Castlebar councillor unhappy with Mini-Marathon move
This year's West of Ireland Women's Mini Marathon will be staged in Ballina again.
A Castlebar councillor has said there should have been greater consultation over the decision to stage the Mayo.ie Western People West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon in Ballina again this year.
Cllr Donna Sheridan had put forward a motion at a meeting of Mayo County Council calling for the event to remain in Castlebar. The meeting heard the decision to stage the event in Ballina was taken by the board of Mayo Sports Partnership. Next year, it will be open to each of the four municipal districts in the county to apply to be host the prestigious event.
Last year’s run was held in Ballina as part of the town’s 300th anniversary celebrations. Cllr Sheridan said it was her understanding that this was a once-off move and the Mini Marathon would return to Castlebar in 2024. She said Castlebar shouldn’t be used as a location for developing events that then move on with no consultation.
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne agreed that there ought to have been more discussion on the matter.
Cllr Michael Loftus said it is the decision of Mayo Sports Partnership where the event goes, not the county council. That decision was unanimous.
The last marathon in Castlebar had 910 people participating, he stated. In Ballina last year, 2,400 adults applied along with 800 children. To date this year, 900 people have applied for the event, which will be held on Sunday, May 5th. Castlebar, because of its success over the original years, had seen its numbers drop.
Cllr Sheridan commented that last year's Ballina event had a significant amount of promotion. She questioned if this had an impact on the high numbers taking part compared to Castlebar.
