Castlebar Parkrun

Amigaman

Looks like the Castlebar Parkrun is in the final stages before launch on the 8th of March . Parkrun site is now live and available for registration for interested runners walkers, joggers -
http://www.parkrun.ie/castlebar/ - is the home page and the course details are here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castlebar/course/ - looks really interesting - good luck to all concerned :-)

Tigerandahalf

Wow surprised that there is one being done here given there is one already 15 mins up the road in Westport.
Are the numbers there for both?

belcarra

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Wow surprised that there is one being done here given there is one already 15 mins up the road in Westport.
Are the numbers there for both?

It's being supported by Mayo Sports Partnership so it probably doesn't really matter what the numbers are like as long as it has that strong support it'll be successful in its own way.
I imagine with Castlebar being the larger town and more central to the county that it should get a decent crowd. Westport may suffer a little but not much.

I suppose it would be rude of me not to come home and run the inaugural Castlebar Parkrun!:)

woody1

suppose theres no chance of one in ballina as well
half hour down the road from me , il be going at some stage

ultrapercy

woody1 wrote: »

suppose theres no chance of one in ballina as well
half hour down the road from me , il be going at some stage

I think Ballina or Clairemorris would make more sense. Even if there was an arrangement with Westport to have alternate weeks it wold be better. Sooner or later this running boom bubble is going to burst. On Sunday 23 Feb there will be 4 road races in Mayo plus Westport parkrun the day before, that is not sustainable.

woody1

be great if there was ballina and they could rotate all 3, possibly would have been a better idea for the sports partnership but fair play to them for getting behind the castlebar one all the same..

belcarra

ultrapercy wrote: »

I think Ballina or Clairemorris would make more sense. Even if there was an arrangement with Westport to have alternate weeks it wold be better. Sooner or later this running boom bubble is going to burst. On Sunday 23 Feb there will be 4 road races in Mayo plus Westport parkrun the day before, that is not sustainable.

I'd be of the opinion if there is demand there for them now then why not offer the supply?
It's natural if/when that demand slackens the supply will diminish likewise.

If, for argument sake, those four events on the 23rd attract 1,000 runners (and Mayo is the 3rd largest County in Ireland so chances are none of them are too close to each other) what would you prefer to see? Two events with 500 or four events with a range of 150 - 450 participants? Or something else? Where is the issue?
Is it a fear that commercial events will drive club fundraisers into the ground? From what I can see that doesn't appear to be happening.
Asking out of genuine interest and not trying to create a storm in a teacup!:)

belcarra

woody1 wrote: »

be great if there was ballina and they could rotate all 3, possibly would have been a better idea for the sports partnership but fair play to them for getting behind the castlebar one all the same..

Rotation is not an option in Parkruns. The World over they are held every week early on a Saturday morning (usually 9:00am in most Countries but us relaxed Irish seem to be the exception with our 9:30am starts!) in each venue unless some serious incidents occur.

If there are people interested in ballina as a venue it's up to the locals to push for it. It's VERY possible for it to happen, just needs someone to drive it.

woody1

fair enough
dont think it would be feasible to have castlebar westport and ballina running together, just taking numbers off each other..

runsir

belcarra wrote: »

Rotation is not an option in Parkruns. The World over they are held every week early on a Saturday morning (usually 9:00am in most Countries but us relaxed Irish seem to be the exception with our 9:30am starts!) in each venue unless some serious incidents occur.

If there are people interested in ballina as a venue it's up to the locals to push for it. It's VERY possible for it to happen, just needs someone to drive it.

Belleek woods would be the only place in Ballina, don't think it would be that suitable personally.

belcarra

runsir wrote: »

Belleek woods would be the only place in Ballina, don't think it would be that suitable personally.

Not familiar with Belleek woods but have heard it's a bit hilly?
If that is the off putting factor then check out the Balbriggan route which I hear is very hilly.
Of course people may prefer to travel to Castlebar if its an option of a flat vs. hilly course and then Ballina would probably struggle alright.

runsir

belcarra wrote: »

Not familiar with Belleek woods but have heard it's a bit hilly?
If that is the off putting factor then check out the Balbriggan route which I hear is very hilly.
Of course people may prefer to travel to Castlebar if its an option of a flat vs. hilly course and then Ballina would probably struggle alright.

No it's not hilly at all, just could be difficult to marshall....It would certainly be a different type of run though. The surface has improved recently. Ballina Fit4Life would probably be the ones to set it up if it did happen.
Would be great to see it happening though.

eliwallach

belcarra wrote: »

Rotation is not an option in Parkruns. The World over they are held every week early on a Saturday morning

That's not a strong enough reason for rotation not to be an option IMO.

Incidentally, isn't it interesting that The Parkrun phenomonen is taking off in towns and large towns, and not in our major cities (Dublin notwithstanding).

martyboy48

eliwallach wrote: »

That's not a strong enough reason for rotation not to be an option IMO.

Incidentally, isn't it interesting that The Parkrun phenomonen is taking off in towns and large towns, and not in our major cities (Dublin notwithstanding).

I've wondered that myself... My home city of Galway, I would have thought would have been an early location, but no, no sign of one at all. then I was thinking of all the other cities I thought would have one, and nothing...

I know it's probably just a case of someone taking the lead on organising/getting the ball rolling, but I would have thought that wouldn't be a problem with the amount of people out running in these locations...

Ososlo

martyboy48 wrote: »

I've wondered that myself... My home city of Galway, I would have thought would have been an early location, but no, no sign of one at all. then I was thinking of all the other cities I thought would have one, and nothing...

I know it's probably just a case of someone taking the lead on organising/getting the ball rolling, but I would have thought that wouldn't be a problem with the amount of people out running in these locations...

SO what's stopping you???:D

martyboy48

1.The early morning start times wouldn't normally suit me.
2. I'm still a solo runner with no club connections, and don't know enough runners from different clubs that would help out.
3. To quiet/shy to take the lead.....

Would help out though if I heard someone needed help...

Amigaman

@ Martyboy - so get in touch with Matt Shields the parkrun country coordinator ( matt@parkrun.com ) and express your interest , he will I'm sure be able to help you get in-touch with others that may be trying to get a parkrun together in Galway - do it I guarantee it , you wont regret it ,,, its a great way to start a Saturday..I'm a solo runner with no club affiliations but once a week I get to run with a crowd and it adds a nice social aspect to my running...after a while parkrun gets under your skin :-) - 23 parkruns done only another 27 until I join the "50" club.....50 before 50 is my new motto :-)

belcarra

eliwallach wrote: »

That's not a strong enough reason for rotation not to be an option IMO.

Eh, what are you on about??:rolleyes:
You are saying that the format used Worldwide by the main organisers is not enough of a reason to allow for your flippant idea of rotation??
Off you go so and have a word with them and looking forward to seeing how this idea evolves!

In more realistic news I see there is talk of a Ballina event being organised also.

belcarra

I ran the inaugural Castlebar event last Saturday and it was a great success.
111 finishers on the day (it'd be interesting to see if Westport attendance was adversely affected) on a challenging 2 lap course.
The first lap is slightly longer but includes a smaller hill (5m climb over 50m) and a large hill (10m climb over 50m) with the second lap only having the smaller hill repeated.
A pretty stiff wind was blowing on the day which made things even tougher but this is the most scenic parkrun I've done so far (includes St. Anne's, Marlay and Malahide).
The two laps are around a lake and if you got this on a calm sunny day it would be a pure pleasure. I didn't actually think Castlebar had such a quality amenity as it's kinda hidden away but I'll definitely be back every time I return West.

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

(it'd be interesting to see if Westport attendance was adversely affected)

Doesn't look like it made much difference.
http://www.parkrun.ie/westport/results/eventhistory/

woody1

belcarra wrote: »

I ran the inaugural Castlebar event last Saturday and it was a great success.
111 finishers on the day (it'd be interesting to see if Westport attendance was adversely affected) on a challenging 2 lap course.
The first lap is slightly longer but includes a smaller hill (5m climb over 50m) and a large hill (10m climb over 50m) with the second lap only having the smaller hill repeated.
A pretty stiff wind was blowing on the day which made things even tougher but this is the most scenic parkrun I've done so far (includes St. Anne's, Marlay and Malahide).
The two laps are around a lake and if you got this on a calm sunny day it would be a pure pleasure. I didn't actually think Castlebar had such a quality amenity as it's kinda hidden away but I'll definitely be back every time I return West.

around lough lannagh i presume, lovely spot, the harlequin race goes through it, can bring kids and theyl have something to do whilst im running

plodder

I found that spot once by chance when looking for somewhere to park and eat my lunch when passing through. The lake looks lovely all right and I'd say there's a nice wilderness feel to the route. Look forward to running it down there soon.

Amigaman

the Math would indicate an unqualified Mayo success and an inspired binary parkrun location/s
On Saturday Westport which would average 65 parkrunners had 42 but Castlebar had 23 parkrunners that had more then 1 run but less the 25 ...so safe to assume that these were normally at Westport . There were 86 net new parkrunners at the event 77 of which recorded a time so my guess is that in time the 2 events will balance out to an average of 75-80 each , a great success for Castlebar + Westport parkrun .
On a different but related topic Matt recently updated that there was "A lot of interest around the country from other locations like Wexford, New Ross, Killkenny, Portaoise, Limerick, Galway, Ballina, Enniscorthy to name but a few" - so expect new parkruns in the coming months and if you want to get involved organizing a parkrun @ your location drop Matt a line @ matt@parkrun.com :-)

slingerz

Somewhere like Killarney could really do well with a Parkrun. Plenty routes to follow in the demense as well

Amigaman

With a start /finish out by Ross Castle that would be a very nice parkrun