Review of the Tramore Valley Park 5k parkrun - 16th July 2022

After an absence of 6 years and 5 months, the 5k parkrun in Tramore Valley Park finally restarted on Saturday the 16th of July 2022 with a modest turnout of 93 runners and walkers.

Some of the parkrun volunteers at the Tramore Valley Park

I didn't take part in the first 15 events in 2015/2016 so I ran this morning to see what the course is really like.

The 5k course is essentially two laps of a 2.5km course and the start line is about 100m from the finish line.

Pre-run instructions

I ran with a small camera so that I could stop for a few seconds and take some photos with runners out on the course. The photo below shows the first 3 women going up a slight pull at about the 500m mark.

Small little pull at about the 500m mark

It's quite short and maybe only an ascent of about 2-3 metres but the course certainly isn't dead flat.

The photo below which around the 1km mark shows pretty much what the course looks like. The Tramore Valley Park is essentially a grassland park and it is to be honest pretty featureless. It's just a track with grass on either side.

First 3 women about the 1km mark

The photo below shows the track along the southern edge of the park which has some trees but it's more of a ditch than a mature woodland.

Track by the southern edge of the park

Along this section, the group of the top 3 women began to split up as can be seen below with the woman in Green pulling ahead. 

The section by the recycling centre has the biggest hill on the course although it is still pretty modest. I'd say the ascent is probably no more than 10-15 metres in elevation but it certainly slows people down.

Hill by the recycling centre at approx 2kms

On the fence on the left, the council workers have put up some of the toys that have been sent to recycling over the years.

After the hill, the course is on a wide footpath past one of the several carparks and then down to the start / finish line and the second 2.5km lap begins.

The photo below shows the finish line area.

Finish line of the 5k parkrun

Description... In terms of hills and difficulty, it's not as flat as Ballincollig but it's less hilly than the Glen. As a parkrun, I'd describe it as 'functional' in that it's a 5k course in the southside of Cork City. It's easy to get to, plenty of access points and there's plenty of parking.

I think the Glen and Ballincollig are more attractive from the viewpoint of running in a woodland environment but it really depends on what you want.

Numbers... I suspect the numbers for this 5k parkrun in Tramore Valley Park will grow gradually and it will end up with about 150 per week. Ballincollig might be around 200 and maybe 50 at the Glen which gives a total of about 400 per week in Cork City which isn't too bad.

The main thing is that there is now a 5k parkrun within easy reach of most people in Cork City.

If you'd like more information about the Tramore Valley Park 5k parkrun then go to the event website... https://www.parkrun.ie/tramorevalley/