Upcoming Race...Charleville Half-Marathon & Relay - Sun 18th Sept 2011

This is a notice for another race coming up in September...the Charleville Half-Marathon in north Cork on Sunday, the 18th of September 2011 (10am start).

This is a brand new race on the calendar which is organised by North Cork AC. Located roughly halfway between Cork and Limerick, it will most likely attract plenty of runners from both cities. Charleville is approx 40 kms or a 35-40 minute drive from Limerick city and approx 60 kms and a 50-55 minute drive from Cork city.

Besides the central location, one of the main attractions of this race is the fact that it is a reasonably flat and fast course. Ideal for anyone wanting to try for a personal best time or wants to get a good indication of their fitness level heading into the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October.

I have seen other races promoting themselves as being 'fast' only for runners to turn up and find plenty of hills and drags. The clue to how flat this course is can be seen in the course map above. You can see the grey and white line which shows the route of the Cork to Dublin railway line. Laid in the mid 19th century, these routes were chosen to allow steam powered trains to run on...i.e. no steep hills. Looking at the Ordnance Survey map of the area, the few contour lines that are present are well spaced out so it would certainly seem to fit the bill as a fast course.

Relay....Another feature of this Half-Marathon is that it also incorporates a relay event, similar to the one for the Cork City Marathon. There are 4 legs which are approx 5 km each and relay teams can be made up of 2,3 or 4 runners. The course is laid out so that the 1st and 3rd relay points are in the same place at the start of a ~10 km loop. The 2nd relay point at the 10 km mark beside the church in Kilmallock. People can choose to break up the relay whatever way they want and even do the first and last 5km leg if they so wish while their team mate(s) do the other two ~5.25km legs.

There are also Technical T-shirts for first 300 entries so enter early! The organisers are also making a donation towards St. Josephs Foundation, Charleville. They are hosting the race at their facility and they have built a 200m running track which local athletic clubs use and is to be resurfaced soon. It will also be the warm-up area for the Half marathon and changing rooms will be in GAA Hall next door.

They will be using Chip timing from Champion chip with a 10km split.

Entries.........The entry fees are as follows...
€25 Individual Entry Fee until Sept 4th
€30 Late Individual Entry Fee from Sept. 5th - 18th
€40 Relay Team Entry Fee until Sept 4th
€50 Late Relay Team Entry Fee from Sept. 5th - 18th

The website for the race with contact details can be found HERE

You can enter online for the Half-Marathon HERE and the Relay event HERE

Entry Forms....
Individual entry forms for the Half-Marathon in PDF format can be found HERE

Entry forms for the Team Relay event can be found HERE

More info from the organisers...
Genuinely Flat Course all the way with just one bridge. Designed to yield fast times and personal bests in response to lack of fast courses in Ireland.
AAI Permit approved and accurately measured course.
Final race of 9 races in the Ballyhoura ACTIVE Summer Series of Road Races in North Cork/ East Limerick Region.
Race Information at: www.BallyhouraActive.com
Organised by: North Cork AC in conjunction with St. Josephs Foundation
Special Elite Athlete places available with accomodation and meals
Top six cash prizes for Senior Men and Women
First prize in all categories including special Under 23 category
For any queries - Contact Michael Herlihy (086) 3168954
Email: CharlevilleHalf@gmail.com
Race accommodation deals from www.CharlevilleParkHotel.com