Beware the kicker

18 February, 2024 - Rob Tobin

https://www.strava.com/activities/10786353115/overview

Mind and body join forces to resist this Sunday morning alarm. Stay in bed, they urge. But my spirit says no, I must rise, throw breakfast down the hatch and get on the road to Askamore. It's dry and mild - for February - and I promise myself there will be other Sunday mornings when I can laze in bed to my heart's content. It's time to open my account in the Wexford hills.

Driving through the Glen of the Downs I realise it's not too often I stay on the N11 past Kilmacanogue on the way to a race. I'd be winding uphill past the quarry at Calary by now, looking forward to the ramps of Roundwood. The motorway is relatively quiet. Gorey's main street is lively and at the top of the hill we see Tomkins garage, where a right turn sends us out the road towards Askamore. This garage is a minor landmark not entirely unrelated to other recent hill running endeavours - the car broke down last May on a recce of leg 7 of the Wicklow Way Relay and the recovery van brought the wagon from Tinahely to Tomkins. On the way down this morning the skies have gradually cleared from grey to blue although once past Craanford a wooded hill shrouded by low cloud comes into view. I wonder if this is Slieveboy. It turns out it was.

At Askamore, with reg out of the way I head for a quick warm-up and cross paths with RD Liam Kenny who is busy setting up at race start. I climb along fire road, passing the reservoir and picking up Andy Keeling along the way. We jog and chat about the local topography, the course profile and what little we know about the hills that lie ahead of us this morning. I reckon on a steady ascent at 3-4km, to the mast. Andy wisely points out "the kicker" at around the 7km mark. We head back down to the race start and chat with Tommy while trying to figure out ways we might fill gaps in our racing calendars over the coming weeks.

Liam briefs the field and lets us all off at 11:00. Places change frequently early on as we climb the fire road to the reservoir again, eventually running past a cottage and meeting Mick Hanney who sends us right along a grassy track. There is a spray in the air, although Enda has opened up enough of a gap already that I know it's not coming off his heels. We emerge onto fire road and turning right we start to descend. Andy passes me at the turn and Patrick and Stephen come up shortly afterwards. I lean into the inclines and trade places with Patrick and Stephen a few more times both on fire roads and trails. Around the 3km mark we hit deciduous woodland, a riot of dead brown leaves and luminous green moss. I am running with Patrick and Stephen in the battle for third and looking up I can see maybe 50m separates us from Andy in second. We cross fire roads for more woodland trails and as we hit bike trails near the summit Patrick and Stephen break away and push on. It's not long before they are both out of sight.

Reaching the summit I pass MTBers who are massed at the mast and then I throw myself down into the Askamore Abyss. The flags are there but I struggle to reconcile pace with path. There are moments of indecision where I pause to study the hillside, wondering which line through gorse is going to be least punishing. I cross paths with and show my heels to a descending mountain biker before paring off to the right and soon emerging onto fire road. The last 3kms has been such a steady lung-busting ascent followed by rollercoaster descent that I'm somehow very glad to see fire road again.

As the course twists and descends the view opens and I start out towards the wind turbine with Andy, Patrick and Stephen in my sights once more. It's a gap of several hundred metres but with half the course left to run I'm hopeful of closing and catching. Turning left and downhill at the wind turbine I am back in the sticks and once again struggling to square my canter with the course. I hurdle a few felled trees and tree stumps and after a hellish descent here I am glad to see fire road once more. Now I can see Andy is maybe 200 metres in front and I push on this, the aforementioned kicker, to narrow the gap to about 50 metres, but my heart and lungs are jostling for space in my mouth by the time we reach the high crossroads where long and short courses reconvene. I realise I won't be catching Andy today. As the fire road starts to descend towards Askamore, Andy is already out of my sight.

The fire road switches between loose gravel, tar and concrete, with the latter testing my shoe's grip and my own resolve to stay upright despite good weather conditions and striations in the surface. I begin to recognise my surroundings and the point where Mick had sent us onto grass and throw the kitchen sink at it from here to the finish, but my fate had been sealed at the summit and despite my optimism seeing the trio against big country views heading out towards the wind turbine there was no catching any of them.

There is great atmosphere at the finish line. As we stand around in the Wexford sunshine the talk is of the lure of the wind turbine and seeing the runner ahead, while looking ahead to Ticknock and across the valley to Annagh Hill, where the league finale will be held in a few weeks' time.

Thanks to Liam Kenny and his fantastic crew of volunteers for a great morning's running in the Wexford hills and congratulations to Enda on the league win.