Location...Emly is a small village in the south west of Tipperary. Note the following roads in the region.....
The R513 which is the main road from Limerick City to Mitchelstown. It takes in Caherconlish, Hospital, Knocklong and Ballylanders.
The R515 goes from Charleville to Tipperary Town via Killmallock, Knocklong and Emly.
The R516 goes from Croom to Bruff and Hospital and joins the R515 just to the west of Emly.
If you are coming from outside the region then you can use these roads to find your way to Emly.
Emly is signposted as being 5 kms from Knocklong, 7 kms from Hospital and 13 kms from Tipperary Town.
Emly in closer detail.....Race HQ is at the Byrnes Tavern which is at the bend at the entrance to the local church. The race starts about 300m up the road and then runs around the corner and past the GAA Grounds. It then takes in a loop to the north before coming back into the village from the west and then finishing near the GAA grounds.
There is plenty of parking available outside the church.
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| View from the bend at the eastern end of the village...Byrne's Tavern and the small road up to the church |
Course map...Although Emly is in the county of Tipperary, part of the course skirts the border with Co.Limerick and is inside it for a while.
Course profile....For a course that it over 8 miles long, it is relatively flat. Note that the height doesn't change by more than 100ft in height and there are no real sharp hills.
Course description........The race starts at the western end of the village which is mostly residential...
You run through the village and then left at the bend at the eastern end near the church...
Once around the bend, you pass the local national school at about 0.3 miles...
....with the GAA grounds just beyond it...
At 0.65 miles, you leave the R515 and turn off left onto a quieter country road as you head north...
You reach the 1 mile mark around here......a pretty level first mile.
You cross a small bridge at 1.8 miles...
....and again at 2.2 miles. This time, the stream on the right marks the border between the counties of Limerick and Tipperary. From the bridge here, the border runs along the road so that everything to the right is in Co.Limerick and everything to the left is in Tipperary. One of the few places in Tipperary where you can say Limerick is to the east.
From here, the road begins to climb and this is probably one of the hardest parts of the course. The hill however is very modest and it's only about 10 metres in elevation.
At 3.2 miles, you come to another small bridge over stream. The county border here leaves the road and follows the stream on the left. From here on, you are into Co.Limerick.
At 3.5 miles, you come to the highest part of the course at a small crossroads where you turn left. This was the location for a 5 mile road race in previous years.
The crossroads also mark the county bounds again with the border running. Once around the corner, the road remains quite narrow with Co.Limerick on the left and Co.Tipperary on the right as you head west...
At about 3.8 miles, the county border disappears into a farmers lane on the left and from here on, you're back in Co.Tipperary...
At 3.9 miles, you turn left onto another narrow road as you head in a south-west direction...
Initially, the road falls away rapidly but soon turns into a more gradual downhill. This is probably the fastest part of the course as the narrow road twists and turns.
At 5.7 miles, you come to a T-junction where you turn left for Emly...
The next section of road is pretty level as you head in a southerly direction. At 7.5 miles, you approach the outskirts of the village...
At 7.6 miles, you rejoin the R515 as you turn left into the village...
After a very slight climb, you run past the start line......through the village as before....around the corner by the church......past the national school and on towards the finish line outside the GAA grounds.....a total of 13 kms or roughly 8.1 miles.
Overall.....A race over an unusual distance on the border of Limerick and Tipperary. Most of the route is on quiet country roads. Any hills are very modest.
