Irish Mountain
Running Association

Howth Summer

Photo of Howth Summer
Photo of Howth Summer
Photo of Howth Summer
Photo of Howth Summer
Description:
Avg Ascent/Descent Grade 4.9%/5.2%
County:
Dublin
Date:
Wednesday 11th August, 2021
Time:
19:30
Climb (m):
368
Distance (km):
11.00
Event Difficulty:
7 (2,2,3) - Moderate Terrain, 200M - 500M ascent, >10Km
Race Marking:
Route fully marked - Route fully marked
GPS Allowed:
Yes
Leagues:
 
Route Description:

Route map for IMRA Howth Summer 2021 by Joseph Boyle on plotaroute.com

Route map for Howth Route Summer 2021 by Joseph Boyle on plotaroute.com

The route starts at the Castle Market car park an runs up the old golf course across the front of the hotel/clubhouse past registration, turns right and follows a trial up to the summit over-looking the Golf Club and Dublin Bay. From here you follow the tape and flags across the rocky top before dropping down to Marshal 2. He’ll direct you to the right, where you come to a boardwalk leading onto Howth Golf club, Marshal 3 will be here to direct you left just before this and follow the path up to the top (Ben of Howth), there are two sections where you’ll have to climb up the rocks, please be extra cautious if it’s a windy day. Upon reaching the cairn at the top the track, follow the trail for a few hundred metres until you reach the first track to the right along the side of the Howth golf club. There will be a marshal at the next junction where the main field turn right, and the juniors go straight on. From here the route follows the outline of the golf course to your right until you come to the corner of the course and you continue on straight down the hill (Do not take the right turn at the new house, there will be a Marshal here) to the next marshal at the base of the hill. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE MARSHAL’S INSTRUCTIONS HERE AS THIS IS A BUSY ROAD AND PLEASE ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY. The marshal will direct you to the right and you run along the footpath for about 720m until you reach the next marshal and he’ll direct you back onto Shielmartin Hill. FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY REASONS WE’D ASK EVERYONE TO RUN ON THE FOOTPATH ALONG THIS SECTION AND NOT TO RUN ON THE ROADWAY. You follow the trail around to the left from here and just before you reach Howth GC again, you turn right and head straight up Shielmartin Hill (If you run across Howth Golf Club, Marshal 3 will turn you back). At the top of the hill follow the path around the golf course keeping it on your left now, until you reach the house that you passed earlier, there will be a Marshal here to direct you, turn left here up the hill until you come to the marshal again where the juniors turned, and they’ll direct you right. Follow this path and take the marked left to the mast on the Hill of Howth, pass the mast and down the other side across the road until you meet a track back down. The route will be downhill along the trail as marked for just over a kilometre passing the Marshal at the junction, along the new boardwalk past another Marshal here and passing on the path to the left of the GAA pitches. At the bottom there’s a left turn back up the hill across to the reservoir, an anti-clockwise loop around this will lead you back to the boardwalk and up the hill past the Marshal again and they’ll turn you right along a trail. From there you turn to the right at next junctions before dropping down to the 2nd Marshal again. The route back to the finish from here will be through the forest across to the 1st Marshal and back down through the forest to the finish. (PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE SHARE THESE PATHS AND THAT WE DON’T HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO EXPECT OTHERS TO GIVE WAY). Post-race prize giving will take place at the race finish. IMPORTANT NOTES: • Walkers and Hikers, please respect other users as we have no rights to the paths. • IMRA has a no trace policy, so please respect the local area in relation to litter. • Please don’t leave any valuables in your car. • Remember to enjoy yourself and have fun.
Getting There:
!!!TO BE CLEAR THE RACE STARTS FROM A DIFFERENT LOCATION THIS YEAR!!! The race registration will take place at the Deer Park Golf Club House in the Howth Castle Estate as show on the attached map. Public transport access is via the N3/6 bus from Abbey Street and the nearest stop is not far from the entrance of the estate. Bus timetables can be viewed on all of the usual websites(http://www.dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/, https://www.transportforireland.ie/timetables/). Those travelling by car can park in available spaces at the Golf Club on a first come, first served basis, if space is not available you can park for free in the Harbour car parks (2K from Registration) or to the side of the grounds there is some street parking in the Balkhill housing estate, there’s a gate through to the Golf Club from there. All these locations are shown on the map on the home page, please do not park in any location causing an obstruction to the local community as we need their co-operation for future events. The Dart station is also shown on the map and is about 2K up to registration, again a timetable is available on all the usual locations. https://www.irishrail.ie/train-timetables , https://www.transportforireland.ie/timetables/).
Organisers Instructions:
Registration will be from 18:00 to 19:15 sharp, as we’ll have to relocate to the start down at the Castle. This is a 5 to 10minute walk from registration. As the race is over 8 kilometres there will be an early start at 19:00. There is a junior route also and the first marshal will be at the point where they split from the main race. The course will be fully marked and in general you should follow the trail you’re on and only change direction where you see markings coming up to a turn or junction and the turn will generally be to the side that the markings are on. You’ll note if you view the map that there is a section that is run in both directions and where we feel there might be problems, we’ll have a marshal positioned. PLEASE NOTE THAT RUNNER’S GOING UPHILL ARE ASKED TO GIVE WAY TO THOSE RUNNING DOWNHILL.
Prizegiving Location:
At race finish
 

Volunteers (Non-Running)

You need to have done 2 non-running volunteer roles in a calendar year to qualify for end of year prize

Current Volunteers

Volunteers (Running)

Check with race director if they have a need for people volunteering and running. Race directors need a minimum number of people available throughout the race to make the race work so non-running volunteers are preferable. While it can be helpful, volunteering in a volunteer and race capacity does not count towards qualifying for end of year prize

Current Volunteers