Preview of the Bandon Half-Marathon...
The Bandon Half-Marathon is organised by Bandon Athletic Club and is usually held in May every year.
Race HQ is at the local Rugby club. This is located on the Clonakilty Road on the south-west side of the town...
If you are coming from Cork then just follow the signs for the N71 to Clonakilty. As you are leaving the town and it starts to become more rural, the Rubgy club is on the right, straight across the road from a Kia dealership....see pic.
The distance from the club grounds to the start of the Half-Marathon is about 600m. The 10k start is 800m to 1km away depending on which route you take. The short cut in the middle is through a car park of a pub....
The Half-Marathon course...
The race starts roughly in this area...
...and then passes through the start area of the 10k race which is about 170 metres up the road.
...before going out to join the main road and then heading west....
The road from here to the 1 mile mark is almost dead straight and there is plenty of space to pass people out as the field begins to thin. At about 0.7 miles, the road kinks very slightly to the right...
From here, the road continues straight and then turns slightly again. Nothing really changes until you hit the turn off right at about 1.8 miles...
...and then it's onto nicer and quieter country roads. After a very short stretch, you come to the 2 mile mark. After this house below, the road climbs slightly...
....until you hit a crossroads around the 2.3 mile mark....
This is a significant point for both the 10k and Half-Marathon in that you will be running on this next section of road twice. As you can see from the picture above, on the way out you will be staying to the left and on the way back, you will be turning off left.
As the road flattens out again, you come to the 2.6 mile mark...
Here, you turn off left and it's a sharp but short climb. The road eases off again before you have to tackle another slight hill again on a long straight section. From the top of the hill, it's down rapidly to the 3 mile mark near the next crossroads...
Here, the 10k and Half-Marathon routes diverge. The Half-Marathon will continue straight ahead while the 10k runners will turn right. At the other side of the crossroads, the roads climbs slightly at first but then levels off and stays pretty flat all of the way to the 4 mile mark. Just after that, you turn off left...
...onto another small road which stays pretty level until it joins another road to the south at roughly 4.7 miles...
As you can see from the photo above, there is a sharp climb now which lasts for about 300m or so until around the 5 mile mark. From here, the road flattens out but it's only a short respite. Soon the road climbs again but this time, it twists and turns and the climb lasts for the best part of 700 metres.
The road flattens out again and even goes downhill a little until this house around the 5.8 mile mark and you can see the last hill ahead and it's a beauty...
The 6 mile mark is near the top of this last hill. If you take nothing else from this preview then remember the junction at 4.7 miles and the fact that there is 1.3 miles of hard graft after it. How you handle this section may well determine how you feel for the rest of the race.
No sooner have you reached the top of the hill and the 6 mile mark than the road starts to drop again...
First of all, it down from the top of the hill to the next junction at roughly 6.2 miles. It's along this section that you pass the half way point. Right at the school...
and then the start of the long downhill section. You pass through the 7 mile mark and then continue downhill and right at the next fork.
Eventually, you join the lower road around 7.2 miles and things flatten out. There is a slight pull up to 7.4 miles and then the downhill running continues....
...(Farm~7.7m)...and past the 8 mile mark. The road bottoms out in a small wooded area at 8.2 miles as a small stream passes underneath the road to join the River Bandon which is now just to the north.
The road then rises again and at 8.3 miles, twists left and then right as it goes over a skew bridge...
The road flattens out now and you rejoin the junction you were at earlier. Last time, it was 4 miles, now it's 8.7 miles...
From here, you retrace your footsteps. This time, the road is flat as you pass the 9 mile mark and then drops to the crossroads around 9.8 miles. Here you turn left and you are now on the 10k course. Depending on your speed, you may meet runners from that race here.
Now the road rapidly descends to the 10 mile mark and the next junction...and then right...
...and then it's a case of an uphill climb again. Soon, you rejoin the piece of road where you turned off at 2.6 miles and then it's back to the crossroads. On the way out, it was at 2.3 miles, now it's 10.6.
Now after turning off left onto a quiet road, you face another tough part of the course....
The ascent is roughly 25m over the next 900m or so. On the way uphill, you pass the 11 mile mark.
After a long climb, you hit the top of the hill around 11.6 miles with a golf course on both sides of the road...
After this, the road drops rapidly as you pass the 12 mile mark.
You continue the rapid descent and you end up next to the River Bandon. Here, the road flattens out before the last sting in the tail...another short climb. After this last testing section, you enter the outskirts of the town around the 12.5 mile mark...
The road now stretches straight ahead and you pass the 13 mile mark as you run downhill...
...allowing for a very fast finish.
Overall...probably not the fastest of Half-Marathon races. If you set a PB on this course then it's well earned. There are certainly a fair number of hills to deal with but having said that, the course is on nice quiet country roads, well away from any traffic. You could call it a course with 'character' ;o)
From the finish line, it's 1.5 miles back to the Rugby grounds which would make for a warm down or else, you can take the shuttle bus that's provided.
