Cork City Marathon Early-Bird Closes on March 31st

fShare

Tweet

Two Days Left for Cork City Marathon Early-Bird

March 31st 2017

The Early-Bird option for the Cork City Marathon, Half-Marathon and Marathon Relay ends in two days time, at midnight on Friday night, March 31st 2017.

After Friday next, the entry fee for each of the events will rise by €10.  There will be a further €10 increase for entries received during April, with another €10 again for entries received after the April 30th cut-off and before the May 12th final date for entries.

General Update

This year, the Marathon moves to Sunday, following the lead of the 2016 Dublin Marathon. To-date, entries for all categories are up on last year, however the usual last-minute rush is yet to come.  With Friday's early-bird deadline looming, the incentive of a €10 discount normally leads to a spike in entries, so, after this weekend, the numbers trend should become clearer.

Course Measurement & Management/Stewarding

Course measurement is in progress, and the route is currently being 'tweaked' to ensure that the Marathon Start and Finish are on Patrick St.  The change from a Monday to a Sunday has brought many 'headaches' which need to be resolved;

Last year's route went past many churches and other places of worship of many denominations. This wasn't a major problem in previous years, due to the Monday, however this year's Sunday event means that the route must avoid many of the churches, and, where this is just impossible, traffic management solutions have had to be developed to deal with the situation.

Last weekend saw much of the Marathon measurement taking place under Garda protection, with traffic on the South Link, South Ring, including the Jack Lynch Tunnel, and the Tivoli Dual-Carrigeway, being held back by a protective shield of Garda jeeps and squad cars, while the course was being measured, along the shortest possible route, ahead of the Garda barrier.

Half-Marathon

The Half-Marathon route has yet to be finalised. The route has been finalised, however necessary changes, as outlined above, to the Marathon route may give rise to small changes in the planned route.  While details of this year's route won't be disclosed until all measurement has been complete and signed off, Cork City Marathon have resolved that the Half-Marathon start will not be complicated by turns and switchbacks close to the start.  While not 'giving anything away', that's as revealing as it's going to get for now. ----Watch this space!

The change to Sunday has also brought personnel resource complications; Sunday generally means a reduced Garda availability, so more non-Garda personnel are required to manage/steward the route.  Further pressure is being put on resources as there is a Munster Athletics Championship event in Ennis, on Marathon day, depleting the Cork Athletics crew, and, in particular, experienced key personnel.  Consequently Cork Athletics is asking for volunteers to assist on the day.  Indeed volunteers are not limited to Cork Athletics, as another Cork City Marathon partner, Cork BHAA, and the Cork City Marathon itself also seek volunteers, so, if you are available, why not approach any of the groups. [A special Volunteer Appeal will be posted on the Cork Athletics website in the next few days]

fShare

Tweet