Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Waterford Race notice...Dromana 5 mile road race - Fri 21st June 2013



The 21st Annual Dromana 5 mile road race takes place this coming Friday, June 21st at 8 pm in West Waterford. The race will start in the village of Villierstown and finish in the town of Cappoquin.



The Dungarvan Leader Dromana 5 is organised by West Waterford AC and is the 7th race of 10 in the Ger Wyley Sports/SKINS summer series. This is the last opportunity to enter this race series as entries close on Friday evening in Dromana.

Please note that this is a point to point race. A bus will depart Cappoquin from the GAA club grounds at 7 pm sharp to bring runners to Villierstown where the entries will be taken in the local community hall.

The entry fee is €5. Presentation of prizes is at Danny Flynn's Bar of Cappoquin.
There is a bonus of €100 to anyone breaking the course record...........Course record: Pauline Lambe 29.20 (2010) , John Treacy 23.49 (1999) .

Course....The race starts in the village of Villerstown itself. Initially, the going is easy but soon, the road begins to climb through a wooded section until it reaches the highest point around the 1.5 mile mark. After that, it drops down on the other side and then, it's reasonably flat for most of the way until there is a pull up to the finish line in Cappoquin.


One of the most unusual features of the course is of course Dromana Gate......


Described as follows........"A Hindu Gothic gate dating from around 1830. The gate was originally built from wood and papier mache to greet the owner of the Dromana Estate, Henry Villiers-Stuart and his wife, Theresia Pauline Ott of Vienna, on returning from their honeymoon in 1826. The couple were so enchanted with the gate it was reconstructed in stone in later years.

The gate structure was restored by the Irish Georgian Society in the 1960s and again by the Waterford County Council in 1990. The bridge over the Finisk River was replaced in 1971."


Photos of it HERE

The 5 mile course is also famous for the fact that it was the route used by the Irish Olympic Silver medalist John Treacy in his youth when he used to run from school in Cappoquin to his home in Villierstown. Those early years of training would pay off with an Olympic Silver medal in 1984 by finishing second in the Marathon.

Overall.......A road race in a lovely scenic and quiet part of West Waterford. Nice quiet country roads with plenty of flat fast sections.

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