Local Olympics star and Lord Mayor team up to launch Cork City Marathon 2024 event with under 7 months to go

The Cork City Marathon 2024 has been officially launched today, with the help of Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy and local Olympian Lizzie Lee. They were joined by members of the Sanctuary Runners group as they started the countdown to race day on June 2nd next. 

More than twelve thousand people took part in this year’s full and half marathon events, as well as the 10k which proved to be a hugely popular addition to the programme. Early bird registration is now open for 2024.

Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy and Lizzie Lee visited the Lee Fields – which is part of the marathon route – to mark the launch. He says he’s looking forward to the event: “The Cork City Marathon is a wonderful event for the city, bringing thousands of people together into the city centre and creating a very large festival atmosphere. The marathon is such a positive event not only for those taking part and their supporters, but also for the local shops, restaurants and hotels. Cork City Council is very proud of this enormous flagship event. I wish everyone the best of luck with their training and look forward to seeing you and welcoming you all next June.”

Local athletics star Lizzie Lee is the only person to have won Cork’s full marathon, half marathon, relay and the 10k race.  “My key piece of advice for anyone thinking of signing up for Cork City Marathon 2024 is to find a running group like the Sanctuary Runners or another person to train with.  There will be days when you don’t feel like training, but they will and vice versa, and you’ll feel accountable to that person so you’ll get out and train.  It’s a fantastic event in the running calendar and one I look forward to, so I hope people take part in 2024 and experience the atmosphere on the day.”

Lizzie completed the 10k race this year in a time of 35 minutes and 15 seconds, and is weighing up whether to run the 10k or half marathon in 2024: “I loved the 10k race. It’s a lovely flat course and what’s wonderful about it is that you come out along the quays and there are thousands of runners on the other side running in the opposite direction and they’re all cheering you on.  It was a great day and probably my favourite event of the Cork City Marathon.”

David O’Brien, Director of Services with Cork City Council, says that he is looking forward to building on the momentum of this year’s event: “2023 was a huge success and Cork City Council are looking forward to making next year’s event even better. 2024 will again include a 10k, half and full marathon and once again we will strive for inclusivity, welcoming all nationalities, including our very own Sanctuary Runners as well as local athletes. I would also like to thank our communities who come out in force on the day to cheer on the runners and provide sweets and water, despite the disruption to their roads.”

Julie Sebode is Race Project Manager with Cork City Marathon, which is organised and managed by Davis Events Agency on behalf of Cork City Council. She says preparations are well underway: “Cork City Marathon is a fabulous event to be involved in. It’s a brilliant course and the local athletics community brings so much to it each year. We’ve made a great effort to promote sustainability in recent years and that will continue in 2024. It also goes a long way toward raising funds for local charities and running clubs with €165,000 raised in 2023. ” 

Organisers will be sharing a wide array of resources for race participants between now and June 2nd. Full details of the Cork City Marathon 2024, race routes, registration and much more are all available on corkcitymarathon.ie.