You absolutely need to read Ian O’Riordan's latest column in the Irish Times:
Say it ain't so: Are the Irish now soft? Even the Irish are now cancelling cross country races when it rains
LRC Community/Where to Run/Race Reviews
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It starts with this anecdote:
Ian wrote:
John Treacy tells a great story about waking up on the morning of the 1979 World Cross-Country in Limerick.
The rain had been lashing against his hotel window the evening before, right through the night, and it was still hammering down that morning.
“Christ above, that’s some rain out there,” said his older brother Ray, sleeping in the hotel bed opposite and also running for Ireland that day. “The course will be an absolute mud bath.”
“Perfect for me,” said John. “That’s going to scare off the softer runners. I’m definitely going to win today.”I love the whole article. It also includes this in the middle/end.
Ian wrote:
What Treacy proved that day in Limerick is that we’re certainly not a soft nation when it comes to cross-country running. Never have been, never will be....
It’s no exaggeration to say the cancelling of any cross-country race in this country because of some rain is a bit of a running joke, even if the biblical rainfall amounts of the last few days might scare off some of the softer runnersIf you want to follow Ian on twitter, here he is:
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The woke mind virus has made people incredibly soft.
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For fooksakes!
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Worth noting that it appears than neither of these decisions had anything to do with athletes or athletics organisations.
Both issues with the landowners to avoid damage.
There is a wider issue over finding venues for big races in UK (our national XC was cancelled a couple of years ago for similar reasons but athletes or athletics being soft is not the story.
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If I were nicknamed the Mudlark I would welcome the rain!
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Seeing more of this kind of thing across the UK - Local Authority land owners either dont understand that the conditions are XC compatible, or worry about the impact about running across football pitches, which bring more income to the council.
I even heard a rumour that our National XC relays course was at risk because the local authority wanted to turn the park into a nature reserve....
All despite surging obesity rates and a massive resurgence in weekly running at these very parks through Parkrun!
After the National XC at Parliament Hill later year, their were plenty of complaints about how cut up the park was, but its recovered perfectly by the summer....
Its not woke, its just competing priorities and a lack of respect for traditional XC that the local councils don't understand.
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Ghddieshajfgk wrote:
Worth noting that it appears than neither of these decisions had anything to do with athletes or athletics organisations.
Both issues with the landowners to avoid damage.
There is a wider issue over finding venues for big races in UK (our national XC was cancelled a couple of years ago for similar reasons but athletes or athletics being soft is not the story.
Not quite. the issue is fairly acute in Dublin as most of the argocultural land got developed for housing.
Less so in Munster, Connaught, the rest of Leinster there are still plenty of friendly farmers who will lend a field to run underage champs.
One of the reasons for having the standing XC course in Abbotstown was to counteract this trend. But it's a €2000 course fee that stops it. No club can recoup that from entires (it's €4 for a kid and €7.50 per adult for most Coutny XC races with €5 per adult spectator pretty much everywhere AFAIK so cheap but any more expensive and you won't get any entries)
That leaves the Dublin clubs asking the various county councils for use of the public parks and Santry and Corcagh park etc..
The public service in ireland exists for the benefit of the public service so some desk based administrative officer along with an absent Safety person made this call. it's shameful and rightly being called out for the embarrassing mess it is by Athletics clubs.
I'm glad Ian O'Riordan wrote about it. I don't agree with him most of the time but he nailed this one.
DCC or Fingall CC need a kick in the hole
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Running_Far wrote:
Seeing more of this kind of thing across the UK - Local Authority land owners either dont understand that the conditions are XC compatible, or worry about the impact about running across football pitches, which bring more income to the council.
I even heard a rumour that our National XC relays course was at risk because the local authority wanted to turn the park into a nature reserve....
All despite surging obesity rates and a massive resurgence in weekly running at these very parks through Parkrun!
After the National XC at Parliament Hill later year, their were plenty of complaints about how cut up the park was, but its recovered perfectly by the summer....
Its not woke, its just competing priorities and a lack of respect for traditional XC that the local councils don't understand.
This is a good post. Similar over here.
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rojo wrote:
It starts with this anecdote:
Ian wrote:
John Treacy tells a great story about waking up on the morning of the 1979 World Cross-Country in Limerick.
The rain had been lashing against his hotel window the evening before, right through the night, and it was still hammering down that morning.
“Christ above, that’s some rain out there,” said his older brother Ray, sleeping in the hotel bed opposite and also running for Ireland that day. “The course will be an absolute mud bath.”
“Perfect for me,” said John. “That’s going to scare off the softer runners. I’m definitely going to win today.”I love the whole article. It also includes this in the middle/end.
Ian wrote:
What Treacy proved that day in Limerick is that we’re certainly not a soft nation when it comes to cross-country running. Never have been, never will be....
It’s no exaggeration to say the cancelling of any cross-country race in this country because of some rain is a bit of a running joke, even if the biblical rainfall amounts of the last few days might scare off some of the softer runnersIf you want to follow Ian on twitter, here he is:
as i may over recall, seems like most cross country races were miserable like that, and perfect.
that's cross country. the madness is you feel like you accomplished something, the resistance of nature as much as the opposition, and there is actually a team aspect of it.
i am for some silly cryptocoin, mad social media influencer, internet millionaire to come in and make a million dollar purse for cross country champs, or a tiny circuit of say three races over a month. not more, lets not get carried away, so runners can focus on it and in synergy with training for track.
crazy pipe dream?, not really, you just need somebody to run the business side and throw in the money, and noveau market it.
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Race cancellations are never coming from the participants. That's not how organization works. Why constantly seek stuff to feed a narrative, no matter how little true it is?
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Absolutely the Senirish have become soft. Shame
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Not having this from an American. Your XC courses are manicured bowling greens relative to the bogs we run through in UK and Ireland
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We are sick of yer crep rojo
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old man willie wrote:
We are sick of yer crep rojo
Groundskeeper Willie was scottish
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Any Bob Dylan lyrical references in there? Ian's a big fan of peppering them in.
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No rojo, you and your brother are the ones that are soft. Put you money where your mouth is, get in shape, and run some xc races yourself. Challenge you to run Club XC in a year.
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