Course...Leg 5...The 5th and final leg of the Cork City Marathon Relay and also the easiest at 4.8 miles. It starts at the relay changeover point at around 21.7 miles on the Model Farm Road. There is a very slight pull from here to the 22 mile mark by the County Library.
Mile 22......Carry on past the County Council Library on the left and then soon, you will begin the steep descent by the Tennis Village. Around the left bend, along the flat and onto Inchagaggin Bridge.
You turn right just after the bridge and along a flat section until you join the Straight Road. You'll see the County Hall way off in the distance but not as far as in previous years. Soon, you'll come to the 23 mile mark.........(~mile 10 in the Half-Mara). An easy mile.
Mile 23......This is an easy mile. Dead flat. The county hall starts off in the distance but you are right alongside it at the 24 mile mark.....(~mile 11 in the Half-Mara)
On the left is the Kingsley Hotel.
Mile 24..........It starts near the County Hall and proceeds to Victoria Cross. A slight pull over the bridge and then left at the traffic lights and then right onto the Mardyke....past the sports ground.....past Fitgeralds Park....and at the end, you turn left onto the public walkway and on to the distinctive pedestrian bridge.
The 25 mile mark is here......A flat and easy mile. (The 12 mile mark for the Half-Marathon is on the other side of the bridge on the walkway)
Mile 25......Now you are onto a public walkway. Across the new Mardyke bridge and then a sharp right onto the riverside walkway. Here things can get a bit congested. Runners running 3 or 4 abreast can completely block your path. The whole area is wooded so it makes a change from the open roads. After a few hundred metres, you're back out on the North Mall and the wide public road again. Along the North Mall until you get to the junction with the road to Shandon.
You turn right onto the bridge and then down North Main Street. There are cobblestones and ramps along this section so take care. At the end, you come out onto Washington Street and left towards the Grand Parade, You pass the 26 mile mark here.
Grand Finale...Starting on the 26 mile mark, you now have 352 metres to go to the finish....
You turn left onto the Grand Parade and then right onto Patrick's Street with the crowds on both sides. It's about here that the Half-Marathon runners will pass their 13 mile mark. Up the main street and the finish is just around a slight bend.
That's it, all done. For Marathon runners, you've just completed 26.22 miles and a full marathon.
Overall.......The shortest and easiest leg with the buzz of finishing on Patrick's Street with the crowds.
