Cork120

Preview of the Courtbrack 5k...

Location...Courtbrack is located about 10 miles / 16kms north-west of Cork City. As can be seen from the map below, it's close to Blarney.

The easiest way to get there is via the turn off on the Blarney to Tower road.

This junction is 1 mile from Blarney and 0.7 miles from Tower. This is the view of the junction as you approach it from the Blarney side. As you can see, Courtbrack is sign posted.

You stay on this road for about 7kms until you come to this crossroads where you turn right for Courtbrack.

The race HQ is at the Courtbrack Community Hall which is just up this road on the right...

The race is just to the north-west of Courtbrack. The race starts a few hundred metres up the road shown with the Green arrow. The race finishes near the shop on the right.

Course map...

Course profile...

As you can see from the profile above, the 5k is one of two halves. Slightly uphill for the first half and slightly downhill for the second half.

Course description.....The race starts on an uphill section but the worst of the hill is behind at this stage. This short drag only lasts for about 200m so a cautious start might be advisable.

After 200m, the road eases off into a more gradual climb.

This is a pretty typical view out along the course. Nice quiet and narrow country roads.

At about 1.6kms, you turn right at the crossroads....

...and about 100m later at 1.7kms, you turn right at the next cross roads.

As you can see, this is a really narrow country road. You will reach the highest part of the course along this section of road.

At about 2.7kms, you turn right at the t-junction with plenty of downhill running ahead.

At 4.4kms, you turn left at the t-junction and you're back on the road where you ran out earlier.

From there, it's down past the start line and the finish line is back near the shop at the road junction.

Overall.....Nice quiet location for a race. Close to Cork City. Hilly start but fast finish.

Cork100

Preview of the Castleview 5km Trail Run....

This trail run is located at Blarney Driving Range which is on the approach road to the town of Blarney from the N20 Cork-Mallow road. By car, the Driving Range is only 10kms from the centre of Cork City.

Take the slip road for Blarney from the N20...past the Clogheenmilcon Sanctuary...and then look out for the Driving Range on the road as you head in towards the town...

The entrance is shown below...

There are two trails which are made for running and walking....one 1.5kms and one 3kms.

The surface is mostly very short grass or compact gravel. The course is probably best described as undulating with some gentle hills. The profile of the 3km course is shown below. As you can see, the ascent is gradual while the decent is more rapid.

The 5km course is made of up of roughly one and a half times the 1.5km course and then a full 3km loop.

This short video will give you a good idea of what it is like.


Overall.....A quiet location for a 5km trail race and a pleasant change from running on roads.

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Preview of the Cork Half-Marathon (Blarney)...

Location.....This race starts and finishes in Blarney just to the west of Cork City.

The race is organised by St.Finbarrs AC, one of the main running clubs in Cork City and this is their flagship event of the year.

Brief outline......Basically, the Half-Marathon starts and finishes in the town of Blarney which is about 10 kms to the north-west of Cork City. The course does a quick loop around Blarney before heading north to a point where you turn around and return again with a gradual downhill for 5 miles to the finish. As you can see from the course profile below, the hill near Grenagh was removed in 2012 and the course is a lot faster course now.

Getting there.....From the N20 Cork to Mallow/Limerick road, take the well signposted turnoff for Blarney. As you can see from the map below, take the first left and then right and the race HQ is there at the GAA grounds.

 There will be parking at the race HQ which is Blarney GAA Club....

Additional car parking will be available on the morning of the race at Scoil Mhuire gan Smal...the secondary school on the Hedge Road which is just 200 metres away.

Car Park near the start line...

Course........As you can see from the map above, the start is very close to the GAA grounds. You do one short loop which is pretty flat before going straight on the second lap....past the garage......and after about 200 metres, over the small bridge and then right towards Waterloo......

The thing here is that you are basically running on a road which is right alongside a river so it's a very gradual uphill. Before the 2 mile mark, you will pass the finish line on the right as you continue up the valley.....

It's more or less like this for the next few miles......a very gradual climb in a wooded valley. Soon, the Waterloo Inn comes into view........

......and you take the right here over the small bridge and then up a short hill about 200 metres long...the first real hill in the race so far. After that it eases off again and back to a gradual easy climb as you carry on along a tree covered road until you reach a road junction near the 5.9 mile mark...

All the while, you will have been running alongside the main N20 road which runs parallel to this small road and climbing slowly all the way. In fact, you will have gained about 50 metres in altitude from the start (30m) to the road junction at 5.9 miles (80m).

Left at this junction and about 150 metres later at another junction near the 6 mile mark, you turn right and head up towards the turn around point (~7.5 miles) where there will be a timing mat to record runners.

Once you turn around, you retrace your footsteps as you run slightly downhill for most of the way to the finish line.

Out and Back........Please note that as this is an out and back course, runners will be running on both sides of the road during the mid section of the race. You should run on the left hand side of the road where this happens to avoid runners coming in the opposite direction.

Follow the instructions from the stewards on the day.

Overall.......The Half-Marathon course in Blarney had a reputation of being a tough course especially with that hill up around Grenagh. With that now removed, the course is a lot faster. There are no serious pulls as such and the gradual slope has only a slight impact on times. The course has real potential for anyone wanting to go for a personal best time.

Race Sponsor.......The race sponsor is John Buckley Sports, one of the main sports shops in Cork for running shoes and other running related gear.

You can find John Buckley Sports across the river from the Cork Opera House and his opening hours are Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5.30pm – late opening Friday until 7.00 – closed Sundays.