Preview of the Mallow 10 Mile Road Race - Sun 6th Jan (12:30pm) (Updated Sat 5th 11am)
Next Sunday, the 6th of January see's the start of the Munster Classic 10 mile series. The Mallow 10 mile is the first of 4 races in the series with a 10 mile race every month in Munster from January until April. So, let's have a closer look at the Mallow 10...

3 points to note...
Note that the registration point, the start and the finish are in 3 different parts of the town. This can and does catch out people who have never done this race before. See map above.
A...this is where the Mallow Youth Centre is. You should park near here and register before 12 noon. Prizes and refreshments are available here after the race as well.
B...this is the start point for the race. It's just under a mile from the Youth Centre. Just jog along with the other runners to the start and use it as part of your warm-up.
C...this is the finish point of the race. It's just a short walk back to the Youth centre from here.

How to get there...
If you look at the map above, I have put in a series of RED dots showing a possible route. Just remember 2 things
1) If you are coming from Cork, use the roundabout on the main Cork-Limerick road to enter the town centre. Don't follow the road to the right.
2) If you get lost, remember that the Mallow Youth Centre is on the North side of the Blackwater river. Stay on this side of the river and you'll find it ok.

Course...
See map below for the course. While there are a few small hills and drags, there is nothing really bad. To be honest, I'd be more concerned about the wind. In general, for the first half of the race, you are running West and in the 2nd half, you are running East. A strong wind will probably impact you more than any of the hills. As for course itself, it starts in a residential area and heads out of town. Around the 1.5 mile mark, there is a slight uphill before you join the main N20 road. From here until the roundabout, you are running inside a pretty wide hard shoulder so you are not near the passing traffic. The only spot where you have to be careful is near the roundabout where the hard shoulder gets a bit narrow. After that, you turn left onto the main Killarney road. It's not the nicest of roads but the sheer number of runners makes the traffic slow down. Out around the 6 mile mark, you start the nicest part of the course with mostly quiet rural roads until you re-enter the town around the 9 mile mark. From here, you run as far as the bridge, cross over the Blackwater river and then run the half mile or so to the finish.If you want to have a closer look at the course, Mallow AC have put up the course on the MapMyRun website.

Weather Forecast...(Updated Sat 6pm) The current forecast is that it will be cool with a max temperature of 6 to 8 dec C. It will probably be bright but overcast. It will probably be dry as there are no weather fronts crossing the country at the time. There will, however be a light breeze from the South West which might be felt for the first 6 miles but should be to our backs for the last 4. It might be a bit cold for just a singlet so a thermal vest and gloves might be a good idea. So, overall, the conditions should be ideal for the race.

Registration...You will need to fill out an entry form at the registration point in the hall. If you want to save some time and just speed up the entry process, why not print out the form and fill it in before you go there? The link to the entry form is HERE.

Entry Fee...First of all, the entry fee for the Mallow 10 is €10. Last year, the guy's from West Waterford AC were taking entries for the Dungarvan 10 on the day of the Mallow 10. I presume that they will be there again this year at the Youth centre. Remember that the Dungarvan 10 is the 2nd race in the Munster series and takes place on Sunday, the 3rd of February. If you enter the Dungarvan race next Sunday, it will cost you €15 which is €5 less than if you enter on the race day in Dungarvan. So, if you are doing both races, bring €25.

New Runners...For any of you who have never done a 10 mile race before, my only advice for Sunday is to take it easy! You can't run it hard like a 5 mile race. Pace yourself, run about 30 to 40 seconds slower per mile than you would in a 5 mile race. You will probably have to work a lot harder to do the 2nd half of the race in the same time as the 1st half, so keep something in reserve.

And finally...I reckon that they will get in excess of 400 runners for this year's event. So, get there early (11:45 or before) and avoid the rush to the start.

See below for some additional information provided by Mallow AC...

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Registration is at Mallow Youth Centre from 10:30 to 12:00. We are expecting a large number of people compared to other years so please come as early as possible. Numbers have increased over the last few years with the exception of 2006, when the race was cancelled because of safety concerns due to thick fog. It was run in May of that year instead.

Year /Competitors...2002 = 190, 2003 = 215, 2004 = 285, 2005 = 303, 2006 = 199, 2007 = 386
We will be asking all runners to complete an entry form to speed things up at registration, this will include an email address section and we will send results on Monday to all competitors who provide email addresses.We would hope to have all entries processed by 12:00 noon to allow people get to the start which is about a mile from the youth centre.

Directions to youth centre are as follows.....From Cork, Kerry, Limerick – when you come to main roundabout, follow directions for town centre, take the second left after the church. (O’Brien Street) and proceed up the hill past the shopping centre.From Dublin, Waterford take the first right after the Spa House, which will be on your left as you enter the town. Turn right at top of the hill.

Map on the website showing location of registration. mallow youth centre

Prizes are as on the web-site, with the bonus of €500 for a sub 49:40 time. All runners will be entered into a raffle for two prizes of a flat screen TV.

There is also a non-competitive 10k walk commencing at 12:00The course is the same as previous years, it is slightly uphill for the first two miles and then downhill or flat for pretty much the rest of the course. The map my run website shows a climb at the 4 mile mark which is incorrect. Mallow 10 Mile CourseFull details are on the web-site, but if anyone has questions they can contact us for further information.

Mallow AC

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Mallow AC have a special page on their website for the Mallow 10, here is the LINK.