BHAA-Novartis 5km Road Race, Wed 03-Aug-2011, 8pm

The Novartis 5km Road Race takes place on Wednesday evening August 3rd at 8pm. Entries will be taken in the Novartis plant up to 7.30pm. The fee is €5 for BHAA members and €8 for non-members. This race is a regular favourite among the BHAA faithful. The organisers leave nothing to chance and pre- and post-race arrangements are top notch and top nosh respectively! The usual BHAA house rules apply and there’ll be prizes in all the usual categories as well as spot prizes galore. There’ll also be free Tee-shirts for all finishers – worth going to for that alone.

There’s also a whopping €400 cash prize on offer to anyone who breaks the course record. The men’s record is 14.38 set by Mark Hanrahan and the women’s 16.44 set by Rosemary Ryan. There were 424 finishers in 2010, so come early. The presentation of prizes and post-race refreshments will be in the Novartis cafeteria.

BHAA-Novartis 5K Map

Getting there is pretty straight forward! From the old Carrigaline road (R609) or the South Ring road (E30), get yourself onto the N28 heading for the Ringaskiddy Car-Ferry. As you enter Ringaskiddy, you must resist the urge to board the Ferry and set sail for sunnier climes. Instead, turn right up the hill towards the Novartis plant, which is about a kilometre or so on your right.

BHAA-Novartis 5K Route

The race starts and finishes outside the Novartis plant. The first kilometre is an undulating downhill. The next two kilometre stretch has a steady rate of climb of about 40ft/mile. Thereafter follows a fast downhill section before you face a tough uphill push for the finish line. This one is definitely more challenging than the flatland Marina races, but nonetheless one that still manages to produce some fast finishing times.