Waterford001

Preview of the Marine Climb 6 mile road race...

This 6 mile road race is usually held in April every year and is part of the West Waterford Summer race series. The race starts in the town of Dungarvan and finishes at the Marine Bar which is located near the top of a hill on the N25 road to Youghal.

Entries for the race are usually taken at St. Joseph's primary school, Dungarvan. This is right alongside the church as you drive into the town from the Cork side. There is plenty of parking nearby near the start and near the local sports centre.

Map of the course...

Course description...The race starts at the waters edge near the band stand...

 .......and about 200 metres later, you come to the first hill! ;o)

...but it's only a small one. Coming so early in the race, you'd hardly notice it. The road climbs gently here for a few hundred metres as you run past the school where you entered earlier.

The road soon levels out and veers left as you head south-west. At around the half mile mark, the road begins to drop gradually...

This is a very fast section which begins to level out just before the one mile mark. It should be a fast opening mile despite the small hill. Just after the mile mark, you take stay left at the roundabout...

From here, the road is initially narrow but soon widens out so that you'll find yourself running inside the hard shoulder. From the roundabout to about 1.6 miles, it is more or less dead flat........

.....and then it drops gradually all the ways down to the 2 mile mark...another very fast mile.

From the 2 mile mark, the road continues to fall until it flattens out and crosses over the River Brickey at about 2.4 miles. At 2.6 miles, you turn off left onto a quieter road...

........and about 100m later, you turn right onto a even smaller road....

This is an important point in the race as it marks the end of the easy running! The warm up is over, the real work lies ahead. If you notice on the left of the picture above, you'll see that the road begins to climb. Note that this is the start of a 2.7 mile gradual climb all the way up to the 5.4 mile mark. In other words, as far as you've run up to now except that it's all uphill. The trick is of course to run at a nice steady pace over the 2.7 miles rather than tearing into it. Anyone who picks the second option is likely to fade well before the top.

The hill once it starts will feel unrelenting. Through the hairpin bend at 3.2 miles...

...onwards and upwards to the next sharp bend at 4.1 miles...

 Along this next stretch of road, you really begin to appreciate how high you are now above the valley floor...

The view above is just after the bend, around 4.2 miles. The mountains to the left are the Knockmealdowns on the Tipperary/Waterford border and the Comeragh Mtns are on the right and to the north.

And so the road continues...onwards and upwards. Just around the next corner at 4.3 miles, the view opens up to the east over Dungarvan Harbour...

 Now, the road slowly swings around to the right and you join the main road at about 4.6 miles...

Note that this is the N25 which is the main Cork-Waterford road. Be careful of any traffic and stay in well to the left. As the road climbs, you pass a small lay-by around the 5 mile mark...

There is only a mile left to go now. After the lay-by, the hard shoulder narrows to a sliver again so stay well in to the left again. At 5.4 miles, you take the left fork and leave the main road as you finish the long climb...

From here to the finish, the course becomes a lot faster again. Straight through the crossroads at 5.6 miles...

 ......and on to a long sweep to the right. There is even a slight fall in ground here so it's a very fast run into the finish line near the back of the Marine Bar...

Overall......A tough challenging course that is split up into two halves. Easy for 2.7 miles, tough for another 2.7 and a short fast section at the end. Maybe not one for those who just like flat fast 5k courses but it really is an excellent course for those who like something a bit tougher.

The Marine Bar has been located on this spot for well over 200 years. Named after the soldiers that used to stop here, it was a long history which can be seen HERE

Organised by West Waterford AC

Cork049

Preview of the Cork BHAA Mount Oval 6 mile road race...

Directions.....This 6 mile road race takes place in Mount Oval which is located just to the south-east of Cork City...

...and in more detail...

Getting there......Mount Oval is literally just a matter of minutes off the South Ring Road. Just follow the directions for Carrigaline at the Bloomfield interchange near Rochestown. As you cross over a bridge and proceed uphill, look out for the small slip road to the left for Mount Oval......

Slip road for Mount Oval....just after the roadside sculpture

This is an overall plan of the area. After taking the slip road, you drive up a narrow entrance to the estate. At the crest of the hill, you pass the start / finish area and then the Mount Oval Bar is located just about 300 metres beyond on the left.

Course.......The race course is mostly a large loop on country roads to the south of Mount Oval.

From the start line, you run downhill past the Mount Oval Bar...

The gradient is pretty gentle as the road goes through the estate. Note that there are several speed bumps! As you near the entrance / exit to the estate, the road flattens out. Then it's right at the exit....run 200 metres and then another right...

Here, you are running past Garryduff Sports Centre and it's a nice flat fast section. Note that the roads are not closed! Follow the race stewards instructions as to what side of the road to stay on.....most likely on the left.

At the far end of the sports grounds, you will have roughly 0.8 miles completed....which should be very fast. Now for the fun part ;o)

There is a hill coming up which is 600 metres long. It's certainly not easy and if you can go up this without getting too much out of breath then it will pay dividends later. Try too hard and you'll take ages to recover. The hill starts off modest enough but gradually gets steeper...

L....gentle start to the hill, R.....and gradually gets harder

On the hill, you go through the 1 mile mark. At the top, the road eases off and then it's left...

From here now, you are onto a nice country road with some flat sections at the start which should allow you to recover from that hill....

 After a while, the road rises again but in gentler sections. Around the 2 mile mark, the road eases off into a long flat section. This whole stretch of road is probably the nicest section of the course.

At 2.7 miles, you turn right at the T junction...

....and then it's downhill for the next 500 metres.The 3 mile mark is near the end. Then it's right again as you head north...

Now for the next tough hilly section....not as hard as before but still a factor as it's almost a mile long. In contrast to the earlier big hill, this one starts reasonably hard but soon it eases off into a gentle climb. Once the first 400m or so are out of the way then it's not too bad.

 Note!......This can be a busy stretch of road. Make sure you should follow the race stewards instructions. If they ask you to stay on the left then please do so as there are a lot of twists and blind corners on this road.

As the road eases off around the 4 mile mark, it soon drops downhill again and then it's right at the next junction....

At this stage, you are at the three quarter way mark....i.e. 4.5 miles. After the turn off and a short flat section, you have a small hill ahead which is about 250 metres long....

After this, the road eases off again and soon you pass the junction where you turned off earlier....

From here, you are retracing your steps......although on the opposite side of the road! ;o).......and it's a fast and furious downhill. Down past the 5 mile mark...past Garryduff Sports Centre....left at the junction...left into Mount Oval and the long pull back up to the finish line.

Overall........it's certainly not an easy course, nor could it be described as fast. Yet for all that, it is still a nice area for a race. It's really close to Cork City and yet most of it is in the countryside. Mount Oval is only a few minutes from the South Ring Road so getting there is quick and easy. A challenging run.