Tipperary020

Preview of the Moycarkey Coolcroo AC 5k in Littleton, Co.Tipperary

Location... The village of Littleton is located on the old Cork-Dublin road near the town of Thurles. It is literally just a few minutes drive from exit 6 on the M8 motorway so access is very easy.

 From the M8, take exit 6 and follow the signs for the Horse & Jockey. At the T-junction there, turn left and drive north-east.

 Littleton will be the first built up area you will come to. Take a right at the only crossroads in the village...

 Look for the newly built community centre near the church.

Course... The 5k race starts in Littleton and takes in an anti-clockwise loop to the south.

Profile... The 5k course is pretty flat and hovers around the 120m ASL mark.  An inspection of an Ordnance Survey map shows that the 5k course doesn't cross any other contour other than the 120m one. In other words, the course never changes by more than +/- 10m in altitude.

Description... The 5k race starts outside the old church and heads back into the village...

After about 300m, you turn left at the crossroads and head south-west on the old Cork-Dublin road.

Considering it was once one of the main roads in the country, it's pretty wide and there is plenty of space on the left for runners.

Just after 2kms, you turn left...

This narrower road heads for Ballynonty and has a small climb on it. At 3.6kms, you turn left and head back towards Littleton...

At about 4.8kms, you're back at the start line where you turn right and head for the finish...

Overall.....Fast 5k course. Very easy to access from the M8 motorway.

Tipperary019

Preview of the Dundrum AC 5k road race.....

Location.....The picturesque village of Dundrum is located in South Tipperary, about 8 miles from Tipperary Town and 9 miles from Cashel. The map below shows the approach roads and it is well signposted.

The race HQ is at the local Scout / Community hall. The start line and finish line are within 200m of the scout hall....

Entrance to the Community Hall from the road....

A useful landmark is the local Centra store. Below is the view from the south-west showing the entrance to the community hall and the start line is beyond that...

Plenty of space for parking at the hall...

Course map........The map of the course is shown below...

Course Profile.......Very flat...

Course description....This is the view from the start line...dead straight and flat as you run past the Centra Store...

Just after the store, you pass a garage and the finish line is just beyond that...roughly 100m or so after the start line...

At the junction at 300m, you stay on the road straight ahead...

As you leave the village behind, the road ahead is dead straight and flat....

Around 0.8 miles, you pass the entrance to Marl Bog Forest on the right, famously known locally as  the Duck Pond. This picturesque location is used by members of Dundrum AC for much of their training and is a nice area to visit.

Just after the 1 mile mark, it's left at the next crossroads......

.......and onto a smaller road but it continues mostly straight....and again, pretty flat...

At 1.6 miles, you turn left...

.........onto an even narrower country road....Again...straight and flat...

At 2.3 miles, you come to a crossroads where you turn right.....

....and onto the Green Road....another straight and flat road...

The Green Road comes to an end around 2.6 miles when you come to the road junction with the R505...the main road from Cashel. Turn left here...

....and continue into the village...again, straight and flat...

...passing St.Mary's Church...one of several impressive sandstone buildings in the village.

Around 2.8 miles, you enter the village proper...

...and at around the 2.9 mile mark, you take a left at the crossroads.......

....and up the road to the 'Start' line and onto the finish.

Overall.......Picturesque village with a lot of history. Seriously fast 5k course. Hardly a hill worth talking about and plenty of long straight sections. Must be one of the fastest 5k courses in Munster if not the country.

Limerick017

Preview of the Tournafulla Wind Farm 5k & 10k...

Directions​: The Wind farm run will be signposted from Templeglantine Village on From Newcastle West​: On the N21 approaching Templeglantine Village take the first left towards the GAA field. At the GAA field turn right and continue straight on up towards the top of the hill, the Wind Farm entrance will be on your left.

From Abbeyfeale​: On the N21 drive past Templeglantine Village take the last right hand turn towards the GAA field before the 100km speed limit. At the GAA field turn right...

...and continue straight on up towards the top of the hill, the Wind Farm entrance will be on your left.

5km route...

10km route...

Overall......A unique race through a wind farm in West Limerick.

Kerry012

Preview of the Kenmare 5km road race

This is one of the few road races in the South Kerry region.

The headquarters for this race is at the local community centre shown on the map below...

Course......

The 5k race starts outside the Sheen Falls Lodge which is approx. 1.4 miles from the Community Centre. Transport is provided but it's likely that most runners would use this as part of the warm up routine for the race.....

Start of the 5k race

The start area of the race is shown above with the first bridge of the course just beyond. This is the view to the right as you go up and over the bridge....a really quiet tranquil area...

...with a picture postcard view to the left of the falls...

From here, you are running on a narrow section of road that is often covered by trees and occasionally opens up to reveal views of the mountains in the distance...

It's all pretty flat so should be pretty fast. At about the one mile mark, you come to a junction where you join the 10k course....

From here, it's flat until you go over another humpback bridge at roughly 1.2 miles...

From here, the road rises slightly to join the main road around the 1.5 mile mark. The main road into Kenmare is reasonably flat and is slightly downhill as you enter the town. The finish line is about 200 metres beyond the Lansdowne Arms Hotel...

Overall....It's a stunning location for a race and it's a pretty fast 5k course.