News Item

Wicklow Way Race Reflections

Tuesday October 29 - Miriam Maher

The highlight of the racing calendar for many IMRA members is the Wicklow Way Race. This annual event of endurance and sheer grit was undertaken to great success just over a week ago. Starting at 6pm on Friday, October 18th until the following evening on Saturday, October 19th, 88 runners started and 66 finished the gruelling 127 km course. As well as having the 2nd largest number of started this year, a lot more than just running was achieved. Although we had 22 DNF, many of these runners achieved personal goals within the race, including the longest distances ever ran by some of them.

Along with the incredible efforts of the participants, we can’t overlook the real beauty of the event which is the atmosphere and the volunteerism on show. Over 30 people volunteered through the event page and many more friends and family members chipped in also, and every single person played a part in ensuring the event went without a hitch.

One volunteer said “it's my favourite event to volunteer at. It may be more time-intensive than league races, but the atmosphere of the aid stations and being "among the dots" is incredible. Seeing the headtorches stringing along the mountainsides and streaming through the valleys is what inspires me to keep getting out as we head into winter.”

The preparation and support for this race involves a whole village of volunteers, families and friends in the weeks and months beforehand and then during the event itself. They donate hours of their time every year to trek the mountains, set up and take down kit, refill bottles, tie laces, dress wounds, and most importantly dot watch. And the Wicklow Way Race wouldn’t be the same without that village.

Some noteworthy stats including that we had 11 age categories represented across female and male runners. It was the 100th IMRA race for Andy Keeling who had dedicated his year to this being achievable. He did this alongside considerable volunteering efforts at other races. Liam Costello was back for his 9th time racing this event. We’ve worked out that he has covered 1143 km since 2014 on this race alone!

The aid stations included Avril Challoner’s awesome sausages in Glendalough and Mick Hanney’s superb offerings at his aid station. The forum was flooded with appreciative messages all last week, rightfully thanking all those involved. The one-woman powerhouse that is Lillian Deegan brought it all together. Race day (and night) was just the cumulation of months of behind-the-scenes preparation work by her.

These are just a taster of the aspects of what makes the Wicklow Way Race such a pleasure to be involved with every year, maybe more pleasurable for the volunteers than athletes at times.

A huge Thank you and well done to every athlete who showed up at the start line, for without your dedication, determination and bravery, many of us would have had a boring Friday night/Saturday in October!

Whether a 5k race or an ultra, whether course records are set or not, no matter how many runners complete or DNF, volunteers are always at the heart of IMRA events.

So, make sure you do your volunteering along with your racing at IMRA races – as the old saying goes, ‘Ní Neart go Cur le Chéile’ – there is no strength without cooperation!

Report contributors: Dáithí de Mórdha, Kate Flynn and Miriam Maher