Connemarathon 2015 - New Race Director Appointed

doctorchick

Saw this on front page of new Connemarathon website today, not sure what this is about, but I always viewed Ray as Connemarathon, and not sure that anyone could ever replace him as RD.

"NEWS
Following the successful launch of our new website, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Deakin as Race Director of the Connemarathon. Andrew and the team at Dolmen Sports bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the event and we are thrilled to have them on board team Connemarathon!"

RacoonQueen

Not sure why a new race director has to be a big deal (which it seems to be based on what I've seen on facebook today). I'm sure Ray had a part to play in handing over the baton. Perhaps not, but sure Dublin marathon has had a couple of changeovers over the years.

locteau

I disagree, in Dublin it just a big city event. In Connemara there is a community and that special feeling of been a number. I was one of the twelve to run the first one. Connemara was not just about the event. It was about developing running especially the ultra scene and more things that nobodies know about with charities helping new events like portumna....... I am so disappointed.

TFBubendorfer

doctorchick wrote: »

Saw this on front page of new Connemarathon website today, not sure what this is about, but I always viewed Ray as Connemarathon, and not sure that anyone could ever replace him as RD.

I was gonna ask you or Seb what's going on.
Did Ray sell the race?

doctorchick

Thomas, I really don't know what is going on. I did see an entry into the CRO a few months ago that Ray had been taken off the name of directors of Connemara Marathon Ltd. Would be good if the new Connemara Marathon people could let the running community what this is all about as there seems to be so much uncertainty and rumor at the moment..

RayCun

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Not sure why a new race director has to be a big deal (which it seems to be based on what I've seen on facebook today). I'm sure Ray had a part to play in handing over the baton. Perhaps not, but sure Dublin marathon has had a couple of changeovers over the years.

Is it a change in organising company too?

ultrapercy

locteau wrote: »

I disagree, in Dublin it just a big city event. In Connemara there is a community and that special feeling of been a number. I was one of the twelve to run the first one. Connemara was not just about the event. It was about developing running especially the ultra scene and more things that nobodies know about with charities helping new events like portumna....... I am so disappointed.

It is a commercial event like any other and a very successful one at that. Well done to Ray on his part in making it successful and popular.The people closely associated with DCM or any other event for that matter will likely be as nostalgic about their own event as you are about Connemara.

Ed Mc

locteau wrote:

I disagree, in Dublin it just a big city event. In Connemara there is a community and that special feeling of been a number. I was one of the twelve to run the first one. Connemara was not just about the event. It was about developing running especially the ultra scene and more things that nobodies know about with charities helping new events like portumna....... I am so disappointed.

Will this effect the cnm100? Its my goal race for next year.

menoscemo

Ed Mc wrote: »

Will this effect the cnm100? Its my goal race for next year.

Not sure about conn 100 but if it's not happening I think UM1 is planning a 100 mile race next year.....maybe UM1 can confirm this?

doctorchick

The CNM100 race is not affected and the race is still planned for August 2015

locteau

ultrapercy wrote: »

It is a commercial event like any other and a very successful one at that. Well done to Ray on his part in making it successful and popular.The people closely associated with DCM or any other event for that matter will likely be as nostalgic about their own event as you are about Connemara.

It shows me how much some of you don't know about Ray O'Connor and what he did for the sports (does sorry).

Portumna is also a commercial event, and help my athletes to travel to international events with their coach for example. Ireland is very poor at supporting their athletes. Portumna and many events woudl not be there with Ray and without that funding this year, I would not have 1 runner at European marathon champ, 1 runner at World and euro championship in Mountain running, 1 European gold medal age groups, European Junior in swimming, European Cross country team medalist etc.....

it does hurt me hearing this, yea I know I am a softy. Some of us do try to help the sports and keep getting the slag when none of us are millionaire. Again I would not judge events or people when we don't really know what they do. (E.g sponsored Paul Hession to the 2008 Games, lots of charity work that he never talks about unlike some using it for advertising how great they are...)

While I don't know what is happening with CM, Ray and Athenry Ac clubs helped me a lot through hard time from a runner to the wheelchair to come back to even practice sports. Ultra community and 100 club also really help me to go back on track in a personal level.

Connemara was something very special to me from 5th place to last, I feel this change over does not fit and dying to know what is the story.

BY THE WAY : NGB are registered companies so commercial (not charities) ? Doctors, physios and personal trainers, coaches are commercial ventures........ Should we all do it for free ?

Anyway thanks to Ray for what you brought to me and support to me and my athletes.

Seb

ultrapercy

locteau wrote: »

It shows me how much some of you don't know about Ray O'Connor and what he did for the sports (does sorry).

Portumna is also a commercial event, and help my athletes to travel to international events with their coach for example. Ireland is very poor at supporting their athletes. Portumna and many events woudl not be there with Ray and without that funding this year, I would not have 1 runner at European marathon champ, 1 runner at World and euro championship in Mountain running, 1 European gold medal age groups, European Junior in swimming, European Cross country team medalist etc.....

it does hurt me hearing this, yea I know I am a softy. Some of us do try to help the sports and keep getting the slag when none of us are millionaire. Again I would not judge events or people when we don't really know what they do. (E.g sponsored Paul Hession to the 2008 Games, lots of charity work that he never talks about unlike some using it for advertising how great they are...)

While I don't know what is happening with CM, Ray and Athenry Ac clubs helped me a lot through hard time from a runner to the wheelchair to come back to even practice sports. Ultra community and 100 club also really help me to go back on track in a personal level.

Connemara was something very special to me from 5th place to last, I feel this change over does not fit and dying to know what is the story.

BY THE WAY : NGB are registered companies so commercial (not charities) ? Doctors, physios and personal trainers, coaches are commercial ventures........ Should we all do it for free ?

Anyway thanks to Ray for what you brought to me and support to me and my athletes.

Seb

I can see your upset but I cant for the life of me understand how my post offended you so much. Nothing in my post was critical of Connemara Marathon or Ray, in fact I was congratulatory towards him for the job he did as RD. Certainly nobody should work for free and Im sure everyone got what they were owed. The race is a Commercial entity and generates income like other Commercial enterprise and what directors choose to do with that income is their own business. The race is special to you in the same way some races are special to me(DCM Donadea 50k for eg) but thats personal and not relevant outside our own heads. I have no hidden agenda or vested interest and wish everyone involved, past present and future, the best.

locteau

Hey was not upset !

Just sad with the all thing :-)

Just saying commercial does not mean bad, or about money..... Lots of good out of it ! For example Dublin marathon has the marathon mission :-)

Wouldn't t be upset with you Percy :-) I know you are all good !

Enduro

locteau wrote: »

It shows me how much some of you don't know about Ray O'Connor and what he did for the sports (does sorry).

Portumna is also a commercial event, and help my athletes to travel to international events with their coach for example. Ireland is very poor at supporting their athletes. Portumna and many events woudl not be there with Ray and without that funding this year, I would not have 1 runner at European marathon champ, 1 runner at World and euro championship in Mountain running, 1 European gold medal age groups, European Junior in swimming, European Cross country team medalist etc.....

Whoever your athlete is who has been to the European and World mountain running championships, his trip will have almost entirely have been funded by IMRA, with assistance from AAI. The thanks to this belongs to those runners who turn up to IMRA's (volunteer organised non-profit) races, not to commercial race organisers like you.

locteau wrote: »

While I don't know what is happening with CM

Given that I know what is happening with CM, and given how close Ray and yourself are, I don't believe that for one second.

locteau wrote: »

BY THE WAY : NGB are registered companies so commercial (not charities) ? Doctors, physios and personal trainers, coaches are commercial ventures........ Should we all do it for free ?

Ireland's oldest ultra race is the Wicklow Way Ultra (50km). I think its safe to say that this race has done more for ultrarunning in Ireland than any other for multiple reasons. Over the years it has passed through the hands of 3 different groups of race organisers (Maurice Mullins of IUU, Lindie Naughton of Crusaders AC, and finally IMRA). All theses organisations/people were running the race on a non-profit basis. IMRA is not a company, and is completely non-commercial. Nobody who organises an IMRA race recieves and money for doing so. It is all voluntary non-profit non-commercial. So there are a large number of people who have organised, and continue to organise, ultra races in Ireland who are all doing it all for free.

Everyone was sad to see Maurice giving up the organisation at the time, especially for the reasons involved. However the race has since continued and thrived. There is no reason why things would be any different in Conn.

Ray has done a great job of starting and growing the whole connemara collection of races. Races usually stand on their own merits though. Like the WWU, I'm sure the races will continue to thrive into the future.

locteau

Enduro,

Ray is a friend but he has is personal life.and don t know everything about my friends life. Believe what you want.

My Athlete is Tom Hogan if you still wonder for that particular one. IMRA is not a NGB, but yes they are fantastic volunteer organisation under AAI umbrella, Have great respect for some of them like Lindie.

I never said We paid for the Irish team trips, every knows this, I meant we supported our athletes to go All the way with coaching, events, sponsorship, gear etc..... Please don t twist things I said. But for me me to coach full time and support my athletes, Portumna is really helping and never hide anything about it (volunteers on the day are mostly my athletes and family)

I agree race and things will move on, I suppose just reaction I had since I heard on Facebook yesterday. I did try to get more but maybe too early to ask my friends....

RacoonQueen

RayCun wrote: »

Is it a change in organising company too?

I think so...it was Proactive and is now Dolmen Sports

Seb, Connemara is probably my favourite Irish race. You guys don't seem to know anymore than I about what has happened here but I don't really get why you automatically deem this to be a bad thing. Surely it wouldn't be possible for there to be a new RD if Ray hadn't been involved in it being handed over?

Though I did find it interesting to see a certain name in Irish ultra running commenting on the Facebook page for Connemarathon that historically would not have been commenting on that page.

edit: had now read Enduro's post and have become curiouser...

Kurt Godel

2010 called, they want their nonsense NGB political ultrarunning thread back...

If ye heard all this news on a race website maybe that's the best place to rake over these coals? Or pick up the phone/email and find out from him directly why the previous director of a race yaddayaddayadda... Asking loaded questions on Boards about this subject is going to lead in one direction only. Sh*t stirring, and in a week when enough sh*t has been stirred around here already.

locteau

Kurt Godel,

Not really no.....no interest in this really anymore, learned my lesson to talk about it. But you are right, I will ask him directly :-) and keep it for myself.

RacoonQueen

Can someone come back and tell the rest of us if it's juicy please?

Alternatively, enduro please tell all!

Enduro

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Can someone come back and tell the rest of us if it's juicy please?

Alternatively, enduro please tell all!

In a nutshell, this whole thread is a big ruse. In the I.T. world some companies used to undermine their rivals using a tactic called FUD, which stood for Fear, uncertainty and Doubt. Spread enough careful rumours about your rivals and you could fatally undermine confidence in their product. Something very similar is going on here.

It's interesting that someone who is close enough to Ray to say with certainty and conviction that the Conn 100 will be taking place this year can start a thread on the premise that he has no idea about hugely significant events happening in his good friend's life, and pertaining to an event that he himself has been closely involved with for so long. SNIP

Clearly there is something else going on here. And it's a classic FUD stunt. An attempt to undermine the new RDs of the Connemara races by sowing seeds of doubt about how the event will fare without its founding RD, who is of course their very good friend.

RQ, I'm not going to put the reasons up on a public forum. It wouldn't sit well with me to do so. No doubt it will become more widely known over time. You'll be able to look back on this thread and see clearly why I find DoctorChick's and Seb's post so incredulous.

It's unfortunate for Ray that he is no longer the RD of Connemara. We all know that he put in a huge personal effort to make it the race it is today.

But Connemara is a big race... bigger than just one person. It looks to me that the race is in good hands. The new website looks great. The RDs seem very active and responsive on facebook (thanks for pointing that out to me Seb). They're obviously a professional outfit with plenty of experience in race organisation. I see know reason for any fears or doubts about Connemara's future.

doctorchick

For those of you who see the length of this reply the tl;dr is - Enduro is wrong, its not a FUD

Enduro wrote: »

In a nutshell, this whole thread is a big ruse. In the I.T. world some companies used to undermine their rivals using a tactic called FUD, which stood for Fear, uncertainty and Doubt. Spread enough careful rumours about your rivals and you could fatally undermine confidence in their product. Something very similar is going on here.

Well thank you Enduro. For someone who I don't even know (though I know who you are), I have never met, or even shared a conversation with (electronic or otherwise), for having such insight into my personal relationships and my post and my reasons behind why I posted it, I didn't realise that from my simple statement you could get such understanding of my motives. :rolleyes:

Firstly this can not be a FUD as I have no rivals in this (as I need according to your definition of FUD). I am not and never have been an organiser of a race
(including Connemarathon) with which I would be a rival to Dolmen Sports and so therefore I could not be trying to undermine them as a rival. In fact Dolmen sports is, I understand, co-owned by a member of my own Athletics Club and is someone who I have always got on well with and have no personal beef or rivalry with and to be honest I wish them every success in running the race. The race is good for Connemara, it is good for Galway and it is of great benefit to the tourist economies of that part of the country, I don't want it to fail,I have no desire to undermine the confidence in their product and so Enduro I hate to tell you this you are totally wrong when you suggest that my post was a FUD or any other coordinated attempt to undermine the new race directors. In fact there weren't even any rumours in my original post (and I have made no other posts since) - I was quoting a post from the Connemarathons own website saying that Andrew Deakin has been appointed as RD, and hence my first comment (not rumour) about me personally not being sure that anyone could ever replace Ray as RD - no rumour - no FUD.

It's interesting that someone who is close enough to Ray to say with certainty and conviction that the Conn 100 will be taking place this year can start a thread on the premise that he has no idea about hugely significant events happening in his good friend's life, and pertaining to an event that he himself has been closely involved with for so long. SNIP

I can say with absolute certainty and conviction that CNM100 is going ahead in 2015 because on 10th August 2014 Ray told me that the race would go ahead in 2015. He also told approximately 100 people at exactly the same time as myself that the race would be on in 2015. You didn't have to be a personal confidant of Rays to know that information, you just had to be in the same room. But yes I am a friend of Rays, and Yes I have been involved in the CNM100 since its second year. However, believe it or not, I don't socialise with Ray, I only usually see him at races and occasionally when I have direct dealings with him in his business life as the owner of a marketting company. We don't send each other birthday cards or christmas cards, we don't visit each others houses, and to be honest, until recently I didn't even know he had two similar age sons - I thought he had only had one which is why I got very funny looks from Ray when I insisted on calling his son by the wrong name. I wouldn't feel comfortable about asking him anything in his personal life and I most certainly would never ever ask Ray anything about his business dealings - it is
plainly none of my business. If Ray wants to tell me then that is up to Ray to do, and I can tell you that Ray has not told me why he is no longer the race director of Connemarathon. The first time any of this came to my attention was about 2 months ago I noticed that Ray had been replaced as director of Connemara Marathon Limited and I did send him an email asking him what it was about and Ray did not reply to my email, and I am OK with that as to be honest, it was none of my business.

Clearly there is something else going on here. And it's a classic FUD stunt. An attempt to undermine the new RDs of the Connemara races by sowing seeds of doubt about how the event will fare without its founding RD, who is of course their very good friend.

See above. Not a FUD, and to be honest I resent this remark. As I have said, I have no reason to undermine the new RDs, I have nothing to gain in doing so, and I don't know that I know of anyone who persoanlly has anything to gain if I did, I would be more than happy to discuss this with the RDs if they had a problem with this. The fact that none of them have contacted me (and I believe one of the owners of Dolman probably has my personal mobile number in his phone - and if not he is only one call away from my number) is an indication that they also realise I am not trying to undermine them - it is only you Enduro that thinks this. My comment about viewing Ray as Connemrathon is a personal held belief (and one shared by a lot of people) that Ray for me IS the race. The first time I ever met Ray he was screaming at me to get on the right side of the road as I ran up the Devils Mother as I came out of Lennane as I was running the race. I saw Ray several times on his bike that day checking up on people and he was still there at the end shaking peoples hand. This very act is what puts Ray apart from 95% of RDs, whatever race his acts as RD for he is at that finish line, ready with his hand outstretched to greet the next person across the line and do whatever he can for that person and all with a smile. This, for most people, particularly those running the 39 miles is what they look forward to at Connemarathon, and with the greatest respect to the new race organisers, there is no one that can replace Ray in doing this, and for a lot of people, not having Ray there to be the person that they are running towards will make them think twice about doing the race. I have run hundreds of races over the years, and I don't think I have ever seen a race director as invovled with people crossing the line at a race.

Although I have heard rumours about why Ray has stepped down as RD, I am not going to share rumours. Those rumours do however suggest a personal rather than a business reason behind this decision. Enduro, I doubt very much that you have heard these personal reasons from Ray directly and so can only assume that you have only heard rumours too - unless you have some direct connection with the new RD and/or the current directors of Connemara Marathon Limited (Sandra and Adam O'Connor) - if he is not even willing to share those reasons with those you consider to be his bestest buddies.

RQ, I'm not going to put the reasons up on a public forum. It wouldn't sit well with me to do so. No doubt it will become more widely known over time. You'll be able to look back on this thread and see clearly why I find DoctorChick's and Seb's post so incredulous.

If the rumours I have heard are even part of the reason why Ray has stepped down as RD and they become well known then everyone will realise that Seb and I had absolutely no intention of instigating a FUD against the new RDs - Dolmen Sport

It's unfortunate for Ray that he is no longer the RD of Connemara. We all know that he put in a huge personal effort to make it the race it is today. But Connemara is a big race... bigger than just one person. It looks to me that the race is in good hands. The new website looks great. The RDs seem very active and responsive on facebook (thanks for pointing that out to me Seb). They're obviously a professional outfit with plenty of experience in race organisation. I see know reason for any fears or doubts about Connemara's future.

This is the most sensible thing you said in your entire post. Ray did put in a huge amount of effort into this - more than a majority of the people who run the race will ever know. Like Ray knee deep in mud picking up bottles and empty gel wrappers along the length of the race route until it is so dark he has to use a torch to carry on doing it and arm deep in ****e unblocking the toilets in Peacockes. For reasosns stated earlier, for the good of the community I hope this race succeeds as I would hate to see it off the calendar and as I know what other races Dolmen organise they are indeed a professional outfit. However race organisation for Connemarathon was unique in any race I have ever been involved in and it had taken Ray 13 years or so to understand the intricacies on logistics - and even last yearwe were still learning what those were. However for me, Connemarathon without Ray is just another race and I can think of better things to be doing on a cold April morning than getting up at 4am to get out ot Maam Cross.

For the sake of all concerned perhaps we should park all this conjecture about FUDs and personal agendas and wait until such time as either Ray or the new RDs make a public statement

TFBubendorfer

<mod>I have deleted some stuff from 2 posters that contains way too much personal information than should be posted on a public web forum.

I am also locking the thread before it totally descends into a personal slanging match. We have been there before and we do not want a repeat.</mod>

I'm sure we all wish the new RD all the best and hope that the Connemara races will continue. Personally for me the Connemara Ultra is my favourite race of them all and I really hope it will go on from strength to strength.