Tomies / Purple Mountain
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Conor McElroy | Apr 18 2023, 1:12pm | New this year for the Tomies Purple Mountain race Sunday 23rd April: * course fully marked * short course available, fully marked - excellent for those getting their confidence up on open mountain runs * kids race start at 10am - under 10s to be accompanied by parent / guardian (within woodland track less than 2km fully marked) * Junior race starts at 10:05am - Under 17s will be on short course (woodland track and mountain heath fully marked) Please note Early Starters can begin @ 10:15am Online race entry is now open no vouchers accepted Toilet block beside car park available |
| Stephen O Keeffe | Apr 21 2023, 9:44pm | Hi, what time do ye need volunteers to be there for on Sunday morning |
| Conor McElroy | Apr 22 2023, 10:50am | Volunteers - firstly thank you for signing up. Please come to race start at 8.30am Junior race is at 10am Early starters 10.15am Main race and short course race 11am |
| Conor McElroy | Apr 22 2023, 8:14pm | Notice to runners and volunteers - unfortunately we have no toilet facilities available this year. There are public toilets available just across from Kate Kearneys Cottage in the Gap of Dunloe In other news the first cuckoo calls of the year have just appeared in these parts so keep your ears and eyes peeled amongst the woodland tomorrow! |
| Anthony Cornforth | Apr 23 2023, 4:42pm | Thanks Conor for another brilliant race. It really is an epic route and one for everyone who loves true open mountain running. With a great mixture of terrain, geology and flora, demanding your full attention and agility, for the bulk of the ascent and descent. Massive Thankyou to all the volunteers for sacrificing their own race today so we could run ours . |
| Brian Mullins | Apr 23 2023, 7:37pm | I second everything Anthony said. Thanks to Conor and all the volunteers for a great outing today. This is a true open mountain race and with 1000m of climbing it’s no joke. Great to see Sean back from France showing us all how to climb properly, and Kristof and Sam are also in flying form. The ground was drier than expected but a stiff north westerly breeze and some lingering fog around Purple made things interesting and slightly more testing than last year but this route is a serious Irish Champs contender, the climbs and descents are akin to Nephin, as in steeeeeep, with the classic rough open ground you’d expect of Kerry in between each of them. There are no easy metres. A mighty day out. |
| Robbie Williams | Apr 23 2023, 9:00pm | First time doing this race … What a course ! I’ll defo be voting for this as s Munster Championship for 2024. All distances catered for, proper mountain running with spectacular views on both sides. The joys of not being fit is you can enjoy the scenery. If you missed today, make sure not to miss next year, if you call yourself a hill runner. Massive thanks to Conor Mc Elroy RD, Micheal Mc Sweeney marshal on Tomies West, and Henry Brown in the summit, and the other 2 marshal points on the hill as well as Stephen O Keeffe for marshaling and all the others who made it happen including Eva. I was delighted and uplifted to see Brian Byrne making the trip and STILL helping and providing support ! For this man to do this, if YOU haven’t volunteered yet for IMRA, you truly should be ashamed! A Glorious day in the Kingdom, thank you to all, will br back next year for sure !!! |
| Aoife Fitzgerald | Apr 23 2023, 10:28pm | Thanks so much for today...my first proper mountain race. That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I absolutely LOVED every second. I didn't even mind that I was last and the encouraging words and smiles from the volunteers made me think they didn't mind it was taking me so long, even though I'm sure they were freezing up there! I'll definitely do this one again...I have a time to beat now |
| Conor McElroy | Apr 24 2023, 11:14am | Many thanks to all volunteers who gave of their time, energy and goodwill to make yesterday's races run as smoothly as possible. Particular thanks to sage mentoring from Micheál McSweeney, who always makes himself available to make sure no detail is missed. Also thanks to you runners of all stripes who signed up, travelled to the Gap of Dunloe and brought your sense of adventure. I would encourage anyone with the smallest inclination of bringing runners to your local hillside to get muddy to bring these race routes to your next regional IMRA AGM and volunteer as Race Director. IMRA provides a well organised apparatus to get behind the RD's and make the race events happen. On another note, in the Kerry area in recent years, we have unfortunately witnessed privately held lands, once publicly accessible, now closed off to the public with little apparent recourse. I feel we hill runners can contribute to improving access, to these wild places, for the wider public, through providing even more responsibly organised days out for runners, in the privately owned uplands of this island. |
| Seán Clifford | Apr 24 2023, 8:37pm | Sadly …its been along time since i did an irma race ...as living mostly aboard.... and tbh i wanted to volunteer for this race but given the numbers i was ushered to race it ... absolutely loved it !!! A true showcase of everything that’s good about mountain racing in ireland! After crazy few months.. im now motivated to get back running more discovered trails i have never done... and trails that don't exist LOL great seeing Conor,Brian, Julie, Niamh Eva and everyone ! what a great community !!! great to see the master Brian M in action.... ill be signing up to his masterclass on 'choosing a line in mountain racing' !! thanks to Kristof and Sam for pushing things !! i need to get back more both to race and to volunteer !! thanks all ! |
| Brian Flannelly | Apr 25 2023, 7:26am | Results are now up for this event - any questions/queries on them, please email: brian <dot> flannelly <at> imra <dot> ie |
