Wicklow Round Attempt
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| John Murray | Feb 23 2024, 2:06pm | I'm heading out on a last minute impromptu Wicklow Round attempt tomorrow morning, Sat 24th Feb @ 5am. No goals other than to get around, have some fun and try not to find every bog hole out there. :) Might slide the start time later tonight depending on cloud coverage/level but I'll update on Sunday afternoon with whatever the outcome is. Have a good weekend folks! John |
| Peter O'Farrell | Feb 23 2024, 2:15pm | Fantastic! Enjoy |
| Graham K. Bushe | Feb 23 2024, 2:28pm | So, what are you doing for the weekend John? "Ah, no real plans, Sure maybe I'll do the WIcklow Round for the craic!" Best of luck! |
| Gareth Little | Feb 23 2024, 2:46pm | ‘Just heading out for a quick Wicklow Round’. Love it. Best of Luck, John! |
| Stephen Brennan | Feb 23 2024, 6:10pm | All the best John |
| Niall Gibney | Feb 23 2024, 6:47pm | Best of luck John ! |
| David Dunne | Feb 23 2024, 9:01pm | Have a blast John |
| Alice Clancy | Feb 23 2024, 9:59pm | Gwan John! Hope it goes well and you have fun! |
| Rachel Harney | Feb 23 2024, 10:54pm | Good luck John! |
| Sean Forsyth | Feb 24 2024, 9:52am | Best of luck with it John, hope ya batter through it |
| Brian Furey | Feb 24 2024, 10:02am | Best of luck John. Good man. Decent weather for it. Hope it goes well for you |
| Michael Dowling | Feb 24 2024, 10:50am | Best of luck John |
| Richard Nunan | Feb 24 2024, 6:55pm | Hi John, A nice early season attempt. did you pick up a tracker or.is it a casual attempt. Rich |
| John Murray | Feb 26 2024, 11:21am | Thanks for all the good luck wishes... I had a great day memorable day in the hills but ultimately the ground conditions were tough and the wet bog made for a slow pace throughout the day. At Sheepsbank (19hrs in) I figured the sub24hr was probably just out of reach. I was still in good shape at that point but knew my pace would put me about 20mins over the 24hr mark. I spent most of the day trying to stay upright as the ground was so slippery. Legs were constantly going in sideways. The low cloud and fog for the first 5hrs meant I had to try run with the headtorch in my hand at waist level to try improve visibility. However, every time I slipped my arms would naturally try to regain balance but at the same time make the ground in front of me pitch black and finding that next step or two was fun! Stuck on a second headtorch later on. The usual summer lines were out of the window, and the order of the day was trying to avoid going waist deep in bog holes as much as possible. The downhills were the worse, even with big lugs it was impossible to push the pace, so minutes were being lodt across each split. Did I have a good day...YES!..well except for Knocknacloghogue, I'm not going back up there for a long time. An old unused trail to the summit I've used in past rounds was over knee height in heather and impossible to find in the dark, so a slow horrendous climb up over thick heather felt like forever..one step forward...two stumbles backwards. It was probably this section that made me slip outside the 24hr pace. Need to investigate a new route here for the future. The body feels very good the day after and a lot of positives to take from the run regarding nutrition, stomach and salt issues which I've been struggling with the past year or so. Off course days like this don't happen without support, so a massive thank you to Ivana and Tom Roche for giving up their free time last minute and the continuous support throughout the whole day. Will have a bash at it again next winter but probably not spur of the moment. lol |
| Peter Linney | Feb 26 2024, 11:29am | Fair play! |
