Dermot Murphy

07 June, 2012

King of the Mountain Points:

10 Rob Cleary
9 Brian Furey
8 Tom Blackburn
7 Adrian Hennessy
6 Paul Tierney
5 Mike Cunningham
4 Bernard Fortune
3 Sean Bolland
2 Jeff Fitzsimons
1 Anthony Cornforth

Queen of the Mountains:

10 Loretto Duggan
9 Deirdre Finn
8 Patricia Blackburn
7 Kate Rea
6 Eithne McShane
5 Clare Lawson

Dermot Murphy

07 June, 2012

When I arrived down to Killarney with Brian on Saturday evening, we were greeted by heavy rain and the mountains were not to be seen through the clouds. It rained all evening and night, so we knew that the underfoot condition would be wet. The rain finally stopped in time for the race which was a help, but shoes with a good grip would be essential for the race. The clouds did not lift either, so navigation promised to be an issue, and so it proved for some.

63 people signed up from the race, with Munster runners most prominent but also runners from Leinster, Connaught and Ulster, with also some visitors over from the UK, which included Brendan and Sean Bolland who were 2nd and 3rd to Eoghan McKenna back in 2006. Vivian sent us on our way at around 12:10, with a few early starters having already gone ahead. Straight away Brian Furey took the lead with Rob Cleary hot on his heels. It was easy enough finding your up the mountain, after you left the fence and the wall up Curraghmore, you just kept going straight up Caher.

It was then on to the ridge, which I am not really fond of. Staying on my feet takes priority over speed! As I approached the shoulder on to Carrauntoohil itself, the leaders passed me by – Brian still in the lead with Rob still on his heels (although Rob actually hit the summit first). I shouted a few words of encouragement to those who were passing me on their way back before I got to the summit myself. Brian Murphy was on hand to get the summit positions and he shouted a few words of encouragement to help me along my way.

It was then back along the ridge, which isn’t much better going back, before I hit the top of Caher with Stephen Cleary in his tent directing us down from the top of Caher. The descent from Caher is where the fun and games really began, as many people veered off course and only realised their mistake when they could not find the fence. I for one made up quite a few places because of this. Just as I reached the fence, Alan Ayling passed me by which was a surprise to me, he was ahead of me at the top of Carrauntoohil and quickly disappeared going back along the ridge. Although he had a slight navigational error, he quickly realised his mistake and soon got back on track. Others were not so lucky, and lost a lot of time wandering around in the mist.

Meanwhile, Brian and Rob continued to have a great race all the way to the finish. Brian thought he had a decisive gap at one stage, just past the second style, but Rob came right back at him, with only a stumble by Rob on the final bend proving just enough for Brian to hold him off – a great race lads! Once I had reached the fence, I knew I would not go wrong to the finish and really enjoyed the final run in. I had Robbie Williams in my sights all the way down the Kerry way and nearly caught him at the style. But at the stage, he heard me coming and put on a push at the end which was enough to hold me well off. When we got the finish line, there were many stories of runners going astray and quite a few cut knees and shins (it was shins for me!) to compare. But eventually everyone made it back – although Joe Laffan somehow ended up at the climbers inn and not the finish line – not sure how he managed that, and there was some concern over Batt Kearney who missing for quite a while but eventually turned up at around 4:30. So a long hard race was made all the longer by some!

Many thanks to Vivian for organising the race, with Nora also helping out with registration and the finish, and Stephen Cleary and Brian Murphy manning the summits. Also thanks to Alan Ayling who did a great job with the car parking and also the Brian Byrne, who had arrived early in his camper van and set up his side canopy at the van which was great for registration as it was still raining at that time. Thanks also to Ger Griffins wife for some great photo’s and also some great action shots from photographer/racer John Shiels.

Oh, and finally boo to the midges, who were a right pain in the back side, or whatever part of your body that happened to be exposed to these nasty blood sucking devils!