Preview of the Eagle AC 5 mile Road Race (Carrigaline) - Sun 24th Feb (11am)
This 5 mile road race takes place next Sunday, the 24th of February at 11am in Carrigaline, just South of Cork City. It is on at just the right time, exactly 2 weeks before the Ballycotton 10. This race is a good test of your fitness before the big one and you have a full 2 weeks to recover.

Directions & Parking...
See the map above. If you are coming from Cork (top of map), take the left at the 2nd roundabout as you enter the town. This is the relief road and you should see a signpost for Crosshaven. Go through the next major junction with traffic lights and take the first right into the car park.

Sign-On & Registration...
This takes place in the local community centre. It is only about 200 metres or so from the car park. Note that there is only limited car parking available near the community centre and parking on the main road is strictly forbidden. If you are going to this race, it would help a lot if you could pre-register. It would really speed up things on the day. If you go to this LINK, you can give your details there. The entry fee is €8 with €2 of this going to a local charity.

If you are still not too sure about where the community hall is, click on this LINK. Make sure the 'MAP' option is selected and you can zoom in and out to get your bearings.

The Course...
It's not the flatest of races with a few drags out along the course but nothing too bad. You start about 500 metres East of the Community Centre in a housing estate (When you come out of the community centre, turn right and follow everyone else to the start). The road is fairly wide at the start and by the time the runners reach the main road, the field should be well spread out. There is nothing special about the first 2 miles. It's pretty flat with a few tiny hills. Note that the road here is not closed so watch out for any cars.
Just before the 2 mile mark, you turn left into probably the most serious hill of the race which is about 400 metres long. It's not so bad if you take it handy. Then through 2 kinks in the road and down into the village of Shanbally. Left past the church, climb slightly and then fall downhill to the 3 mile mark, all inside the hard shoulder of the main road.
At about 3.5 miles, you turn left off the main road and then you have the next climb. It's pretty short but enough to get you into trouble if you push too hard. Then you run downhill to the 4 mile mark which is in a hollow and then climb back out at the other side. This is the 3rd real hill in the race and the least serious.
After that, nearly all of the running is flat or slightly downhill as you finish through the housing estates. After the last corner, which is a sharp left, the finish is about 70 metres away so you should see it in plenty of time.

So overall, probably not a course for getting PB's but it's not too bad either. The 11am start is a good idea. It means people can go there, do the race, go home and still have the afternoon free.

If you want to have a closer look at the course, you can find it on the MapMyRun website.

Weather forecast... (Updated Sat 3pm)
The current forecast shows a narrow cold front passing over the country late Saturday night and very early on Sunday morning. Any rain should be well gone by the start of the race. The weather conditions for the race itself should be dry with light Westerly winds. Temperature for the race will probably be around 8 deg C.

Other Info...
The race page on the Eagle AC website can be found HERE.
The flyer for the race can be seen HERE.