Fixturre Congestion
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| David Dinsmore | Jul 2 2024, 8:36am | Last weekend saw the Connacht Championship races being held on Mweelrea and Nephin. There were 44 runners at the former and 27 at the latter. On the Sunday, same day as Nephin, 53 runners took part in the league race on Benbulben - also in Connacht! Was this an oversight or deliberate? Obviously not all of the 53 from Sligo would have come to Mayo, but why have a league race clashing with a championship race? Surely that devalues both? Running races with relatively small numbers of competitors puts a strain on resources in terms of volunteers. Maybe there are good reasons for this situation. I'm a newcomer to IMRA and admit I don't know the organisation well. But looking at it as a newcomer it doesn't make a lot of sense to have a situation like last weekend. If we want a championship to be taken seriously then it should be afforded protection from fixture clashes |
| Liam Vines | Jul 2 2024, 10:56am | Hi David Benbulben was on on the Saturday same day as Mweelrea and also Mullaghcarn Giant not too far away in the Ulster Championship. IMRA has over 130 races on the calendar so there is always going to be congestion during the busy summer months. There are many reasons for the placement of races on the calendar.. * Spacing between championship races * Availability of people * Availability of the mountain Just some of what has to be taken into account when laying out the fixtures The Connacht Championship is determined by the Irish Championship as Mweelrea is an IC race which is kinda determined by the availability of Carrauntoohil in two weeks time also for the Irish Championship. Just hope this gives a little insight into what happens when the fixtures group sit down to start putting the next year’s calendar together.. We absolutely do want the Championship races to be taken seriously but we also want the people running in them to be doing so safely. Championship races and League races are very different to each other. The route being fully marked for league races brings great comfort to runners so marked routes generally get more of an entry than championship races which are unmarked and need an ability to navigate using map and compass. I would think that there wouldn’t have been too many who ran Benbulben that would have taken on Mweelrea or Nephin. This is just going from seeing the numbers who run the Leinster League races and then the numbers who take on the Leinster Championship races.. We are always trying to create the perfect Calendar just not sure it exists… |
| David Dinsmore | Jul 2 2024, 11:38am | Thanks for that Liam. If I could suggest that the Nephin and Mweelrea races alternate the days so that Nephin isnb't always playing second fiddle? People could still have the barbecue on Saturday night in Westport before running Mweelrea on the Sunday. Just a thought |
| Turlough Conway | Jul 2 2024, 12:40pm | Hi David. This was an oversight (probably on my part) and was noticed when the whole schedule was put together. Changing the West League schedule would have entailed a good lot of juggling and I made the call at the time that the clash between the two races would be the lesser evil of the reorganization that might be entailed to avoide it. I'd revisit that now as more people than expected wanted to do both (including likely podium folks) and also the principle should be as you rightly state that Champ races do not clash with other mountain races in the regional area the championship covers. Hope to look at all the schedule in the Region as one next year to ensure it doesn't arise and apologies to those affected. While I am here it would be great to see an expanded Connaught(Ulster?) Championships with options of other races in the region to complement the main weekend. |
| Brendan Lawlor | Jul 2 2024, 12:59pm | Hi David, Liam and Turlough It is truly fantastic that mountain running is developing so positively in the West and you are all to be congratulated for your efforts in bringing this about. Thank you to Laura and Peter for RD'ing this years Connaught Champs events and I think its only a matter of time before local RD's take on these races. However I do think Stuart Scott will not lightly give up custodianship of his beloved UnHoly BBQ, but thats for another day! |
| David Power | Jul 2 2024, 1:14pm | Fixture congestion? I thought I stumbled upon a GAA forum here -:) With Mayo exiting the championship early, I thought all the intercounty footballers might have turned up. David, a good point, well made. Hopefully we're all interested in making the sport more inclusive and accessible to all across Ireland. In some ways, a good problem to have: too many races. Just shows the progress that has been made in the number of races in Connaught / North West in recent years. Well done to all involved. Now when will the Connaught Championships be on GAAGO? |
| Laura Flynn | Jul 2 2024, 2:51pm | It’s nice to read a respectful and informed debate on this subject. Point well-made David and well-explained by Liam. The positive perspective is the spread of our races into the North-West and crucial to this, as Brendan says, is having people on the ground with the local knowledge and willingness to put their hands up and to put in the hours, such as Turlough, Rosie, Anne Marie, David…That’s the hard bit, the easy bit is coming up with the ideas. @davepower - even better than Gaago Dave, we’ve actually hit the headlines in today's edition of The Western People. Lovely photos of first 3 males and females at Mweelrea and a short write-up. |
| David Dinsmore | Jul 2 2024, 3:07pm | Thanks everybody. As a newcomer I was wary of treading on toes (again) Sorry about the errors in the Western article - some confusion over the results and I don't know you all yet. But it made the front page and should make people aware. David Sands and I would like to propose that we hold next year's Nephin Championship race and West league race on the same day - using the two courses obviously. People would have the option and it would bring a lot of runners together. Prize giving in Leonard's obviously! We'd RD and organise volunteers. What do people think? There are also other venues which could be used for races, probably league to start with. Check out the Keenagh Loop of 12Km, mostly bog or the Drumleen Trail, about 6km on forest tracks. Other possibilities are in the Nephin Beg range. Go West young man - and woman - and not so young! |
| Turlough Conway | Jul 3 2024, 2:38pm | Just had a thought on that David D and Dave S. If You had the League race uphill only and finishing at the summit, you would get a lot more continuing on to complete the Champs race (easier descent that way too arguably) and it would mean that contenders for both races would not have to choose and could complete both. Might require 2 summit marshalls but doable. Someone with alcohol poisoning from the campsite 'fireside sing song' might be persuaded to be a secodn marshall? |
| Joe Lalor | Jul 3 2024, 2:58pm | Great to hear the Keenagh Loop mentioned, it would make a cracking route. |
| Joe Lalor | Jul 3 2024, 3:18pm | I'm sure the Keenagh Loop is lovely but I meant to promote the Letterkeen Loop, which would make a cracking 12 km route in the Nephin Begs. |
| David Dinsmore | Jul 3 2024, 4:05pm | That's a great suggestion Turloiugh! Definitely one to consider. We had no trouble getting a summit marshal for the last league race and I'm sure we could find more if needed. When the Up and Over was run there were two at the summit and others on the route. Joe, I agree the Letterkeen Loop would make a good course. There are lots of possibilities for all ability levels |
