Women's Mini Marathon 2012

ferretone

Thanks for that, I knew under an hour was a runner time, but for some reason thought that would leave me lumped in with the fast joggers, on a pink number next year.

I started on a blue jogger number, so would like to help put to bed the suggestion by some participants that this would preclude the possibility of still coming home in a runner time: yes you have to dance around others a great deal to get going at the start, but it certainly can be done.

More than this, I saw another lady (much younger than myself), have a conversation with the stewards at the start about how she runs the distance at around the 45 minute mark, but bought the wrong number by mistake. They naturally refused to listen to her, but she started a few rows behind me in the joggers; I didn't see her again til just over the 1k mark, but then she flew past me at a fantastic pace, and I have no doubt that she finished inside the 50 minute mark, which is what she told me was her goal at the start.

I'm entering some more 10ks in the next few months, really enjoying the running now I've gotten into it, and very much looking forward to starting with a white number in future

To be honest, I could not care less whether a particular model finished the race in any given time or not. For me, it's about whether I enjoyed it (yes), hit my goal (yes), and will continue to enter races, and hopefully improve on this (very much yes!)

It's annoying that this pointless argument has spoiled the genuine achievements of so many last Monday, I just can't understand why so many care about what RD did or did not do that afternoon.

rasher_m

ferretone wrote: »

Thanks for that, I knew under an hour was a runner time, but for some reason thought that would leave me lumped in with the fast joggers, on a pink number next year.

I started on a blue jogger number, so would like to help put to bed the suggestion by some participants that this would preclude the possibility of still coming home in a runner time: yes you have to dance around others a great deal to get going at the start, but it certainly can be done.

More than this, I saw another lady (much younger than myself), have a conversation with the stewards at the start about how she runs the distance at around the 45 minute mark, but bought the wrong number by mistake. They naturally refused to listen to her, but she started a few rows behind me in the joggers; I didn't see her again til just over the 1k mark, but then she flew past me at a fantastic pace, and I have no doubt that she finished inside the 50 minute mark, which is what she told me was her goal at the start.

I'm entering some more 10ks in the next few months, really enjoying the running now I've gotten into it, and very much looking forward to starting with a white number in future

To be honest, I could not care less whether a particular model finished the race in any given time or not. For me, it's about whether I enjoyed it (yes), hit my goal (yes), and will continue to enter races, and hopefully improve on this (very much yes!)

It's annoying that this pointless argument has spoiled the genuine achievements of so many last Monday, I just can't understand why so many care about what RD did or did not do that afternoon.

ah i dont think it has spoilt anything, i think for most of us its just a bit of entertaining gossip and it passes the time discussing it...don't be taking it seriously

ferretone

Ok, fair enough, I'm just maybe not so interested in celebrity gossip as some others. Not gonna take this too seriously at all, but it was the first race I entered since I started training this spring, so just wasn't too thrilled that it turns out to be all about some gossip like that, but that's just life, innit?

huskerdu

ferretone wrote: »

Ok, fair enough, I'm just maybe not so interested in celebrity gossip as some others. Not gonna take this too seriously at all, but it was the first race I entered since I started training this spring, so just wasn't too thrilled that it turns out to be all about some gossip like that, but that's just life, innit?

I am not in the slightest bit interested in celebrity gossip, but in this case, I think the suggestion that Rosanna Davison might have cheated (and I do not believe her story) is worth highlighted as it is really unfair to someone like you, that trained and ran it, for her to be parading around the finish line with full make-up on and not a bead of sweat saying that she did run it.

I hope it embarrassed her and others never to try a stunt like that again.

The day should be about you and the 40k others.

footing

tunguska wrote: »

That was funny but it was kind of sad aswell. Is that information even available for anybody to access? If I was the organiser of that race and saw that clip I'd be mortified that the course record isnt even available. Hell the results pre 2005 arent even available on the website.
They don't care. It's not a race it's a "charity event" (I'm quoting). Course rec is 31 and change by S O'S in 2000.



]

rasher_m

huskerdu wrote: »

I am not in the slightest bit interested in celebrity gossip, but in this case, I think the suggestion that Rosanna Davison might have cheated (and I do not believe her story) is worth highlighted as it is really unfair to someone like you, that trained and ran it, for her to be parading around the finish line with full make-up on and not a bead of sweat saying that she did run it.

I hope it embarrassed her and others never to try a stunt like that again.

The day should be about you and the 40k others.

You can highlight all you like, nothing will be done about it, therefore it falls under the category of entertaining gossip which is what you're reading like the rest of us.
I also think that some celebs in the limelight have necks like jockeys .... and dont get embarrassed too easily.

derb12

I dunno - I'd imagine she likes to think of herself as having it all - brains and beauty. I have seen her going on about her education and how important it is to her to have qualifications to fall back on.
I'd imagine being openly laughed at for basic stupidity is more annoying for her than being called a cheat.
Oh the vanity!

tunguska

derb12 wrote: »

I dunno - I'd imagine she likes to think of herself as having it all - brains and beauty. I have seen her going on about her education and how important it is to her to have qualifications to fall back on.
I'd imagine being openly laughed at for basic stupidity is more annoying for her than being called a cheat.
Oh the vanity!

Still no sign of an admission of gulit and I suspect there wont be one. I think the important part of this whole debacle is that young girls will realise what an eejit she is and will not hold her up as a role model(if they ever did)

huskerdu

rasher_m wrote: »

You can highlight all you like, nothing will be done about it, therefore it falls under the category of entertaining gossip which is what you're reading like the rest of us.
I also think that some celebs in the limelight have necks like jockeys .... and dont get embarrassed too easily.

I strongly disagree. I am a runner, complaining about behaviour of another runner at a race.

I don't give a toss about Rosanna Davison. The point of highlighting it is to try to ensure that a charity like the ISPCA does not try to pull a stunt like this again and drag the WMM into disrepute.

rasher_m

huskerdu wrote: »

I strongly disagree. I am a runner, complaining about behaviour of another runner at a race.

I don't give a toss about Rosanna Davison. The point of highlighting it is to try to ensure that a charity like the ISPCA does not try to pull a stunt like this again and drag the WMM into disrepute.

Jez, they only exchanged numbers, they didnt pocket all the charity money or claim the first prize for fecks sake. Just treat it as a bit of a laugh and dont be so serious about it. Its hardly going to drag the mini m into disrepute.

robinph

rasher_m wrote: »

Jez, they only exchanged numbers, they didnt pocket all the charity money or claim the first prize for fecks sake. Just treat it as a bit of a laugh and dont be so serious about it. Its hardly going to drag the mini m into disrepute.

It gives the impression that it's OK to not actually complete an event but still claim that you did.

It is very minor in the grand scheme of things. It is an oversubscribed 10km event only open to women and no-one outside of the first hundred people will get a clear run at doing a time. We should not allow the idea that cheating in sport, or life, is OK and when some z-lister is spotted doing so in order to get a bit of camera time then it should be pointed out that it is wrong and made clear that it's not acceptable.

The ISPCA have noted the holes in the story and want to distance themselves from it. Unfortunately it seems as if the media in Ireland is too scared of Davison to dare say she is anything other than some kind of heroine for looking after cute puppies.

ultrapercy

rasher_m wrote: »

Jez, they only exchanged numbers, they didnt pocket all the charity money or claim the first prize for fecks sake. Just treat it as a bit of a laugh and dont be so serious about it. Its hardly going to drag the mini m into disrepute.

Its cheating, simple as that.We cant on the one hand hammer elite athletes for using performance enhancing drugs and not highlight the wrongdoing here. As someone who relies on her puplic image for her livelyhood she should act in a way that is respectfull to that public.

rasher_m

robinph wrote: »

It gives the impression that it's OK to not actually complete an event but still claim that you did.

It is very minor in the grand scheme of things. It is an oversubscribed 10km event only open to women and no-one outside of the first hundred people will get a clear run at doing a time. We should not allow the idea that cheating in sport, or life, is OK and when some z-lister is spotted doing so in order to get a bit of camera time then it should be pointed out that it is wrong and made clear that it's not acceptable.

The ISPCA have noted the holes in the story and want to distance themselves from it. Unfortunately it seems as if the media in Ireland is too scared of Davison to dare say she is anything other than some kind of heroine for looking after cute puppies.

Well I'm not looking at it like that...my point is that nothing offically will happen to punish both parties. The thread is a good laugh to read...as in between Rosanna being caught coming out of a house to people taking a screen shot of her at 9k. I cannot help but laugh and find amusment with the whole escapade.
The main thing in my eyes is that the money went to charity and the people in the top spots got their glory and prizes.

Plenty of people joined the race in the runners zone but were walkers, joined the race midway, were pushing buggies, smoking on the course and going under the tape etc. etc. That is the way of a large charity run.

As for the second half of your story, im sure the media have bigger fish to fry and thats why they didnt bother with it. They may well have if she had have stripped during the event or gone off with the charity money on a bender.

robinph

rasher_m wrote: »

As for the second half of your story, im sure the media have bigger fish to fry and thats why they didnt bother with it. They may well have if she had have stripped during the event or gone off with the charity money on a bender.

They certainly do have bigger fish to fry, but they seem to be wanting to accuse the people who spotted Davison cheating of being in the wrong for daring to notice, rather than actually looking at the evidence of her cheating. The media are happy to cover the story, they are just not doing anything that could be considered critical of her.

LizT

rasher_m wrote: »

Well I'm not looking at it like that...my point is that nothing offically will happen to punish both parties. The thread is a good laugh to read...as in between Rosanna being caught coming out of a house to people taking a screen shot of her at 9k. I cannot help but laugh and find amusment with the whole escapade.
The main thing in my eyes is that the money went to charity and the people in the top spots got their glory and prizes.

Plenty of people joined the race in the runners zone but were walkers, joined the race midway, were pushing buggies, smoking on the course and going under the tape etc. etc. That is the way of a large charity run.

As for the second half of your story, im sure the media have bigger fish to fry and thats why they didnt bother with it. They may well have if she had have stripped during the event or gone off with the charity money on a bender.

Yes, there will be no official punishment but that doesn't make it better or right.
I did the mini marathon run for charity, the sponsorship that was given to me was given to me on the assumption that I would do the 10k or at least try my very best to finish it.


The media did bother with the story, at least the Sunday Independent did - to say that people on boards were being unfair and are jealous of her. They said any rumours that she didn't finish were unfounded and false.

chinguetti

It was again on Liveline earlier in the week (didn't hear it) but the ISPCA were doing their best to distance themselves from the whole story from what i read. The various stories that were used to explain things were blown out of the water by one caller. Bad PR for a charity is a killer and will never be forgotten and people have long memories. Used to work in a charity so have some knowledge of this.

Whether is deserves to rumble on for a week is another thing but the way the country is, people are going to cry foul at anything they appear to see or think to be wrong. For years, no one raised a voice and just looked the other way to what went on in the country so its a wider social thing.

rasher_m

lizt wrote: »

Yes, there will be no official punishment but that doesn't make it better or right.
I did the mini marathon run for charity, the sponsorship that was given to me was given to me on the assumption that I would do the 10k or at least try my very best to finish it.


The media did bother with the story, at least the Sunday Independent did - to say that people on boards were being unfair and are jealous of her. They said any rumours that she didn't finish were unfounded and false.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Sunday Independent owned/run by the same crowd who own/run the Evening Herald who Rosanna does/did work for as an agony aunt columnist and didnt she write articles for the Independent as well?

jennyq

rasher_m wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Sunday Independent owned/run by the same crowd who own/run the Evening Herald who Rosanna does/did work for as an agony aunt columnist and didnt she write articles for the Independent as well?

Yes. So their desperate attempts to cover for her and try to discredit those pointing out the flaws in her story aren't surprising at all.

rom

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4355239/Thousands-of-women-hit-the-streets-for-Dublin-mini-marathon.html http://rosanna.ie/?page_id=2 "At present, I like to keep fit by working out at the gym, practising Pilates, running, horse riding, skiing on snow and water and playing tennis." "Main areas of interest are reading, writing" grammar ain't one "I was a member of Sandycove Tennis Club and the Dundrum South Dublin Athletics Club" http://www.dsdac.com/acmslist.shtml?a=y2003&archivepagenumber=1 "Dec 7, 2003 [Alan] Congratulations to former DSD athlete, Rosanna Davison, on being crowned Miss World in China at the weekend. Rosanna competed for DSD in the hurdles and high jump until a few years ago." - this was when she was 19. I bet she is an active paid up member still with the times she is doing for 10K

tunguska

jennyq wrote: »

Yes. So their desperate attempts to cover for her and try to discredit those pointing out the flaws in her story aren't surprising at all.

Only got around to reading the Sunday Indo last night and that article was a sham. Its a total clique and love in between Rosanna Davidson and that paper. Heres the explanation she gave:

"At the last minute I decided to go ahead with the race. I had to get the number after the race began, so the final time and name listed were inaccurate"

And thats it. I dont see how this explains anything. Its deliberately vague and the journalist who wrote the article didnt take her up on it at all. What a joke.

ThisRegard

tunguska wrote: »

And thats it. I dont see how this explains anything. Its deliberately vague and the journalist who wrote the article didnt take her up on it at all. What a joke.

There was 2 articles in that particular edition (it was a free hotel edition I read, I didn't buy it, I swear). One sounds like the love in you're talking about there by Niamh Horan I think, the second was written by Will Hannafin, is he the one from Ray Darcy, equally as kiss ass, but somewhat derogatory to those who doubt her story with comments such as

the fanciful theories surrounding Rosannagate make Barack Obama's birth cert saga look positively tame by comparison

and it's just a conspiracy theory. The article can't seem to be found online.

You stay classy Sindo.

HardyEustace

ThisRegard wrote: »

the second was written by Will Hannafin, is he the one from Ray Darcy, equally as kiss ass, but somewhat derogatory to those who doubt her story with comments such as and it's just a conspiracy theory. The article can't seem to be found online.

You stay classy Sindo.

Not a bit surprised at the sycophant Sindo but really disappointed that Will Hannafin wrote such an article given the amount of time and effort that Ray Darcy and his team have given towards the promotion of exercise and running in the country.

Seres

Joe Duffy had this topic on the airways twice , first time it was a joke , zero speculation was allowed , boring and way to censored , however the topic came up a day or two later and all the stops were pulled out , the lady that wrote that article was on , heard she was not one to be messed it , merciless !!. Will check back on the podcasts when i get time and post .

aero2k

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Worst part of this is, now those of us hot enough to still look exceptionally beautiful after running 10k will now be doubted by our peers.

I fear your exceptional beauty will only be widely appreciated when your race performances are being discussed on Liveline.:D

28064212 wrote: »

Her "bread and butter" is appearing in the likes of Hello and VIP. What do you think their male readership is exactly?

rasher_m wrote: »

Pageants...eh no....newspapers eh no....mags....well dont know about you but i get mine free and read them when im on the toilet.

tunguska wrote: »

Still no sign of an admission of gulit and I suspect there won't be one.

I heard she signed a deal to do a photoshoot with Playboy. Perhaps we'll get full disclosure then. Hopefully there won't be any deception...

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The worst had to be the clowns in Donnybrook, chasing after Linda Byrne as she went past. Feckin eejits. I would have hit them a box. I heard one of them accidentally clocked a woman further down the field and split her head open.

Have a look at recent threads on cinema etiquette and being verbally and physically abused while out running. Unfortunately, some people are only happy when they're trying to ruin other peoples' enjoyment.

On the whole Roseannagate thing, I suppose it shows the challenge involved in combining a serious race with a fun / charity event. FWIW, I didn't see the race but I did watch the DCM and I reckon Linda Byrne looked a lot better after 26.2 miles (no doubts there) than any young wan covered in layers of slap, after 1k or 10k.

Krusty_Clown

aero2k wrote: »

Have a look at recent threads on cinema etiquette and being verbally and physically abused while out running. Unfortunately, some people are only happy when they're trying to ruin other peoples' enjoyment.

I should qualify that I wasn't using 'clowns' in a derogatory manner. They were actual clowns, contracted by the WMM organization, rather than misbehaving miscreants. They were just a little too familiar with the runners.

aero2k

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I should qualify that I wasn't using 'clowns' in a derogatory manner. They were actual clowns, contracted by the WMM organization, rather than misbehaving miscreants. They were just a little too familiar with the runners.

Thanks for the clarification! Maybe I read too much negative stuff.

In a way though, the fact that they were official is almost worse - the organisers should ensure that anything they do doesn't impact on safety or comfort. That lot sound nearly as annoying as Marty Morrisey with a microphone!

Krusty_Clown

What I don't understand is why it isn't a vastly more competitive race? Why was only Linda Byrne contesting the win? It's a nice flat course, closed roads, great support, every junction marshalled. if I were a female, I'd be all over it. Is it because of the race's reputation as a fun-run, rather than a competitive race? Have the race organizers moved away from trying to pull in fast running talent?

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

What I don't understand is why it isn't a vastly more competitive race? Why was only Linda Byrne contesting the win? It's a nice flat course, closed roads, great support, every junction marshalled. if I were a female, I'd be all over it. Is it because of the race's reputation as a fun-run, rather than a competitive race? Have the race organizers moved away from trying to pull in fast running talent?

I'd imagine thats down to the organisers. I assume the prizes are that great. I know in the club we aren't encouraged to run it like we would be other races. It'd be a great pull if they could also turn it into a sort of womens national 10k and get the top club runners out competing in it. Club singlets only in elite pen? Or would offering greater prize money take away from the profits the organisers make? I assume they make a huge profit?

I think the problems of people jumping onto the course where ever they feel like it though is what takes away from that though and people know that they might not get a clear run even if they start up the front.

footing

When it started in 1983, the WMM was a true race. By the end of the 1980s, the numbers were falling off (as they did with the DCM), the sponsors weren't queuing up and so the charities were courted to boost participation. Charities asked that walkers be encouraged to take part and the rest is history. Classic tail wagging dog scenario. What was a showcase for women's sport became a "charity event".
It's worth pointing out that anyone not paying for a timing chip will have no problems with cutting corners, taking refreshment and ciggie breaks along the way, etc.

HardyEustace

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

What I don't understand is why it isn't a vastly more competitive race? Why was only Linda Byrne contesting the win? It's a nice flat course, closed roads, great support, every junction marshalled. if I were a female, I'd be all over it. Is it because of the race's reputation as a fun-run, rather than a competitive race? Have the race organizers moved away from trying to pull in fast running talent?

Its not what the organisers want.

Its a complete pain in the bum to get around.

Its way too congested.

You'd need marshals every 300m to stop people hurtling the barriers and then blocking the roads from the elite athletes. If that happened I'd say Livelines switchboard would collapse under the weight of the complaints
"Honestly Joe, I've raised 4 euros and 53p for the local crippled leprachauns foundation, why shouldn't I take a shortcut... its desperate Joe, desperate" and the race would lose a huge chunk of its participants.