It was a pleasant surprise at the Tramore Valley 5k parkrun last Saturday to see that Cork City Council have put down a new tarmac surface! This replaces the old compact gravel surface which was there for years and was prone to have pools of water on it.
I'm not sure how much of a difference it will really make running wise but it's a dead flat surface. It's not hard to imagine kids on roller blades and scooters now able to use it to say nothing about parents pushing buggies.
As it's not prone to any real traffic other than council vehicles, there is no real potential for potholes or anything to spoil it in the future.
It really does feel as if it's a finishing touch to a proper public park whereas the old gravel path felt like a bit of a temporary arrangement.
The only potential downside is the perhaps the possibility of ice in frosty weather so that will be something to watch out for.
The Tramore Valley 5k parkrun course is shown above and it's basically two 2.5km loops. The section in Yellow is the the older tarmac. The section in Red is the new tarmac section and it's probably about 1.5kms in length.
Regardless of whether it's faster or not, the new section is a pleasure to run on. There is a free 5k parkrun on there every Saturday morning at 9:30am and you can have a look for yourself.
1) Parkruns in Co Cork
1 comment:
I ran today on the beautiful surface in Tramore valley. I note the significant presence of rough stones on the sides of the tarmac. Would it be too much to ask the city council for fine stones/chips on top of these rough stones so ageing athletes like myself could run on a softer surface and save my ageing knees?
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