Results of the Mardyke 5k road race...Sat 24th Aug 2013

Results of the World mini-games 5k road race in Cork City...Sat 24th Aug 2013

1    Michael Herlihy             M    16:01
2    Rory OSullivan             M    16:14
3    Sheldon Kirkwood             M    17:31
4    Emma Murphy             F    17:43
5    Sinead O Connor             F    17:56
10    Niamh Roe             F    18:50

The results are HERE

World Mini Games Mardyke 5k race...Sat 24th Aug 2013

The inaugural World Mini Games (WMG) take place in Cork between Thursday the 22nd and Saturday the 24th of August. Featuring over two dozen adult sports at many different grades, the Games are open to any individual or team of any level.

As part of the Games, there will be a 5 km race on the Mardkye Walk / Western Road circuit. This route was actually used for a 5k race a good few years back and it's as flat as they come.

More details including the race flyer in this earlier post.

For more information on the World mini-games and the race, go to www.WorldMiniGames2013.com

The map below shows the outline of the course. The race starts in the Mardyke Walk and completes two full laps before going on to finish at the track at the Mardyke...

Details from the organisers.......The race will be chip timed and it is open to all levels. Those that register online and post their previous PB, if that PB is broken on the morning they will be sent a t-shirt acknowledging that 'I Beat my PB at the WMG'. There will be full use of the changing rooms in the Clubhouse in UCC.  Registration will be at the Dalys Bridge entrance, and a bag drop will also be in place.  Refreshments will be provided for racers and runners  Prizes for all categories, Men and Womens. We also welcome runners to register for the World Record Attempt for Largest Barefoot Race over 100 metres, which will take place after the 5k, and is being organised to support the Irish Heart Foundation.

Mardyke track to be renamed 'The Sonia O'Sullivan Track'...

Back in November of 2012, I had a post up about the re-development of the track at the Mardyke complex in Cork City. The official opening of the new track will now take place on Saturday, the 13th of April at 1pm with Sonia O'Sullivan doing the honours and it will be renamed The Sonia O'Sullivan Athletics Track. The opening is to coincide with the IUAA Track and Field Championships which takes place at the Mardyke venue on the 12th and 13th of April.

Sonia O'Sullivan is one of the greatest Irish athletes of all time having won a silver medal in the 5000m at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, a Gold medal in the 1995 World Championships, a Silver medal in the 1500m at the 1993 World Championships as well as three European Championship Gold medals and two World Cross-Country Championship Gold medals.

UCC Mardyke Track re-opens...

It has just been announced that the UCC Mardyke Athletics Track in Cork City has re-opened today. This is part of the €10 million redevelopment of the complex which suffered serious flooding in late 2009.

The new synthetic eight lane athletics track in the Mardyke is fully floodlit and is to an international standard.

An additional 40,000 square feet has already been added to the original Arena and now includes an  indoor 60 metre running track, a performance analysis suite, two additional gym areas with over 140 additional pieces of the latest gym equipment and three additional fitness studios.

Update....this might be of interest as well

Preview of the Cork BHAA 'UCC' 10 km road race - Sun 11th of April (11am)...
After a bit of a lull in the Cork BHAA calendar, they are starting off again with the UCC 10 km next Sunday. This is one of the oldest races in Cork and always attracts a large crowd.

Registration...
This year will be the same as last year. So to register, you need to go to the old red brick pavillion in the Mardkye sports grounds. Note that the refreshments and prizegiving is in a seperate building about 1 km away.

Here are the instructions from the race organisers regarding parking...

NO PARKING INSIDE THE ARENA GROUNDS,
however,
FREE parking in the new IT building (former Greyhound track) on Western Road
FREE parking on the Main UCC Campus
FREE parking in Castlewhite Apartments Car Park by Gaol Cross
FREE parking in Distillery Fields on the North Mall - across from the Maltings
also available parking in and around the Mardyke grounds, i.e. Lee Road and PAID parking in the Sacred Heart Church grounds.
Ideally for the more experienced runner, park in Distillery Fields, jog to registration, RACE, jog back to car (omitting shower in Mardyke) and walk across for the prizegiving (all weather dependent).

For a better idea of where the old pavillion is, use this link...http://pininthemap.com/d33af461acd75dd12


A flyer for the race can be found HERE

Course...
After you register, just follow the other runners accross the 'Shaky Bridge' to get to the start.
The first 200 metres or so is all downhill but soon you are on to the Lee road and it's pretty flat. Around the 2.5 mile mark, there is a good uphill section followed by a steep downhill bit around 3 miles. After that, it's more or less dead flat. You re-join the main road, go past The Anglers Rest pub and then join the Carrigrohane straight.
This last section is about 2 miles long and dead straight. Some people hate it as you can see the County Hall way off in the distance and it feels like it isn't getting any closer. To be honest, I can't see what difference it makes...you are at the 4 mile mark in a 10 km race and that's it.

The finish of the 10 km race is just beyond the County Hall. Keep it in mind as you run in the Straight Road....once you pass that building, you're almost there. The finish is just outside the Kingsley Hotel.

Water...
Please note that there are no water stations out along the course. Once you finish, they will have bottled water available.
Apres Race...
After the race, the refreshments and the prizegiving will be in the restaurant in the Lee Maltings. See map above. To see exactly where the Lee Maltings is, click on this link...http://pininthemap.com/67404b694e24f13bb

If you would like to have a closer look at the course, I have put it up on the MapMyRun website. Click on the link below...http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/ireland/cork/527572334

Beginners....!!!

Considering that this race is just 3 weeks after Ballycotton, some of the newer runners might be wondering about doing this race? Sometimes I think that people starting off get the impression that the local road races are only for fast runners.......a bit like the Cork City Sports once a week! The UCC 10k race along with many of the other local races is just a scaled down version of the Ballycotton '10' race. Instead of 2,300 people running, you have around 200-300. The standard is the same...from the fast runners at the front racing to the not so fast at the rear who are just trying to finish. If you can run 10 kms / 6.25 miles at any kind of pace then you'll be fine.