Keith Mulvey

30 April, 2014

Writing a race report from a perspective well down the field was justified from an amazing experience in this 28k (in my case 31k!) leviathan of a course. I took an early 11am start with Richard and Joe. Joe told us to work our own pace due to a back strain and Richard soon set off into the distance. Comfortable with the recent recce on part of this course with Ju Ju Jays MSR group I felt good summiting Paddock Hill, took a quick bearing of Scarr and headed for the hikers in the distance. They were suitably bemused as I ran past them. I took a look left saw a waterfall and made a bee line for it.

Now I love descending, and some winter league runners will know that too well (and they tell me as they pass me on the next ascent!) so once I'd committed there was not much stopping me. As I bounded down the hill completely un-Julie Andrews like, I flushed out a large Hare and almost had a Quail to bring home as a souvenir. Largely following depressions in the bog and Hare trails it suddenly dawned on me three quarters of the way down that the waterfall that I was plummeting towards was too small. I looked up the valley and through the trees I could see Glenmacnass Waterfall about a kilometre upstream. My heart sank, I'm sure the bloody Hare was laughing now! Realising I'd come down off one of the many false summits on Scarr I took a deep breath and headed back up to the summit now 40 minutes down. Lesson learned. Near the trail at the top i disturbed a small herd of deer who intersected the 12'oclockers who were now beginning to pass. As I appeared out of the bog onto Scarr, a truly broken man, I glanced at one of the passing runners and mumbled hello or something whilst gasping. Me descending (slowly) to the waterfall carpark Moire thundered up behind me, on a mission, and politely informed me to give way which I did and wished her well. Coke and jellies at the refreshments table are what got me through the next stage. Thanks guys.

Crossed the river ok and the next section was sloppy, heavy and hell. Don't remember much about the ascent to the summit of Tonelagee. I do remember I think it was Stuart Scott enquiring of me when passing on the steep clamber if I was ok. I muttered some expletory indicating my sheer desperation just to get over the summit. As I dropped over the summit the sun came out the views were amazing and I could see Rachel and Joyce in the distance. Again descended like a demon, I think I aquaplaned most of the way. After stocking up on a banana, some more jellies and two cups of water (huge thanks again) I informed the helpers at the Wicklow Gap that I was probably the last person down. They pointed in the direction of St. Kevins Way if I wished. I pointed at Turlough Hill and put one foot ahead of the other and moved that way.

The weather was beautiful at this stage. I downed the last of my food reserves in preparation for the last slog. I jogged past a family on the way up the service path. Their 6-year old girl took great pleasure in racing me uphill for a few metres. I dare say that she gained a metre or two on me but after passing the family I smiled as she raised her arms for her Father to lift her collapsing into his arms. Maybe a future IMRA runner? I caught Rachel and Joyce just after the reservoir and I ran and had a chat with them for a while and now feeling a lot better. I enquired of Joe and I learned that he had passed and enquired of me. Damn Scarr! It was very boggy up to the Camaderry summit resulting in a leg disappearing once or twice. I ran ahead on the descent and onto the grassy area overlooking the upper lake. As I rounded a grassy bend at pace with the sun warming my face I ran straight into a herd of 50 or so deer. 50 heads perked up, ears drilled, still chewing grass then stampeded into the forrest. That was an amazing experience.

As I descended to the finish line my close calls with nature and traumas on Scarr dissolved as the race organisers applauded my finish having spent some time waiting for me! Some anxious faces were relieved to know that Rachel and Joyce were on their way down too, probably re-traumatising the herd of deer on the way. To the two tourists who witnessed a sweaty / salty / boggy hill-billy jumping off the boat piers into the upper lake, I'm sorry for traumatising you too. Such bliss though!

Sam Scriven

29 April, 2014

The Circuit of Brockagh was a new and exciting addition to the calendar this year. Designed by Gareth Little the varied route promised some trail along the Wicklow Way, a long gradual climb up Scarr, the ever-inspiring view from the summit of Tonelagee, some route choice up to Camaderry and a number of short sharp fast descents. The weather promised also, with the appearance of sunshine expected in the afternoon.

Well done to Gareth and his willing volunteers for the organisation on the day, it was first class and the aid stations with water, bananas and jellies were possibly what got some of us over the line.

Quite a few had taken advantage of the available early starts so I set off with about 20 or so at midday. The pace was relaxed at the start and the although the field was somewhat bunched as we joined the Wicklow Way in Glendalough village, order began to slowly establish itself and telling gaps had appeared by the time we began the climb up Paddock Hill. At this stage I was following Niamh and I had Barry and Richard close behind me and one or two more behind them. My slow run gave way to a quick walk and Niamh left me for dead. It wasn’t long before Richard and then Barry did the same and as this trio formed a little group, I determined not to let them get too far ahead.

Over the top of Scarr I made my first error of the day taking the right hand path down the ascent. This was just careless as I felt I know these hills quite well and simply didn’t check the map in advance. I suppose about 300m down the climb I began to wonder how that group had vanished ahead of me and I quickly put 2 and 2 together and pulled up sharply to my left, across the sloping heather and rejoined the path leading towards Glenmacnass. Two others had passed and were about 200m ahead of me now with the other group totally out of sight. I made good ground on the descent making up a couple of lost places. The ground itself was pretty good most of the way down, but as a sign of what was to follow later - the bits that were wet were very wet.

I took a couple of seconds rest at the aid point at Glenmacnass and was glad of the cup of water and grateful as ever to the volunteers. The next part of the course gave good indication that a fair amount of rain had fallen in the days before. The river crossing was a knee-deep (or deeper) wade and the climb up in the direction of Tonelagee was sodden, sloppy and energy sapping. Breaking into a run seemed like wasted effort and so another long march ensued up to the saddle of Tonelagee. The climb from here is tough but expected and the best strategy is simply to keep the head down (metaphorically) and think happy thoughts. Soon enough I hit the summit, took in the view to warm the heart, and then got very excited as I began my favourite descent in Wicklow. Surprising myself I lost the track once or twice, yelped in cramp a couple of times as my hamstrings moaned for the constant soaked feet and legs, and annoyingly had the phone which was in my pocket repeatedly hit somewhere it shouldn’t. Again I took a bit longer than necessary enjoying the hospitality at the Wicklow Gap.

Prior to the race my plan had been to take the first section of the service road until the hairpin corner and then head directly up from here to the reservoir. However I had a good view of the slope from the Tonelagee descent and given the soaking conditions I decided against this plan. Instead I followed Richard up the ‘standard short cuts’ heading for the service road to the western side to cut across in front of the reservoir, steadily losing ground as we climbed. After a chastening energyless climb here two weeks earlier it was with some relief that I was able to keep the legs turning with at least some momentum. As we left the reservoir and began to climb to Camaderry I met Dermot and had some more company from Richard. We passed a group of hikers at the peak, Richard’s photobomb left me wondering how he could muster such a move without suffering cramp.

Again I lost the track between the Camaderrys, at this stage getting frustrated by the bumpy rocky ride and my aching hamstrings. The rocks gave way to a softer track and I made better pace. I was a bit paranoid about missing the track down to Glendalough, which could cost a chunk of time and distance, and so I probably jumped the gun and headed off to the right a little early. The last time I was here there were green ferns six foot high, now it was just like cut straw and so although a path wasn’t required to negotiate the upper slopes I was a bit concerned about reaching a steep cliff with no path down. Then from behind I heard a generous shout from Richard directing me left and sure enough onto the path I sought. Down the steep path, fell on my ass a couple of times and hobbled down the hill to the finish.

What a great race, a beautiful course and a fine sunny pleasant day. I completely bonked about five minutes after finishing and spent some time in solitary with the shivers, but nothing could take away from a great day, a reminder of many other days breaking your ass running up and down bogs and rocks and puddles and muck, and heralding the coming of summer 2014. Hurrah!

Maike Jürgens

29 April, 2014

Maike’s first LC race

The Circuit of Brockagh race was scheduled for April 27th, the weekend after Easter. Conditions were looking ok at the morning of the race and the forecast predicted sunnier weather for the afternoon. It was still a bit chilly so I opted for long tights. The distance was meant to be around 25 km and I figured that all the training for the ultra in March would carry over to this race (well maybe not considering I didn’t really run that much in between … ). I had looked at the route on a map a couple of times and it could all be run on trails so it counted to find the odd shortcut and not to miss a junction.
The early starters set off at 10.00 and about 10 of us headed off towards Scarr. There was quite a bit of chatting going on until we met the Wicklow Way. James Cahill had obviously done his homework and found a shortcut as he popped up quite a bit ahead of the whole group here. Going up Scarr, everyone pretty much stayed together. There was a bit of jogging mixed with walking and a quick chat with a couple of walkers hiking up Scarr. I noticed my legs felt more tired than they should already going up Scarr so figured I would have to let people go.
Meeting the volunteers at the Glenmacnass waterfall was a nice break, some quick water and a chat and off I went to cross the river. My sometimes too vivid imagination saw me slip off a rock and hit my head so eventually I decided to just walk through the river (as it turned out I was not the only one). I had hiked up Tonelagee before so knew where I was going here and the map was back in the backpack. On the way up, I had a bar to help my legs but with little success. Going past Lough Ouler I enjoyed the rare clear views of the lake and then headed off onto the misty top of Tonelagee meeting more hikers on the way to the top. At the top, I was a bit unsure of which “trail” to follow and then decided to follow downhill footsteps. These got me down to the carpark fine but slowly, I just was soo tired. A quick chat, sip of water and off I went pushing ideas about doing the “short” course to the side now that I had gotten this far. Off I went to head up Turlough Hill. Mike had told me about a few shortcuts here and I decided I might as well go for it. I found the start of the first shortcut ok but lost the trail after a short while. The ground was still fine for going up the hill sort of quickly. I got back onto the road and found the second shortcut and lost the trail again. Oh well. I decided to veer slightly right to make sure I would meet the road again and crossed some really wobbly bog in the meantime. Thankfully, I didn’t get caught in a boghole. Going around the fence and heading over to Camaderry I met Mick Hanney who was out for a jog and taking pictures along the way. My first time up Camaderry, dutifully touched the cairn and off I went on the last decent of the day. A few stomach cramps were in the way so I ate my emergency chocolate to calm my stomach (thankfully worked ☺ ). On the downhill, my left knee gave in at some stage, I hit my ankle and then decided to take it really easy for the rest of the way. And there was a really steep downhill coming up anyway. I found the junction ok after checking my map about 5 times (I had learned painfully that once tired finding junctions is a lot harder) and went off down the hill. It wasn’t too bad at first but the steep ground appeared quickly. I was so tired, I sat down and just scrambled down parts of it. Zoran was the first too pass out me out here (well done on the win!). Finally back on the fireroad I sort of ran-limped to the finish and was happy to be home.
Thanks to Gareth and all the volunteers for a great day out and I suppose this race actually asks for a bit more preparation as when in the pub afterwards I realised I had been out longer than for my slowest marathon time (on the road that is).

Moire O'Sullivan

29 April, 2014

The Battle of the Handbags/Bumbags at the Circuit of Brockagh

Long mountain races don’t attract many women. So I wasn’t surprised when I was the only lady registering for the noontime start of the Circuit of Brockagh race. The race promised 28 kilometres over three mountains with 1,372 metres of climb. Even the men were far and few between, put off by the apparent distances and navigational needs.

With five minutes to spare, a car speeds up to the start. A svelte and somewhat flustered Niamh O’Ceallaigh throws herself out of the passenger seat. “I’m so disorganised!” she mutters as she throws a map into her shorts and sprints past me towards registration.

It’s nice to have someone to pit yourself against. At the Glacial Lakes event two weeks ago, I had no other solo ladies to race me. But this time Niamh seemed happy enough to volunteer her services. I knew she had won the Wicklow Way Trail a few weeks before hand. And her ever decreasing size made her look like she might float up a mountain or two.

At midday, Gareth Little waved us off, director for the day’s race. Zoran, John and Richard set the pace as we climbed the forest road heading towards St. Kevin’s Way. I tried to keep in step behind them, wanting to have a fast start. But my haste for speed meant I spent less time thinking about the direction I was going in. No sooner had we reached St. Kevin’s path than the orienteers in our midst cut the corner through the forest and field and plopped out in front of us. Niamh was one of those navigators.

Niamh failed to slow as we hit the Wicklow Way and I struggled to keep up with her. We were less than 20 minutes into the 3 hour plus race, and already we were in mid-battle. Finally I caught her as we neared Paddock Hill. There I decided to be chased rather than to chase, and slowly edged on past her. Though Niamh definitely had an extra gear on the forest roads compared to when I used to race against her 4 years ago, I had no idea what she was like these days on open mountain.

On up Scarr, I settled into a rhythm and instead kept Dermot Murphy in my sights. The weather had taken a turn for the best after Saturday’s rain, and Tonlagee and Camaderry were clearly visible. The terrain was a little wet in places, but generally pretty dry.

Off Scarr, I opted for a sheep track to avoid any climb, then cut across to a runner who was descending to Glenmacnass waterfall via the main path. Hitting the road, I grabbed some water from the marshalls, then turned to see, much to my surprise, Niamh a mere few metres behind me. Obviously open mountain was no longer an issue for Niamh, after years of seeing her run with constricting ankle supports.

The river crossing is where she defiantly left me in her tracks. Before I knew it, she was climbing Tonlagee and I was falling further behind. I just put my head down and kept going, wondering if her descending would be up to speed.

By the time I hit Tonlagee summit, Niamh was nowhere to be found. So I threw myself down the hill, hoping to make up some ground. Just as I neared Wicklow Gap carpark, I could see her climbing up the reservoir service road. Her descending prowess had obviously also improved in the intervening years.

The service road was my route choice too, so I set off after her in hot pursuit. Every now again and I would catch glimpses of Niamh on the horizon up and around Camaderry. She forced me to crank up an extra gear, making me pass a few guys who had no idea what was up with the women that day.

In the end, I failed to catch Niamh. But what I race we had. Niamh finished in 5th position overall in 109% of the men’s winning time. I was 1 minute 40 seconds behind and in 6th position, clocking in at 110%. A new Queen of the Mountains is born.

Brian O Murchu

29 April, 2014

Facebooking in the hills....how can you resist during a 4.5 hour run??

When I saw Gareth Little was RD'ing a new race, it got my attention and it didn't disappoint! The more open mountain running I do, the more enlivening I find it. After doing a few JuJu runs, I really enjoy any races in and around Glendalough. The conditions on the day were reasonably good. There is nothing like good visibility to thrill the eye of what is to come, or looking back at what has been achieved. This was such an invigorating experience I wanted to share it with others.

So I may have taken a few pics en route, and posted them on Facebook during the race. And also read comments indicating that I should stop standing around and get on with the race. Wise words as this activity did result in losing sight of the runners around me, hence almost missing the first checkpoint as I took a wrong turn. It almost happened again later on...maybe the activity just needs tweaking to work. But, think of the possibilities of negating the need for summit marshals if the requirement is to post a selfie at the summit...

Taking an early start, it was a very social run for an hour until the top of Scarr. It was quite misty but I did see some sun in another valley. Through the river crossing and on over to Tonagee, I found that there really is a track from the summit to the car park. Something I missed running leg 2 of the Lug Relay previously. After a quick pit-stop at the second checkpoint provided by Nora (doesnt race food taste much better than normal food?), we were then into the sunny valley I had seen earlier. I stayed with Ken and James to the top of Camaderry and the temperature suddenly went up crossing the summit. Descending to the Miners Road, I had a feeling I had gone a little wrong, however JuJu suddenly appeared to take my picture and point me to the finish. It is so nice to get some applause crossing the line. The advantage of this early start is that one can then watch the main field (non-early starter) come in.

Now to get stuck in to the Leinster League, Wednesday night is IMRA night!

James H Cahill

27 April, 2014

Another short sort of video report http://youtu.be/HKwpEjX0DJ4 (you'll have to copy and paste into your browser to see it)