Preview of the Cork BHAA 'Stride by the Tide' 4 mile Road Race - Tues 22nd Apr (8pm)
This race which is sponsored by Quality Hotels takes place on Redbarn beach near Youghal in East Cork. It is the only race during the year which is run on a beach.

Directions...
Take the main road for Youghal from Cork. As you approach Youghal, do not go on the Youghal bypass but take the left just before it, go under the bypass and head towards the town. After a few hundred metres, look out for and take the turn off right. It should be signposted as the R633 for Ballymacoda. After 1.5 kms on this road, you come to a crossroads. Turn left here. You should see the signposts for the Quality Hotel anyway. See the map above.

Entry...
As per normal at Cork BHAA events, it is €5 for registered runners and €7 for non-registered.

Course...

From what I remember, it is basically two and a half laps of a course that is marked out on the beach. It is a very unusual race in that as you take the sharp turn at the end of each loop, you are watching everyone else who is ahead and behind you. It's a bit like running a race and spectating at the same time. The race is run on a part of the beach which is between the low tide and high tide mark. As a result, you are not running on soft sand although you might hit the od patch. You should have no problem doing it in your normal runners.

Overall...

The fact you can watch a race at the same time as running in it makes this a special and unusual event. The softer surface, while ok for running on, definetly means that your time for this 4 mile race will be slower than usual. The sand seems to absorb most of the energy when you foot hits the surface and you need to put more effort in than you would on the road. If you want to see where the race is, have a look at this link...

http://pininthemap.com/27c8f39995f0d9723