Cork001

The Carrigaline 5 mile road race which is organised by Eagle AC is usually held in mid-February every year. Located just to the south of Cork City, it's within easy reach for a lot of people.

The town of Carrigaline is only five miles south of the South Ring Road.

Getting there.....As you approach Carrigaline, take the relief road going left towards Crosshaven. Stay on this until you come to the next major junction. The Community Centre is about 100 metres to the left / East of this junction. However, there is very limited or no parking there. There is plenty of parking if you drive straight ahead. Go through the junction and after 200 metres, there is a large car park on the right. If that gets full, there is another large car park at a local Lidl store just ahead.

Both car parks are a very short walk from the Community Centre. Follow the race stewards instructions on the day.


The Course...It's not the flattest of races with a few drags out along the course but nothing too serious. You start about 500 metres east of the Community Centre in a housing estate. When you come out of the community centre, turn right and follow everyone else.

The road is fairly wide at the start....

...and it's slightly downhill as well so it's very fast. By the time you reach the main road, the field will have begun to thin out.

There is nothing special about the first two miles. It's pretty flat with a few small hills and you can expect your first mile time to be very fast. Note that the road will not closed for the race. It's the most direct route between Carrigaline and Ringaskiddy and there may be some traffic on it. It's usually quiet enough though and there are race stewards at all of the road junctions.

Just before the 2 mile mark, you run down a slight hill to the road junction by Coolmore Lodge.......and left......

........and then uphill past the 2 mile mark. This is probably the hardest part of the course as it's uphill for about 800 metres until you reach the grotto....

Through the two bends and rom here, it gets easier as you run down to Shanbally village, past the church and back out of the village again. Then the road starts downhill near the 3 mile mark...a fast section of the course all inside the hard shoulder of the main road....

At about 3.5 miles, you turn left off the main road and then you have the next climb.....

It's pretty short but enough to get you into trouble if you push too hard. Then you run downhill to the 4 mile mark which is in a slight hollow and then climb back out at the other side....

This is the third real hill in the race and the least serious. At the top, the road flattens out and the last 1km or so of the course is either flat or slightly downhill. Through the next junction and right into the housing estate.....

Downhill through the housing estate and after the last corner which is a sharp left....

....the finish is about 100 metres away so you should see it in plenty of time.

Overall........probably not the fastest of 5 mile courses but certainly not the worst either.You should expect to post a reasonably fast time.