Date IMRA founded
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| gerry brady | Feb 16 2009, 11:39pm | ... "Finally in 1980 the Irish Mountain Running Association (IMRA) was formed." The text above is from the old IMRA site. So IMRA will be 30 years old in 2010! Does anyone know what date in 1980 is regarded as the founding date (or could a consensus date be agreed)? |
| gerry brady | Mar 16 2009, 10:03pm | <b> 22nd May 1980 or 9th October 1980 or ? </b> The archive section of the IMRA website has a race down for 22nd May 1980 on Fairy Chase (Tibradden/Three Rock route?), see results and web link below (fair play to the creators of the archive). This was the first of a series of fell races organised by Ajax Hill-Running and Orienteering club. The details of the Ajax series are given in the May 1980 edition of the Leinster Orienteering Clubs (LOC) newsletter. Wally Young, Peter Kernan (a recent poster to the forum), Joe Bent, and Caitlin Bent are names that are still familiar in races today. The LOC newsletter also has a reference to annual long-distance walks such as: Comeragh Bog Trot; Maum Turks Walk; Reeks Walk; Mourne Wall Walk; Seven Peaks Walk (Galtees); Lugnaquilla Walk; Ring of the Glen (of Imaal); and Glover marathon (Donegal). These walks were sometimes used informally by runners for a bit of a race. However the newsletter noted that walk organisers were not overly impressed! There is also a reference to one competitive race, a LOC marathon. Does anyone have more details on that race/walk? The November 1980 LOC newsletter refers to: <b> ... On Thursday 9th October a meeting was held with a view to forming an Irish Hill Runners Association. It was agreed that with the growing interest shown in the fell races an organisation of this sort was appropriate and so the above was formed. </b> Greg Slater was named as the Honorary Secretary and other contacts were Christy Rice, Denis Deasy, and Declan OCallaghan. As mentioned in the first posting, the old IMRA website (background page) also notes 1980 as the year IMRA was founded. <b> The Fairy Chase Fell Race 22nd May 1980 </b> Approx. 4 Miles http://www.imra.ie/archiveresults/Fairy%20Chase80.pdf 1. Brian Keeny Metro 22.30 2. Wally Young Curragh/Kildare 23.14 3. Denis O Mahony Trinity 23.24 4. Declan O Callaghan Ajax/D.C.H. 25.14 5. Carey May Ajax/D.C.H. 25.37 6. Mick Rice 25.46 7. Padraig Keane Clonliffe 25.56 8. Niall Rice Metro/Setanta 25.58 9. Eoin Rothery Ajax/Metro 26.18 10. Christy Rice Metro 26.30 11. Adam May 3Roc. 26.41 12. Philip Thompson (Junior) Ajax 26.43 13. Pat Lawlor Curragh 27.23 14. C. Taylor 27.44 15. Eddie Gaffney Liffey Valley 27.48 16. Harry Quirke Curragh 28.05 17. Peter Kernan 28.28 18. Brendan Butler Ajax 28.37 19. Don Thornhill G.E.N. 28.50 20. C. Ryan Ajax 29.23 21. Eddie Niland Ajax/Clonliffe 29.24 22. John Watchorn 29.43 23. Frank Horan Ajax 30.17 24. Peter Noonan Raheny Shamrocks 30.26 25. Greg Slater 30.36 26. Orla Cooke Ajax 30.57 27. Colin Dunlop Setanta 32.07 28. Joe Bent Setanta 33.32 29. Maura Thornhill G.E.N. 34.23 30. Tara Horan Ajax 35.01 31. Deirdre Ni Cheallanain Ajax 38.11 32. Donal De Butleir 38.13 33. Caitlin Bent Setanta 38.20 34. Rosaleen Rice Setanta 43.16 35. Diana Large G.E.N. 45.11 36. Catherine Lyons Ajax 46.56 37. Erika Keane Ajax 46.56 38. Barry Horan (Junior) Ajax 46.58 Can anyone supply the missing first names in the results for C. Taylor and C. Ryan? |
| Brendan Lawlor | Mar 19 2009, 7:57am | No first names, no percentage of winning time, no photographs, no race report, no fancy graphs...I'm surprised it got going at all! Well done Detective Gerry ..it looks like Oct 2010 will be our 30th birthday |
| Justin Keatinge | Mar 19 2009, 10:44am | The statistics show that there were fewer cynics back then too Brendan :-) |
| Tara Horan | Mar 25 2009, 4:30pm | Eoin Rothery, Declan O'Callaghan and Carey May (the three founders of AJAX Orienteering Club, expanded our club to include 'fell running' in 1980. At around this time, AJAX changed its name to AJAX Orienteering and Hill Running Club. The late Eddie Niland was also involved and I note he came in 21st. (Ed Niland who still runs for AJAX was only a toddler at the time). I have a vague recollection of the first race - the focus was very much on bringing athletes to the mountains (note the winner was from Metro - the club Eoin and Declan ran/trained with). I note my older brother Frank Horan, who was then secretary of AJAX, came in 23rd, almost five minutes ahead of me in 30th place. My youngest brother, Barry Horan who was about 12 at the time, came in 38th - can't be bad. Tara Horan |
| CaitlÃn Bent | Mar 30 2009, 8:51pm | Hi Gerry, The folowing are the full names of the 38 runners who took part in the "The Fairy Chase", the 1st race in a series of 11 races organised by Declan O'Callaghan Eoin Rothery & Carey May. These race routes laid the foundation for the routes we use to-day. Declan, Eoin & Carey had experienced some Fell Running in Britan and were keen to begin a Hill Running Club in the Republic, and to-day's IMRA is their legacy: Brian Keeney; Wally Young; Denis O'Mahony; Declan O'Callaghan; Carey May 1st Woman; Mick Rice; P? Keane, Nial Rice; Eoin Rothery; Christy Rice; Adam May;1st Jnr. Philip Thompson; Pat Lawlor; Eddie Gaffney; C? Taylor; Harry Quirke; Peter Kearnon; Brendan Butler; Don Thornhill; C? Ryan, Eddie Niland, John Watchorn; Frankie Horan; Peter Noonan; Greg Slater; Orla Cooke; Colin Dunlop; Joe Bent; Maura Thornhill; Tara Horan; Deirdre NÃChallanáin; Dónal DeBuitléir; CaitlÃn Bent; Roseleen Rice; Diana Large; Catherine Lyons; Erika Keane; Barry Horan. The League races were held on Thursdays then. 1st Man 1st Woman The 10 other races were: Tibradden 29/5/80 - Brian Keeney - Carey May. Sugarloaf 5/06/80 - Declan O'Callaghan Carey May Seahan 12/06/80- AenghusO'Cleirigh Curtlestown17/6/80- AenghusO'Cleirigh Seefingan 26/6/80- Pat Healy Sorrell Hill7/09/80- Christy Rice Bray Head 13/09/80- Christy Rice Featherbed 21/09/80- Declan O'Callaghan Kippure 27/09/80- Christy Rice Scarr? 01/11/80- Wally Young. The 1st Woman result is lost in the mists of time, but I believe that Carey May was 1st woman on most of these races. Carey went on to win the 1st Woman in the inagural DUBLIN CITY MARATHON that year, 1980. I ran all these races myself & Joe and I am still hooked!! For Brendan, I have the winning times of above races:) An informal Meeting was held after the last race on Thursday 1st November, 1980, to formalise the club, in Shay Healy's Pub in Roundwood and Greg Slater was voted in a Honary Chairman, with Nial & Christy Rice (brothers) and Denis Deasy as contacts. I was present. The prisegiving dinner was held in Willy Lynham's Pub/Restaurant in Laragh by about 35-40 maby less. A good time was had by all:) |
| Toddler Ed Niland | Mar 30 2009, 11:21pm | Ah Tara, I'm no longer a member of Ajax OC, but have left and will start my missionary work for Dirty running in the North West of Munster and Carry on the original Ethos of Ajax and try to reinvigorate the sport down here. BORU Orienteering Club will not just be an Orienteering club, but will focus on having fun and developing skills necessary to enjoy the hills and forests we will be in, either on foot or a bike. Anyone interested in joining us can visit boru.orienteering.ie for details. We are already planning something big and different for 2010, clues at our website. We will be running a few events over the next few months in all three counties of Clare, Tipperary and Limerick in conjunction with our partner organisations and sponsors. Ed Shameless plug over! |
| John McCullough | Mar 30 2009, 11:33pm | Wasn't it called the Irish Hill Running Association back in the early '80's? I don't know when it became the IMRA. Lots of orienteers used to take part then; some used also run the Lug or the Reeks,the Maam Turks or the Blackstairs,but they weren't organised hill races as much as long distance walks taken on by runners. |
| Paul Mahon | Mar 31 2009, 8:34am | Great to see that several of the "originals" are still on the hills :-)! Worthy of particular mention is Aongus O Cleirigh who is still, 29 years later, to the fore in both Orienteering and Hill Running events - winner of 2 of his 3 races last year! |
| Gerry Brady | Apr 22 2010, 8:34pm | Kathleen Bent has obtained a map of the old route from Declan O'Callaghan in China. I have to check the old route on the ground to see if we can still use 100% of it so a map will be up shortly. The Committee will be organising a social afterwards and hopefully many of the people associated with IMRA over the 30 years will run/watch the race and stay on for the social. See earlier posting for some names and many others who missed the first race will make the 30th anniversary! Douglas Barry used to have a bag-piper at the summit for some races like the old Dublin Peaks - does anyone have a contact for a piper that they could text or email to me? The race is being used to assist the funding of mountain rescue teams and many of the teams members will be on hand on the day to cheer you on. But lots of IMRA volunteers are also needed so please don't be shy. |
| Vivian O'Gorman | Apr 22 2010, 9:28pm | As far as I remember the Irish Hill Running Association was changed to the Irish Mountain Running Association sometime in the early 1990s.Douglas Barry was chairman at the time and it was generally thought that it would improve our image especially for International races like the World Trophy and Snowdon. |
| Gerry Brady | Apr 25 2010, 9:11pm | Provisional map and link to route photos with comments on IMRA web page. Final route map will be uploaded from Ordnance Survey's Geolives as it gives a much more intelligient map (clarity and contours). Could guys who ran the race in 1980 please look over the map. There are two small deviations from the route Declan O'Callaghan gave Cathleen Bent: one early on as there are wind felled trees on the initial part of one track; and the second at the top of the boneshakers to avoid gorse. The deviations should make no material time difference so still looking for a winner in under 22 minutes if anyone is up for it!!! 25 minutes is certainly possible, 22 will be skimming the ground. |
| wally young | Sep 15 2010, 10:48pm | Gerry I regret I missed out on the 30th anniversary of the first hill race - i remember it well. I was injured last spring; was not visiting the IMRA website so was out of touch. As the record shows I finished 2nd to Brian Keany; we were together all the way and I took a tumble on the sandy track leading down from three rock, at the masts, and lost contact with him. The most memorable part of the event was that Niall Rice kindly donated a suit length to the winner - there was even a small silver cup for second. Looking down through the list of competitors brings back fond memories, regretfully some are not with us. As was the tradition for so long, with numbers allowing, we all went to a pub in Rathfarnham after the event. I remember the route pretty well so will visit the map, which has been referred to elsewhere. Well done, was a great idea to mark the occasion. I also noted the races across the different ranges referred to in discussions - this was well prior to 1980. As was said we used the annual hill walk as cover and I suppose a measure of safety and ran a race, but individually - and just kept out own time. I can recall running the Magillycuddy Reeks in 1975 and the Galtees and Maam Turks around the same time. |
