Location......Glounthaune is located just a few miles to the east of Cork City...
Directions.....Glounthaune is well signposted from exit 2 on the N25/E30 road between Cork City and Midleton. The junction is about a mile east of the Jack Lynch tunnel.
As you approached Glounthaune from the east, you come to a crossroads where the church is located. Take a right here...
....and just down this short narrow road you come to the Glounthaune Community Centre which is located on the left.
The changing areas and toilets are in the Community Centre.
Entries are taken in the Parish Office opposite the church.
Post race refreshments and prize giving is in the Great O'Neill which is next to Fitzpatricks shop.
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| Glounthaune Parish Centre |
Course map......
Profile......
Course description......The race starts about 400m west of the church in Glounthaune. It starts on a slight downhill but soon levels off....
At about 800m in, there is a slight hill as you approach the junction for Little Island with a corresponding fall on the other side...
At about 0.9 miles, you come to a road junction which is the start of the narrow loop. On the way out, you keep going straight on the flat. As you can see from the photo below, you are coming down from the hill on the way back....
The road begins to rise ever so slightly and at the roundabout at 1.7 miles, you stay right and run straight through...
At about 1.8 miles, you turn right and the next junction and then right again straight away. Up to this point, there have been a few small pulls but they really don't amount to much.
From the junction however, there is a short but steep climb as you gain almost 20m in elevation over the next 400m...
As you near the top, this is the typical view...a narrow road with trees on both sides....easily the nicest part of the course...
No sooner do you reach the top when you begin a gradual descent. This section should be very fast...
At the end of the hill around 2.6 miles, you reach the junction with the main road where you turn left and head for home.
From here, it's back to the road junction for Little Island and down the other side.....back to the start line......and then up a slight climb to the crossroads with the church on the left...
From there, the last 200m or so are all downhill to the finish line which is about 50m short of Fitzpatrick's shop...
Overall........One serious hill around the 1.8 mile mark. Other than that, it's pretty reasonable. The proximity of the race to the N25 and Cork City means it's within easy reach for a lot of people.
