Cork082

Directions for the Cill na Martra 5k Run & Walk...

The village of Cill na Martra is just off the N22 road from Macroom to Killarney....

Coming from Macroom, the turn off point is at Mons Bar. This is about 5 miles / 8 kms from Macroom.

View of Mons Bar as you approach from Macroom. Take a left here and Cill na Marta is 1.8 miles / 3 kms up this road. The most prominent business is Prince August. Just follow their signs from the main road...

Left at the first junction....again...follow for the signs for Cill na Marta and Prince August.

You enter Cill na Martra from the north-east. The GAA grounds are at the other side of the village.

View of the GAA grounds on the left...

Course Map...The course is out and back on a small road to the west of Cill na Martra. 2.5kms out and 2.5kms back.

Course profile...Obviously the return leg is a mirror image of the first 2.5kms.

Course description......It starts about 50m west of the entrance to the GAA grounds at this junction...

After 100m, you pass the local Primary School...

Just beyond the next corner around the 300m mark, you can see the fall of ground ahead and the views out over West Cork...

There are no major hills on the course but there are a number of short pulls and drops.

An example is below at the junction near 1.1kms.....a short little pull maybe 50m long.

As you can see from the photos, the road is very narrow in what is a very remote part of the county.

There are some nice views along sections of the road...

The turnaround point near 2.5kms is near this entrance...

The return leg is of course much of the same with the finish line back where you started.

Overall.......A 5km run on a narrow quiet road in a remote part of West Cork. Should be a lovely spot on a sunny evening.



...

Cork012

Preview of the West Cork Run...(10 mile charity run)

Cill na Martra is located just south of the Macroom to Killarney road...

Anyone familiar with the Cork / Killarney road will know of the Mons Bar...the turn off for Cill na Martra is there...

After 800m, you take the next left. Just follow the signs for Cill na Martra and the Toy Soldier factory.

Course...10 mile run...

Course Profile...

Course details.......The race starts on the outskirts of the town...

......and drops downhill straight away....

.....and continues until the one mile mark, a very fast opening mile.

From there, the road levels off and it's left at the next junction...

As you head south-west, the road remains relatively flat until around the two mile mark, another fast mile.

As the valley begins to narrow, the road begins to rise. At 2.2 miles, you pass this house and a crossroads as you begin a long gradual climb....

The road remains hemmed in on both sides by trees as you keep going uphill, passing the occasional house...

At 4.1 miles, you pass the road junction where the walkers will turn off left for their 11 km loop...

Nearly there....just two more bends and then you et to the highest part of the course around the 4.6 mile mark with some magnificent views of West Cork on offer...

The road begins to descend almost straight away...

At 5.2 miles, you pass through the tiny village of Reananerree...

As the pass the small school, the road flatten out and even climbs a little. Around 5.7 miles, you approach the turn off left...

Now you rapidly descend on what is a tiny narrow country road...

At 6.2 miles, it's left at the next crossroads but you continue downhill......still on very narrow country road...

Around the 7 mile mark, the roads get a little wider as you take the left at the Y junction...

The road climbs again and then levels off. At 7.7 miles, you reach a junction where the 11 km walkers re-join the route...

For the next two miles, there are no big hills but there are plenty of short climbs and falls making the course seem harder than the route profile would suggest.

At 9.7 miles, you enter the outskirts of Cill na Martra...

Past the GAA grounds......

......and on to the finish line.....

Overall........A challenging course on quiet country roads of West Cork. A 10 mile charity run used to raise funds for Suicide Aware.