Report and Photographs Courtesy of Tom Hunt Mayo AC
The Ballina 10k, which took place on Sunday, was the sixth race in the 2008 Mayo AC C&C Cellular Road Race League. Conditions were very wet on the day but did not dampen the enthusiasm of participants. This popular course starts and finishes beside the Moy and is a nice combination of town and the sylvan surroundings of Beleek.
Mayo AC's John Byrne was the clear winner in 32.12, showing the great form he is in at the moment following his PB in 9th place the National Half Marathon the previous week. In that same race in Waterford his clubmate Ronnie Naylor won silver individual in the o50 category in 80.45 and helped Mayo AC to gold in the group 2 masters team section. This was a long awaited and well deserved national medal for Ronnie who has been a great servant and supporter of athletics in Ballina for over 35 years. On Sunday, he was the winner of the o50 category in an excellent 36.22. The women's race also featured many of Mayo AC's successful team in Waterford. Mary Gleeson from Claremorris was the winner by a big margin in 38.10, just outside her winning time of last year. Olivia Feeney (Sligo AC) was second and a resurgent Ann Murray (Mayo AC) was back to fine form in third in 41.47. Kathy Connolly (Mayo AC) was 4th in a personal best of 42.14 and helped Mayo AC to first place in the team section.
Many athletes enjoy running in the rain and it enabled quite a few PBs on the day. Among the Mayo AC achievers were Dave Huane who finished in 37.34, PJ Hall in 41.05, Breege Staunton in 47.48 while o50 Chris O'Connell (49.05) knocked a minute off his Carramore time and Mary Moylett finished strongly in 49.06.
Despite the popularity of this 10k course the number of participants seem to be dropping in recent years and the organisers may need to look into the reasons for this as other races around the province seem to be increasing their numbers recently.
Ballina is the venue for the next race, the 7th in the league, the 'Terry Fox' 4 miles on Sunday 12th October. This race takes place annually at venues all over the world in support of the Terry Fox Foundation which raises funds for cancer research in memory of a brave young Canadian.
The race starts and finishes beside the track at Beleek.
Ballina 10k 2008
Full and Final Result Attached to This Article
Ballina 10k 2008
great race thanks
Speaking as a participant, when you say that the organisers should look into the reasons for reduced numbers... I can't see much to improve on - I can only think that the rain had to be the major factor on the day.
The course was good, the entry fee was cheap, changing facilities were spot on, there were medals and grub for all and plenty of prizes in all categories.. all in all a great value-for-money race and well done all in Ballina AC for organising it.
Ballina 10k
As a participant I too enjoyed the race. Good fast course, hot showers afterwards and plenty sustinence on what was a very wet day. Perhaps suggestions could be made as to how runners could be retained as opposed to guess work. I assume the organising committee would welcome constructive feedback but for me it was a great experience and I was happy to go home with a medal and indeed a trophy - my first in many years!
Fair Points...
Some fair points here, but it's also true that there isn't a race in the country that couldn't improve in some way or other from one year to the next. It's probably also true to say that not every little hitch or glitch at a race will affect every participant. Sometimes two people will come away from the same event with very different impressions and they'd both be correct.
Well done to Mark on a great run - once again - not sure what we're going to have to do to catch that man!
Numbers?
I too participated in what was a very enjoyable and well organised race in Ballina, and would recommend it to anyone.
I believe that although the rain may have put off some people, I think it was more likely due to the fact that there were 2 other 10Ks on in the West of Ireland on Sunday - one in Clifden and one in Scariff. In fact, you have the results of the Scariff 10K on your website, and I counted 5 runners from Ballina who ran in that race! There was also an 8K on in Tuam the day before, and I am aware of other people who did not run it because they are in training for the Dublin marathon. So, considering all these things, the turnout in Ballina was not bad at all.
For those who did not run it, it's a very nice course - not too hilly, not too flat, a variation of town and country running, it's very well marshalled, and there's a fine spread afterwards of sandwiches, cake, buns and plenty of hot tea, which was most welcome on a very wet day.
Ballina 10k Busy Sunday!
Hi there,
I took part in this run Sunday. Good race by now I think we would all be shocked if we did not have rain!!! I would like to say "Thanks to all who were involved in the organisation like Mark said loads of food and great changing facilities" We must remember there were three runs on that day. You had Ballina 10k, Scariff 10k and Clifden 10k so it was a busy Sunday. Well done to all.