Preview of the Cork BHAA John Buckley Sports 5 km road race...Tues 28th May 2013

Coming up next on the road race calendar is the Cork BHAA John Buckley Sports 5k road race on Tuesday evening at 8pm. In terms of the shorter distance road races, this is certainly one of the most popular around. There are probably several reasons for this.......1) It's in Cork City so it's central to a lot of people........2) It's a flat fast course so ideal for personal best times.....3) John Buckley Sports are one of the main running stores in Cork and a lot of John's regular customers would turn out to support the race..........and 4) There is a 20% off voucher! ;o)

With the Cork City Marathon less than a week away, I know a lot of new runners will be finding this blog for the first time as they go looking on the Internet for information. If you are in that category then just a note to say that these races are open to all types of runner. You can enter on the evening.

Now if you are running in the Marathon or Half-Marathon next week, there is no problem running in this race as long as you take it easy! Use it as one of your runs during the week to stay loose, not as a hard speed session.

Registration...The event centre for this race is in the Lee Rowing Club building at the start of the Marina. This is located just alongside the Pairc Ui Chaoimh GAA stadium. There is plenty of parking in the area....outside the club house, along the quayside or outside the GAA stadium. See map below. Considering that the number of entries will be high, there will be BIG queues. You can help the organisers by arriving early....say before 7pm and then take it easy before the race. That way, you'll avoid the queues.

Cost...As usual for BHAA events, it is €5 for registered runners and €8 for non-registered. For those that have NOT pre-entered, there will be the usual two queues...just make sure you get into the correct one.


If you have pre-registered then there will be a separate desk for number collection.

Just a note for those of you new to the running scene, this race is open to runners of all abilities. Just join the non-registered queue and get your race number.

Course...This is probably the flattest and fastest 5 km course in Cork. The start is on the Centre Park Road, about half a mile from the club house.

Remember that this year, there is chip timing. Once you are finished, just keep moving to make space for those behind you but other than that, you're done. No queuing in chutes for this one!

Please note that the course has been measured again (a slight change to start and finish) and that it's important for runners stay on the road all the way around. Last year, some runners ran on the footpath and took a short cut at the city end of the lap. If you do this then you are not actually running 5 kms and your time is meaningless. The course was measured on the road, not on the footpath.

Remember, it's a road race, not a footpath race! Leave the paths to the spectators.

Course Preview...A full preview of the course with photos can be seen HERE

Raffle for bike........Remember that there will be a raffle for a free Raleigh Bike after the race.

20% Off Vouchers.......One of the major attractions of this race will be the 20% off vouchers that will be given out on the night.

The 20% off voucher can be used on anything purchased in John Buckley Sports, regardless of price. It's not limited to one item. Whatever items you want to buy, you present the voucher and you get 20% off. There is also no time limit on the vouchers, you can use them anytime.

So basically, we enter a race for €5 / €8........get a 20% off voucher......spend €25 / €40 in the shop and you break even.......and I think you'll have noticed that good running shoes cost a lot more than that so the voucher is well worth getting.

You can find John Buckley Sports across the river from the Cork Opera House and the opening hours are Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5.30pm – late opening Friday until 7.00 – closed Sundays. They also have a website at http://www.johnbuckleysports.com/

Overall.....Dead flat and as fast a 5 km course as you can get. If you want to try for a personal best, this is the place to try for it. Nice little warm up before the Marathon day proper and with a 20% off voucher on offer, it should attract a huge crowd.