Preview of the Lisgoold 5k road race...Sun 13th Nov 2011

This 5k road race in east Cork is coming up on Sunday the 13th of November at 11am. Lisgoold is located on the R626 Midleton to Rathcormack/Fermoy road.

If you are not sure of where Lisgoold is then the easiest way to get there is via Midleton. If you are coming from Cork City then as you leave the dual carrageway (N25) and enter Midleton, you will come to a crossroads almost straight away. Take the left here and follow the relief road to the west of town. You need to follow the signposts for Fermoy. This will bring you on to the R626 road and after a few miles driving north, you will come to Lisgoold.

As you enter the village of Lisgoold, you will see the Community Centre on the right just after a crossroads. Registrations are taken here from 10am.

The Community Centre and the GAA grounds 500 metres up the road are available for changing and showers.

Course...The race is basically on an out and back course. The route follows the rough outline of the Owennacurra River so there are no big hills to contend with. For the first half of the race, you are going uphill to Ballincurrig and a little bit beyond.

Then you reach the turn around point and of course, the second half of the race is largely downhill and very fast.
The total ascent from the start line to the 2.5 km half-way point is about 50 metres. Some sections have a few short pulls while other sections are gentle gradients. Overall, nothing too serious.



Photos of the course......The race starts just up the road from the Community Centre...

The initial few hundred metres are a bit of a pull but once you get around the corner at the top of the road, the road eases off as you pass the GAA grounds. From there, you are on a twisting road and you cross over the Owenacurra River at about 700 metres.....

From there, the road continues to climb until it eases off as you reach the 1 mile mark at the entrance to Ballincurrig village...

The first mile is by far the hardest of the 3 miles so at this stage, the worst is behind you. The 1 mile mark also doubles up as the 2 mile mark so you have an approx 805 metre run out to the turn around point which is roughly here...

From here, the second half of the race is nearly all downhill and very fast. So it's back down to Ballincurrrig...

...past the 2 mile mark, back down to the bridge and back to where the race started....

This is the 3 mile mark. From here, it is 150 metres on a fast dowhill slope to the finish line outside the community hall.

Overall.......Obviously a race of two halves. The trick is to get to the turn around point at 1.5 miles without being completely out of breadth. If you can have something in reserve for the second half then you should be able to exploit it to get a fast time. The course is unlikely to produces times as fast as a flat course but they shouldn't be too far out.