CARA 7 Mile Road Race 1985 Recalled in Video
Down Memory Lane - Cara 7 1985
Little Island - Glanmire
Sunday December 1st 1985
Tony O'Leary, Leevale AC, coming in to win the CARA 7 1985
58 Minute video on Cork Athletics Vimeo account
1985, a distant memory for some of us.....a piece of history for, probably, most. The images and video are grainy, but give us a glimpse of the safety measures (LOL) of yesteryear, with runners running down the middle of the (old) main Cork-Waterford road, during heavy traffic, in the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon. How anyone wasn't injured...or worse..is probably a miracle!
This was the third and final running of the cara 7, and attracted a phenomenal entry of approx. 950. Even now, a field of 950 would delight most race organisers.
The previous year, 1984, a 14 year Sonia O'Sullivan (misnamed in the results as Sofia) came home in 20th place, in a time of 40:20.
Liam O'Brien, East Cork AC (on left) matches stride with Tony O'Leary, Leevale AC, negotiating traffic, going through Glanmire village
Liam O'Brien, East Cork AC and Tony O'Leary, Leevale AC, approach Dunkettle Roundabout
Obstacle Course - O'Leary and O'Brien weave through traffic on the main Cork-Waterford Road. O'Brien has moved to the hard shoulder facing traffic, while O'Leary makes his break, running down the middle of the National Primary route, ignoring the cars on either side
Chasing group negotiating the Cork-Waterford road
John Walshe, then with Midleton AC, finishes the CARA 7 1985
Some of the 1985 CARA 7 Results
| Pos | Athlete | Club | Time |
| 1 | Tony O'Leary | Leevale AC | 34:51 |
| 2 | Liam O'Brien | East Cork AC | 35:08 |
| 3 | ?? | ?? | |
| 4 | Martin Casey | Togher AC | |
| 5 | Sean Harte | St Finbarrs AC | |
| 6 | Michael Carey | Leevale AC | |
| 7 | Eric Bergin | Leevale AC | |
| 8 | Martin Drake | Youghal AC | |
| 9 | Eric Crockett | St Finbarrs AC | |
| 10 | ?? | St Nicholas AC | |
| 11 | ?? | St Finbarrs AC | |
| 12 | Brian Meade | East Cork AC | |
| 13 | Seamus Hartnett | East Cork AC | |
| 14 | Pat Kerrigan | Mallow AC | |
| 15 | ?? | Leevale AC | |
| 16 | Jerry Murphy | Leevale AC | |
| 17 | John O'Leary | Leevale AC | |
| 18 | John Walshe | Midleton AC | |
| 19 | ?? | ?? | |
| 20 | George Walsh | Youghal AC | |
| 21 | Donie Walsh | Leevale AC | 39:28 |
| 22 | Eddie Connolly | Leevale AC |
Leading Women's Results
| Pos | Athlete | Club | Time |
| 1 | Valerie O'Mahony | Togher AC | |
| 2 | Marion Lyons | St Finbarrs AC | 40:51 |
| 3 | Anne Murphy | Leevale AC | 42:24 |
| 4 | Catherine Speight | Leevale AC |
