marketing sells and poor marketing sells less effectively.
But to each thier own. I suppose the main point I am making is that there is so many different marathons to choose from now, that organisers have to compete with one another for business.

corked

3 stars (average)

anymore wrote: »

Maybe people are put off by the poor quality of the marathon site; of the marathons I have run, this is by far the poorest quality site without even a proper map. They should have had a look at the Dingle site etc.

would have to agree.... I registered myself mths ago and thought it was bad.

Registered a work relay team on Wednesday and had to go through the process twice! It was pretty horrific.

RoyMcC wrote: »

It's not great but, as the old saying goes, never judge a race by its website.

Agree with that - I'm fond of CCM.

Tipp man running wrote: »

Overall I'd say numbers will be up but I'd say most people will be doing the half-marathon and not the full one. I hope they have the relay points better marshaled this year as its no fun running through a crowded relay point were you can barely keep running without been blocked by people waiting.

and people randomly stopping to hand over the wristband with a bit of a chat!

Think the first changeover is the worst and saw a good few near misses there last year.

The second is not too bad as the relay starts to thin out.

Blueskye

Just logged on to try to register for the half and it's sold out!!! Still entries for the relay and the full. Very annoying.

chinguetti

3 stars (average)

Blueskye wrote: »

Just logged on to try to register for the half and it's sold out!!! Still entries for the relay and the full. Very annoying.

They put it up on the site around the end of March that they were capping it at 1,000 and once they did that, it sold out fairly fast.

Tipp man running

4 stars (good)

Blueskye wrote: »

Just logged on to try to register for the half and it's sold out!!! Still entries for the relay and the full. Very annoying.

We'll see you on the full one then:D

Woddle

3 stars (average)

Just curious but is the first half of the marathon the same route as the half marathon?

Condo131

Almost! The first half mile is on the Marathon course - as far as Blackrock Castle, where the Mar breaks right, along the Lakelands walkway, while the HM continues on the route the Marathon took up to last year.

The two courses merge again on the Marina, at the 15 M/1.8x M mark

The HM start is due around 10:30/11:00am, with the Mar starting at 8:30/9:00. I should have more info on this tomorrow.

The reason for the late start is to ensure that the bulk of the Mar people are past the choke/merge points.

outforarun

Condo131 wrote: »

with the Mar starting at 8:30/9:00. I should have more info on this tomorrow.

Thanks. I was sure the marathon was due to start at 8:30 can't remember where I read it. If you look at the FAQs on the site it says the marathon starts at 9:00 (2010, but who reads the year).

anymore

outforarun wrote: »

Thanks. I was sure the marathon was due to start at 8:30 can't remember where I read it. If you look at the FAQs on the site it says the marathon starts at 9:00 (2010, but who reads the year).

You are right, it was supposed to be 8.30 but as far as i am aware it has been changed back to 9.00 again. Best to keep a watch out, to be sure , to be sure !:D Cork people are fierce indecisive, like !

Bally8

4 stars (good)

I had my hotel booked for Sunday night but just re-booked it there to include Monday too. Where's the beers at?:D:D

chinguetti

3 stars (average)

Bally8 wrote: »

I had my hotel booked for Sunday night but just re-booked it there to include Monday too. Where's the beers at?:D:D

Sure tis a while off for deciding pubs yet but as you offered, i'll be having a pint:)

anymore

chinguetti wrote: »

Sure tis a while off for deciding pubs yet but as you offered, i'll be having a pint:)

This reminds me to ask, why are some marathons run on a bank holiday monday and not on the sunday ? I would have thought it would have benefited people travelling to the venue and to local businesses to have the run on the sunday

Condo131

Bank Holidays? Several reasons:

1. As most people are off and less businesses are open, people sleep in and there's less traffic around. Traffic on Sundays can sometimes be as busy as a week-day.
2. As most people are off, there are more people available to volunteer/officiate.
3. More (potential) spectators around.

Those are the main ones. Probably lots of other reasons - take your pick!

anymore

Condo131 wrote: »

Bank Holidays? Several reasons:

1. As most people are off and less businesses are open, people sleep in and there's less traffic around. Traffic on Sundays can sometimes be as busy as a week-day.
2. As most people are off, there are more people available to volunteer/officiate.
3. More (potential) spectators around.

Those are the main ones. Probably lots of other reasons - take your pick!

If I were a hotel/pub/B&B owner,I think I would want the event on a sun to encourage people to stay two days/nights. The Dingle marathon and Clonakilty marathons are both held on a saturday and as these towns are busier on a saturday than on a sunday, that would seem to deal with the traffic issue. In general traffic on sundays is pretty much the same as on bank hol mondays in most places i imagine.
The same apllies, I imagine, for people being off and available to officiate. Indeed I imagine volunteers might prefer a sun run to allow then to go out on Sun night for drinks and have the mon off for ' recovery'.
Cant see why there would be more spectators on bank hol mon than on sun.

anymore

Just occurs to me, that running it on Sun also would allow for recovery on bank hol monday before back to work on tues.

Condo131

Sat/Sun is fine for small towns like Clon or Dingle. For the Cork & Dublin, Marathons, all roads on the route are closed to traffic, so it is a lot harder to manage. You need to put on a race directors hat when looking at these things.

You make lots of valid points for Sat & Sunday, but I can't imagine how Cork or Dublin could be run on either day, without absolute chaos.

mickhen

Any idea what drinks are been used this year? Could do with getting myself used to which everone it is