Ireland’s Annual Rogaine is one of this country’s best kept secrets. Every year, Setanta Orienteers hosts this race deep in the Wicklow Mountains on the weekend closest to the summer solstice. I’ve entered this race twice before, in 2007 and 2008. On my last outing, my partner Andrew and I were subjected to the worst weather … Continue reading Learning the ‘trick’ to the 6 Hour Rogaine
The Irish 24 hour Rogaine takes place this weekend. For the last two years, Andrew McCarthy and I have teamed up for this race. And for the last two years, we have won the event outright. However this year, neither of us could compete. And so, with much regret, we handed back the perpetual cup … Continue reading This Weekend’s Rogaine
How do you learn to read a map and use a compass? How do you get good at route choice and cluster order? Who do you ask about fell-running shoes and mountain-running bags? How do you work out what to eat and drink, and how often to do so in different types of races? Courses … Continue reading Mountain Mentors
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?
During mountain marathons, you need two types of food – one type for when you are running during the day and another lot for when you’re hanging out at the overnight camp. The overnight camp food is easy – you need dehydrated food that is lightweight and got loads of calories. Dried tortellini pasta mixed … Continue reading Fast Food for Mountain Marathons
Rogaining is a sport of long distance navigation on foot for teams of two or more over a twenty four hour period. The object of the sport is to score points by finding checkpoints located within a specially mapped area within the allowed time period. As checkpoints / controls can be visited in any order, … Continue reading The Worst of Weather for the 2008 Irish 24 hour Rogaine