Wicklow way race 1st attempt

28 October, 2023 - Stéphane Claude

FAN-TA-STIC event! Very well run, very runnable route, great support from all volunteers and fellow runners. Beautiful starry night at the start line in Clonegal, bit chilly but very still and peaceful, exceptional conditions for October.

A lot of tarmac to start with, allowing a decent pace. At the back of the herd, I quickly buddied up with chatty Angela who I had great time with for the whole 50k we were together and not to mention she prevented me a couple of times from taking the wrong path when I was head down, in my own head. Very close to all the cut-offs, too close for comfort but at the same time it kept me on my toes. We were greeted by live music at The Dying Cow, pub in the middle of nowhere. Felt very much alive at that stage. Things went downhill from Glenmalure although there was a few uphills too. I know most of the route from Glenmalure to Marley and the scenery is always a major pleasure to the eyes especially with that sunrise and sunny day .The 5.7 km road section around Oldbridge was a killer, felt like an eternity. The only part I didn't quite enjoy.

I won't stress enough how brilliant all the volunteers were, so helpful, some of whom didn't sleep all night. Also great camaraderie amongst runners.

Lillian race director greeted Declan and I withWicklow way race 1st attempt ice-cream at the Pier gates, encouraging us to make it to Crone Woods on time. Not fast enough though, that was the end of the road for me but no disappointment as it was overall a very good effort (pat on the back).

Thanks to Sam Fox for organising the shuttle bus from Marley to Clonegal
Thank you Angela for the great company.
And again to all volunteers a BIG thank you. Well done to all runners, winners, finishers, and for us who didn't finish, any check point reached is also an achievement.
Thank you IMRA.
Oh and thank you to my lovely wife for pampering me on my return!

Finally, I have to ask why would you walk The Wicklow Way in 6 or 7 days when you can almost comfortably get it done in less than 24 hours ?
The following day, the legs are coming back slowly, the zombie like walk is already fading away.
What a blast! See you soon.

Stéphane

Wicklow Way Report

20 October, 2023 - Angela Flynn

Wicklow Way Race Report 2023

Matt Flynn was a small subsistence farmer and lorry driver well known to his local community of Kilmacanogue and was my father. Sadly, he ill for most of my childhood and I have few memories of him. However, though he may be gone, he was once described to me by someone who worked with him: AS A MAN WHO MADE THE BEST USES OF THE SKILLS HE DIDN’T HAVE. I would like politely like to suggest here that this could perfectly explain my success in completing the Wicklow Way Race this year. Angela Flynn, ‘wha’ ‘her’ d’ya hear what she did?’wha? ‘race it ?’ ‘wha..the whole of the Wicklow Way?’ Wha’? ‘How longs dat?’ ‘WHAAT?’ ‘F** off she did not..no way Jaysis fair play’ -was pretty much the standard response- Matt Flynn’s .daughter indeed also MADE THE BEST USES OF THE SKILLS SHE DID’NT HAVE.

The Race
The night in question began so well, I had a team of supporters come with me to race registration in Clonegal. Alice, Elaine, Linda, Rachel, Caoimhin, my husband Paul Mc Redmond and my daughter Kate paced me at various legs of the route. (Kate and Paul were superb with the logistics before, during and after the race). Having company and encouragement the whole way gave me such confidence and hope to just keep going. It’s a long time to be out on the mountains and although some people enjoy the solitude, I don’t.
Lilian and all the volunteers at each stage of the race were superb, my daughter described the stops as like the pit stops in Formula One with the qualifier – ‘but not you mammy’. Seeing members of my extended family at Crone woods was an unexpected bonus.
I did miss the cut offs and had understood this was always going to happen and was conscious of not delaying the volunteers at the stages. What I failed to appreciate during the race was that although it was my race – it was also so many other people’s race too – they enjoyed my achievements at reaching each of the checkpoints. Plus, I found out later that there was great drama and entertainment watching the tracker of the other participants and their navigational decisions……mmm. So many of my friends and family were following me on the tracker that day, communicating with each other about all the different stages I had reached. People who had never heard of a tracker let alone followed a race….comparing notes.
So much so that my tech savvy (66) year old great friend Sadie was so delighted that (when she eventually figured out how to use the tracker) I was coming first, posted it on our various WhatsApp’s groups –how fantastic I was doing and doesn’t it just go to show how MODEST Angela is –‘look she’s in the lead’ ‘fantastic, wow’ – against all those men n ‘all, that was until she eventually figured out that the route was actually south to north and that sadly, I was indeed not actually coming first but last….. (we are both still laughing at this).
To Stefan Claude, my fellow runner on the first two legs- thank you, we kept each other going and enjoyed solving all the worlds problems and life’s vagrancies in rural south county Wicklow in the dead of the night under a magnificent canopy of stars. It is so rare that we ever get to experience the majesty of the night sky in our modern hyper connected world. It’s a privilege.
I did complete the race in a time of 24 hours and 52 minutes and unbelievably only managed to miss one turn and that was coming into Marley Park. (explain that please? ).And thought its recorded as DNF on the results page – it’s a win for me.
What makes life good is relationships and connections and although we all know this, I got to experience it last weekend. It’s a privileged to be part of a wonderful community of hill runners – thank you all.