Preview of the East Ferry 5 mile road race...
Location.....The race HQ is at the local national school in Saleen just to the south of Midleton in East Cork.
Directions......Getting there is very easy. From the roundabout on the bypass to the south of Midleton, follow the directions for Whitegate. After 2.7 miles, you will see Saleen National School on the left. This is the HQ for the race.
Course.....The start line for the race is just over a mile from the school. The finish line is just over 600m from there.
Profile....The course follows the waters edge and is mostly flat. The small peaks on the profile below are due to mapping errors. The only hill is around 4.6 miles.
Course description....The race starts about 100m west of Bawnard Cross on a quiet road.
Most of the first mile is either flat or a very gradual downhill....a fast start to a race.
This is the view out over the water around 0.3 miles...
...with the odd house scattered along the route. View at 0.5 miles...
As you can see from the photo above, the nature of the course changes slightly in that it goes from open countryside to a road by the waters edge covered by trees.
At about 1.2 miles, you approach the corner where the course turns to the south...
This is the view heading south at 1.6 miles with Great Island on the far side. The road along here is essentially flat. As you can see, there is a sharp rise of ground on the left and the mapping software picks up some of this as a hill in the route in error.
After the 2 mile mark, you come to Murphs Pub at East Ferry. Now a quiet spot but once the location of a boat ferry that would take people across to Great Island and Cobh where people would board the liners for America...
At 2.5 miles, you pass the picturesque little church of the Holy Trinity in the town land of Garranekinnfeake looking out over the water....
At 2.8 miles, the course turns to the east as you head for Saleen....
Around the corner, the view changes as you look across the outer harbour to Rostellan and Whitegate...
All the while, the road remains pretty flat and level...
As you get near the 4 mile mark, you start heading in towards Salen Creek with Rostellan Woods on the far side. On the distant bank, you might make out a bright object which just so happens to be the top of the
Rostellan Dolmen. Built thousands of years ago on what was probably the shoreline, it is now submerged at high tide.
At 4.6 miles, you reach the start of the first and only real hill on the course...
The rise in elevation is about 20 metres and the climb is about 300 metres long. It's not a huge hill but it's a climb all the same. It will feel a lot harder after running on the flat since the start.
At about 4.75 miles, you come to the top of the climb just after a road junction. Almost straight away, the road drops away again for a very fast last 400m run into Saleen...
The race finishes near the church in Saleen...
Overall......A real gem of a course. Lovely scenic route on quiet roads. Mostly flat with just one hill. Should produce some fast times.
