Notice: The Great Railway Run 25km - Sun 13th Apr 2025

The annual Great Railway Run from Cork to Carrigaline will be held this year on Sunday the 13th of April 2025. 

Entries: You can enter online HERE

Update 28th Feb 2025: There are now fewer than 100 places left.

he 25km route is the same as 2024. It will start at 9:30am on Monahan Road and takes in a 1.6 mile / 2.6km loop first which is shown below.

The race then proceeds along the route of the old railway line to Carrigaline finishing at the Lions Youth Centre on Church Road.

The 2025 route is shown below...

Notice: The Great Railway Run 10km or 25km - Sun 26th Apr 2020

The annual Great Railway Run from Cork to Carrigaline will be held this year on Sunday the 26th of April 2020.

There is a choice of two distances.......a 25 km race starting at 9:30am from Cork City to Carrigaline and a 10 km race from Monkstown to Carrigaline starting at 11am.

Entry fees for 2020 shown below:

Early Bird*       Normal Price      Late registration**
10K    €20    €25    €35
25K    €30    €35    €45
* ends midnight 29/2/2020
** after midnight 19/4/2020

Entries: You can enter online HERE

Route... The run will roughly follow the route of the old Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway which ran from 1850 until 1932.

For a large part of the run, the route will follow the old railway line that skirts the shores of Cork Harbour. The big change this year is the finish. An extra section will be added in after Shanbally so that the race finishes at the Carrigaline Youth Centre.

You can find details of the 2020 route HERE

More details on the event website.

Prizes...

€3000 in prize money sponsored by Phelans Pharamacy. Prizes will be awarded for best overall placings as well as for age categories. Strictly one prize per entrant. The Joe West perpetual trophy will be awarded to the fastest male and female in the 25K race. Cash prizes will be as follows:

25K
Men Overall: 1st €400, 2nd €200, 3rd €100, 4th €50
Men Categories: Wheelchair, M40, M45, M50, M55, M60, M65 - 1st in each category €50
Women Overall: 1st €400, 2nd €200, 3rd €100, 4th €50
Women Categories: Wheelchair, F40, F45, F50, F55, F60, F65 - 1st in each category €50

10K
Men Overall: 1st €200, 2nd €100, 3rd €50
Men Categories: Wheelchair, M40, M45, M50, M55, M60, M65 - 1st in each category €50
Women Overall: 1st €150, 2nd €75, 3rd €50
Women Categories: Wheelchair, F40, F45, F50, F55, F60, F65 - 1st in each category €50

Results of the Great Railway Run...25k, 10k & 5k - Mon 5th May 2014

While this event is usually held in November, the organiers decided this year to hold the 2014 event on the May Bank Holiday Monday. It was of course a very busy weekend with plenty of other events to choose from such as the Bandon Half-Marathon, the Limerick Marathon and the Bay Run Half-Marathon. In that context, it was always going to be interesting to see how the numbers would hold up.

In November 2013, they got 87 in the 25km race. This time around, it was up to 114...an increase of about 27. In the 10k race, they got 121 as opposed to 154 last November, a drop of 33. The 5k numbers were not timed last year while this year, they got 57. So overall, the numbers were pretty much the same despite of the choice of other events. It should also be noted that the weather was pretty awful which might have deterred a few.

25kms
1    Owen CASEY 1:31:14
2    Brian HEGARTY 1:32:55
3    Brian Byrne 1:34:26
8    Jill HODGINS 1:43:35
9    Ailbhe MCDAID 1:45:04
11    Deirdre NAGLE 1:46:19

10kms...
1    Alan O'BRIEN 36:25
2    Alan Clarke 37:14     00:37:14
3    John O'DONOGHUE 38:01
5    Helen LEONARD 41:01
18    Anne Donnelly 46:01
20    Eileen O'CALLAGHAN 46:37

5kms...
1    Rod SCANLAN :21:06
2    Sean LYONS 21:33
6    Greg JACKSON 25:28
3    Laura CURTIN 24:32
4    Ciara Mangan 24:40
5    Clare Keogh :24:58 ##

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) A gallery from the organisers HERE

Event notice...The Great Railway Run - 25km, 10km & 5km - Mon 5th May 2014

This event is usually held on in early November every year. This year, it has been moved to the  Bank Holiday Monday, the 5th of May.There are a choice of three distances.......a 25 km race starting at 9:30am from Cork City to Carrigaline, a 10 km race from Monkstown to Carrigaline starting at 10:45am or a 5 km fun run from Shanbally to Carrigaline starting at 11:30am.

The run will roughly follow the route of the old Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway which ran from 1850 until 1932.

For a large part of the run, the route will follow the old railway line that skirts the shores of Cork Harbour. Each event will finish at Carrigaline GAA Club. Shower facilities will be available in the GAA Club after the race and there will be bus transport to take runners back to the start areas after the race.

The pre-entry fee is €30 for the 25K and €20 for the 10K until the 1st of May. All proceeds from the event will go towards Carrigaline Lions Club

Entry form HERE

More details on the event website.

A full preview of the course can be seen HERE

Results of the Great Railway Run...Sun 10th Nov 2013

The Great Railway Run was held today the 10th of Nov 2013 in somewhat wet conditions.

The 25 km race attracted 87 runners and ran from Cork City to Carrigaline following much of the old railway route.
1 Kevin WILMOT    01:30:25    01:30:25    Open    Male
2 Eric BROWNE    01:35:54    01:35:51    Open    Male
3 Joe WALSH    01:38:17    01:38:15    40-49    Male
1 Maura REGAN    01:43:59    01:43:55    Open    Female
2 Deirdre GRADY    01:48:46    01:48:45    Open    Female
3 Siobhan DEMPSEY    01:50:57    01:50:57    40-49    Female

The 10 km race went from Monkstown to Carrigaline and had a field of 154.
1 Alan O' BRIEN    00:36:23    00:36:20    Open    Male
2 David CRAIG    00:37:08    00:37:06    Open    Male
3 John OCALLAGHAN    00:38:33    00:38:31    40-49    Male
1 Ailbhe MC DAID    00:41:24    00:41:21    Open    Female
2 Stephanie CULLIGAN    00:43:04    00:43:02    40-49    Female
3 Debbie LEE    00:44:44    00:44:41    40-49    Female

The full results can be seen HERE

Photos...
1) Kieran Minihane has a gallery of photos HERE

(Photo courtesy of Kieran Minihane)