Results of the Cork BHAA 'PTAA' 5 km road race.....Wed 2nd Sept 2009

This race took place in breezy and cool conditions. A record turnout of 383 runners took part. Just to put that in perspective and show just how dramatic the growth in numbers running has been recently, here are the past number of finishers...

2005...172

2006...153

2007...242

2008...325

2009...383

The biggest change this year was of course the change of the start and finish lines. The old finish was near a busy road junction and some of the slower runners had to run through traffic which was crazy. The new course is a lot better. The start line is on a quieter road and the finish is in a quiet housing estate. Fergus Wall has very kindly plotted out the new route on MapMyRun and you can compare that to the old route shown in the preview.

Photos......
1) A short series of shots were taken by Gearoid O'Laoi and can be seen HERE.

Results......the full results are out now. Click HERE.

Preview of the Cork BHAA 'PTAA' 5 km road race......Wed 3rd Sept
This is the next race coming up on the calendar and it's the last evening race locally.

Location.......the sign on for this race is in St.Finbarr's GAA hall in Togher. As far as I know, parking is mainly on the road outside so it's limited. To get there, just remember that while it is alongside the N25 South Link road, you need to take a bit of a detour to get there. Look for signposts for Togher on the South Link road....that should bring you up onto the Tramore Road. Follow this to it's end and the GAA hall is at the end of the cul-de-sac opposite the road junction. See the link for the course map to get a better idea of where to go.

Course.....I have to admit that this is my least favourite BHAA race. It's mainly around housing estates and the roads can be busy. The start is just outside the local church. You run back towards the bridge over the South Link Road and this is probably the most serious hill of the race. After that, you're on to Clashduv Road, up a slight incline past St.Finbarr's cemetry and back in through some housing estates. At around 1.5 miles, the road drops again and the route is flat after that....you run back onto the Clashduv Road, through a small estate and the finish is along the cul-de-sac to the GAA hall.

For most of the race, you are running at the side of the road with traffic passing outside. The one bad spot can be the finish. Cars are trying to come out of the GAA hall while runners are trying to finish. Truth be told, the area really isn't suitable for a road race as there is too much traffic. I can think of nicer places to run but no doubt there will be another big turnout as it is the last evening race on the calendar.

If you want to have a closer look at the course, you can see it here at this link...http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/ireland/cork/914274435573

Results of the Cork BHAA 'PTAA' 5km Road Race - 3rd Sept 2008
Yet again, another big turnout for a Cork BHAA race. I can't remember the exact figure...was it something like 340? Whatever it was, it was well in excess of last years figure of 241. It seemed to be a busy spot for a road race....coming into the finish line was like running through a Dunnes Stores car park on a Sunday afternoon ;o)
It seemed to be a fast field as well? Looking at my time last night and comparing it to the times last year, my finishing position would have been a lot higher then.

Photos...Thanks to Irene Hartigan, a set of 86 photos are now available at this LINK.

Results...The full results can be found HERE.
The category results are shown below with thanks to John Walshe of Ballycotton Running Promotions.

TOGHER PTAA 5km
1 A O’Shea (HSE) 15:19; 2 C Merritt (Army) 15:36; 3 J Grufferty (Bio Pharma) 15:59; 4 G Sweeney (temp-reg) 16:12; 5 S Mullaney (temp-reg) 16:13; 6 C O’Connell (UCC, M40) 16:18; 7 C Marshall (HSE) 16:27; 8 S Simcox (Workout Express) 16:28; 9 T Laffan (HSE, M40) 16:28; 10 B Murphy (Bank of New York) 16:37.
M40: 3 E Meade (Bio Pharma) 16:57.
M45: 1 M Bickerdike (Blarney School of Motoring) 17:36; 2 D Carroll (Blarney Woollen Mills) 18:26; 3 J O’Sullivan (Bandon Tyres) 18:32.
M50: 1 J Collins (Team adidas) 17:22; 2 M Murphy (Novartis) 17:38; 3 P Murphy (UCC) 18:47.
M55: 1 J Gough (Mileeven Fine Foods) 17:57; 2 J Holland (An Post/Eircom) 21:04; 3 F Linehan (Plant Hire) 21:59.
M60: 1 M Dunne (UCC) 20:45; 2 J Cotter (ESB) 21:39; 3 J Murray (HSE) 22:37.
Team: (Grade A) 1 UCC 63; 2 FAS 137; 3 Naval Service 163. (Grade B) 1 Army 166; 2 An Post/Eircom 186; 3 EMC 190. (Grade C) 1 Pilz 202; 2 Novartis 253; 3 Midleton News 267.
Women: 1 J Vonhatten (Glanmire Pharmacy) 18:09; 2 N Roe (Dept of Educ) 18:23; 3 C McCarthy (temp-reg) 18:37; 4 S Kevany (Pfizer) 18:53; 5 A-M Healy (HSE, F35) 19:14; 6 A Donnelly (Donnelly Bakery, F45) 19:38; 7 S Kennedy (HSE) 19:55; 8 F Kirwan (Sensory Labs, F40) 20:16; 9 A Murphy (UCC) 20:18; 10 G Mullaney (Musgrave, F35) 20:35.
F50: 1 M Sheehan (Carrig Court) 19:40.
F55: 1 M Barry (Midleton News) 23:50.
Team: (Grade A) 1 HSE 13; 2 Dept of Educ 22. (Grade B) 1 Bank of Ireland) 62; 2 Midleton News 65.

Comments...???

Preview of the Cork BHAA 'PTAA' 5km Road Race - Wed 3rd Sept (7:30pm)

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of urban or town road races. I much prefer races which are way out in the countryside. If they have a Green line of grass down the middle of the road, then so much the better! Somehow, I don't think we'll be seeing that in Togher. As this is one race that I have never done before, Donal O'Donoghue has kindly offered to do a review of it.

There were 242 entries for this race last year. If the weather is as good as last Thursday's then I'm sure we can expect bigger numbers this year.Apart from the Marathon, this is the most urban of all the short races in the Cork area.It's entirely on public roads, in residential areas, and you can expect some vehicular traffic. It's also the first race after the "back to school rush", so your arrival time may overlap with the end of rush-hour.

You can find a map showing where the GAA clubhouse is at http://pininthemap.com/10d6c3d5d7aafab97

Directions.........NOTE: Whilst the Registration/Start/Finish appear on maps as being very close to the N25 South Ring, there are *NO* slips roads at that bridge!!!

If approaching from the West on the N25, for simplicity, head straight through the Sarsfield Road roundabout, continue for one more mile, and take the slip road marked "Togher" on a white sign. Now skip-forward a little...

If approaching from the Tunnel direction (East), you need to get off the N25 at the Kinsale Road Roundabout!!!Note: If you take the flyover, you *cannot* take the next left! Look for the big green sign marked "N27/Kinsale/Airport/Togher". Get into the left-most lane on the approach to the Kinsale Road roundabout.You’ll be taking the straight-ahead exit "N25 West", keeping to the leftmost lane. This left lane becomes the slip road marked "Togher" at the next junction.Follow this road. After 200m, it curves to the left and begins to look slightly "industrial".There is a tiny painted roundabout. Just drive straight through this.There is then a curve to the right, leading to a real roundabout.Take the right-hand exit. It marked with a small white sign "Togher".Go across the bridge over the N25 dual-carriageway. Now whether you've come from the East or the West, you're at a roundabout near Togher Garda station. Just take the left hand exit, following the curved orange steel fence. This roundabout exit also has a small white sign marked "Togher".You pass the Garda station. You're on the Tramore Road, heading west, for 650m.You will come to a set of traffic lights.Note: Maps may show this next junction as a roundabout, however due to recent changes, it a traffic-light controlled crossroads now. Go straight through.You should see a large "Fast Fit" tyre sign at the other side. This is "Deanrock Cottages".St Finbarr’s GAA is towards the end on the right. Alternatively, if you know the traffic-lights at the new "Woodies DIY", just head all the way west along the Tramore Road (2km). Due to space restrictions, and other events, you are requested to find parking *outside* the GAA club.

Registration..............Changing facilities and Registration are at the GAA club.As usual, BHAA Registered Runners EUR5.00, non-Reg EUR7.00.

Course..............This is a five kilometre course, which is generally a mostly flat course.The start line is at the "Church of the Way of the Cross", on the far side of the dual-carriageway. From the GAA club, return to traffic lights, and take a right, and go across the bridge.The church is a few metres further on, on the right-hand side. You will run back over the bridge, and take a left turn down Clashduv road. This is a long straight stretch, and passes LIDL. Taking a left at the lights, there is a slight rise at St Finbarr's Cemetery, and slight downhill through the Summerstown estate.You will emerge back onto a short stretch on the Clashduv road, and take a right at the TSB, heading into a loop through "Deanrock Avenue". A right turn onto the original Togher Road, and a right turn into Deanrock Cottages. The finish-line is half-ways along this Cul de Sac....(with Thanks to info from Brian O'Flaherty, UCC, who ran last year)

Overall........Refreshments provided in the GAA Clubhouse after the race. This is very much a City race. You need to be clearly focused on traffic issues, kids, bicycles, cars emerging from driveways, etc and no headphones!

Thanks for the information Donal. So if you going to do this race, don't forget the start time....7:30pm!! With the busy rush hour traffic around 6:00/6:30pm, give yourself plenty of time to get there, get entered, get changed and get down to the start. Going on recent BHAA races, the numbers are likely to be large. Arriving early makes life a lot easier for the organisers.

If you want to have a closer look at the course, you can see it here at this link...http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/ireland/cork/914274435573

You can find a flyer for the race HERE.