Preview of the Carrigtwohill 5 km road race...
Located just off the N25 Cork to Midleton/Waterford road, it couldn't be easier to find or get to. If you are coming from Cork City, it is less than 10 minutes from the Jack Lynch tunnel.
Registration for the race is at
Barryscourt Castle which is well signposted from the N25 road. Just take the slip roads if you are coming from the east or west and the castle is just 300 metres to the south of the main road. There is no need to go into Carrigtwohill itself.
Course...Essentially, you run south......do a triangular loop twice......and then back past the start line and on to the finish line just after the castle.
If you look at the map, the green arrows show the initial loop. You start on an uphill section and start the triangular section after about 200m. From here, it's slightly downhill and then pretty flat until there is another small pull around 0.8 miles, near the bottom right hand side of the triangle. Then north..up to the next junction (top of the triangle)...left and repeat the loop again.
The second loop is shown in orange. There will be some downhill running once you restart the loop with the hill coming this time at 2.1 miles.
Once you complete the loop this time, you take a right...see red arrows. From here, there is a slight downhill to the finish line just beyond the castle.
Overall....a reasonably fast course. The hills are pretty small...more of a sharp short shock type rather than anything too long and serious.
 |
| The magnificent 16th century Barrycourt Castle just to the south of Carrigtwohill |
 |
| Uphill start but it only lasts for about 200m |
 |
| Start of the triangle...taking a right here 200m after the start of the race |
 |
| The south-western corner of the triangular loop. You run past this spot twice...at approx 0.6 and 1.8 miles. |
 |
| The hill at 0.8 mile and 2.1 miles. Pretty short with some downhill running after it. |
 |
| The north-east corner of the triangle. Nice fast section. First time
round, you turn left and start the loop again (Orange arrows). Second
time around, you continue straight on towards the finish (red arrows). |
 |
| Fast downhill section to the corner before the 3 mile mark |
 |
| The finishing straight just after the castle entrance |
