On track for another 45 years

The MTU Athletics Track is celebrating 45 years this summer following transformative resurfacing works and a big reopening last month.

The track is an indispensable amenity to Cork, with 12 athletics clubs from the city and county currently training there on a weekly basis.

With an estimated combined membership of 2,600 people, the track is also used by approximately 1,000 students from 40 primary schools annually, as well as roughly 550 students from 14 secondary schools.

The largest primary school sporting event in Europe, Cork Primary School Sports, is also held at MTU’s athletics facilities. With several DEIS schools using these facilities, MTU provides access to many students who otherwise might not have such an opportunity.

The track also provides great benefit to the wider community. Three different road races start and finish at the track, including the Cork Rebel Run, the MTU 5km, and the Cork Lions Club 5km. The Cork City Sports event is also hosted there, attracting world and Olympic medal-winning competitors.

MTU’s staff and student athletics enthusiasts, including those in the MTU Athletics Club and the Business Houses Athletics Association, also train and compete at the venue, as well as students from the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies during the course of their studies.

MTU’s Athletics Track has also hosted a number of inclusive sports events, including the Rebel Run-a-Mile Challenge, which seeks to support adults who access disability services in Cork by providing access to a six week training programme to progressively build up their walking, jogging, running or rolling to a distance of one mile by the end of the programme.

Additionally, the track has facilitated Special Olympics and Irish Wheelchair Association events. The track is also regularly used by the Rebel Wheelers, a multi-sports club for children with physical disabilities. Later this year, Breast Cancer Ireland will host a running event at the venue.

“MTU’s Athletics Stadium is one of Ireland’s most community-orientated facilities and truly reflects MTU’s Succeeding Together motto in how it makes the university’s facilities available to a broad spectrum of people from the region and beyond,” and MTU spokesperson said.