This race moved to a new route last year which was a lot better than the old course which was run closer to the town on busy roads. The new route goes off into the countryside on nice quiet quiet roads to the southwest of Midleton.
Entries......The sign-on point for this race is still 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 (R626 Fermoy) 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 (between the Session Bar and the Railway Inn). This narrow little road will bring you up to the Midleton GAA grounds on the right (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 with €2 of this going to a local charity.
The start.......The start line is on Dwyer's Road and is about as far from the GAA grounds as the old start line was. From the GAA hall, just follow the road back towards Cork. When you get to the spot where there is a small roundabout painted on the road, take the left here. Note that the start line is at least 1 km from the GAA grounds so you can use this as part of your warm-up.
The course......From the start, the course goes south from this residential area and underneath the Midleton Bypass along a narrow road. Just after the bridge, the race route takes a sharp right onto a private road which will be opened especially for the race. Note that there is a bollard in the middle of the road here so look out! Then back on public roads again, through a road junction and west towards the 1 mile mark....overall, a pretty flat and fast first mile.
From here, the route heads into the countryside to the south-west of Midleton. There are a few hills but nothing too serious. The worst one is between the 3 and 4 mile mark.
Eventually, the race loops back towards the north and back onto that private road again. The finish line is near the end of this road, just before you get back to the bridge. Note that the finish line is just over a mile from the GAA grounds so you can use this as part of your warm-down.
Overall........This race went very well last year on the new route and this year should be a good one as well. Midleton AC always put on a good spread afterwards and it's sure to attract a big crowd.
Some additional info from the organisers...
JOE HOURIGAN MEMORIAL MIDLETON AC 5 MILE ROAD RACE 2010
POINTS OF INTEREST
The new course is mainly over quiet country roads on the southern side of the town and was used for the first time last year.
Race HQ will as usual be at Midleton GAA Club, where limited parking will be available. A team of stewards will be on duty from 6.30pm onwards in this area. Motorists are asked to follow the advice of the race stewards at all times. The start of the race is over a ½ mile from the GAA Club.
Entry Fee is 10 euro – this year’s chosen charity is the ‘Let’s Get Together Foundation’ - 2 euro from each entry fee will be donated to this organisation.
Changing and shower facilities will be available at Midleton GAA Club. After race refreshments and prize giving will also be located here.
The new Midleton train station is located just across the road from the Race HQ. Trains leave Kent Station at 5.15pm and 6.15pm and depart Midleton Station at 9.45pm and 10.45pm.
There will be the usual comprehensive prize list on offer at this year’s Midleton AC race with plenty of spot prizes as well.
Last year’s race was won by Michael Herlihy who later went on to win the Cork City Marathon. Michael recorded a time of 24:57 for the new course. Sean McGrath finished 2nd in 25:06 with Derek O’Leary 3rd home in 26:30. A year earlier when Sandis Brailitis won the last race on the old course his time was 25:20.
The new course attracted the biggest entry for quite a while in Midleton with 294 taking part – an increase of 58 on the previous year.
This will be the 27th year of the race and this year’s event will be dedicated to the memory of the late Joe Hourigan for the 10th time.
Jim McMurtry Presdent of Midelton AC has just produced a superb pictorial history book of the club spanning the last four decades. Copies of this publication costing 15 euro each will be on sale on race night. Some of the general pictures may be of considerable interest to the general running fraternity.
- Finally, we wish everybody an enjoyable evening in Midleton and with the weather report positive, the host club are pulling out all the stops to make it a sporting and social occasion to remember.
John Cashman
Midleton AC P.R.O
4 comments:
Again I will have to choose between this 5 mile race and the pfizer 6 miler next week .
Will tonights race be twice as good as next weeks race because it is twice the price --- I don`t think so . Lads I have no doubt ye will get good numbers tonight but how can they run a longer better/bigger race next week for 1/2 the price ?
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Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion. If you don't agree with someone then give your reasons why.
Would the fact that Pfizers are the main sponser help with the funding for prize money? BHAA must have advantage when a business sponser is behind the race. A couple of 5k BHAA runs coming up in June and July that will cost a non BHAA member €8 to run will be too expensive. To me it would appear that the non BHAA races are funding it difficult to keep the fees low unless there is a main sponser, but well done for making the hard effort to put on a race
Races are not charged 'by the mile' prices are set to cover the anticipated costs and as already pointed out for many BHAA races there is substantial sponsorship from the host company. 2 euro of the Midleton entry fee was donated to a local charity.
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