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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.

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Preview of the Cork City 10k race in Blackrock...

As used for the FIT Magazine 10 k race...


The course for the 10k race is mostly on quiet walkways in the Mahon and Blackrock area of Cork City...

Course description.........The race starts and finishes on the Centre Park Road near the Pairc Ui Chaoimh GAA Stadium...

The initial part of the course is on a tree lined road and after a few hundred metres, breaks out onto the Marina....

This is a nice scenic part of the course with the River Lee on the left. Around the 400m mark, you pass Pairc Ui Chaoimh on the right....

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

At 1.8 kms, you approach the end of the Marina with the shipping terminal in Tivoli just across the water...

At the end of the Marina, you pass the 2 km mark and then 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. Coming so soon in the race, you shouldn't lose much time on it.

The road stays level for a short while and drops again around 2.6 kms...

There is a slight pull on the other side up to the gates of Blackrock Castle at 2.8 kms...

Back down a slight drop and then you turn off the road and in though a car park at 3 kms and onto a public walkway...

This next section is dead flat and is probably the nicest part of the course. At 3.2 kms, you have a long straight section ahead as the River Lee to your left leaves the city...

At 3.6 kms, 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 at 4.4 kms as the course begins to turn more south-west...

As you approach the 6 km mark, 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 at 6.2 kms which follows the route of the old railway in towards the city....

At 6.4 kms, 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. At 8.1 kms, you come what used to be Blackrock Station....

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

Near the 9 km mark, you come out onto the Marina and from there, you have just 1 km to the finish.

Video preview of the course...Note that the date shown in the video is for the 2013 event!...



Overall.......One hilly section between 2 and 3 kms. Otherwise mostly dead flat. About 60% of the course is on public walkways. It would be considered a fast 10k course and the times should reflect that.