Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: Main man Jerry Forde on tour in Crosshaven - August 2020

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Main man Jerry Forde on tour in Crosshaven - August 2020

 

Following on from the July outing from Blackrock Castle to Passage West, our outing for August was from Carrigaline to Crosshaven.

After turning up in the meeting point in Carrigaline bright and early at 9am, there was of course no sign of the main man Jerry Forde. As you can see from the photo above, he can't go outside the door unless he has matching clothing and he was frantically searching his house this morning for a bright Yellow-Green hat to go with his top.

He eventually arrived and we got underway at 9:15am on the cycle path/footpath to the Kilnagleary car park and from there on the Greenway to Crosshaven.

Once you take the time to notice, it really is a lovely stretch to walk, run or cycle on especially near Drakes Pool and the approach into Crosshaven. There are some great views out over the Owenabue Estuary and the path is right next to the water all of the time. I know for Jerry that it was a welcome contrast to the busy roads around Blarney.

After Crosshaven, we continued out past the boat yard and up Point Road to the end of the Cul-de-Sac. From there, there were lovely views across to Spike Island in the outer harbour and the town of Cobh beyond. The view at the top of this post shows the view from Point Road across to Currabinny Woods and the estuary by Crosshaven which was full of boats.

For the return trip, the main decision was where to get some coffees so we stopped off at Lulu's at the Kilnagleary car park. After getting the 'I left my wallet at home / Me dog ate me wallet' routine from the main man, it was left to me to get the coffees.

As you can see from the photo, the tour guide had to buy two coffees for Mr. Forde after he gave himself an impromptu 'Americano' shower with the first one after a 'wheelchair malfunction'. The only saving grace was that Lulu's weren't selling creamie cakes or I'd be completely broke. 😂

After our 50 minute '10-minute' break, we headed back to Carrigaline where we were welcomed by no less than Jimmy Murray, another well know face on the Cork running scene.

I think we clocked up just over 11 miles in total although with all the stops, it turned into a 4 hour training session! 😂

All in all, it was a lovely route for training and I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it before. This morning, we had blue skies and sunshine for most of it and it really does make a huge difference in terms of the scenery. After all the recent rain and gloomy clouds, it was good to feel the heat of the sun again.

Like many of the regulars out there, Jerry is missing the road race scene and is tipping away with training on his own but it's not the same. With the running scene, there is a whole social scene to the road races and that is almost more important than the run itself.

As for our next outing, I'm not sure where we're going yet. All I know for sure is that I'm leaving my wallet at home! 😂😂

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