Brilliant Bansha.

11 March, 2019 - Ewan Cunningham

The time had come for the fifth race of the Munster winter/spring league and it was a new addition to the league.
It was a cold miserable day to start with as the hail battered down as people came to register. With over fifty people registered online and more coming with their vouchers, it was a fantastic turn out with just enough room in the car park.
Luckily the weather held up as we started the race and ran up the main track from the start and quickly veered off to the left on to a wet and sloppy track. This muddy underfoot terrain didn't last long as we started climbing up a small incline to go deeper into the woods. The ground was soft here but it was still firm enough to keep a good running speed.
We had a nice variety of ups and downs in the first quarter of the race, all easy enough with perfect soft but springy ground. We then came to what was probably one of the biggest hills in the race as we took a right up a single trail. Although it was the biggest/longest hill in the race, it was still relatively easy to run up.
Once we reached the top of the hill he had an excellent stretch of downhill running, and anyone who knows me will know that I love a good downhill! Yet again the terrain wasn't tricky at all, apart from a few tree routes here and there, but on a trail like that it was to be expected.
Soon after this we turned back up into the woods and started to ascend again. Nothing majorly different from the last hill only here the ground was a little bit sloppy.
We then broke out of the forest into sunshine and soon we were met with a short incline on a fire road. Not to worry as it was only a short stretch of fire road before we were back in the woods again. This wooded trail was quite flat so this was where one would reel in the person ahead of them before hitting another single trail downhill. Fantastic running down this section of the race, despite it being hard to pass anyone.
After this stretch of downhill we had a nice flat track before coming onto another small hill on the fire road. This Short uphill would be our last climb as we descended back into the woods on an amazing, winded trail all of which was downhill to the finish.
Overall, it was a fantastic race with a great variety of ups and downs and the fire road was kept to a limit. Very well organised and well marked. All in all, it was a great day out.