News Item

Art's Last Stand

Tuesday August 23 - Douglas Barry

Sunday the 4th September offers a great opportunity to learn the finer points of navigation and how to handle yourself on the big bad mountains of Wicklow. Art?s Last Stand is the third race in the unfortunately named 50k series. The race is NOT 50k long but is only 14.8 kilometres of testing trickiness that requires navigation. To do this navigation, you should buy yourself a map of the area (see below) and a compass and work out how to use them.

If you need help, and just want a run, turn up with your kit (waterproof jacket, map, water, food, and whistle) and run with someone who knows how to navigate. Just remember it?s extremely rude to nip in ahead of your navigator just before the finish and take the place ahead of them with some vainglorious spurt. Instead, ply them with drinks afterwards in the Glendalough Hotel, ask them how they work out how to get around, and bathe in the mutually satisfying learning experience. Next year, you can try and beat them!

Good maps that every mountain runner from the Dublin/Wicklow area should have are the Ordnance Survey Discovery Series 1:50,000 Sheets 50 and 56 which cover most of the Dublin and Wicklow races, and the more detailed 1:30,000 Harvey map which is the ideal one for Art?s Last Stand. Go on, you owe it to yourself to try!