Gerry Brady

16 April, 2012

REPORT FROM ADRIAN TUCKER

It’s always nice to try something different, and today’s Wicklow Glacier Lakes Event was certainly that, so congratulations to Gerry Brady and the IMRA committee for putting on this great event. It has all the ingredients to become an all time classic race.

A Four-Leg Relay Event – first of it’s kind for IMRA to my knowledge.
A handicap system that gives bonus points in minutes depending on age and gender, - hey, I like that one!

A Chasing Start – Kind of like a Fox and Hound scenario – Hunted becomes Hunter becomes Hunted.

And a new and demanding circular course, with a Gentleman’s agreement that each competitor would touch the water of each of the seven Lakes visited.
There’s even the option to sign up as a non-competitive runner and enjoy an organised day on the hills.

With my bonus points, I got the start gun at 9am and there were about four runners out on the course ahead of me. The weather on the day was excellent, clear blue skies and a temperature of about 4 degrees with a slight chill in the air from a light North wind.

Route choice is totally left up to the individual and the idea for leg one was to get yourself from the start line at the Glendalough Hotel, up to Lough Oular, which nestles deep below Tonlagee, and from there get over to Wicklow Gap for checkpoint one. On route to the lake I passed two runners who each seemed to choose a slightly different course to me. As I made tracks down to touch the lake I met Fred Hammond who was on the climb back up from the lake towards the shoulder of Tonlagee. It wasn’t too long before I passed by him as we contoured the hill and made our way to the checkpoint.

On reaching the checkpoint I’m met by Aoife and Gerry, grab a bottle of water and electrolyte tab from Aoife and away toward leg 2. Gerry informs me that the all-ladies team are ahead by about twelve minutes or so. It’s a hard climb up towards the reservoir where you leave the comfort of a good service road to go out onto indistinct bog tracks and head for Lough Firrib. The terrain up here is unforgiving with ruts, peat hags, and plenty of wet bog. I reach the lake slightly to the right side of it and having dipped my already soaking wet shoe into it, I take a compass bearing for the Three Lakes. It’s extremely difficult to travel in a straight line from point to point on this terrain and you find you have to keep correcting your course as you zigzag around numerous obstacles such as peat hags and bog. I catch sight of a runner off in the distance moving directly for the Three Lakes but loose sight of them again as I drop down into a gully. Dip the foot into the lake and away for Table Track, which will bring me to checkpoint two. I didn’t catch sight of that runner again and when I reach the checkpoint I assume I’m still in second place and trailing the ladies team.

Leg three possibly has the toughest climbs of the whole event, and it’s as I’m starting into the first of these climb’s that will bring me up to Art’s Lough, I see I’m being chased by a female runner who is making good ground on me. I reach the lake and have a good view up the ramp towards Cloghernagh, there’s nobody ahead of me so it finally dawns on me that I’m leading and the chase is on by the ladies team to hunt me down. I didn’t realise it at the time but it was Catherine Devitt, fellow Rathfarnham Runner who was hot on my heels. The gap between us of about three minutes remained constant. As I exited from Kelly’s Lough, I could see Catherine was ripping up the ground after me. A couple of walkers out on the hill seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, pausing momentarily in bemusement. Further along the route and I try to take the Zig out of the Zigzags but when I hit the steep rough ground my Quads decide they’re not having any of it and seize up to such an extent that I have to actually stop. I’ve suffered from muscle cramp before but this is definitely the worst ever. I try stretched it out but it’s just in no mood to play along. Glance back up the hill – no sign of Catherine, I finally start to hobble along the track and eventually get going again. Once again I try to shorten to Zigzags but once again I’m pulled up to a stop, this time it’s the other leg. Eventually I get moving again, cross the river, and up along the road to make my way to checkpoint three.

I’m informed by Gerry that I’m three minutes ahead of the ladies team and no other teams or runners in sight, but be careful; Suzanne, final runner for the ladies team is going to chase you down. Bottle of water and a tab from Kevin and away we go.

It didn’t take Suzanne long, with the aid of Mags, to run past me up along the tracks that lead to Mullacor and the Wicklow Way Trail. I’m reduced to a walk in an effort to keep the cramp at bay. The remainder of this climb was a mix of walk, shuffle, walk, jog, and the final push up to the sleepers onto the WW was to say the least; very difficult. Got a bit of running going again and it was all downhill heading for the Upper Lake at Glendalough, then dip into the Lower Lake and head along the Green Road toward the Monastic Ruins. Difficult at times to make your way through the gangs of tourists and walkers along the Green Road and no sign of Suzanne at all as I climb the last few steps through the old graveyard and out of the Archway onto the road beside the Hotel.
I round the corner to the front of the Glendalough Hotel, 41.33Km (almost the Marathon Distance) and 5 hours 55 seconds on my watch (5 hours was the target time – where did those 55 seconds come from?). Suzanne is comfortably sitting on the wall soaking up the sunshine having arrived about one and a half minutes ahead of me. A great win for the all-ladies team, they had the right formula for the day.

Everyone who took part seemed extremely happy with the event. For the solo runners, it was the little touches such as water and electrolyte tabs available at every checkpoint that really made it more manageable.

It’s timing on the IMRA calendar is probably about right, it would certainly be a nightmare if it appeared much later in the year especially when the growth gets going on the hills, at this time of the year the terrain is still quite runnable.

The only slight concern is that for some, the Lakes Race may be a bit close to the Wicklow Way Ultra and Trail races, a gap of a couple of weeks needs to be maintained.

Great event and thanks to Gerry and all the volunteers, hope to be here again next year.

Gerry Brady

16 April, 2012

REPORT FROM FRED HAMOND
Well done to Gerry and helpers for a memorable event - a good opportunity to get some climb in the legs and renew acquaintance with Wicklows.

Garmin plot at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168673164 The distance is a couple of km longer than Adrian and Billy mainly because – (1) contoured around Tonelagee to avoid rough ground lower down, (2) kept on switchback road rather than cutting zigzags en route to L Ferrib, (3) scenic route along right bank from Three lakes (for a change from my usual route on the Art Walk), and (4) kept towards upper end of Kelly’s Lough to minimise height loss.

Leg 1: Glendalough Hotel to Wicklow Gap Carpark 10.53km. 623m climb
Started at 08.40 on a clear sunny morning. Followed St Kevin's Way up river, then along road before veering on to hillside. Kept right for better going, over col (517m) and transverse along N side of ridge then up flank of Tonelagee. Low air temperature kept ground firm. Steep but easy descent to lake. On return, contoured until track coming down from summit of Tonelagee picked up to avoid rougher ground lower down).

Leg 2: Wicklow Gap Carpark to Glenmalure Hostel 13.16km, 242m climb
Up service road and past quarry. Rough path in direction of L Ferrib. Peat hags thereafter to Three Lakes which could be seen from afar. Very soft ground on exit from lake. Kept on right side of river - would probably have been quicker along left bank as grassier. Straightforward once on track.

Leg 3: Glenmalure Hostel – Ballinafunshoge Carpark 11.01km, 503m climb
Returned up track and along to ford. Straight up to Arts Lough. Then ramp up to Windy Gap and rough contour along narrow track (rocky towards end) to end of steep bit. Reasonable descent - went slightly west to minimise climb up to lough. Track along lough to W end, then good track back down to river. Good track along left bank, then headed for prominent rock and style to zigzags. At bottom, up road to CP.

Leg 4: Ballinafunshoge Carpark – Glendalough Hotel 10.52km, 447m climb
Walked steep rough tracks to Wicklow Way track, then all runnable. Well graded surface after boardwalk across highest point. Along Green Road on S side of Lower Lake and thru graveyard and archway to finish in front of hotel.

Gerry Brady

15 April, 2012

All women's team wins inaugural Wicklow Glacier Lakes relay but Adrian Tucker runs fastest overall time in a superb 5 hours and 52 seconds.

On a clear bright day, Mags Greenan held onto a considerable part of her team's 25 minutes time bonus on Adrian Tucker with a sound first leg. Caroline Reid was the first to face Lough Firrib and with Three Lakes on her mind, she lost a small amount of time, enough to let Adrian take over the lead at the end of leg 2. Catherine Devitt halved the deficit to the leader on leg 3 but Tucker was moving so fluently surely there was no catching him.

A shocked Suzanne Kenny quickly passed a cramping and stretching Tucker early in leg 4 and pulled well clear. However a resurgent Tucker started to comeback but eventually ran out of ground as the winner raced passed the Round Tower and onto the finish at the Glendalough hotel.

Zoran Skrba and Billy Reed had an enthralling battle from the start and eventualy shared the bronze medal. However the Walsh family were within seconds of taking third place team after four fine performances.

There were many other notable performances including our M70 stars: Charlie O'Connell and Mick Kellett; a solo run by M60 Fred Hamond; and a fine performance by Turkish runner Volkan Koc.

Results based on actual clock finish time (includes bonus time allowances)
Team, Leg 1, Leg 2, Leg 3, Leg 4, Finish time
2, 01:30:36, 01:33:28, 01:20:01, 01:00:13, 13:59:18
3, 01:53:42, 02:38:12, 02:28:06, 01:11:10, 16:51:10
4, 01:45:03, 01:55:36, 02:09:21, 01:35:30, 16:05:30
5, 01:34:31, 01:42:51, 01:28:25, 01:10:08, 14:55:55
6, 01:17:48, 01:16:43, 01:22:18, 01:04:03, 14:00:52
7, 01:31:53, 01:24:05, 01:26:22, 01:05:08, 14:32:28
8, 01:15:11, 01:17:58, 01:27:41, 01:10:32, 14:31:22
9, 01:27:52, 02:08:46, 01:10:54, 01:04:08, 15:11:40
10, 01:28:55, 01:28:57, 01:44:23, 01:31:15, 15:33:30
11, 01:17:35, 01:17:34, 01:25:41, 01:10:32, 14:31:22
12, 01:46:26, 01:48:32, 02:11:02, 01:45:55, 16:51:55
1, 02:19:10, 02:12:53, 02:04:03, ,

Results based on actual time
Team, Leg 1, Leg 2, Leg 3, Leg 4, Race time
6, 01:17:48, 01:16:43, 01:22:18, 01:04:03, 05:00:52
8, 01:15:11, 01:17:58, 01:27:41, 01:10:32, 05:11:22
11, 01:17:35, 01:17:34, 01:25:41, 01:10:32, 05:11:22
2, 01:30:36, 01:33:28, 01:20:01, 01:00:13, 05:24:18
7, 01:31:53, 01:24:05, 01:26:22, 01:05:08, 05:27:28
9, 01:27:52, 02:08:46, 01:10:54, 01:04:08, 05:51:40
5, 01:34:31, 01:42:51, 01:28:25, 01:10:08, 05:55:55
10, 01:28:55, 01:28:57, 01:44:23, 01:31:15, 06:13:30
4, 01:45:03, 01:55:36, 02:09:21, 01:35:30, 07:25:30
12, 01:46:26, 01:48:32, 02:11:02, 01:45:55, 07:31:55
3, 01:53:42, 02:38:12, 02:28:06, 01:11:10, 08:11:10
1, 02:19:10, 02:12:53, 02:04:03, ,

Leg 1 results
Team, Runner, Leg time
8, Zoran Skrba, 01:15:11
11, Billy Reed, 01:17:35
6, Adrian Tucker, 01:17:48
9, Quentin Crowley, 01:27:52
10, Alan Ayling, 01:28:55
2, Mags Greenan, 01:30:36
7, Colin Walsh, 01:31:53
5, Paula Keohane, 01:34:31
4, Fred Hamond, 01:45:03
12, Volkan Koc, 01:46:26
3, Derek Kellett, 01:53:42
1, Aidan Roe, 02:19:10

Team, Runner, Leg time
6, Adrian Tucker, 01:16:43
11, Billy Reed, 01:17:34
8, Zoran Skrba, 01:17:58
7, Eileen Walsh, 01:24:05
10, Alan Ayling, 01:28:57
2, Caroline Reid, 01:33:28
5, Pol O’Murchu, 01:42:51
12, Volkan Koc, 01:48:32
4, Fred Hamond, 01:55:36
9, Quentin Crowley, 02:08:46
1, Aidan Roe, 02:12:53
3, Charlie O’Connell, 02:38:12

Leg 3 results
Team, Number, Runner, Leg time
9, 403, Kyle Heron, 01:10:54
2, 845, Catherine Devitt, 01:20:01
6, 642, Adrian Tucker, 01:22:18
11, , Billy Reed, 01:25:41
7, , Frank Brazil, 01:26:22
8, 480, Zoran Skrba, 01:27:41
5, 143, Melanie Earwaker, 01:28:25
10, 156, Alan Ayling, 01:44:23
1, 415, Aidan Roe, 02:04:03
4, , Fred Hamond, 02:09:21
12, , Volkan Koc, 02:11:02
3, 595, Mick Kellett, 02:28:06

Leg 4 results
Team, Runner, Leg time
2, Suzanne Kenny, 01:00:13
6, Adrian Tucker, 01:04:03
9, Kyle Heron, 01:04:08
7, Stephen Walsh, 01:05:08
5, Bob Boles, 01:10:08
8, Zoran Skrba, 01:10:32
11, Billy Reed, 01:10:32
3, Kevin Kellett, 01:11:10
10, Alan Ayling, 01:31:15
4, Fred Hamond, 01:35:30
12, Volkan Koc, 01:45:55
1, Aidan Roe,

Alan Ayling

15 April, 2012

Today saw the inaugural running of the Wicklow Glacier Lakes relay race. The brainchild of Gerry Brady, the Lakes race is unlike any other in the IMRA calendar – the route takes in 7 lakes as the mandatory points to be visited, instead of mountain summits. It can be run solo or by up to four individuals, with time concessions for female runners and veterans (and older). And the team of four ladies took the win – well done Mags, Caroline, Catherine and Suzanne. Second was the fastest solo runner, Adrian Tucker, getting home in just outside the 5 hour mark – the target for next year has been set!

In a race that long, you don't tend to see a lot of the other runners, so I'll give an account of my solo experience. Sadly, brevity is not my forte, so be patient, dear reader.

With the time concessions available to several teams, only five of us set off together at 9:20, up the flat dirt track that is St Kevin's Way. I was rapidly last. But that's OK, long race, pace yourself and all that. Overtook Volkan at the point where the going gets steeper, up the paved rocky trail, starting to feel a good rhythm. That lasted as far as the end of the tarmac road section, the rules say you're only allowed on the tarmac for the section where St Kevin's Way follows the road, after that you're forced to take an odd angle off road towards Lough Ouler, but first there's a good bit of mountain in the way, and before that there's a good bit of marsh. It's a slog, but doesn't last that long – once up on the Brockagh – Tonelegee ridge there's some line choice to get the best way to the saddle between Tonelegee and that little outlying hill to the northeast; from the saddle it's pick your line (i.e. straight down) to Lough Ouler. And then straight back up again. Some runners opted to go over the top of Tonelegee en route to the first handover at the Wicklow gap – this affords a handy route and good going all the way down, but more climb to get there. I opted for the contouring option – no regrets. Time for leg 1: about 1:29, distance 9.8 km.

Leg two doesn't involve as much climb, but there is some navigation to deal with. Fortunately the clear conditions on the day made it fairly straightforward. In thick mist it'd be another story. The first part is fairly obvious – up the Turlough Hill access road and around the back of the little quarry. There is a path leading from there in the general direction of Lough Firrib, but it's haphazard and easy to lose. I did a couple of times, but the map and the ground were matching up well and I hit the lake without difficulty. The next section to Three Lakes (you have to visit one or other of the TWO) is through messy ground at times – some peat hags to negotiate – but the legs were feeling good and I was really enjoying things. On a clear day you can see the lakes from some distance, then – disconcertingly – you lose sight of them as you get lower. Over a small rise and the bigger, closer lake, is found without much bother. The next section is tricky though, first a swamp extending from the southern shore of the lake has to be negotiated, and then the peat hags from hell. It's not just the peat hags, it's the fact that the black mud between them is very soft, at times deep and to be trusted at your peril. A higher line to the left proved better, then a dip into the valley carrying the Lough Brook down into Glenmalure. A fluorescent jacket on the other side marked the figure of Pól Ó Murchú. We hit the fire road together and set off down the Table Track at quite a pace, before I eased back and Pól opened it up to get to the second checkpoint at the Youth Hostel and set Melanie off with a lead of maybe a minute on me. Time for leg 2 about 1:29, distance about 12.5 km.

Leg 3 begins with a fire road haul up into the lower part of the Fraughan Rock Glen. It's hard to shift gears back into uphill mode after the Table Track descent. There are probably several realistic options to get up to Art's Lough – I went for a left turn across the stream and up alongside a fence. Could see Melanie ahead, but the gap seemed to be widening (it had become 16 minutes by the end of leg 3). Legs began to feel very tired up that climb, a gel helped but the lake was a long time coming. Getting from Art's to Kelly's Lough involves route choice again – high/low/around? I went for a contouring option again, having intially gained the Clohernagh ridge some distance east of the summit, the contouting worked well, leading neatly into Kelly's Lough without incurring any unnecessary climb and on mainly decent ground. Five lakes down, two to go. A pleasant (if at times damp) route out of the Carrawaystick Brook valley led to the top of the zigzags. Cutting the corners is allowed (and let's face it, waaaay more fun) as long as you stay out of the private fields in the bottom of the valley. Across the river at the agreed access point and a cruise up the road to checkpoint 3 and Kevin reclining in the grass... the hard life of a marshal. Still, the water and electrolyte tab were more than welcome. (Haven't got times or distances, the iPhone app I use to track the route lost touch with the world up around Art's Lough).

Refuelling complete it was time for the grim business of the climb up to the saddle between Lugduff and Mullacor. No doubt a good stiff challenge with fresh legs, but with 30 plus km done all you really want around that time are a bath, a pint and a big feed in no particular order. Nearly 400 m of hard climb is not high up the wishlist. Eventually, that hardship dealt with, more follows, in the form of the never-ending fire road on the Glendalough side. Must be about 5 km of the damned thing, I think I'll have a mountainbike stashed up there for next year. On the plus side, you do get to switch off your brain and simply run, as fast as your legs can still carry you. Things get more interesting descending down beside the Poulanass Waterfall – dozens of moving targets, some with poles, some with children, some with dogs... and NONE of them prepared to move an inch out of your way. The hillwalking equivalent of Grafton Street on Christmas Eve. I guess at least while they're all down here they're not up any further, cluttering the mountains. A dart across the grass to touch the Upper Lake, back along the Green Road to the Lower Lake and a cut through the old monastic site all lent a very pleasant finish to an otherwise arduous leg. Closely followed by the big feed and the pint (the bath had to wait).

And so, the verdict – is this event a “keeper”? Absolutely. A superb race, with loads of variety, well spaced checkpoints making it ideal for everyone from the solo runner to the team of four. Huge credit and thanks to Gerry for making all this happen, and of course to Stuart, Kevin and all the other helpers. Thanks for a fabulous day out in the hills.