With only a few days to go, it's time to have a closer look at the route for the Cork City Half-Marathon next Monday the 6th of June.
The route starts near Kennedy Park, about 800m from the City Hall. From there, the runners will take in a small loop by Albert Road before heading down Monahan Road to the Atlantic Pond. Around the 1.9 mile mark, the course will merge with the full marathon course.
Timing.....One important issue is of course the start times and when the two fields will merge. The half starts at 10:45am while the full starts at 9am. The fields will merge at roughly the 2 mile mark for the half and the 15 mile mark for the full.
The times below show the two fields merging. Note that this is based on both races starting exactly on time.
6 min per mile...1:18 half-marathon < > 7:48 min per mile...3:24 full marathon
7 min per mile...1:32 half-marathon < > 7:56 min per mile...3:28 full marathon
8 min per mile...1:45 half-marathon < > 8:04 min per mile...3:31 full marathon
9 min per mile...1:58 half-marathon < > 8:12 min per mile...3:35 full marathon
10 min per mile...2:11 half-marathon < > 8:20 min per mile...3:38 full marathon
Scenarios.......(if the races start on time!)
a) If you are doing a fast half marathon...say sub 1:30...then you are going to come out ahead of most of the marathon runners. You should have a pretty clear route for the rest of the race.
b) If you are doing say a 1:45 half then you will merge with runners in the marathon doing roughly the same pace.
c) If you are doing say a 2 hour plus half then you will be still ahead of most of the marathon field but they will be running much faster than you.
d) If you are doing the full marathon and are targeting say 3:45 or slower then you will have a lot of half-marathon runners ahead of you.
While the Marina itself is narrow enough for the two to merge, there should be plenty of room on the Centre Park Road and the South Link Road for the fields to thin out.
Preview.......The full preview of the Half-Marathon course can be seen HERE
3 comments:
The last two years I have encountered huge traffic as the half marathon joins the full. Found it very tough last year as I hit a wall of runners in front of me and had to weave sideways and go up and down steps and by the end of the marina it had taken an awful lot out of the legs. I don't know how this could be better managed but it certainly is an issue.
I find that passing slower runners gives me that blast of anger filled adrenaline....use the force!!!
I'd agree with Brian. Total disaster after 15 miles @8.20/ mile to run into a wall of runners running 10.00/mile chatting away to each other..
Centre park road is mobbed with people, the surface is crap so you have to watch where you're going. Very draining. Organisers need to take a serious look at it.
But sure I complained last year too and they did nothing.
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