Preview of the Cork BHAA 'Grandons' 5 Mile Road Race - Mon 31st May 2010

We have 2 races this week before the Cork City Marathon and this is the first one. This 5 mile race was usually the first race just a week or so after the Marathon. This time, it's a week before. With just one week to go, this is not the time to go racing if you hope to run the full Marathon in a weeks time. Jog around by all means but exerting yourself this close to the big day would be a mistake.


Directions......
From Cork, just go to Glanmire village and continue on towards Riverstown. After the major crossroads with traffic lights, you'll see the GAA clubhouse with pitches on the right (shown as X in the map below). There is a limited amount of parking at the club house while you should be able to park between there and Grandons garage which is about 800 metres further on.

If you wish to get your bearings, check this link......http://pininthemap.com/df8f7258ca2d1cd45

Entries........as per usual with Cork BHAA events, it's €5 for registered runners and €8 for non-registered. Last year, they got a huge turnout of 460 runners for this event. Perhaps with the Cork Marathon & Relay event so close, a lot of people might give this one a skip?? However, I have a feeling that the numbers will still be large. As always, get there early if you can. The race starts at 8pm.

Course...The start is up the road near Grandons garage. From the start, you run slightly downhill and past the GAA club house where you signed on. Through the next traffic lights, past the 1 mile mark and then left. Now you are on to pretty quiet residental roads. There are a few small falls and climbs as you go, up a little hill to a road junction and then right. Past the 2 mile mark and under a bridge for the main Cork-Dublin road. From here, you go around the next loop. I know there is a bit of a hill there, you pass the 3 mile mark and you come back under the bridge again. Now from the bridge, you have a 1 mile run through a residental area as the road climbs and falls. Around 4.5 miles, you are back onto the main road again as you take a right. Watch for the stewards here as this can be a busy road and you need to cross it. Once on the left hand side, it's about 800 metres from here to the finish beyond the GAA grounds.

Overall...a 5 mile course with lots of little pulls and drags. It's probably not the most scenic or fastest of courses but it should still get a big turnout.

If you would like to have a look at the course in more detail, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website.