Cork112

Preview of the Shandon Boat Club 6k fun run

The course for this 6km fun run is about a mile east of the centre of Cork City...

Registration...The event centre for this race is in the Shandon Boat Club Club building at the western end of the Marina. At the end of the Centre Park Road, turn left when you reach the Marina. Shandon Boat Club is at the end of this road. See map below.


Map...

Course...The 6km course is flat and fast. The start is on the Centre Park Road, about 300m from the club house.

The photo below shows the start line on the Centre Park road near the Marina...dead flat and the road stretches straight ahead...

 Past the junction and around a bend onto another long flat stretch...

You run towards the city centre and you turn left at the roundabout...

 ....and then past the petrol station and left on to Monaghan Road...

 As you can see from the photo above and below, the road is dead flat...

At the next junction, you turn left...

and 100m later, you come to a T-junction...

First time around, you turn left and run past where the run started and repeat the loop.

On the second lap, you turn right and head towards the finish.

Then it's back down the Centre Park Road to where the run started...

Once you reach the Marina, you turn left towards Shandon Boat Club. The finish is along that road.

Overall.....Dead flat and fast 6km course in the heart of Cork City.

Cork110

Preview of the Rebel Run 5k race in Bishopstown...

The Rebel Run 5km road race takes place in Bishopstown at the western edge of Cork City...

 The race starts and finishes in the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and takes in a loop near the college. The race starts at the rear of the track stand and finishes on the track.

Overall.......A reasonable course with a mixture of public roads and walkways.One of the main attractions of this race is the central location and ease of access for anyone living in or near Cork City.

Cork108

Preview of the St.Luke's Home 5km race in Mahon....

Location & Directions.....The race HQ is at St.Luke's Home in Mahon which is in the eastern part of Cork City....

Coming directly from the City Centre, it can be accessed via the Marina or the Old Blackrock Road. The turn off for St.Luke’s is about 400m after Blackroack Castle.

Coming from the South Ring Road, take the exit for Mahon. At the main junction outside Mahon Point, it’s 1km to the junction by the CSO office where you turn right….another km to the end of the Skehard Road where you turn left at the T-junction…..then right after another 500m…..and the junction near St.Luke’s is another 500m from there.

The entrance to St.Luke’s is only 100m from the junction on Castle Road.

Course.......The start and finish points of the 5km race are located nearby. The course is mostly flat with approx 1km on public roads and the remaining 4kms on a quiet public walkway.

 Course description......The 5k race starts near the Garda station on Ringmahon Road.

Not long after the start, the road dips slightly and rises again until you approach the T-junction near the CSO Office where you turn right....

The next section is the busiest part of the route so it's important to follow the race stewards instructions here.

Stay on the right hand side of the road and at the next junction, go straight ahead...

 ......and at about the 1km mark, you turn right just onto a walkway before the garage.......

You run down the short ramp and at the bottom, there is a sharp right as you turn onto the public walkway and under the road...

From here, the course is practically flat except for the pedestrian bridge over the South Ring Road at about the 2km mark.

The rest of the course is dead flat as you run along the waters edge with the harbour on you right.

Overall.........A very fast 5km course. Only 1km of the 5km route is on public roads with the remainder on a quiet public walkway.

Cork099

Preview of the Grant Thornton 5k route in Cork...

Description.....This is one of the few road races that are run in the heart of Cork City. The race starts outside the Grant Thornton offices on the South Mall...takes in a extended loop by Ballintemple...and finishes near Kennedy Park, just a few hundred metres from the City Hall.

Course map.....The 5k route is shown below...
 

Course Profile....Two hills with a very fast second half....

Course description.......The 5k race starts on the South Mall in the heart of Cork City...

After 400m, you turn right over Parnell Bridge and past the City Hall....

At 850m at the junction by St.John's College, you turn left...

From the junction, there is a gradual climb up the Old Blackroad Road which lasts for about 400m.

Crossing over the South Link Road at 1.1kms

At about 1.4kms, the road drops away again for a short fast section...

At 1.7kms, you turn right at the junction with the Blackrock Road...

Almost straight away, you pass the entrance to Ashton School and the start of the second hill....

This one again is about 400m in length and levels off near the SMA African Missions...

For the next 500m or so, the road remains pretty level and flat.

At 2.4kms, you pass the McCarthy Monument built in 1871....info

At about 2.8kms, you begin the descent into Ballintemple...

Past the junction with Maryville at 3.1kms...

At 3.2kms, you turn left at Ballintemple Post Office and down Park Lane...

This narrow and quiet road comes out by CAB Motors at 3.5kms....

From there, it's dead flat for the last 1.5kms along Monahan Road to the finish line near Kennedy Park....

Overall......A 5km course with two distinct halves. The first 2.5kms has two uphill sections while the second half is mostly downhill or dead flat.

Cork085

Preview of the John Buckley Sports 10 miler in Cork City...

Map...The race is mainly on the Centre Park Road / Monahan Road circuit...the Marina....Mahon walkway.....and the old railway line through Blackrock.

The course can be broken down into two parts....the Centre Park Road / Monahan Road circuit which consists of two laps and the bigger loop taking in the walkways in Mahon and Blackrock.

Part 1.......The map below shows the Monahan Road /Centre Park Road circuit which covers the initial 3 miles or so of the course. The Pink arrows show the loop for the first loop.

The race starts near the city end of the Centre Park Road. It then goes down the Centre Park Road... onto the Marina... down the ramp and past Pairc Ui Chaoimh... past CAB motors... and the down Monaghan Road to Kennedy Park where the finish line is located.

Past the finish line... right at the petrol station at the roundabout.... and back onto the Centre Park Road.

As you complete the first loop by crossing the start line again, you run back down the Centre Park Road again and on towards the Marina...

Back on the Marina at 3.3 miles and past the Rowing Club again....

Part 2.....The map below shows the second part the course...the last 6 miles.

This is a nice scenic part of the course with the River Lee on the left. Around the 3.4 mile mark, you pass Pairc Ui Chaoimh on the right....

....and then proceed along the Marina which is lined on both sides with trees.

The view around the 4 mile mark as you approach the end of the Marina with the shipping terminal in Tivoli just across the water...

At the end of the Marina at 4.4 miles, you proceed up the hill by the Pier Head Inn. This is the most serious hill on the course and lasts about 400m. It starts reasonably steep but soon eases off.

The road stays level for a short while and drops again around 4.7 miles...

There is a slight pull on the other side up to the gates of Blackrock Castle at 4.9 miles...

Back down a slight drop and then you turn off the road and in though a car park at 5 miles and onto a public walkway...

This next section is dead flat and is probably the nicest part of the course. After the car park, you have a long straight section ahead as the River Lee to your left leaves the city...

At 5.3 miles, the path turns to the right to reveal the inner harbour of Cork....

Around the corner, the pathway slowly curves as it follows the waters edge...

View as the course begins to turn more south-west...

Around 6.7 miles, you'll see the old railway bridge over the Douglas Estuary. This was part of the old railway line from Cork City to Crosshaven and closed back in 1932.

At the end of this section, there is a very short pull.......

........and you then join another path which follows the route of the old railway in towards the city....

At about 7 miles, you come to the last 'hill' on the course which is a pedestrian bridge over the South Link Road. It is quite steep but by its very nature, it is also very short...

View from the top looking south-west over the Douglas Estuary....

There is of course, a short downhill section on the far side...

From here, the course is more or less dead flat as you follow the old railway line. Around 8.2 miles, you come what used to be Blackrock Station....

....and how it looked back then......

Near the 8.7 mile mark as you come back near the Marina, you turn left and down by the Atlantic Pond.

From there, it's pretty much a flat mile to the finish line near Kennedy Park.

Overall.......One hilly section around 4.5 miles. Otherwise mostly dead flat. About 40% of the course is on public walkways. It would be considered a fast 10 mile course and the times should reflect that.