Rising Sun Athletic Club are holding their annual 4 mile road race next
Thursday, the 17th of March at 11am in the village of Ballinhassig. If you are not sure of where that is then from Cork City, just take the N71 Cork / Bandon road south from the roundabout on the South Ring Road and look for the signposts on the other side of the hill. Ballinhassig is only a few hundred metres off the main road.
The registration point is the Marian Hall in the middle of Ballinhassig. There is plenty of parking alongside the hall itself.
Race info...Rising Sun A.C. 7th ANNUAL Paddy Desmond Memorial 4 Mile Road Race....
Thursday March 17th 2011th at 11.00am...In Ballinhassig....Race H.Q. Marian Hall (lower Ballinhassig)...Prizes 1st 2nd and 3rd Senior Men and Senior Ladies...1st 3 Men O40,45,50,55,60,65 and 70...1st 3 Women O 35,40,45,50,55,60 and 65...1st Wheelchair Athlete....Spots and refreshments in Marion Hall after race...
Entry Fee 9 Euro...Entry is open to all runners...Enquiries to 086 3320461
The course...The race starts and finishes about 300 metres away from the Marian Hall.
The first section of the race is a tough uphill drag as you gain height and pass underneath the N71 Cork to Bandon road.
On your right, you can see the road where you'll come back for the finish but for now, you stay on the road and continue to climb until roughly 0.7 miles when you reach the top of the hill...
As you can see on the left of the road, you are now well above the valley floor. A tough start.
From here, it flattens out and you begin a gradual descent. You pass the 1 mile mark and this is by far the fastest part of the course. The road from here it pretty reasonable and soon you will enter the village of Halfway.
From here you turn left, out onto the main N71 road and head back. From about the 2 mile mark to about 3.5 miles, the course is flat and going slightly uphill at the end as you run inside a very wide hard shoulder on the road
....(see above)
After about 3.5 miles, the road begins to climb and the hard shoulder begins to narrow. Soon, you reach a bridge and you can see the road you passed under at the start of the race.
Just after this, you turn left and left again...
...and you now have a downhill run all the way to the finish line.
Overall...Due to the hill at the start, it's probably not the fastest of 4 mile road races. However considering that it is on St.Patricks Day and how easy it is to get to from Cork City, it always attracts a good crowd.
If you want to have a look at the course, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website. Here is the
LINK.
3 comments:
9 Euro V`s 5 Euro ???
I think I`ll wait the 3 days for the Bhaa race.
The ongoing debate , why is a race nearly twice the price of another ?
Same distance , same sandwiches , similar prizes e.c.t.
The main difference is the sponsorship. In the BHAA races, things like prizes / venue / refreshments are paid for by the sponsor.
With club races, most of these come from the entry fee.
This is a great race to do with a range of prizes across all categories. It's good to support local races as well as the BHAA
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