Looking ahead to upcoming races for the rest of the year...

While there are still plenty of short races coming up, there are a few long ones that people might be interested in training for...

1) Cork Half-Marathon....This 13.1 mile race is on Sunday, the 13th of September (6-7 weeks away). The route starts and finishes in Blarney and follows some hilly country roads to the north of the town. If you are comfortable running 5-7 miles at the moment, you still have time to get ready for this one. If you fancy something more scenic, there is the Dingle Half-Marathon on the previous day (12th).

2) Cork BHAA 'Cork to Cobh' 15 mile road race....This one is on Sunday, the 4th of October (9-10 weeks away). This is a novel race in that you start in Cork City and finish in the town of Cobh in Cork Harbour. This main road is always too busy to walk on let alone run on so this is the only time of year you can do so and this makes this annual race a unique event. As with all Cork BHAA events, the entry fee will be very modest unlike some other long distance races around the country which are very expensive.

3) Dublin Marathon.......This is the big one, the main Marathon race in the country for the year. This year, the 26.2 mile race is likely to attract around 10,000 entries and all will be attempting the Marathon distance, no relay event in this one. The Dublin Marathon takes place on the Bank Holiday Monday, the 26th of October which is roughly 12-13 weeks away. If you are comfortable doing 10-12 mile runs at present then you still have time to get ready.

There are one or two other events but the ones listed above are the main ones of interest for runners in Cork.

Any new runner who has been running for a while will know that for the short local races, there is no real challenge in covering the distance, it's more about how fast they can run. With the long races, you need to prepare for them. There's a fine balance between speed and trying to complete the race. If you are interested in trying one of the races above, now is the time to start training.