Mangerton (Irish Championships): It’ll Leave It’s Mark On You

08 July, 2025 - Martin Cooney

By Martin Cooney

An uneventful drive was taken get to down to the base of Mangerton. I left early on Sunday morning and met very little traffic on my journey. As I passed over the hill before descending down past Castleisland; I could see that the Reeks and all the mountain summits around Killarney were clouded over. The weather report was saying that it may be wet for the day so I have the relevant gear with me should the day turn out to be as bad as thought. I passed through Killarney and reached the carpark before 10.30am. I parked up near where the race would start and went over to meet a small crowd that had gathered including David Toomey (RD), Brian & Julie Byrne and a few other local volunteers. There is a heavy mist over us and the mountain so not looking the best weather.

The next hour puttered by as I got changed, met a few other runners and done a slow warm-up. The mist seemed to stop and the possibility of not running in the rain was increasing. Fifty eight people had signed up for the race but there might be a few no-shows. Slowly but surely the crowd of runners started to gather. By 11.50am, anyone who was going to be running the race was around the starting area. David called us over to the start which is about 100m away from the narrow entrance. He gave us a quick overview of the route which consisted of “there is the mountain so run up to the lake, go left and up to the top over the lake clock-wise, try not to fall over the edge and die cos that’d kinda put a damper on the race, come back down the same way you came up!”

Brian Byrne set us off and away we all go. Anyone who has ran Mangerton before knows that the first and last kilometre are horrible under-foot and so hard to get momentum as it is just a single track leading up to the gate. It also has gorse and fur bushes, jutting rock formations that can slice you open as well as ferns and briar bushes… There is a burst by the leaders at the start so that they don’t get caught up with the other runners. Into the narrow path, there is a lot of shuffling over and back to get the best line and pass slowing runners. Just as I get into a decent rhythm, we hit a narrow gap so the pace stalls and then goes again. I inch past a couple of runners and now have Micheal McSweeney, Sean O’Leonaird & Sorcha Kearney as company for the next 500 metres. It is a case of just trying to keep moving and bobbing past people until we get the up onto the open terrain. I look up to see that the leaders have gained 50-100 metres on me already. I plod along passing through the gate, over the dry river-bed and the last hundred metres of ferns and rocks before arriving out on the open mountain. Between kilometere one and two, there is a height gain of approx. 250 metres, which will suck the enthusiasm out of your legs pretty fast. There is a defined track there, which is carved out by walkers, runners and weather over the years. It is not the steepest terrain but for some reason, it is hard to stay trotting so at times I just break back to power-walking. As I hit the open mountain, I opened up a gap between myself and Micheal who is with Sean. I slowly pass a few other runners as we ascend up the hill with no major views in front of us.

An unfamiliar runner is beside me for the next 500 metres. I am bouncing between power-walking and jogging to try to gain momentum. I look up to the tall frame of Kevin Lenihan up in front of me. He is about 50 metres in front of me and moving well. Kevin is a very consistent runner, who can climb well, fast on the flats and even better on the downhills… There seems to be a gap from him to the next runner in front of him. I make up my mind to try to keep Kevin within my sights as I know that I am probably moving very well if I am anywhere near him. After 2.5km, the track meanders to the right and flattens somewhat which means that you can break into a decent paced jog. Unfamiliar runner has dropped away from me a little and I am trotting along trying to make up some of the gap to Kevin. At around 3km, I pass through a gate and am greeted by the legend that is Ted Feehan, who is volunteering for the day. The path veers left and gets a little steeper and you gain about 80 metres between 3km & 3.5km distance into the race until I see the lake in front of me. Kevin is still in front of me & he seems to be jogging away where as I seem to still doing my jog/walk. As I pass Loretto O’Sullivan and Carol Finn at the lake known as the Devil’s Punchbowl, I am directed left by the two volunteers. It flattens along the section where it is generally rocky with some boggy patches. I can see Kevin in front of me just as the cloud is coming down, similar to the temperatures. The wind has also picked up now that we are starting to get to the more exposed section of the mountain, which is ridge-like with drop-offs at either side. I follow the trail along until it starts to gain a steeper incline. With every metre I climb, the wind is getting stronger. I am not losing or gaining ground on Kevin. I glance back and can see Sean, Micheal and other runners behind me but I have about a minute lead on them. Just as I hit the summit, I am directed right by a volunteer which will take me across a defined trail overlooking the lake with sheer drops of more than 100 metres on our right. We are approx. halfway through the race at this stage

I stop for a moment, look back to see where the nearest pursuers are. I still have a minute or so on them so I tighten up the laces on my shoes so that it will restrict my feet moving about on the near future descent. Off I go across the clouded summit plateau with the howling wind hitting me straight in the face. My pause at the summit means that I now cannot see Kevin so I have to trust that by following the rocky furrow, I will find my way back down to the lake. As I trot across the plateau, I start passing hikers so I know that I am on the right track. It takes a couple of minutes before the furrowed trail starts to arc right and descend. No sign of Kevin as I start the steeper descent so I am careful to make sure I stay on the correct route. It is fairly defined but visibility probably no more than 10 metres up here so I need to be careful until I get back to the lake. I have definitely increased my pace as the slope steepens. The path suddenly zig-zags a bit and I am struggle to see the path as well. Just then, I glance someone in the distance as the track turns a sharp right. I take the turn and spot the lake farther over to my right hand side. Yes- this is what I wanted to see. I look back left and see the tall figure of Kevin taking off away from the lake. I pass Loretto and thank her for volunteering before setting off in pursuit of Kevin. We are about 6km into the 9.8km race.

This will be no tall order as Kevin still has about 100 metres on me & is a good descender. I increase my stride now that I have a clear view but a rocky path in front of me. I know that there is still a long way to go so I am careful not to put too much into this in case I exhaust myself too early, knowing that there is a technical finish to the race. I am enjoying the pursuit of Kevin on the downhill while being careful not to bump into any hikers who care coming up the mountain. I find some nice section at the side of the rocky path so can keep my pace up. After three minutes or so, I notice that I may be catching Kevin a bit. I think to myself “Careful Martin, don’t get too excited- you can fe*k yourself up easily if you don’t concentrate”. With every stride I am catching Kevin. He seems to be staying on the rocky path whereas I seem to be taking a more direct route regardless of terrain. As I pass by where Ted Feehan was, I am not more than 30 metres behind. I run hard on this flatter section and taking advantage of the extra grip on my runners through the peaty ground, avoiding the rocky path. I am right behind Kevin now & he hears me. “I knew you were coming Martin, you’re going well”, Kevin says. “That’s what I’m afraid of”, I say back- afraid that I am going too hard, too early on the descent. As we pass by the cairns, I know the slope is about to get steeper. I spot a grassy trail to the right and decide to take this even though it takes me about 10 metres away from the defined trail. Kevin seems to be sticking to this so we will see at the bottom which works best.

Within two hundred metres of us separating, it looks like my line is working best. I am now about 30 metres clear of him and the gap is increasing. The grassy path is a little slippy but if I fall, it is on peat I am landing and not rocks. So I push as hard about my old legs will take me and concentrate on my oncoming terrain only. I am flying it now and seem to be picking the right lines no matter which way I turn. I spot a white singlet over to my left running along the rocky path. I keep going knowing that I seem to be gaining on this runner too. Within a minute or so I have not only caught up with him but have went passed him. I don’t think he even spots me until I am further down the hill. It looks like it is Jason Kehoe, who won the Irish Championships in 2015 & 2017. “It couldn’t be”, I tell myself as I get back to the task at hand which is to keep going and not let Kevin catch up with me.

As the slope starts to flatten, the terrain changes from open-mountain back into ferns, gorse, fur bushes and jutting rocks formations. I am clear of both white singlet man & Kevin as I enter this section. Over rocks, shuffle through ferns, eyes peering left and right for the trail, and even the best trail within this maze of foliage. I spot a runner with a blue top in front of me but too far ahead to catch him with only a kilometre to go…
Or is he??? I concentrate on the path ahead but every time I get the chance to look up, I spot him and I am gaining on him. The terrain has small boulders or rock between the foliage and it is hard to keep your footing and stay upright. I spot a gap on the left and take it cutting through some boggy ground and next thing I arrive beside the runner. He hasn’t spotted me at all and by the time he does, I have passed him. He tries to pursue me but I have got the momentum and increase my lead to over 10 metres. “Yes!” I tell myself, “Just keep going now”. I am unsure where the finish is but he is going to have to work to get passed me on this single, rocky track. I must have been only 300 metres from the finish so I glance up to see where it is… The next thing I know I am airborne before crashing hard on the rocks in front of me. I must’ve clipped a rock but I am now in a heap on the rocky, wet ground. I was just about to start feeling sorry for myself when a loud voice went off in my head- “GET UP YOU F’-ING TOOL AND RUN- HE HASN’T PASSED YOU YET!” Instinctively; I hop to my feet and start running; not really knowing if I have done damage to myself or not. I can feel pain on my hands and knees but not enough to stop me. Suddenly I seen the IMRA Munster van and the short straight leading to it. I stride out as best I can but thankfully hear no-one in my background. I cross the line exhausted and sore but I held onto my position.

After couple of minutes, I assess the damage to my body. Skinned hands, two cut elbows, two grazed knees and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Mangerton will leave it’s mark on you… or about 10 marks on me!!!
I wash off the cuts and put up with the stinging as I chat with Naoise O’Gibne who had driven from Connemara to be at the race. After a few minute, Jason Kehoe came over and congratulated me on picking such a brilliant and brave line as does Kevin Lenihan. 15th Overall which is a massive achievement for me considering I am ahead of these 2 accomplished runners.

Thanks to David, Brian and all the volunteers on the day for making this happen so that the rest of us could run this great race. The sambos were great and a huge thanks to Julie Byrne for some amazing homemade Granola.
Congrats to Killian Mooney & Niamh O’Boyle on their respective wins.

While Mangerton wouldn’t be a favourite of mine, I have done well on it every time I have raced on it. It feels a part of me… probably because half of me is up on the path somewhere. See you next year hopefully!