I had a good year in 2008. I won the IMRA Irish Championship, the Connaught Championship and the Queen of the Mountains. Later, I came first overall in the IMRA Navigational Challenge. With Andrew McCarthy, we retained our 24 hour Irish Rogaine Title in June. In September, together with John MacEnri, we won the Mourne … Continue reading Is it the winning that counts?
The Connaught Championships is a two day event held every year by IMRA in the West of Ireland. Day One is traditionally a run up and down Croagh Patrick, a near vertical ascent over rocky terrain that scares the bejaysus out of newcomers. For those who have survived Croagh Patrick in one piece, for the … Continue reading Boggy Ben Gorm – “The Roughest Race on the IMRA calendar”
We hauled ourselves up the side of the mountain, following the pilgrims’ route all the way. Before they knew it, we had passed them out. They were praying. We were racing. It was the annual IMRA mountain race up Croagh Patrick, a place of pilgrimage on Ireland’s west coast where St. Patrick himself fasted and … Continue reading Crawling up Croagh Patrick… and Descending it like Divils