Ballineen is located on the R586 road between Bandon and Dunmanway....
In fact, the villages of Ballineen and Enniskeane are adjacent to each other with only signposts to suggest where one begins and the other ends. Enniskeane is 14 kms / 9 miles west of Bandon.
Race HQ is at the BEDA hall in Ballineen.
If you are coming from the direction of Bandon then the turn off for the hall is about 400m west of the prominent church in Enniskeane.
The hall for the Ballineen Enniskeane Development Association is just up this small road on the right...
Course map.......The route takes in a loop in the countryside to the north-west of Ballineen....
Course profile....
Course description....The 10k course basically starts in the valley where Ballineen is located and then proceeds to take in a loop around the hills to the north-west. It certainly isn't a course for setting personal best times as some of the hills are quite challenging.
The course profile above gives a pretty good idea of what it is like....
Initially flat......then climbing from an elevation of about 45m ASL to about 158m at about 2.4 miles......dropping to about 97m ASL at the 3 mile mark where you pass near Kinneigh Round Tower......followed by a testing climb back up followed by a smaller drop and a rise again. It's only after about the 4 mile mark that the course gets really fast.
This selection of photos gives an idea of what the course looks like...
This is the start area.....
After roughly 200m, you come to the start of the loop to the north-west. Around the corner, the road is flat and straight but soon begins to twist and climb.
At about 0.9 miles, the climb eases off and the going gets easier. The landscape also changes from a narrow valley to open countryside...
This is the crossroads at about 1.6 miles. A short downhill section into it followed by a really tough climb...
This is the view around 2.1 miles near the highest parts of the course....narrow twisting road....great views....
View at 2.5 miles as the road begins to drop rapidly...
View at 2.8 miles with Kinneigh Round Tower in the distance...
This is the junction at about the 3 mile mark where you turn left. The round tower is off to the right and this is the closest you get to it. This is the end of the downhill section and now you begin the second really serious climb...
Top of the hill around 3.4 miles....the road begins to drop away again but you can see the next climb in the distance...
At about 4 miles, you begin the long descent. This is the junction at 4.5 miles where you turn left...
At about 5.6 miles, you come to the end of the downhill section when you join the main road to Dunmanway....
From here, it's more or less flat to the finish line back in Ballineen.
Overall......A very challenging 10k course. Not one for setting personal best times. Nice quiet and scenic country roads with nice views out over West Cork. Not sure if this is the toughest 10k in Cork but it's a contender :o)
