Dermot Murphy

29 April, 2011

I left Kilcullen shortly after 1pm on the Friday evening with Brendan Lawlor for company. We made good time and arrived in Kenmare shortly before 5pm. I decided to relax a bit first and go for an easy jog later - Brendan headed up with Rene and a few of the others for the race in Killarney. Well done to all who ran that - Rene has posted up the results.

The following mroning, I decided to have an early morning dip in the sea - it was cold but the scenery was fanastic! Andrew was the only other soul brave enough to join me. When we got back to the house, we joined the others for a short, easy jog followed by a stretching and sprint drills session, which Rene guided us through. One of the more interesting drills were the Hop Scotch drills, although more for their comic value than anything else!

We then headed out to Carrauntoohil on the bus, apart from Caroline and Peter who both cycled out! It was a super day for a run up Carrauntoohil, with plenty of sun, but not too hot. When we got to the summit, we all refueled and enjoyed the scenery for a few minutes - every time I have been up Carrauntoohil on previous occasions had been during a race so I had not had much time to look around before. And we could not have picked a better day for it, with fabulous views all the way out to Dingle Bay - Jeff was posted some great pictures in the photo section. When we got back to down to the finish, we got a chance to enjoy the sun while waiting for the others to come back down.

On the Sunday, about half of the number were heading out for a long run from the Torc waterfall back to Kenmare, but I decided to cross train and go for a long cycle instead. I headed out with Peter, Orla & Jimmy just as the others were starting their Yoga session in order to prepare for the long run. It was cloudy for the first part of the cycle, but still very enjoyable with some great views as we headed out towards Killarney. After we passed Killarney, Jimmy headed towards the Gap of Dunloe and back to Kenmare from there, as we headed on towards Killorglin. It had started to rain at this stage, but by the time we passed through Killorglin, the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Heading along the coast, with Dingle Bay to our right and the Reeks off to our left, was a hugely enjoyable part of the trip and another one of the highlights of the weekend (and there were quite a few!). After lunch in Caherciveen, we had an extended stop at Waterville as saw stage 3 of the Ras Mumhan finish in the town. Just out of the town, we then had a climb which gave us great views all the way out to the Skellig Islands. After an enjoyable spin down from the pass, my legs started to lose all power just as we were heading in to Sneem. An ice cream and refueling stop was called for, and once we started out again, I felt refreshed and enjoyed the last 25k or so back to Kenmare - all in all about 170k in total. A memorable day, but I was tired by the end!

On the final day, I went for another swim in the morning, this time joined by Tressan and James - not as cold as the other morning so managed to stay out a bit longer. When we got back I decided to stick with the original schedule and climb Mangerton. Some of the others were joining John Lenihan for a run on the new way marked track he helped create - but as I needed to be back home, I went for the earlier run in Mangerton instead. No other runners, but plenty of walkers were out today - and Rachel joined me but just decided to walk, she was still tired from the previous night (apparantly it ended with singing and dancing back in one of the other houses, but I was out for the count at that stage!). It was another terrific day to be out on the hills, and the views looking over the Devil's punch bowl towards Killarney and the Reeks were amazing. It was a great way to end a great weekend!

Rene Borg

26 April, 2011

GOOD FRIDAY 5 MILE (Results from Kerry Weekend participants)

4. Rob Cross 27:10 (O35 winner)
12. Rene Borg 30:02
25. James Clancy 31:29
27. Eamonn Hodge 31:35
31. Aoife Joyce 31:47 (first team - Crusaders AC)
35. Maura Matthews 32:24 (O35 winner)
50. Niamh Garvey 33:22
57. Dee Ni Chearbhaill 34:03 (first team - Crusaders AC)
72. Lornie O'Dwyer 35:12 (first team - Crusaders AC)
108. Brendan Lawlor 36:58

Full results: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/GoodFriday5Mile2011.pdf