Dargle 4 Peaks

09 August, 2023 - Niall Corrigan

I love this race, it’s great craic. The concept is subtly devious. Four summits lying in a nice horseshoe around the Dargle valley should be straightforward enough but the location of the start/finish introduces the mind intercourse. Clockwise, anti-clockwise, both? Djouce first, Djouce last? Wicklow Way, open mountain?
A good group gathered at the barrier for the off, familiar faces, old friends, A bit of chat from Brian, a reminder of the purity of map and compass over electronic gadgets and we were off. As usual I was at or near the back for the run out the track, wet feet from the start. At the end of the track I chose the right hand exit out of the bowl and headed for Foxs Rock and the motorway up on to Djouce. The whole field was spread out across the hillside, some heading direct, some choosing the obvious green streak through the heather and one, like a wayward tee shot, heading way right.
I reached the summit of Djouce in the company of Orla, Martin and AON and we all headed for War Hill, here our paths deviated and from then to the finish line I was pretty much on my own. I descended off War Hill aiming directly for the saddle between Maulin and Corrig? You couldn’t call this line runnable, more jumpable, but since running is a series of one legged jumps? I don’t know, I was having fun anyway. No, seriously, I was. I got down to the Dargle, crossed it and went looking for the broad track with the 500’s on it that was marked on the map. This proved elusive, so I slogged through the heather, fruitlessly trying to find any sort of path. The heather kept opening the silly lacing system on my shoes so I had to stop and tie granny knots above the toggles to keep the things on my feet. Eons passed and I reached the saddle.
One of the great things about this race is you never know who’ll you’ll meet or where. At the base of the climb up Maulin I found myself in the near company of Brian and Adrian engrossed in their own battle. To be 7k into a race and to in such company, headed in the same direction, felt like a win, the mere technicality of them having done Tonduff at this stage and me not, and heading away from it, was irrelevant. I saw Liam here too, descending off Maulin and heading for Tonduff. Up, touch, turn around, down.
The slog to Tonduff was not joyous. I lost the optimum line somewhere and drifted left. I also saw my War Hill companions descending off Corrig and it was obvious that my choice would not pay off in terms of time, maybe I could still beat my distance of 15.2k from last year, 7k to Maulin, could I make it back in less than 8?
I had a brief chat with the summit marshal on Tonduff, I told him this was my last peak and I was headed straight for home. Splendid isolation, just me and the deer. I made reasonable progress for a while but then I drifted too low once past the two river sources. I was heading for the trees intending on picking a way through to the fire road. I ran out of patience and bailed out on to the road at Sheepbanks bridge. Here It became obvious that I was going to exceed my previous distance too. Bummer. I jogged back to the finish area, came in from the road like Wrong Way Corrigan (goggle him) and crossed the line. 15.8k.
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the hills. Great chats and post-mortems after with beer, crisps and fruit cake. Thanks to Brian and crew for all the hard work. Give this race a go next year. You don’t have to choose the path less travelled but that’s where the fun is.

Race Report - Dargle Four Peaks

08 August, 2023 - Adrian Hennessy

Round 4 of the Leinster Champs and some familiar faces collected in the tourist mecca that is Lough Tay viewing point at Boleyhorrigan. Fraughen Rock and the hazy days of the June heatwave seem like a distant memory as we returned to the familiar slop on the Wicklow Mountains. The wintry ground conditions didn’t deter a group of 30 or so who took to the start line as fast moving showers swept over the hills. The weather introduced a new variable to the route choices. Would the routes that were reccied earlier in the summer still be runnable? Was the longer option the safer choice? Maybe we’d find out. What about clockwise or anticlockwise? Horses for courses and all that.

Race Director Brian Kitson set his stall up nice and early, ably assisted by his small army of helpers. Kit was checked and no lame excuses were tolerated. Everyone got sorted with compasses and maps. And so off we went, most of us up the lane that had turned into a river following all the recent rain. Across the mountain we quickly fanned out, some preferring to head directly for the runnable track up to Djouce, some going for the summit, and others in a completely different direction not to be seen for some time. Myself, Brian Furey and Valdas clearly had the same plan as we ran fairly close together until Maulin when Valdas decided to keep his elevation and contour back via War Hill. It was like a rerun of Aughavannagh, Brian was quicker on the climbs, me on the descents. Nip and tuck. We met John Bell, the first of the anticlockwise contingent on Corrig, a bit too early for my liking, he was more than halfway with more climbing done. I wasn’t sure if he had done Djouce yet, it turns out he hadn’t.

Coming over the top of Maulin, Brian was just in front of me, but I sensed he had better speed on the firm descent of Maulin, I needed to be well ahead of him by the river to have any chance. I tried to push on and then splat, I stumbled on a rock and fell hard on my knee. Brian: “Are you ok?”, me: “yeah, fine” …I wasn’t fine, but the damage wasn’t serious. I was winded, winded enough for Brian to pull out a 50 metre lead by the time we got to the Dargle bridge. A second slip, this time landing on my back didn’t help my cause. Now I was more worried about preserving second place as Brian trotted off up ahead. Coming off the crags on the saddle between Djouce and White Hill I had a quick scan of the hillside to the right and sure enough there was the blue t-shirt of John Bell bounding through the heather like a mad buck. I wasn’t sure if he had spotted me, but with 2km to the finish, the race was on. John hit the laneway about 40 seconds ahead of me and 30 seconds behind Brian, and that’s how we finished.

The Strava flyby made for interesting viewing at the end. I’m still none the wiser as to which way is fastest. I think I’d have to run it in all directions myself in similar conditions to answer that. Orla McEvoy was the clear winner in the women’s race, meaning that Orla can still snatch the Leinster Champs in Foxes Rock unless Becky has anything to say about it. Brian has the edge on me and Bernard going into the final race, but it’s not over til it’s over.

Brian Kitson and his team continued to raise the standards of the finish line spread such that the Leinster Champs has turned into a mountain picnic with a bit of running thrown in. A great way to spend a few hours.

4 peaks

07 August, 2023 - Brian Furey

Well that was a good day out - and we all live to fight another day. Im not sure if the Duke of Rutland had a say in the weather this year - Im thinking so .. we got a month of rain in July with an added full day deluge yesterday. Thankfully today was clear and dry - and sunny - with only the occasional shower. I carpooled with Andy and we got there early enough and managed to find a spot for parking up the road from the race start. As is my way with losing things before the race - I misplaced my jellies - and an oat bar -found them
later on the car front dash. Thanks to Mikey J and Peter O'F for spotting me some mars bars and kinder bueno. I ate the kinder before the race as feeling hungry.
Anyways I didn't need food during the race - its more prerace nerves that you think you may blow up.
From the off there was a good pace - I led up to the end of the track where I went across the stream and up to the left - Andy came zooming through and went straight up the middle and found a way better line on to the open mountain side. Most followed him so I was over
to the left and Adrian to my left. 1 - 0 down already :( I felt shades of deja vu from last year where my line here was a lot slower than others.
I regained the lead by the time I reached the track on the shoulder leading to Djouce -summited Djouce and headed for War hill. Adrian caught me on
the track on way to Tonduff - and we exchanged the lead a no. of times. Ive had good battles with Adrian this year - generally im climbing better he descending better so back and forth. The tracks from Djouce to Tonduff were water logged due to all the recent rain.
Touched the cairn at tonduff - thanks to the marshall who was taking photos and also offering jellies. My line off Tonduff was not great and I had to correct a few times.
I followed Adrian most of the way to Maulin -as he was descending very well (as usual). The track was v wet and boggy. before regaining the lead on climb up Maulin. Once you hit Maulin (and are going on clockwise route) - it has the feel of you're heading for home - descend down to the dargle-and then back up the wicklow way track to shoulder of Djouce- it's all tracks - very little nav. I hadn't factored in John Bell at this stage - we had passed him while we were climbing up Maulin, he was going the other way..
- the race is deceptive - given he was going anti-clockwise hard to gauge how those runners are going.The descent off Maulin is one I like. Adrian took a fall half way down - he was ok and up quickly thankfully.
I tried to open a bit of a gap on the climb up and around Djouce.
Ran down the grassy slopes into the forest as fast as I could - went better than I expected. With about 800m left on that track run in I looked around -
and seen a runner in blue top coming - I got a fright and picked up the pace. Wasn't sure who it was - it was John Bell who had gone the opposite way
to the rest of us but ended up only a few seconds behind. I may have to try the anti-clockwise next year :). I hadnt considered going anti-clockwise and visiting Djouce last - didnt think it would be that quick - but clearly it is. Possibly worth considering.
We were spared the crude high heat of last years race. RD Brian Kitson handed us all a Bierra Moretti as we chatted.
Nice way to regain hydration. Thanks Brian and all for the race.