Anne Valley 5 Mile follow-up

Something Special

Normally I reserve posts to previews of races, but I was recently sent this great video from Ian Robinson (thanks Ian) of the Anne Valley 5Mile, and had to share it out. The Anne Valley 5 Mile race won best short distance race of the year in our annual awards, and maybe this is one of the reasons why.

As all runners are getting ready to start the 5 Mile, they route the finish of the kids race through them, so essentially all the runners are giving the kids an Olympic style reception at the end of their race! It looks incredible, and the type of thing that will ensure these kids continue running:

Anne Valley Challenge best short race in Ireland!!!! This is what makes it so special!!!
Posted by Ian Robinson on Monday, February 8, 2016

AXA Raheny 5 Mile

31st January

One of the finalists in our Race Awards, under the "Short Distance Race of the Year" category, the AXA Raheny 5 Mile is on Sunday 31st January. An incredibly highly rated race, this attracted around 2,500 runners last year. This is the 32nd annual running of the event.

Route

Due to road works on the coast road, there is a slight change to the route this year. Just after the 3 mile mark, participants will turn left into St. Anne's Park and continue for approximately 1 and half miles in the park. They will then emerge on to the old course on All Saints Road, approximately 900metres from the finish.

Actually, this new route will make the course a little flater than before, so perhaps a new course record will be on the cards (as well as the masses, a lot of the top runners show up here).

Registration

The cost of this race is €20 plus €1.40 booking fee and you can register on the Primo Events Page.

What you get

As well as a great race, and a huge reception at the finish line, this has an excellent goodie bag for all entrants.

Further Information

Full list of FAQ's is available on the Raheny Shamrocks page here.

Anne Valley 5 mile

Saturday 6th February, Waterford

It's getting close to race day for the winner of our "Short Distance Race of Year", the Anne Valley 5 mile in Waterford on 6th February. This year is the 10th anniversary of the race, which is another fine example of a small community that comes together to provide a really good quality event.

Discount Entry:

As it's their 10th anniversary, the organising committee are offering discounted entry price for all online entrants of €10. And procees from the race go towards the Jack & Jill foundation. (They raised €6k last year, see press release here)

Route:

Based on previous years, you can expect to join roughly 400 runners on the day. The course has a fast downhill start, but be prepared for a tough finish when you return uphill. Here's a link to the route on Strava. This is definitely good training for anyone doing Ballycotton in March.

Official details found in the flyer below:

Clontarf Half Marathon & 5Mile

On Saturday 21st of November the 2nd 'winter' running of the Clontarf Half Marathon and 5 mile will take place. I say "winter" because the Clontarf half marathon has been run in July for a number of years now.

Last year was the first year that the organisers added an additional running of the event in November. The November event is cheaper (as they remove the race t-shirt) and also timed relatively soon after the Dublin marathon. The idea being that you will have all the training done, have enough time to recover, and therefore have a good chance of doing a PB.

One of the main selling points of Clontarf is the flat course. An out-and-back course along the Clontarf promenade and Bull Island, including a stretch along the strand, means that this genuinely does not have a hint of a climb......it is dead flat.

I ran this race previously in July a couple of years back. The event is very well attended and organised. They put on plenty of 'nice things' at the finish line (for winter I belive it's soup). My only gripe with the race when I ran it was a poor, generic medal, however they seem to have fixed that:

Don't worry about the sand, it is hard packed, so it won't slow you down.

Registration

The race is likely to sell out soon. There were around 1,300 who completed the half last year in November, expect numbers to be higher this time. (Organisers are guiding circa. 3k across all events on the day).

You have the option to register on Active or Fit Magazine, but Active appears to be cheaper here