Healthy Rivalry

04 July, 2025 - Barry Murray

I chose Ballinastoe as my one LL race this year as I hadn't done it in ages and its one of the longer/tougher courses. Plus I wanted to guarantee there was a pub location for after as its as much a social event for me as it is competitive.

A 30min ryanair flight is a lot easier on the legs and body compared to the 4-5hr drive in the campervan I used to do, so I had no complaints about tiredness going into the race. I hadn't raced much this year so far with my last IMRA outing being at Annacura and Torc in March so I knew I was lacking some race conditioning. The usual banter preceded the race with the Bell brothers and Mikey and in our advancing years, its not starting to wane. It certainly spices things up for the race and somehow we still manage to stay close to each other. Once upon a time, long long ago, we used to include Warren Swords in the mix, but alas, he has had to climb down the ladder to mind his knee.

After a quick and easy registration, myself John and Peter jogged up a bit of the course to get a warm up in. Its always good to see familiar faces at these races and even ones that I haven't seen in a long time (Geoff!). What I did remember about Ballinastoe was that it was a midgy fest so by the time we were lining up at the race start I was just eager to get going. A quick glance around the front line and I could see that there was plenty of company despite the fact that the main goal was to just beat Peter.

RD John kept the race brief short and concise which was a relief and then we were off. Rauri Long bounced off ahead immediately and then there was a good bunch of 6-8 of us chasing. Off up the first long climb and I had Peter and John behind me so things were going to plan. Long old climb and then we were turned off the Wicklow Way and straight into a single track amongst the heather. I was trying to crank up the speed and within a 100m or so I hit the deck. Of course, next thing I heard was slagging approaching me fast in the form of Peter who was delighted to catch up with me. I bounced up fast with just a knee and elbow gash but it took the wind out of me a bit so I took another few mins to get going. As we winded through the single track and then onto the rocky road (which I didn't enjoy too much underfoot) I had to settle for having Peter on my shoulder. He conveniently left me at the front as I looked out for the markers and pointed us in the right direction. We had a few of the other lads like Rob Tobin and Daniel just ahead of us but really all each of us was really bothered with was who finished first !

The course truly has a mix of everything in it and all sorts of terrain. The river crossing/jumping/plodding was also an added challenge and I saw that the bridge was now just a single plank. I like others, thought I could just jump across but it was wider than I thought plus I hadn't built up enough speed so I just jumped and plonked myself in the middle of it then climbed out.

After some more single track and Peter panting behind me the final long climb started. It was long, and I was starting to feel it in the legs. Peter, following his 2 week training camp in France, elbowed past me and I had to let him go. I just put the head down and kept plodding, with around 100 flies for company around my head,, but Peter slowly kept pulling away from me. As we approached the turn back onto the Wicklow Way, I heard another shuffle behind me and it was Mr consistent, John Bell, reeling me back in. I tried to up the pace a bit and passed Daniel, John kept with me and managed to pass me just before the commence of the long descent. I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch back up with him on the downhill so I was just hoping the good old fire road was long enough for me to redeem myself. Unfortunately it wasn't , so I had to suffer the double humiliation of being beaten by not just one but two Bells. A while later, Warren arrived in.

It wasn't a race finish area for hanging around too long with all the flies and midgies so it was back to the car and back to Kavanaghs for liquid refreshments. A great crowd turned up which is good to see and given it was my one and only LL visit, it was nice to catch up with some of the old heads. A great way to break up the week in the summer and enjoy what is a mini mountain running festival. We have a full one taking place in Dingle soon so hopefully that will be as enjoyable for everyone too. (Peter- revenge is waiting :)

A series of indignities

03 July, 2025 - Warren Swords

As usual for a Wednesday, the first set of butterflies arrived at lunchtime as I opted for pasta in preparation for the race. By 4pm I decided I was too tired to race and would give it a miss. I had spent Tuesday night wetting my whistle at Simple Minds in Trinity. By 5pm, I realised I had to run the race if I wanted to do the 7 races required for the league.

My lack of enthusiasm for the race was reflected by resorting to warming up in my jeans. It's just my fourth race of the year after knee surgery in February (did I mention I had knee surgery?) following a torn meniscus racing last year. It’s been 12 months of up and downs managing the injury but the biggest obstacle now is trying to overcome the laziness that comes after months of sitting it out. Hill racing is hard. Who knew?

Dave Doherty was on parking duties and gave me the best parking spot, right beside the start.

In 2014 or so, Dave lent me his jacket after I took a nasty fall on Djouce and had to be helped off the hill. I completely forgot who gave me the jacket until he mentioned it a few weeks. I still had it kept safe so was able to give it back to him 11 years later…the mandatory jacket system works!

Lining up, I spotted Barry Murray in front of me. I didn’t recognise him at first as in all the years we’ve raced each other, I’ve rarely seen the back of his head as I’ve never been behind him. Strange times.

Off we go and Ruairi in his Killian Jornet shoes disappears into the distance.

I suffer the first of many indignities when I managed to catch the crotch of my shorts on the wire fence on the first climb. Sincere apologies to the runner who was tasked with removing my shorts from the barb, a delicate task that took an incredibly awkward ten seconds.

If the roles were reversed, I think I’d have to adhere to the Everest rules and claim it was simply too dangerous for me to attempt such a rescue at this altitude and leave him there.

I felt pretty good at the top of the climb and was getting into the racing spirit. I ran well on the descent and caught up with Dave Doherty and a few others. I’ve had some good battles with Dave this year so the plan was to try and put a bit of distance between us on the downhill as he’s much stronger on the uphill than me.

Really enjoyed the twisty descent, through the shady forest, the tricky ruts, the sharp turns, brilliant stuff. Came to the bridge of death in where I tried to leap across in a single bound. However, I was like Homer Simpson jumping Springfield Canyon. “I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. This is the greatest thrill of my life…” before plunging into the ravine.

Surprised myself with running all of the second uphill until Dave passed me again like I wasn’t even moving. But I was just happy that I was still moving at this stage and not losing too many places.

I was now locked in a battle with Kevin Glennon who was sensing blood as we made our way past the drumming. He made his move and put in a decent gap on the last uphill drag. However, for the first time since my injury, my legs felt good on the downhill and was able to pass him.

Wanting to avoid crotchgate part 2, I took a risk and jumped the fence…successfully! I spotted Dave in the distance and threw caution to the wind in an effort to catch him but was too little too late.

Great craic altogether. And to think I was going to sit on the couch instead. It’s easy to forget how great the Wednesday races are and the brilliant sense of community that exists. Onwards and upwards