Rob O'Neill

09 September, 2014 - Rob O'Neill

I woke up late, just before 6am on the morning of the SCTL race. This wasn’t good news... I was supposed to be availing of an early start option and setting off on my solo run at 6.30am.

The morning was dark and the roads were quiet. I struggled to eat a large pot of natural yogurt as I drove toward the race start. Looking out at the mountains I noticed that a dull morning mist covered the ground above 500m.
I began to wonder whether choosing the early start option was a wise decision. I had decided to start at 6.30am to take the pressure off later on in the day, but the cold foggy conditions that I was looking out at looked like they might only hamper progress.

I met Mike at the forest entrance. It was about 6.35am so I was a little late (sorry Mike). I was using an OSI 56 map so the first 500m of ground was not on my map. Mike advised me of the best direct route to Seahan and I set off in a very disorganised state with a banana in one hand and a fleece in the other trying to organise my thoughts for the distance ahead of me.
I had never ran this distance before so naturally did not know what to expect.
I bumped into Maike who had left only a few minutes earlier near the summit of Seahan. She seemed very organised ticking off features as she passed them. I was still half asleep and realised that I hadn’t even taken the time to stretch before setting off. Too late now I said to myself and took a bearing for the short leg from Seahan to Corrig.

I ran along the edge of Kilbride Rifle Range all of the way up to the top of Seefingan using my compass and the rough stony path to keep on track. I have always been interested in the large Carin to the west of the summit of Seefingan and decided to take a trip over given that I was so near. The cairn wasn’t visible from the summit so I took a bearing and paced out 200 metres or so until it gradually came into view. I probably wasn’t the best time to be taking a detour from the race path but it was only about 7am and I had the whole day ahead of me.

I returned to the Cairn at Seefingan and took a bearing in the direction of Kippure and the featureless bog that lay ahead. I probably should have calculated an eta to Kippure, but knew that once I followed the bearing and took care to make note of the lie of the ground I would be OK.
Visibility was getting worse and worse as I headed for Kippure. A few km in I was on the right track and couldn’t have gone wrong as I was travelling on a spur falling on both sides but began to second guess myself as it seemed to take ages to reach the summit. It’s amazing how your mind can play tricks on you if you lose confidence and trust in what your compass is telling you.
Finally I started down the road from Kippure to Military Road. It’s a long stretch of road for someone who doesn’t like running on gravel. Nearing the Sally Gap a good few cyclists passed me on flashy bikes. The sky was starting to clear and as expected the morning was beautiful and bright.
I reached the Sally Gap where there was a bunch of leg two runners and supporters, all in great spirits. I had quick bite of a sandwich but was eager to push on and stayed only for a couple of minutes to replenish my water supply. Looking over towards Carrigavore I noticed that the fog had completely cleared from its top in the short space of time that I had hung around at the Sally Gap. I took a very direct route up through the heather and found a trail which brought me over the first of the many humps that lay ahead. I took my time and headed up and over Gravale. I have always found these mountains that lead towards Mullaghchleevaun to be quite boring and repetitive but I was in for a little surprise ahead.

I had just begun to make my way up Duff hill when the ground literally went from underneath my feet. My arms caught the ground around the crevice that I had fallen into and it is no exaggeration to say that I was left there with my feet dangling and my head sticking out of the hole.
I have often seen people falling into bog holes that were waist deep, but never before had I encountered one that was so deep and well hidden under the heathery disguise of the mountain. I’m not sure how deep this hole was and thankfully never found out but it’s a good reminder to anyone who likes exploring open mountain terrain to expect the unexpected. I pulled myself out and kept going.
More trouble ahead coming off the other side of Duff hill towards East tip. I was running along taking my time going down the slope when my foot became caught in a keyhole shaped nook in the ground. My foot had gone into the hole and became completely wedged deeper into the narrower end of the nook brining me to a crashing halt. So I lay there for a minute half scared to look at my knee in case I might have dislocated it. It wasn’t sore but I was literally stuck to the ground completely stuck. I tried to get back on my feet but was still connected to the ground, the more I pulled the more my foot became wedged. It was very weird to be pinned to the ground like this, and something that I had never experienced before. It took a minute to free my foot. I gradually worked it backwards out of the nook. I reckon I was very lucky and avoided a severe knee injury by the skin of my teeth.

After both of these events I slowed down a little and began to err on the side of caution. I had ran leg 2 last year without any problems and was wondering whether all of the bad luck so far was indicative of what was to come further down the line.

After making my way to the East tip I had a direct line to the top of Mullaghcleevaun where I stopped for a few moments to make a phone call. I was a little windy and from there I travelled over Barnacullian. Ground conditions were not ideal but I think we were lucky that it was not too wet on this stretch of bog. The bog was very much so passable.
It was here that a relay runner passed me by and we briefly shouted words of encouragement to each other. He was travelling at a very good smooth and steady pace over the bog. I instead was struggling over the bog listening to the thumping of my runners on the soft surface. The thumping sound gets a bit annoying after a while, maybe I need to develop a smoother running technique.
I began on my final climb towards Tonlegee. It’s not a bad climb approaching from this direction. I passed a group of hikers who were standing around the standing stone with Lough Ouler to the left. I passed with raised eyebrows as one of the hikers had started shaking the stone violently as if to test its strength which I reckoned couldn’t have been a good idea.

I wasn’t feeling so well all of a sudden. The lack of any pre-race nutrition and general tiredness from a hard week was starting t catch up on me. I was starving and weak and all I could think about was food. I knew that I was rapidly deteriorating for whatever reason. On Tonlegee summit I started breaking out in a very strange cold sweat. I was becoming a little irrational all of a sudden. I proceeded down Tonlegee very slowly but at the same time without much care. I kept slipping and falling, but didn’t seem to care. I knew that there was a very light path leading down towards the Wicklow Gap but couldn’t even bring myself to care and find the path. This delusional state came upon me very quickly and facing into another 25 km of travel I didnt quite know how to deal with it. I was very slow descending this mountain. Eventually I found the path to the Gap and after a few more trips and falls I arrived at the car park. I could barely recognise anyone and all I knew was that I was really not very well in myself. I can’t remember much but Jason gave me my bag and got me to eat something from it. He was very supportive and provided support which probably saved my race.

So I ate. I ate a few sambos, 24 Jaffa cakes, half a large pack of fig rolls and some sunflower seeds and fruit. I just kept shovelling food into me, completely oblivious to everyone around me. I think I must have just sat there for about 40 minutes. Finally I started to feel better again. It was very strange and probably the onset of some sort of exercise induced hypothermia.
Eventually I got up and set off again up onto Turlough hill. I ran along the road towards the reservoir. At one point early on I cut through the ditch here but wisely turned back and returned to just running on the road to the top. At one stage a tourist randomly jumped out of a ditch right in front of me and gave me a bit of a fright. It was a case of bad timing and we nearly collided which was actually quite funny. I chuckled all of the way up to the top of the hill from there. Because I had eaten so much at the last break I was now feeling quite stuffed and it was difficult to keep going. But I kept pushing up towards the hill and I began to feel OK again.

Conavalla was visible and sparkling in the sunlight. I made a fairly direct route towards its flatish summit. Perhaps I would have been better contouring around the re-entrants here but just felt a direct route was much more manageable.

I was here that I really appreciated the weather that we were experiencing. Navigating in this area between Turlough hill and Table mountain would have added an extra and unwelcome challenge in misty conditions. We were so lucky that the day was crystal clear from the Sally Gap onwards.
Again from Conavalla I took a direct route to the track junction to Table Mountain. Again possibly not the best idea… I probably descended 70 – 100 meters and then had to make this up again in the climb to the junction, but it worked out OK in the end. At this stage I wasn’t worried about time, just about finishing the race and keeping as comfortable as possible.

I met two walkers at the Track junction next to the big sign which marks the start of the military range to the north west of Lugnaquilla. They were just settling down for a bite to eat, and I chatted to them for a few mins. They had a few nav questions and it was probably a good thing that they gave me an opportunity to open the map and spend a few minutes looking at the route that lay ahead. I have never approach Lug from this direction via Camenabologue so I was interested in what lay ahead. The route ahead was straightforward with fantastic views. I strayed a little into the military range to avoid spot height 712 SSW of Benleagh which probably wasn’t so clever.

I kept pushing on and at this stage was walking very slowly. Lug was looking particularly grand in the sun with plenty of sheep casually grazing. I met a couple on Lug who stopped me to ask for directions. They were nearly on the summit and were wondering what the summit looked like. I told then that It was just ahead and told them to follow my path. They weren’t carrying a map or compass which was a little worrying for their sake! I decided to run all the way from Lug summit to the finish. I must admit that I didn’t touch the summit cairn and passed it a few meters to my left. It wasn’t intentional…I just wasn’t thinking! So I ran gingerly down Lug in quite a bit of pain. My legs and lower back were getting very sore but I pushed on. Stephen passed me coming up towards Camara Hill and he was going at an excellent pace. I could see some hikers in the distance but did not catch up on them until I reached the road towards Fetons.

Many thanks to all involved in the race on Sat, special thanks to Kevin as RD for his time and effort, to Mike for help transporting my gear and water reserves to the various different leg starts and to Jason for support and help when I wasn’t feeling so well after coming off Tonlegee. Also many thanks to everyone who organised the BBQ, I couldn’t stomach anything afterwards but it looked delish.

Would I run this race again? Possibly… But I think beforehand I will have to focus on building core strength as the pain I was feeling in my legs and back at the end indicated that while my lungs and heart were strong enough for this challenge my legs and core at the moment are just not built for this level of abuse.

Would I encourage others to do this event? Yes it’s a fabulous event. I don’t know why it does not see more participants.

MIRIAM MAHER

08 September, 2014 - Miriam Maher

Leg 3 of Relay.

This report was originally posted on the Le Cheile FB Hill Runners Page - so that is why there is a bit of info in it at the outset that reg. IMRA runners would already know.

Background and Preparation

This relay race is 53km long, although that could end up being longer depending on the routes taken on the day, requires the runners to visit 17 peaks along the way, isn’t marked or marshalled and is largely across open mountains without readily evident trails or paths to follow.

The relay is divided into three ‘legs’. Leg 1 goes from Stone Cross in the Dublin Mts to Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mts. Leg 2 goes from Sally Gap to Wicklow Gap and Leg 3 goes from Wicklow Gap and Fentons Pub in the Glen of Immal. There is in excess of 2,200 m of climbing in the route and approx. 2,500 m in descending done.

The runners can expect, even in the driest of weather, to come back with mud spattered legs and runners from regular knee deep immersions in the many many peat bogs, stagnant patches of water and swamps scattered across the mountain tops and that’s if you manage to stay upright… In good dry weather and on a clear day you can expect to be able to run (ish) good stretches of the route and head towards the next peak on your route map. In poor visibility you are likely to spend a fair bit of your time consulting your map and compass to get your bearings and aim not to go off course too much. The terrain underfoot is very uneven and the vegetation can often conceal hidden holes, underground streams or…as one runner discovered yesterday…something even deeper than that.

Preparation for Karen, Alison and myself in taking on a challenge like this involved several recci runs of each leg of the route, getting to grips for the first time with map reading, compass reading and looking for the best routes we could see in getting from one peak to the next. We had no idea what the weather would be on the day so had to prepare for running in all conditions and all eventualities.

So why take on something like this with all its’ variables and with so many other options out there for running, or even hill running at that? Why not just stick to the roads or the marked trails on the hills and focus on improving or maintaining our fitness that way? I can’t answer for Alison or Karen on this one, I suppose for me – the appeal lay in the fact that this challenge got me to start developing a valuable skill in map and compass reading which opens up lots more options for me in continuing my love affair with the hills. It means that I can contemplate so much more now in terms of tackling hill runs and routes. It also meant that I could find out what it was like to run by myself, get myself along the route without others tell me where to go and to experience being on the hills without a sinner for miles around me! Last but certainly not least – I got a chance to take in some stunning panoramic views.

We knew from the outset that we were the definite newbies to an event like this. We could see from previous results posted that we hadn’t a hope of being contenders in terms of time taken to complete our legs. But I suppose that’s where IMRA really comes into its’ own. It’s a very friendly and welcoming organisation which I’ve found to be very supportive of those looking to partake in their events. That said, we all needed to demonstrate when we signed up that we’d enough experience and ability in hill running to be accepted as participants. As we’d all completed events in the past with IMRA that had a difficulty rating of at least 8 out of 10 or higher, we were ok for this event.

Yesterday’s event was a full on long day. I was up at 5.45 am to collect Alison, Karen and Jarlath – who was running leg 2 for another team. Karen started off at 8 am on her leg (she can give the details on that one – that’s her story!) and Alison and myself moved onto Sally Gap. There were 9 relay teams and several seriously hard core individuals who were doing the whole lot as solo runners. As we knew our times were going to be longer than the other more experienced teams, we availed of the option of taking off before each other got in. IMRA wisely have this option to ensure that the volunteers taking times at the changeovers and ultimately being there at the end, don’t have to spend hours waiting for every single person to come through. Alison took off on her leg (again..her ‘leg’ is her story !) and then once Karen came through, we headed off to Wicklow Gap where I got ready to start my leg. The weather had been cold enough and misty for a lot of the first leg – so Karen got the worst of the weather. But for Alison and myself we were fortunate enough to have perfect conditions for our legs.

Leg 3

My route took me up to the top of Turlough Reservoir at the start. As I was the last runner heading up this route, I swiftly lost sight of anyone ahead of me and by the time I was up at the top of Turlough Hill, I was on my own and it stayed that way for the rest of the leg. With perfect visibility and the memory of the recci route we’d completed a few weeks back, I found it straightforward enough to work out which way to head from peak to peak, I’d also downloaded the recci route onto a borrowed garmin (thanks again Jarlath) – allowed by the way :-) so that helped keep me on track when in doubt.

With that aspect covered, it was down to managing the springy but uneven terrain interspersed with sections of peak hags/bogs and swampy areas here and there. I definitely found the recci run really helped me in working my way across the middle section of the run, also the recent dry spell helped a lot in being able to run more than I’d expected to be able to. I got to the summit of Conavalla (734m) after a fair bit of slip, sliding and ploughing my way through the bogs, gorse and heather underfoot.

From there I worked my way across similar terrain to get to the Table Mt Junction pt (690m) which joins the pretty obvious trail that skirts along by the military firing range to the right. The key thing from there on out was to keep the warning signs re: the military range to your right at all times…although I don’t think they were out on active firing practice in any case…still, just to be sure… From there it was a steady climb up to the top of Camenabologue (758m) and then a lovely downhill stretch which was just a treat after all the dogged slog of earlier sections. After that it was a case of working my way back up along the ridge of Cannow (796m) and then onwards to the summit of Lugnaquilla (925m). For most of the time the sun beat strongly down, and as is the way for this time of the year, it wasn’t boiling hot but a lovely almost balmy heat coupled with a welcome and constant breeze. I was delighted to see the summit of Lugnaquilla. I’ve heard so many talk of being on top of Lug in woeful weather that I feel very lucky to have climbed to the top of the highest peak in Leinster twice now in perfectly clear conditions.

From Lug down to the finish at Fentons Pub is all downhill aside from the last stretch of country road. Normally a downhill at the end is a welcome way to finish off a hill route on a high and quickly. This is an especially long downhill section – approx. 4 miles from Lug to the finish. It goes down over Camarahill (480m) – the last peak to get to. The start of the descent off Lug is very steep and goes over very jagged rocks. On tired legs, I’d now been running/clambering for well over 3 hrs, it was hell on the knees. The next section had a shallow stream in it, which was lovely and I availed of the chance to cool my feet down, running through the deepest sections I could find. From there to the end was a series of descents over ever decreasing hills, laid out in such a way that each time I got over one, I’d see another one looming below. I remembered it was a long way down from the recci but yesterday, I have to be honest, it felt a bit never ending. The sun had moreorless gone in at that point and it was fairly windy, so I was getting a bit cold, but didn’t want to stop at that point to put on my windbreaker. But once I got to the end of the descent, left the mountains behind and headed along the country road to the finish, I was fully focused on the end being in sight. I turned the corner to Fentons Pub and got a lovely welcome back from all those gathered…just making the cut off time (6 pm) and finished my leg which was circa 14 miles long in approx. 4hrs 25 mins. I was the last in for the event, which I’d expected.

Could I do the route any quicker another time? – who knows, I’m not sure I have the skills or ability to cover that type of terrain any better than I did yesterday. However I loved the whole experience, the chat with others at the changeover pts, being on the hills completely on my own, getting to see sights of the mountains for miles around me, moving from peak to peak. This type of challenge takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for, not something I can do on ongoing basis. For now, back to the marked hill trails, roads and the canal runs for me. But there is always next year! Thanks to Kevin and Rachel and all those from IMRA who volunteered their time to enable this event take place. The solo runners and all the members of the relays teams, especially my super team mates – Karen and Alison – made this event a friendly, fun and memorable day.

Karen, Alison – over to you!

Karen Devenney

08 September, 2014

Stone Cross to Lug Relay - Leg 1
So after some hamstring issues, a week- long will I/won't I debate & an 11th hour decision to give it a shot, Race Day had arrived! I was wide awake at 5am, the nerves seriously mounting. It was looking like it would shape up to be a lovely day later but it was a cool, misty morning when we arrived at Stone Cross. Everyone was in good spirits & looking forward to getting started. After a quick pre-race briefing from Kevin we were off! Starting on fire road, we quickly cut up through the forest heading for the Seechon summit. Unlike the other runners who continued on through the forest, I chose a longer route but with better terrain to the top....in hindsight possibly not the best decision as it probably lost me some time and now I was on my own. On reaching the summit, I got my bearing and headed off to Corrig, my 2nd peak and then on to Seefingan reaching there in just over an hour, which was a good time given the poor visibility....well for me anyway! Things then started to unravel....I had only recced from Seefingan onwards once before and on that occasion, we had gone off course, descending too far before we realised the mistake and corrected ourselves to the right heading. This time round I got the right bearing and off I went feeling fairly happy with myself. But as I continued on, heading into less familiar territory with visibility still bad I began to doubt myself. I lost a lot of time here between stopping to consult my compass and wondering if I should back track or keep going and after my entire leg disappeared into a hole at one stage, I became rattled and very conscious of my isolation. At one stage I thought I heard voices but they were quite possibly in my head! I continued on using my compass and the position of the sun, which was trying to break through to steer me in the right direction and I knew from my Garmin that my elevation was on track. But as the clouds started to clear and I could see mountains appearing around me, I started to panic as Kippure was nowhere in sight. Even though visibility was generally improving, there was still a fair amount of cloud moving in around the area. I should point out that by now sugar levels were a little low and as anyone who knows me will testify, never ends well! So in the absence of a Snickers, I quickly devoured a waffle and I rang Miriam to let her know I was completely and utterly lost! After some consultation with Kevin, Mike and the rest of the gang at Sally Gap, I rambled around aimlessly for another 10 mins or so before luckily glancing back in the direction I had originally been headed to see the Kippure mast faintly in the distance! Well how stupid did I feel??!! With a quick phone call to report that all was now ok and a massive sigh of relief, I continued on my 'merry' way up to the top of Kippure. From there I took the fire road option to Sally Gap and while this was quicker and more straight forward, it was also much harder on my already dodgy hamstring so I can't really say I enjoyed this last section of the leg. I did really appreciate the encouragement I got from a few passing cyclists and the drive-by from Justin(?) to check I was ok. This section gave me plenty of time to reflect on the lessons learned though.....another recce of the 2nd half of the leg would've been a good idea and probably a solo recce too as nothing else can really prepare you for being out there on your own on race day. I also realised I should've had a little more faith in myself - I'd been headed in the right direction all along but the poor visibility had me second guessing myself which didn't do my confidence any good at all. But as our '3 Hags' team philosophy has always been about taking on the challenge and getting it done in as long as it takes, Leg 1 was successfully completely when I finally arrived at Sally Gap with a smile on my face, albeit a 'little' later than planned!

Thanks to my brilliant team mates Miriam and Alison and to Jarlath and Rachel for the navigation tips and help on the recces. Thanks also to Fiona, Shay and Justin for waiting for me at Sally Gap and to Kevin and co for the SOS navigation advice. This was a truly fantastic event with a lovely bunch of people. It definitely took us out of our comfort zone and while I'm a little disappointed in how this one played out for me, I'll put those lessons learned to good use and look forward to giving it a shot again!

Maike Jürgens

07 September, 2014

Stone cross to lug (relay) race report

The 2014 stone cross to lug relay saw more solo runner entries than team entries and I was one of the sole runners (only female) to take on the course. Thankfully, Kevin stepped in race director so that the event could go ahead and Rachel and Sarah had organised a barbecue at the finish (something to keep you going).
I took an early start at 6.35 (thank you very much Mike for the lift). Two other early starters were listed but none was there at 6.30 so I set off on my own wearing gloves and a hat because it was quite chilly (and misty). So navigation might be tough on the first leg. Off I went to find the firebreak in the forest and make my way up Seehan. On the way to the top Rob, one of the other early starters caught up with me, his breakfast in hand. And it was quite misty. We headed over to Corrig (take a 108° bearing to make sure you hit the correct trail here), a nice downhill but the uphill track was disguised by scrambler (or quadbike?) traces. Once at the top, I used a 193° bearing to find my way over to Seefingan. I knew there was a faint track but couldn’t find it but hit the uphill track for Seefingan no problem.
Going over to Kippure, I knew you could follow the gully down to the peathags but from there on it was proper fog navigation (for me anyway). I followed a 126° bearing until I got to the flat section, then a 120° bearing to get to Red Hill and then a 110° bearing up to the top of Kippure. It is quite surprising how wrong your sense of direction is in the fog. The top of Kippure appeared as a surprise out of the fog, I saw fencepost and it took a while to realise I had reached the top. Phew, a nav break to the sally gap as I had planned to follow the road here to avoid any adventures like last year. In fairness, the road section is still a tough run, especially in shows better suited for bog. At the sally gap, a big crowd was waiting, I took a minute to swap the map and set off up Carrigvore to shouts that I should aim for the track to my right (during the recce it turned out the “safest” option was to aim for the track from the left while going uphill, as there are a few faint tracks and you can be sure to hit the main track going to the top. From Carrigvore over to Gravale, I followed the track to the right of a gully that curves towards Gravale a bit further down the hill and pretty much gets you to the track up Gravale. A few boggy sections and I was at at the top in what felt like no time at all.
Over to Duffy hill I managed to find the start of the track that would prevent you from loosing too much height but kept loosing it. At some stage I went over my left ankle but it was fine after a few steps. I lost the track going up Duffy hill but didn’t mind just going straight up trough the heather, it was quite walkable. At the top of Duffy Hill, the track towards Mullaghcleevaun East starts next to a rock-like mudpile but fades at times and I ended up finding my own way. Visibity was perfect by now so navigational aid from tracks wasn’t as essential any more. This is where I was passed by the first relay runner and close to the top of Mullaghcleevaun East I met the second relay runner (trying to provide encouragement by telling him he was only maybe 10 or so min behind the other guy, only to find out he had started ahead).
At the top of Mullaghcleevaun I met a few sheep, a sheep dog, a scrambler with a farmer and his son, a walker and two more runners. A water break and off I went to have a bogfest. I kept to left at first and the ground was quite runnable but I still managed to get my right foot trapped in a boghole. Oh well, it was 1:1 now in terms of the feet. Traversing the ridge was easier than during the recce, I met a few walkers along the way and then, just at the bottom of the climb to stony top two more runners (John and Laurence? - who were considering drinking very yellow water from a puddle). The climg to Stony Top and then Tonelagee was quite enjoyable, steady speed and I was very much looking forward to some apple juice at the Wicklow Gap. Mike caught up with me at the bottom of the downhill, past a huge group of walkers who had a picnic 100 m up the track (on the track). I was lucky to have them make way for me and cheer me on but heard others had to go around.
At the Wicklow Gap, I took a bit more of a break, put on some suncream, swapped water, had my apple juice (soooo good), packed some chocolate and went off towards Turlough Hill. I didn’t bother with the shortcuts here as I had difficulty staying on the walkers track here before and just powerwalked up the road (thankfully pulling away from the two walkers who were behind me at the start). Going up the hill I met Alan, a few words exchanged and off he went around the quarry. For me, this would be the newest part in terms of navigation as I had never been around this side of Turlough Hill before. Instructions from Mike on route choice said that it would be smarter to go towards Lough Firrib and then over to Conavalla. So that s were I went, meeting Stephen Brennan on the way (he seemed a bit unsure whether I knew were I was going as I kept checking my map – to orientate myself as I didn’t want to loose time and energy due to some silly mistake at this stage. I found a lake and then another (Lough Firrib) and then met two other people (Shay and Paul) heading towards Conavalla. We left the top at the same time but they put a bit of distance on me on the downhill. A shout from the right signalled Stuart was on his way towards Table Track junction as well and he seemed fairly happy despite emphasing that his solo run was an attempt. At Table Track junction I felt very much in need of some energy and had another apple juice and some chocolate. Don’t ask me what the walkers thought about a runner with a pack of juice and a smile on the face.
From here on, it was simply “follow the trail” to the top of Cannow and then Lugnaquilla with the track fading towards the top of Lug. Not much happened here really, I was surprised I was able to jog the downhill sections still, passed a few hikers (getting some cheers along the way ☺ ). Andreas passed me here, a quick chat and off he went.
Second time out of four I was on top of Lug and it was clear so I had a look around to enjoy the view, checked the compass (no point going wrong now! Although I knew I just had to run along the warning signs for the military range), made my way through the rocks, towards the wet section (and a tiny stream) and from the on, I knew for certain I was on the right trail (I kept doubting myself all the way to the finish but put that down to tiredness). To my surprise, I really enjoyed the downhill (apart from the rocks –trip hazards for tired legs).
The road to the finish was tough, I had somehow used my last bit of energy enjoying the downhill and couldn’t quite remember how long this road was. So it was jog to that tree, walk around the corner, jog to the turn, oh, people, well, you better jog and look happy and relaxed, oh a car, that must be the pub, no not yet, oh another car and I can smell the barbecue, strike, I made it. Run around the corner to a round of applause (Thanks everyone) and a price for finishing (yay!). Apparently, I didn’t look too tired for having been out for 10h 39 min but my legs certainly felt it. A change of clothes and some food later, I was ready to enjoy some banter and the Leinster match.
Thanks all for the support during the day and making the race happen, it is certainly a great challenge and a nice route.

To all who are not sure about ever trying a race involving navigation a few pieces of advice from someone who still considers herself at a rather low level of experience:
Preparation certainly helps. Get someone to show you how to use a map and a compass and try it on a day with good visibility so you can confirm you are doing it right.
Recceing helps to familiarise yourself with the area, the map and the compass.
Pay attention to features marked on the maps such as rocks, peathags, steepness of the ground, gullies. These will help you work out where you are (I learned this rather slowly).
Practise navigating in bad visibility so you can trust yourself on the day. I had a few moments going over to Kippure when I just had to trust the compass and it feels awkward at first (comparing features like peathags disappearing and then appearing like shown on the map certainly gave me confidence here).
Look at the map and the route before the race. Having the bearings written on the map helps, because you avoid making mistakes because of the race environment/wind/wetness/tiredness. I tried to memorise the map/route which saved me having to look at the map a lot of the time.