IMRA are holding a 9.7km trail race in Gougane Barra on Sunday the 16th of April 2023.
There is 475m of ascent with this one so it's quite challenging and likely to be wet and muddy in places. It would be suitable for those who can comfortably complete a 10-mile road race.
Enter HERE
Info from the organisers...
DESCRIPTION: Gougane Barra
COUNTY: Cork
DATE: Sunday 16 April, 2023
TIME: 11:00
CLIMB (M): 475
DISTANCE (KM): 9.70
RACE MARKING: Only major junctions marked - Only major junctions marked
GPS ALLOWED: Yes
ENTRY CLOSES: 2023-04-15 18:00:00
ENTRY COST: €7 for seniors, €5 for over 65s and under 18s. Online entry only for this race.
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: The route starts on the forest access road, then moves onto forest trail, before striking up rough ground to join a mountain trail. It then crosses open mountain to re-join forest trail and is then road to the finish. The race starts just before the barrier and proceeds into the forest park for approx. 800m before turning left up ‘Sli an Easa’ trail. It follows this up to a high point where the route goes left onto a small, rough sheep trail climbing steeply up to cross a fence via a temporary stile and then continues climbing to meet the ‘Sli Ghaeltacht Mhuscrai’ trail. Turn right and follow this trail for approx. 1.5km to lough fadda and a stile. Do not cross the stile; hopefully there will be a marshall at this point. Turn sharp right to flagged open mountain section, heading up and over broken ground to lough glas (to your left) and follow fence down to cross small stile. Continue down left of fence line W towards lough, crossing the fence again at stile and head N (flagged) to cross another fence at stile. Follow fence, then flags to climb to highpoint before traversing then descending gradually steeper, broken, boggy, slippy and rough ground where care is needed in places. Cross three streams before joining ‘Sli sleibhe’ trail and turning left. Follow trail with junctions marked down to forest road, take a sharp left and follow road to finish near barrier where you started.
GETTING THERE: https://www.coillte.ie/site/gougane-barra-forest-park/ Gougane Barra itself is located approximately 7km west south west of Ballingeary. Take the R584 for Ballingeary, turn off it where signposted after about 5.5km. Drive past the hotel/cafe/pub and continue on to the Forest Park about 1km further along the road. 2. Car Pooling and Parking – THERE IS NO PARKING AT THE HOTEL/CAFE/PUB. We would encourage participants to park in the forestry car park through the barrier, €5.00 entry fee. Or alternatively, and because Gougane Barra is a single lane cul de sac which can get very busy at the weekend, we would encourage car pooling from Ballingeary or Kealkill.
