Cork085

Preview of the John Buckley Sports 10 miler in Cork City...



Map...The race is mainly on the Centre Park Road / Monahan Road circuit...the Marina....Mahon walkway.....and the old railway line through Blackrock.

The course can be broken down into two parts....the Centre Park Road / Monahan Road circuit which consists of two laps and the bigger loop taking in the walkways in Mahon and Blackrock.

Part 1.......The map below shows the Monahan Road /Centre Park Road circuit which covers the initial 3 miles or so of the course. The Pink arrows show the loop for the first loop.



The race starts near the city end of the Centre Park Road. It then goes down the Centre Park Road... onto the Marina... down the ramp and past Pairc Ui Chaoimh... past CAB motors... and the down Monaghan Road to Kennedy Park where the finish line is located.

Past the finish line... right at the petrol station at the roundabout.... and back onto the Centre Park Road.

As you complete the first loop by crossing the start line again, you run back down the Centre Park Road again and on towards the Marina...



Back on the Marina at 3.3 miles and past the Rowing Club again....

Part 2.....The map below shows the second part the course...the last 6 miles.



This is a nice scenic part of the course with the River Lee on the left. Around the 3.4 mile mark, you pass Pairc Ui Chaoimh on the right....

....and then proceed along the Marina which is lined on both sides with trees.

The view around the 4 mile mark as you approach the end of the Marina with the shipping terminal in Tivoli just across the water...

At the end of the Marina at 4.4 miles, you proceed up the hill by the Pier Head Inn. This is the most serious hill on the course and lasts about 400m. It starts reasonably steep but soon eases off.

The road stays level for a short while and drops again around 4.7 miles...

There is a slight pull on the other side up to the gates of Blackrock Castle at 4.9 miles...

Back down a slight drop and then you turn off the road and in though a car park at 5 miles and onto a public walkway...

This next section is dead flat and is probably the nicest part of the course. After the car park, you have a long straight section ahead as the River Lee to your left leaves the city...

At 5.3 miles, the path turns to the right to reveal the inner harbour of Cork....

Around the corner, the pathway slowly curves as it follows the waters edge...

View as the course begins to turn more south-west...

Around 6.7 miles, you'll see the old railway bridge over the Douglas Estuary. This was part of the old railway line from Cork City to Crosshaven and closed back in 1932.

At the end of this section, there is a very short pull.......

........and you then join another path which follows the route of the old railway in towards the city....


At about 7 miles, you come to the last 'hill' on the course which is a pedestrian bridge over the South Link Road. It is quite steep but by its very nature, it is also very short...

View from the top looking south-west over the Douglas Estuary....

There is of course, a short downhill section on the far side...

From here, the course is more or less dead flat as you follow the old railway line. Around 8.2 miles, you come what used to be Blackrock Station....

....and how it looked back then......

Near the 8.7 mile mark as you come back near the Marina, you turn left and down by the Atlantic Pond.


From there, it's pretty much a flat mile to the finish line near Kennedy Park.

Overall.......One hilly section around 4.5 miles. Otherwise mostly dead flat. About 40% of the course is on public walkways. It would be considered a fast 10 mile course and the times should reflect that.