The Causeway Coast race takes place on the north coast of Ireland and passes the Giant’s Causeway. There are distances of 10k to ultra, with the half marathon involving a bus ride to Carrick-a-Rede where the race starts and the course follows the coast line back to Portballintrae.
The race starts in the quarry and heads up along the headland. There are several chokepoints and stiles so it is easy going at first with lots of queuing, but it isn’t the kind of race you try and go fast in anyway. You pass through Ballintoy Harbour, which is a beautiful sight.
It then drops down onto the beach and there is lots of scrambling over rocks, followed by a kilometre or two along the beach. The sand wasn’t soft, although was a bit soggy. After that, it mostly runs along the cliff tops with plenty of ups and downs for good measure.
I started feeling anxious about half way and had a rough few kilometres. Then, just as I was feeling better and picked up my pace, I went over on my left ankle. I was worried I had done some damage but luckily, after getting back up I was able to walk and then run it off. No issues the next day.
You do see the Giant’s Causeway but it is from the top of the cliffs so it is not comparable to seeing it up close. The cliffs around there are impressive, if a little unnerving given the wind. I am not sure how high they are but I would estimate it is around a hundred-metre drop.
For the final part, we drop down to sea level again and run along the railway tracks back into Portballintrae where the finish is.
My official time was:
2:37:11
I wasn’t interested in the time; I just wanted to finish, so I was happy with anything. It is definitely one of the prettier races I have done so if you want a scenic coastal route and just want to have fun, this is a good choice.
Don't have time to check my blog? Get a weekly email with all the new posts. This is my personal blog, so obviously it is 100% spam free.
Tags: running
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2025 at 11:00 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.