Slieve Donard
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Martina Hawkins | Feb 26 2013, 11:08am | Online Registration is now open on Newcastle AC website. Entry fee is due on day of race. Details here: http://www.newcastleac.org/?page_id=3005 |
| Niamh O' Gorman | May 10 2013, 9:38am | Anyone heading up from dublin and want to carpool? |
| Gerard Cunningham | May 10 2013, 1:13pm | Hi Niamh - or anyone else looking for a lift (Niamh gets first option!)- I'll be heading up from Dundrum via Stillorgan and Booterstown with room for one more if that's any good. 0h Ate 7 - 636-9461 |
| Mark King | May 12 2013, 10:36am | I would like to thank the IMRA runner, his wife & kids , whose names I don't know for taking Kevin Grogan home yesterday. It was a massive help to the organisers and epitomises the spirit of the mountain running fraternity. I trust you all got home safely & a speedy recovery to Kevin. |
| Derek Kellett | May 12 2013, 6:43pm | All home safe & sound. |
| Bernard Fortune | May 12 2013, 8:43pm | Where were all you phantom IMRA runners yesterday who turn up at Trial races and represent us at worlds and mysteriously disappear when the Irish champs come round.We needed you badly yesterday at Slieve Donard where we got a roasting from the local lads.Nice to see you in future champsionship races if it suits.Meanwhile we supporters of Irish championships will plod on regardless. |
| Richard Nunan | May 13 2013, 7:06pm | Fair play to Derek and Mick for walking Kevin down off the mountain "Balck Stairs route" in pretty horrid conditions !! From assisting him with his mandatory Jacket, waiting and them walking him down off his fall, taking him to and waiting to Newry hospital, and then driving his car home to kildare!! Kevin suffered a clear break to the arm just below the shoulder.... Legend lads!!! Thanks to Mark's first aid and Team also !! Speedy recovery to Kevin!! |
| Ronan Hickey | May 15 2013, 3:46pm | Sounds like a savage race. Fair play to the lads for taking Kevin down. Not the first time the Kellets have put aside their races to rescue runners. Strong words Bernard and it would definitely be great to see much larger representation for the NIMRA race, especially after having seen the gang of NIMRA runners, including Mr. King on this thread, that come all the way down to run Carrauntoohil. I have to ask though, as someone who appears to have a record of having run 173 IMRA races and having only volunteered at 3 (1.7%) could that be classed as being a "supporter of the Irish Championships". Or are your volunteerings done off-book as I believe some people's are who don't want to us the computer system. Apologies if I've misread and made a mistake...it wouldn't be the first time I've done that! :-) Ronan |
| Peter O'Farrell | May 15 2013, 5:40pm | It's all about incentives and reading the rules of the competition. "The Irish Championship is run on five major peaks well spread throughout the country. Like all Championship races they are generally not marked. The best three results from five count." Say I'm a fast trial/trail runner and I've been seduced by this fell-running lark I read about in the bukes. Now say I'm a fast trial runner who can "do the calculation" as the mighty Séan Kelly might say. "The best three results from five count" As a fast trial runner I've a big serious head on me and have other important training and racing goals this and every year. Why go do a race where the organisers say in the briefing notes that local knowledge is an advantage? Why do a race where some Northern Irish savages are going to bury me with their local knowledge and their very impressive descending ability? No No No. I'll go and try my luck at Carantoohill, it's the biggest in the land after all and I've a teeny bit of romance in my soul. Lugnaquille is the easiest and then I decide whether the weekend of the Connacht Champs is more alluring then Galteemore. Onto the incentives; Option A: Competition. The Irish Champion, let's call him Brian Furey, should be offered the chance to race in the British Championships the following year with his travel and accomodation expenses paid for. He has beaten the best on offer in our small pond, we should give him a chance to try against a higher level of competition (if he wants to go that is) Option B: Money. The more the better. If there is 1000 euro available to the winner of each of the 5 events with a further 2000 euro going to the winner of the league we might get some more triallists out. Option C: Prestige. The Irish Champion is an automatic pick on the following year's Up and Down international team |
| Derek Kellett | May 16 2013, 10:32am | Peter, I think you have summed it up very well. Let me take a massive liberty & paraphrase, "Put nothing in, take everything out". I don't think Bernard like myself has any issue with people reading the rules, running 3 out of 5 races & let the best man win, good luck, fair play. As someone who "particapated" in a trial the feedback I got was that this was a handy way into an international singlet. I felt a disdain for me, a telly tubby enjoying the exercise. In reality I feel the vast majority of us who take part on a Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday with our €7 a race & doing our bit around the place that keeps the show on the road deserve a little more respect. Option A; I couldn't agree more & probably second place too. Option B; Put up the race fees for the majority, to "attract" competitors who don't want to be there in the first place.... for me, no thanks. Option C; Agree. As a caviate to what I've said above I'm open minded as regards what other IMRA races triallists take part & be competitive in. I am led to understand that international races can take a different format to a quick run up Donard. However asking that prospective representatives for our organisation run a minimum of "X" races with the rest of us league, championship etc. is not a lot to ask. It must be galling for the likes of Bernard who put in a massive effort to be competitive, to see others that they haven't seen from one end of the year to another to come looking for whatever goodies are on offer. |
| Brendan Lawlor | May 16 2013, 11:13am | A considerable proportion of the associations resources go to subsidize these international teams, and some(but by no means all) of the participants have very little to do with Irish Mountain running. It might be time for a review and supporting some of the true Irish mountain running champions in there endeavors would certainly be more popular with the great unwashed, of which I count myself a proud member |
| Greg Byrne | May 16 2013, 1:11pm | I can already see this going back to the old argument about how much goes to the internationals. The original question was how do we promote the Irish Champs and get more participation in weekend races, not how to reward John, or Joan, or those who do win. At the same time, why would entry fees have to go up to provide decent prizes for National Championship races? Is IMRA close to insolvency? The prizes in option B might be juicy, but they're only a suggestion. How about €250 a race and €1000 to the national champ? It probably only covers petrol & accommodation. It may well attract 'pot-hunters', but so be it if you're trying to increase the quality at the top of the field. As the quality increases so to will the number of people investing to recce's of the course, not a trivial expense for some travelling from say Ballymena to Carrauntoohil. From another standpoint depending on your coaching and personal desires many who train seriously to peak for a race might have 5-6 races you really target in a year. So to get these guys to focus on the 5 Irish Champs as well as the Trials, the Europeans and the Worlds you need some pretty convincing carrots. In Ireland we also have national, provincial and county championships in cross country, track and road running as well. Those races get AAI medals that say you or your club the best in the land and are much more prestigious on a clubhouse wall. That is before you think about the amount of road races offering 200 - 500 euro to the winner. In the end the question is do we want more depth at the top of the sport to satisfy the original question or do we want to make mountain running a recreational activity with a vibrant community of regular runners or do we want both? Personally I think a combination of Options A and B would be a great promotion for the National Championships, even if it just gets more IMRA runners out on the weekend or attracts the local hot-shots to each race. If we continue to offer the winner of a Championship race the choice between a bottle of wine and box of Celebrations then this thread will be rehashed every year. |
| Eoin Keith | May 16 2013, 1:47pm | Of Peter's list, Options C sounds by far the best to me. Option A sounds to me like elevating someone else's championships way above our own, and ecouraging the Irish champion not the come back and defend his/her title. Personally, I do think the IMRA's prize structure could do with some adjusting, but I don't think we should be putting up big winning prizes to attract pot hunters either. Those of you with long memories will know that I have plenty of opinions on the absense of some of IMRA's International runners from our domestic leagues and championships (and volunteering roles too, for that matter), and would be of the opinion that to get funding from IMRA (as opposed to winning selection at a trial race) there should be a minimum level participation required. Athletics Ireland require that carded athletes take part in their national championships, if I recall correctly. |
| Turlough Conway | May 16 2013, 2:39pm | But the Irish championship is already stronger by the First step of inclusion of the (NIMRA) Slieve Donard race. Step 2: should follow that more IMRA and NIMRA runners participate in the Irish championships. The quickest way for this to happen is to send a full blown scouting party (50 seater coach) up to Newcastle next year, with the aim of a large IMRA presence. This would make for a very high standard race. As far as i can see from reports and feedback, we are more than welcome there and they are enthusiastic about having their most prestigious race as part of the Irish champs. (That said we need a strong scalping party to bring home the bacon.) Id also suggest try and get a deal for accommodation options. Next step would be that NIMRA runners head down to Carrauntoohil or over to Nephin, (for revenge hopefully), to try and win the champs, or just to enjoy some great mountain racing/running not a million miles from home. Hard to get them outta the Mournes apparently, but a yearly trip to teh Reeks would be hard to resist once bitten. I think IMRA can help with this by arranging information or deals on accommodation for travelling runners. I guess the prizes could be better but not to attract pot hunters. Winner of Irish champs to be included in Int up and Down as another carrot for IMRA/NIMRA runners. Thats my two sense. The best way is to facilitate a stronger champs is to embrace and maximise the new All Ireland champs structure. I think IMRA have a roll to play in promoting it for the rest of this year and next year. |
| pat barry | May 16 2013, 4:30pm | The price money in UK Fell running (including championship races) would be little more than "pocket money". It is the atmosphere of taking part that matters. A race with typically 200 runners would jump to 500 if it was a championship race that year then back to 200 the next year. This year's Edale Skyline filled up 500 places in 10 hrs after enteries opened Very slightly related, the UK spent a massive amount of money on the Olympics, which really improved sport at the very elite level. One of the justifications for that was it would inspire the populace to get off their fat @rse and get out to do something. Many experts seriously question that logic saying the money would have been better spent at the grass routes paying for facilities and coaches around the country. Likewise would paying 1000 euro really pull up the general standard in mountain races or just put money in the pockets of mercenaries? |
| Mark King | May 18 2013, 6:31pm | Dear all, I am sorry to change the threat, which by the way is most interesting. However, I have some very sad news. On Thursday past, at Race 5 of the "Hill & Dale" series, a most respected mountain runner and pioneer of Fell Running in NI took ill and died - Denis Rankin. The race organisers had all bases covered, in that medics and Mountain Rescue volunteers were on hand. Despite the best endeavours of all those present Denis could not be revived. Although I was at the race, I thankfully did not witness the events, notwithstanding this, I did observe the valiant efforts of the rescue team, several of whom went back onto the mountain despite having completed the race. Several of the competitors who are from a medical background were also on-hand immediately. I had only been casually acquainted with Denis (albeit over many years), however his accomplishments are well known by those who have been around for the last twenty/thirty years. For those who are interested there is a brief resumé of Denis's achievements on the NIMRA website. A sad loss to the mountain running community. |
