Located in the SE of Co.Limerick, this race is only about 6 miles or 10 kms to the north of Mitchelstown and is within easy access...
If you are coming from the south, then look for the turn off right for Anglesboro which is exactly 6 kms / 3.7 miles from the relief road to the north of Mitchelstown.
A satellite view of the village of Anglesboro is shown below...
The village is very small so everything is easy to find. Race HQ is the local community hall. The start line is about 50 metres away. The race proceeds north...takes a left hand turn to complete a large loop before returning to the finish line near the community hall again.
Course...The 10 km race starts in Anglesboro and takes in a large loop to the north of the village...
The race starts on the approach road to the village from Mitchelstown...
.......and about 50 metres later, you pass the community hall...
At 150 metres, you begin the large 6 mile loop as you turn off left...
As you leave the outskirts of the village at about 0.2 miles, the road stretches out ahead and you can see the first climb in the distance...
The hill isn't too serious and peaks around the 0.5 mile mark. On the other side, the road drops away again to reveal a much more challenging section...
The road drops here in elevation by about 40 metres into the valley and climbs by about 40 metres on the other side as well. As you can see from the photo above, the road has to zig-zag to reduce the gradient of the climb. The 1 mile mark is near the purple dot at the top of the photo....a very tough first mile.
After the one mile mark, the gradient begins to reduce and levels off around 1.2 miles. From here, the road begins to drop away gradually...
At 1.8 miles, you come to Ballyfauskeen Cross Roads and you join the busier R662 from Mitchelstown to Galbally as you turn right...
From here, the road is pretty level as you pass the 2 mile mark...a reasonably fast second mile with a slow start to it.
At about 2.3 miles, the road starts to drop gradually again...
At 2.8 miles at the next crossroads, you leave the R662 behind as you turn right onto a quieter road...
...and about 300m later, you turn right again onto an even narrower road...
Around here, you hit the 3 mile mark on what will probably be the fastest mile of the race. At this stage, you reach the furthest point from Anglesboro and you now head back towards the Galtee Mountains and home.
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| View of the Galtee Mountains on the return journey home |
From 4 to about 4.6 miles, the road remains pretty flat but after that, there is a gradual climb as things start getting harder again. At 4.9 miles, you turn right at a T-junction and continue the climb gently upwards...
As you climb, you pass through the 5 mile mark, a reasonable mile with an easy start and a hard finish.
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| It won't be the bends slowing you down...It will be the long steady climb |
From here, there is a long straight downhill section back into Anglesboro itself.
At the junction in the village, you complete the 6 mile loop and the finish line is just ahead in front of the community centre...
Overall.....A tough 10k course with a mix of hills and flat sections. Probably not a course for setting personal best times but it's still a stunning location at the foot of the Galtee Mountains.
