Results of Ballycotton 5 - August 1985

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Ballycotton 5 Mile Road Race Results 1985

Ballycotton

Race 4 of Ballycotton Summer Series

Thursday August 22nd 1985

A BLE Permitted event

Organised and hosted by Ballycotton Running Promotions, in association with East Cork AC

This course was measured by John Walshe, Athletics Ireland National Grade Measurer

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Report and Results of Ballycotton 5 Mile 1985

This report by John Walshe, and photos by Fr. Liam Kelleher, appeared in the October-November 1985 issue of  Marathon Magazine, Vol. 23, No 8

First six in this year’s NIKE/CM.P. Ballycotton Summer Road Race series:
(L to R) Bryan Meade, Denis McCarthy, Tony Duggan, Rickie Burke, Tony O’Leary, Liam O’Brien (winner)

The fourth and final event in the 1985 Ballycotton Summer Road Race Series took place in the village of Ballycotton itself, on the evenlng of August 22nd. Liam O’Brien, winner of the previous three races, held in the surrounding villages, was again first across the line.

Liam once more took the overall title, recording a record time of 1:35:47 for the four ‘fives’. Of the 28 summer races held since 1977, Liam has taken part in 24 and has finished first on no less than 20 occasions, quite some record. He also reduced Ray Treacy's Ballycotton ‘5’ course record, which has stood since 1979 at 23:47, by six seconds.

Tony O’Leary broke twenty four minutes, in second, and also took the overall runner-up award. Tony Ryan finished third, and last years series winner, Rickie Burke, was fourth on the night, and third in the overall rankings.

The course record was broken also in the ladies’ race, with Lucy O’Donohue recording 28:34, which was a half-minute inside Anne Murphy’s time of last year. Marian Lyons equalled the record, in second place, and Catherine Hennessy, only fifth on the night, took the overall prize from Joan Hough and Helen Casey.

In the veterans section, George Walsh was first in 26:35, and won the overall in this category for the first time, from thrice winner John O’Leary, with Willie Cronin in third. First o/45 on the night was Derry O’Driscoll, in 26:54, and first o/50 Flor O’Leary, in an impressive 28:10, with Michael Harte the winner o/55, in 32:14.

The twelve overall prizes were sponsored by NIKE, and each runner competing in the four races received a souvenir plaque, courtesy of C.M.P. DAIRY. The entry fee on the final night was “increased” to £1.50, and from this a sum of £100 was donated to Gorta. The local Community Group provided tea and biscuits for all after the race, and a new innovation was the provision of result sheets of the first fifty finishers on the night.

Ballycotton Running Promotions compiling the results of Ballycotton '5' using their unique tags system.

(L to R) Theresa Ahern, Eleanor Canty, Ann Murray, Margaret Flynn, John Whyte

Again, the complete results were available within a few days, and can be had from the organisers. With an average of over 200 runners in each race, the series continues to attract runners, from not alone Cork, but, this year, from Waterford and Kilkenny, which proves that the well organised and value for money races will retain their popularity in the future.

Webmaster's Note: These days, many are disappointed when race results are not instantly available, perhaps with instant text messaging. Social media comments frequently post, maybe just a couple of hours after an event, 'complaints' that the results 'are late'.  The situation was vastly different just 35 years ago, when 'The Net' was only being born, and wouldn't be widely available for another 10 plus years. If you were lucky, maybe a few weeks later, you got a copy of the results, or maybe just a brief look at someone else's copy.

As can be seen in the race report above, the Ballycotton crew were innovative, with first 50 results available on the night, and printed results available several days later. How things have moved on! ...And people's expectations have changed.

Start of Ballycotton ‘5' fourth and final event in 1985 Ballycotton Summer series. Starter: Dan McCarthy (Chairman East Cork Board)

 Liam O'Brien winning Ballycotton '5'

Results courtesy of Ballycotton Running Promotions

Synopsised Results

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