Cork041

Preview of the Greenville 5 km road race, Carrigtwohill...

Please note that this is the preview for the 2012 race. The 2013 race will be slightly different. To be updated.

Location......Carrigtwohill is located about 10 miles / 15 kms to the east of Cork City.

Directions......The race will take place on the roads to the north of the town of Carrigtwohill. Race headquarters is Greenville House and entries are taken there. Please note that there are some road works at the bridge near Greenville House. The preferred way to get there is via Cobh Cross to the west of Carrigtwohill...then turn left at Dennehy's (shown below in course preview)....and then right at the crossroads. Parking is available near Greenville House so follow the directions on the night.

Trains.......Greenville House is located just north of the new railway station in the town. For anyone that doesn't want to drive, then the train is a viable alternative. These are the times of the trains from Cork to Midleton...(Note that Carrigtwohill is roughly half-way between Cork and Midleton so adjust times accordingly. Greenville house is only a 500m walk from the train station)
Cork to Midleton
17:15...17:38
17:45...18:09
18:15...18:39
Midleton to Cork
19:45...20:08
20:45...21:08
21:45...22:08

Course........Some of you may recognise from the map that parts of the course are the same as the old Stryker 4 mile race that used to be a regular fixture on the race calendar before.

The race starts near the entrance to Greenville House....

.......and then heads north, slightly uphill and left around the corner and then west. From here, the road flattens out....

 .....and pretty soon begins to drop off again. This is a really quiet part of the course and probably one of the fastest sections. At around 0.8 miles, you turn left at the crossroads and head back in towards Carrigtwohill. The roads around here are now essentially flat except for where there is a bridge over the railway near the one mile mark...

After this short pull, it's back down on to flat roads again until you come out on the main road into the town around 1.5 miles...

From here, you run into towards the centre of Carrigtwohill with a slight uphill section along the way. In the town centre, you come to the 2 mile mark and you will then take a left on to a narrow road...

From here, you are into the final mile of the race. It's flat as you pass the church.....

....and then there is another short pull as the road crosses over the railway again (there are some road works here but should be ok for runners to pass through). The course then proceeds to go up past where the race started near Greenville House and finishes on the back road...a slightly tough finish to the race.

Overall.......it should be a reasonably fast course. There are a few hills but they are pretty short and minor as opposed to anything prolonged. Considering it's the last evening evening race of the season then it's as good a reason as any for going. 

Cork023

Preview of the Carrigtwohill 5 km road race...

Located just off the N25 Cork to Midleton/Waterford road, it couldn't be easier to find or get to. If you are coming from Cork City, it is less than 10 minutes from the Jack Lynch tunnel.

Registration for the race is at Barryscourt Castle which is well signposted from the N25 road. Just take the slip roads if you are coming from the east or west and the castle is just 300 metres to the south of the main road. There is no need to go into Carrigtwohill itself.

Course...Essentially, you run south......do a triangular loop twice......and then back past the start line and on to the finish line just after the castle.

If you look at the map, the green arrows show the initial loop. You start on an uphill section and start the triangular section after about 200m. From here, it's slightly downhill and then pretty flat until there is another small pull around 0.8 miles, near the bottom right hand side of the triangle. Then north..up to the next junction (top of the triangle)...left and repeat the loop again.

The second loop is shown in orange. There will be some downhill running once you restart the loop with the hill coming this time at 2.1 miles.

Once you complete the loop this time, you take a right...see red arrows. From here, there is a slight downhill to the finish line just beyond the castle.

Overall....a reasonably fast course. The hills are pretty small...more of a sharp short shock type rather than anything too long and serious.

The magnificent 16th century Barrycourt Castle just to the south of Carrigtwohill

Uphill start but it only lasts for about 200m

Start of the triangle...taking a right here 200m after the start of the race

The south-western corner of the triangular loop. You run past this spot twice...at approx 0.6 and 1.8 miles.

The hill at 0.8 mile and 2.1 miles. Pretty short with some downhill running after it.

The north-east corner of the triangle. Nice fast section. First time round, you turn left and start the loop again (Orange arrows). Second time around, you continue straight on towards the finish (red arrows).

Fast downhill section to the corner before the 3 mile mark

The finishing straight just after the castle entrance