THE organiser of the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon, which was due to take place next month, said he is heartbroken at having to cancel it due to Covid-19.
Bob Hilliard said: ‘There’s no way we can hold any kind of event in these testing times. It’s a fantastic event and I love organising it and it’s positive across the board, but we are having two events next year, hopefully one in March and another in late November.’
Bob, who lives in Sweden, acknowledged that a lot of people will be disappointed that what should have been the 11th marathon is not going ahead.
‘There are a lot of people out there genuinely depressed at the moment and they need events like these. People are stressed out with Covid-19 so this would have been very beneficial for them.’
As well as attracting locals all keen to participate in either a full, half marathon or a 10k around Clonakilty and surrounding areas, the marathon always draw runners from Ireland and from around the world.
‘People don’t realise that the bulk of our people come from abroad now like France, England, Sweden, Belgium and we had a big group coming from America, too.
‘It’s a positive for Clonakilty and the business people get behind it too and it brings such fun to the community.’
It is usually a welcome financial boost for the town ahead of Christmas and its loss will surely hit some businesses who have already had a tough year with Covid-19.
Bob confirmed that everyone who had entered the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon XI will be refunded.
And he added: ‘We will be back fighting next year.’
