Preview of the Midleton 5 Mile Road Race - Thurs 1st May (8pm)

The 'Joe Hourigan' 5 Mile road race takes place in Midleton in East Cork, on Thursday night at 8pm. Due to the re-introduction of the railway to Midleton in the next few years, this will be the last time the Midleton 5 race will be run over this particular route.

Entry...
The sign-on point for this race is in the GAA clubhouse which is just off the Mill road. To get there from Cork, you need to take the turn-off from the Midleton bypass and enter Midleton itself. Near the centre of the town, you cross over a bridge and come to a major roundabout and junction. You need to stay left and take the 2nd left exit and onto the road with the petrol station. About 400 metres up this road, keep a look-out for a small road to the right just after the traffic lights. This narrow little road will bring you up to the Midleton GAA grounds (see the X on the map above). In this general area, there is a limited amount of parking. Note that the start point for the race is almost a mile away so make sure you arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to get there. The entry fee is €10.
Course...

The start is on a wide quiet road. After a few hundred metres, you are back onto the busy main road and you will be running back towards the GAA club. As soon as you pass the entrance to the club and the 1 mile mark, the traffic dies down a bit as you head out towards the 2 mile mark which up a slight incline. At about 2.5 miles, you turn off left and there are a series of small climbs here until about the 3.5 mile mark. Than there is a rapid descent and from there until the finish is pretty flat. Just around the 4 mile mark, you are back onto the hard shoulder of the busy main road. From here, you need to be careful of passing traffic as you head back in towards the town. Soon, you'll turn left, back onto the quiet road where you started from and on to the finish.

Overall...

A reasonable course with a few small hills and you should expect to get a reasonable time on it.

If you want to have a closer look at the course, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website. http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/ireland/cork/841118877616

Additional Info.....

Latest News - from John Cashman – club PRO - - Midleton Athletic Club have stressed that their annual ‘5’ mile road race will begin at 8pm sharp this Thursday evening. There are road works taking place currently in a number of areas in the vicinity of the town, most notably in the Knockgriffin area just beyond the starting and finishing point. This allied to the fact that the registration area and race headquarters is located almost a half mile away at Midleton GAA Pavilion means that participants should allow added time in advance. It’s the 25th anniversary of the Midleton AC race and thus has added extra significance to what is looked upon as of the high points of the summer sporting season in the East Cork town. There are plenty of vantage points around the course whereby spectators can sample the atmosphere and see some of the inform runners of the season bid for the top hopnours. Reflecting back on the history of the race club spokesperson Danny McCarthy has special thoughts for the late Joe Hourigan is whose memory the event now takes place . “Joe was a tremendous character and a tremendous club man. He was always involved in our activities and had a friendly word for everybody as he and his colleagues under took their regular training runs around the town and its environs”.

Headquarters for the occasion will again be the local GAA pavilion which will be open for entries from 6.30pm onwards. It will also be the base for the prize giving ceremony and the renowned after race hospitality which has become synonymous with this early summer fixture. Entry fee this year will be 10 euro, with a 2 euro contribution from each entry going towards the Robert Heffernan Olympic Games fund. Robert is currently at a very advanced stage of preparations for the trip to China later this summer and has greatly welcomed this gesture by the host club and the wider running community. The club is donating 500 euro also.
There will be NO HEADPHONES ALLOWED in this race........Thanks Danny McCarthy, Midleton AC.