Mardyke closure a blow for Leeside competitors
Across Cork athletics, the feeling is much the same: shock, sadness and anger, with growing concern about how long this situation will last. The decision by UCC to close the Sonia O’Sullivan Mardyke track on Monday due to health and safety concerns has left thousands of athletes without an adequate training facility.
“It’s a bit of a panic,” says Joan Healy, who has represented Ireland at European and world level. The Leevale sprinter is currently targeting the European
Championships in June, and access to a track is essential to prepare properly.
On Tuesday night, Healy had to do her usual session on an astro-turf hockey pitch. She has few other options on days she’s working. On her days off, like today, she’ll make a long drive to Limerick. “We’re having to turn our plans upside down and there’s extra expense to that. We don’t want to be encroaching on other clubs’ time either.”
She’s one of many Cork athletes left scrambling to find alternative facilities, with one Leevale sprint group doing a workout on a paved path at the entrance to Tramore Valley Park this week.
“It’s a public footpath and you’ve got people out walking, dogs around the place,” says coach Derrick Neff. “The younger groups will get away with training wherever will accommodate them, but the senior athletes, if they’re not training on a track, in spikes, you’re setting yourself up for injury.”
Neff was among those who met UCC deputy head of sport Christine O’Donovan and Athletics Ireland CEO Hamish Adams on Thursday to discuss the issue but didn’t get “any kind of solace” about when it will be resolved.
In a statement, UCC said a contractor would visit the Mardyke this week to “assess temporary fixes”. Director of sport Morgan Buckley said UCC was “committed to remedying this matter as soon as possible” and added the decision to close the track was made “reluctantly and in the best interests of the safety of athletes”.
Parts of the track on the riverside straight had been in poor condition for some time, with UCC citing “a rapid and significant deterioration” in recent weeks. On Monday, the track was abruptly closed after an inspection from UCC’s building and estates team.
“The track has been in this condition for the past year and we’ve been training fine on it,” says Healy. “They jumped the gun, they got health and safety in before consulting any of us; 250-300 metres of the track is perfectly fine to use and they could have closed that section that’s most affected. But having brought health and safety in, they can’t go back.”
It’s understood UCC is dealing with a claim from a track user, but Buckley told the Irish Independent the decision to close the track was “solely based on the outcome of an inspection carried out on Monday” which was “prompted by our regular monitoring and management of the track in accordance with how we operate our facilities.
“Our options were to either close the track or to continue to allow runners to use a facility we know is not safe.”
Cork’s athletes had been heavily reliant on the Mardyke over the past year given the track at Munster Technological University (MTU) has been unavailable due to redevelopment. That’s set to be completed in June “if weather gods shine,” says Neff. “In the absence of that, you’re snookered.”
Olympic
On the brink of the outdoor season, it means there is currently no 400m track available to the 8,600 registered athletes spanning 58 clubs in Cork, with Olympic hopefuls like Reece Ademola left without an outdoor long jump facility. Neff said athletes would have been happy to continue using the part of the track that was in good condition.
Bandon AC said they were “shocked and saddened” about the closure which “leaves high performance athletes with no Cork-based track to train ... and further compounds the existing lack of facilities”.
Bandon has begun work on its own outdoor track which could be completed this year if adequate funding is sourced, which the club said would “accelerate the availability of a Cork track, within 20 minutes of the city, accessible to the 8,600 Cork athletes abandoned by this announcement.”
Athletics Ireland CEO Adams said they “sympathise with all our members” in the county, adding: “Strategically we know there is a lack of athletics facilities in Cork, and we are remedying this with the development of a state-of-the-art indoor facility at MTU and the resurfacing of the MTU track.
“Additionally, we have supported the construction of the new Bandon Athletics Club track and the Carrigaline Athletics Club track is at an early stage of development. Unfortunately, these projects will take time to complete, and we understand the Cork athletics community’s current frustration.”