Irish Times story on IMRA
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Gareth Little | Jun 11 2012, 12:52pm | http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2012/0611/1224317685432.html |
| pat barry | Jun 11 2012, 1:10pm | Has John Lenihan retired now? |
| cormac o ceallaigh | Jun 11 2012, 1:54pm | Great article. No doubt this will add to the profile and attraction of mountain running.Running is one of the few things that is recession proof - and if you buy into the bare footing running school , you can actually save money ! I am against the " cap" idea on races , the mountains are to be enjoyed , paths and trail s have a purpose.We are not all driving JCB 's up and over the mountains. |
| Patrick Barry | Jun 12 2012, 8:02am | Cormac, In England the FRA have a very different attitude they are trying to keep a low profile, trying to prevent the sport getting too popular because then all the races would have caps so each race would become two races one to get an entry in and the second the race itself. You will end up with races full of the "most organized" people, not necessary the best people! The FRA often turn down opportunities for media coverage and the likes of Feet in the clouds have attracted unwelcome attention to the sport. Ireland with the much smaller population would not have this issue but respect/protection of the countryside is a real issue in England with the much bigger walking and running community. |
| Ken Cowley | Jun 12 2012, 9:16am | On the other hand, we have a much smaller population in Ireland - the entire island of Ireland is less than that of Birmingham, therefore the UK will always have higher numbers looking to use the mountains. I think there will only ever be a few races in Ireland where numbers are an issue, ie some of the Wed Leinster league races. Any other races I've done in Ireland usually only have 30 or 40 entrants, and we seem to be doing an excellent job of liasing with other interested parties (eg Wicklow National Park) where necessary, and keeping our nose clean. Events like the Art O'Neill are perhaps more vulnerable, but don't forget the majority of entrants in that event are walkers, not runners. In conclusion I would say the mountains are for everyone, our numbers are quite low, we do very little damage compared to some other mountain users as we are very good at implementing the 'leave no trace' philosophy, and I also think mountain running is likely to remain a (relatively) minority sport, yesterday's excellent newspaper article notwithstanding. |
