Location...The village of Ardfield is 6 kms from Clonakilty in West Cork...
Closer view...
The main N71 road to Skibbereen goes through the southern side of the town of Clonakilty. At the Y junction shown below, the road to Ardfield is left up the hill...
Entries for the race are taken at Mountain House which is about 500 metres to the south of Ardfield...
Course map...
Course profile...
Course description...The race starts on a narrow road to the south of Ardfield. As can be seen in the photo below, it's downhill from the first few hundred metres...
After 400 metres, you run past the church in the centre of the village. The finish line is located here.
The road continues to drop gradually until about the 600m mark and then the climb back out of the village begins...
The gradient eases off around the 1 km mark......approx 0.7 miles. Around the 1 mile mark, you come to a crossroads where you turn off right and start to climb again...
Initially, it's reasonably steep but soon becomes more gradual. The long climb lasts for about 800 metres...i.e. until the 1.5 mile mark. Then there is a short downhill to a crossroads at 1.6 miles where you can see the ocean ahead. From here, you turn right and head back towards Ardfield...
Initially, the road climbs again but at 1.8 miles, you begin the long gradual downhill descent...
All along this stretch, Ardfield can be seen in the valley to the right. At 2.4 miles, you come to a T-junction where you turn left. Just ahead, the Mountain House bar can be clearly seen...
The road now continues to drop downhill. After 100 metres, you take a sharp right...
After a short flat section, the road then drops rapidly...easily the steepest part of the course...
At the next junction at 2.7 miles, you turn right and then begin the final uphill stretch to Ardfield itself...
As you approach the church, the finish line is just around the corner to the left...
Overall......While the area is quite hilly, most of the ascents and descents are pretty gradual. Much of the course is used as part of the Clonakilty Marathon route so anyone running a 5 km race shouldn't really have any issue with it. A nice scenic spot for a race with nice views of the coastline on a sunny day.
