Pat Foley

28 June, 2015

One great aspect of IMRA races is the carpool system whereby runners congregate at a convenient location and carpool from there to the race start. The social aspect of the carpooling is not to be underestimated as it offers an opportunity to meet some fellow runners for the first time and also helps to put names on some familiar faces from the hills. After meeting Andrew in the car park, we were about to set off when the VW minibus piloted by Justin and Paula pulled in alongside us with the offer of a lift. Shortly afterwards lifts were offered to others and by the time we were on our way we had 7or 8 in total. The rear engine of the VW hummed as we left Roundwood and negotiated the narrow roads to the race start. As the tunes blasted through the stereo we could have been on our way to Woodstock! There was banter about the Carrauntoohil race the previous weekend and I thought to myself how gruelling such a race would be compared to the typical Leinster league races I normally take part in. As the VW entered the designated car-parking area, a suggestion was made jokingly that we should get paid for parking since there were so many of us in one vehicle!
After the free-flowing registration was complete, a gentle warm-up was in order and it was great to see Hugh Kinsella back for a Leinster league race. The Scarr race was to be straight forward as it was straight into a climb followed by a descent with no further climbs. However, the 3 false summits were clearly pointed out by the race director. So if you didn’t know beforehand, you get the sinking feeling that you’re not quite at the summit when you think you are. This sinking feeling can be repeated up to three times during the Scarr race.
After Andreas completed the pre-race talk we were off. After leaving the trail and getting on to the boggy section, Diarmaid, Conor, Ben, Bernard, Paul and Cillin were all going strong. Before long we were into the steep climb and the lack of heather and other natural obstacles due to some recent burning meant that there would be less scratches on the lower limbs. I decided I would try to stick as close as possible to Bernard on the way up and I must say it stretched me to the limit. As we approached the right turn after the most severe part of the climb was over, Caoimhin kindly pointed us in the right direction with some words of encouragement. I was thinking he had a challenging job later on when people were approaching the turn from both sides (ascenders and descenders). As we ran across the boggy section approaching the rocky summit we were met by Diarmaid and Conor who were already descending and it was looking like no one could catch them at this stage. Next to the summit was Ben, Bernard and myself, Paul and Cillin. The high fives along with the words of encouragement from Mikey at the summit were really appreciated and we were off down the boggy surface where there were plenty of water pools and opportunities to lose footwear! Out past Caoimhin at the busy junction and at this stage Bernard had overtaken Ben as he targeted third position. Ben showed all his experience with a very solid descent ensuring no one would catch him. I was happy I was able to see Ben up ahead but I wasn’t able to close the gap at all. In fact, Ben was increasing the gap between himself and me. There were some tricky underfoot conditions but I avoided a tumble (which I couldn’t do in 2014). When I finally crossed the finish line I hadn’t realised how close John was to me as he made a serious assault on the descent overtaking Cillin and Paul and finishing strong. Paul was next to the finish followed by Cillin. Scarr was a real test and credit must go to Andreas and his team for organising such a great race. We piled into the VW minibus and we were ready to go when someone reminded Alan to collect his socks which were resting on the ditch for some “airing” during the race. The livestock may not have been impressed with Alan's socks!The socks were retrieved and we made our way back to Roundwood for the prize-giving. There is a great sense of anticipation for the raffle as there is a reasonable chance of winning some goodies. That’s Scarr for another year, survived Scarr without a scar.