Considering it's location in NW Cork, it should be of interest to runners in both Cork and Kerry.
Race HQ is the GAA community hall which is directly across from the church at the western end of the town.
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| View from the west of the GAA Hall and Church |
The 5 mile course starts on the small road opposite the GAA Hall...takes in a loop to the north of the town....and finishes back in the centre of the town
There are some climbs in the second half but the maximum ascent is no more than about 25m spread out over a mile.
Course description.......The race starts on the road opposite the GAA hall...
This downhill stretch last about 200m. Note that the finish line is located here outside the shop of Noel C.Duggan shown below. For now, you take the left here at this junction.
The road continues slightly downhill and bottoms out around 0.4 miles. The course for the next mile or so is characterised by long straight sections that are dead flat.
At 1.3 miles, you cross over the River Finnow...
At 1.4 miles, you cross the railway line...
...and at 1.6 miles, you turn right at the junction....
This narrow road remains flat and level. After the 2 mile mark, you run through another railway level crossing...
The road runs parallel to the rail track so it stays level. At 2.4 miles, the course changes from open fields to trees on both sides of the road...
At 2.6 miles, you cross the River Finnow again. From here, the river joins the Blackwater about 200m to the north and continues its journey through Mallow, Fermoy and meeting the ocean at Youghal.
On the far side of the bridge at 2.7 miles, you pass the northern entrance to Drishane Castle...
This is an important landmark in the race. Up to now, the first 2.7 miles have been mostly flat or slightly downhill....i.e. very fast.
From here, the first hill begins as the road begin to meander as you begin the gentle climb. At 3.1 miles, you come to a t-junction where you turn right...
This is the main road between Millstreet and Mallow so you need to be careful of any traffic from here on. As you can see from the photo below, the gradient becomes gentler for now...
At about 3.3 miles, the incline increases slightly until you reach the main entrance to Drishane Castle where you begin a very rapid decent which lasts for about 300m...
At 3.8 miles, the road bottoms out with a short climb on the other side...
From here, the next km is mostly flat as you head into the town. At 4.5 miles, you have the final climb which is about 500m long but again, the incline is pretty modest...
At 4.8 miles, you come to the major road junction in the centre of the town and the end of the climb...
From here, it's a rapid 300m descent to the finish line outside Noel C.Duggan's shop.
Overall......It's hard to think of any race as fast as this one for the first 2.7 miles. There is some climbing in the second half but nothing too serious. Runners should be able to post some decent times on this course.
