Limerick...Results of the Ballyhoura Mountain Marathon - Sat 2nd May 2015

Conditions for this years Ballyhoura Mountain Marathon were less than ideal with wet and windy conditions for most of the day. A total of 111 runners completed the course.

Due to some markers being removed or being blown away, those taking part ended up running an extra mile or two. In other words, the Ballyhoura Mountain Marathon became the Ballyhoura Mountain Ultra! ;o)

Most marathon courses are measured by a Jones Counter on a bicycle to make sure a course is 26.2 miles. That is of course not possible off road so it is measured by GPS and the course is made slightly too long...i.e. the course may be something like 26.5 miles so to be sure that everyone completes the marathon distance.

While the extra bit at the end might be a bit of a drag, at least everyone knows that they covered the full marathon distance. The 'mortal sin' for marathons is when they are short. People pay the entry and put in the effort only to find that they have not run the full marathon distance.

The Ballyhoura is organised by the Munster Mountain Running Association. The aim of the event is to put on a endurance mountain race at a modest price.

Tom Blackburn...1st man home in the 2015 Ballyhoura Mountain Marathon

 THE BALLYHOURA MOUNTAIN MARATHON RESULTS - 2ND MAY
                        
1    TOM BLACKBURN     3:39:58      3:40:04    M40    2072
2    ADRIAN HENNESSY     3:42:47      3:42:47    SM    1120
3    BARRY HARTNETT     3:48:07      3:48:06    SM    323
7    SUZANNE KENNY     4:25:28      4:25:24    SF    633
32    HELEN WEIR     5:05:57      5:05:54    F40    448
34    RACHEL BURGESS     5:08:56      5:08:50    F40    1075

 The full results can be seen HERE

Suzanne Kenny...1st woman home

From the organisers...."The junction where we re-entered the ballyhoura way on the fire road unfortunately had tape which had been removed. We waited until the night before to mark the course and we couldn't have done anymore than that. Apologies to any runners who felt hard done by but that was not our intention. Next year we will release the mapping 2 weeks in advance and anyone who wants to recce the course is more than welcome. The full distance was 44.6km but maybe if you took the unmarked turn it was possibly more. MMRA will endeavour to learn from each new race we do and try to correct any issues for the following year. Please understand people that this is a voluntary organisation. This is why we can organise these races without you feeling ripped off and also have nice things like showed/food/tshirt etc.

It will be bigger (not the mileage) and better in 2016 and I hope to see you all there. It was a great effort by everyone who completed given the harsh conditions.

Thank you
Robbie"

Some runners picked up a 'little friend'

Photos.....
1) The MMRA have a number of small albums...1...2...3...4...5..
2) Ballyhoura Active have a gallery HERE
3) Kevin O'Connor has a gallery on Flickr HERE

Video...
Start of the race...