With around 12 weeks to go to the 2016 Irish Examiner Cork City marathon it's great to see so many people out on the streets of the city and suburbs training for this year's event.

Marathon running is enjoying a renewed boom over these past few years and while this may in part be due to the fact that its a very cheap sport in which to participate, the increased numbers are more likely due to the widely acknowledged health benefits of running. Next month's London marathon has 36,000 entrants. Interestingly over 300,000 people have already applied for the limited number of entries to the 2016 event.

While the Cork City Marathon won't have such huge numbers as London, New York or Berlin, it does have a unique selling point: a marathon relay event which enables mass participation of people who just want to run 5 or 6 miles as opposed to the full 26.2 mile event.

The event organisers have changed the course this year to take out some of the hillier segments in the later part of the race which will make it more enjoyable or (less punishing!) for all those involved.

In Clinic we have seen the gradual increase in the number of running related injuries over these past few months. Most of these were simply the result of overloading the joints by doing too much too soon. At Riverside Chiropractor Clinic Cork we can deal with this type of injury quite easily.

The slow steady approach to training is definitely better than the more aggressive approach which can lead to injury. If you are sore after runs, try to avoid consecutive days training

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water before and after your training sessions. Most importantly try to enjoy your efforts!!

Make sure you have good proper supportive running shoes. I suggest a visit to John Buckley sports on Mulgrave road where the running experts can advise you on what shoe is right for you. Don't forget to mention you read this on the Riverside website and John will give you a 10% discount!

For those doing the full race the next 3 weeks represent the hardest part of your training with the longest training runs and if it is your first time doing the full marathon you should be aiming for runs of between 16 and 20 miles over the next 3 weekends. For the last 3 weeks before the race you should reduce your long runs and your overall mileage to allow the body to recover fully before the start of the race on Bank Holiday Monday.

Best of luck to all participants and I hope your training goes well over the next few weeks. See you out there!

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