The “Carrauntoohil Classic”

Held on Sunday the 22nd of July in the gorgeous Killarnary National Park in County Kerry. One could describe Kerry as the Irish outstanding area of beauty equivalent to the majestic lake district in England.

The 15km Carrauntoohil Mountain Race begins South West of Cronins yard and takes in the summit of Ireland Highest Mountain (1,038m). The total ascent of the race more than that of Carrauntoohil itself. The route requires runners to take in Cnona na Toine summit (845) first, run its narrow grassy ridgeline, before losing altitude, descending to the col only to have to regain height as the steep climb up the shoulder of the almighty Carrauntoohil commenced. For this reason, the event difficulty was given the rating “10 Extreme”.

David Hicks, Grace Neville and Owen Brady.

The participants had to prove handy foot work to navigate the slippery devonian old red sandstone rock, slates & grit underfoot, contend with the “wildly warm” humidity and demonstrate navigational skills to avoid ending up lost and never to again be seen if a wrong turn was taken off the notorious cliff edge. Though the plan amongst the 3 Newcastle runners if one got desperately lost was to retreat to the Mountain Rescue Hut on the North East side of Carrauntoohill, where it was rumoured to be a bottle of whisky to keep you warm as you sent out the “cooee” call if you so
decided you wanted to return to civilised life out of the mountains.

There was a rather generous reward for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Female and Male, King and Queen of the Mountain and various age category prices including innov8 shoes! The centre piece prize for the 1st female and male (500 euros!!) was the big lure for the 3 Newcastle runners; Owen Brady, David Hicks and Grace Neville. Owen for a new pair of runners as he pulled his mudclaws out of the bag prior to the race start. Dusted the last runs Hill and dale dust off them and remained content and excited about the race ahead as he realised no claws existed on the bottom of them. David never having driven so far in a day and back for a mountain race was driven by this incentive too.

After a night spent in Limerick drinking tea, eating fruit buns generously provided by the Van host, sitting out in the deck chairs recounting David hiking adventures in the blue mountain of Australia, the southern hemisphere reptiles he encountered and the shared adventures of Owen and David’s past mountain marathons we almost forgot we were not just on holiday…. but in fact had a race to run!

It was Owen and Graces first IMRA run. Registration at 1130 was smooth and we had enough time to get the carbs on board; bananas, chocolate digestives, bacon & sausage bagels. Of course, with just one hour prior to race start we were leisurely drinking cups of tea and sussing out a few bearings. Other conversations included what fuel and fluid we were taking up. Considering it was a stiflingly humid day I packed water (and was golly grateful for it). Owen and David being the Irish lads they are were lathering sunscreen on…once the tea had been drunk of course.

Grace Neville

Barry Murray & Mike Casey (the authors of the IMMRA race report) shared the unpleasant experience of the heat….The following paragraph taken from their report… “whilst getting changed into the gear, I was starting to sweat buckets. We have had plenty of heat and sun already this summer, but this day was the heaviest air I think I have ever felt, certainly in Ireland. It was that oven, dry sauna type heat… any movement and you are sweating”…..

A race briefing was held 1250. At this stage the skyline of the Killarnary National Park was nowhere to be seen behind the dense mist formed by the warm air off the Atlantic rising over the mountains to form dense cloud (lucky we had the map and compass). A mandatory kit check; jacket, foil, phone ….and “common sense”.

1300 and we were away. And yes we were “sweating buckets”!

The first section. 3-4kms of gradual, runnable uphill on a rocky path. The path comparable to that of the Trassy track, though with more undulating climbs. David was up with the front pack….in his words “a group of 4 broke away early…. another fella passed me just between the Lough Gouragh and Lough Callee 3kms in… I was in 5th place…. I watched the climbers out the corner of my eye in 1st ,2nd,3rd and 4th position climb to the left up the zig zag track…I was feeling the pressure…I had a steady climb, no navigational errors…. I just put the head down”.

At the summit of Carrontoohill Owen didn’t catch a view, whether this was due to the mist or because he was very “focused on getting back down now …. I was on my way home”. I was half way up Carrauntoohil when Owen came flying past. He had chosen to avoid the slippery unstable rock and was striding down a grassy patch…..you wouldn’t have know there was no grips on those mudclaws the way he was moving upright & swiftly down the mountain side. It had been a tough run till this point for me. My tank had emptied halfway up the zig zag track. My legs were jelly, my head light. The only options were up (though I contemplated laying down on a lovely bit of green grass that had florets of wild heather). I was doing the “hill and dale waddle” up the side of Carrauntoohil. The cairn was insight…..that was about the only thing I could see, for there was no view down into the valley or 20meters around me. In the post-race discussion David mentioned that the views had cleared for him at the Carontoohill and Cnona na Toine col. For a few seconds he enjoyed the view through the open mist to see the Curraghmore Lake before the mist closed on in and the race continued!

Owen Brady

On the return journey now, the front pack had been racing hard for the past hour and a half. David now catching 3rd position. He gave everything he had to secure 3rd position and hold onto it to the finish line down the dusky track. A well deserved 3rd place podium position David Hicks in a time of 1:39. Owen was the next to cross the finish line as Newcastle ACs 2nd podium position. The third Newcastle AC runner was me. Don’t know if I was happier to see the finish line, have climbed Irelands highest mountain or the friendly faces after the adventure of David cheering me on from the top of a rock and Owen with his clawless mud shoes now to one side and his feet cooling off in the River Gaddagh.

Men
1st Andrew O Donnghaile 1:37:36
2nd Naoise O Gibne 1:39:02
3rd David Hicks 1: 39:12

Women
1st Sarah Mc Cormac 1:46:13
2nd Becky Quinn 2:00:39
3rd Maeve O Grady 2:18:35

A generous feast of mixed sandwiches and endless tea was provided by the race organiser. Out in the sunshine runners mingled shoeless and sockless around the wooden benches of Cronins Yard tea room, most still in their sweaty cloths. A happy batch of hardy adventurers now enjoyed the views of Carrauntoohilthat the race was over and the mist had lifted. No thoughts of running up it again….until next year of course.

Well done to Robbie for the organisation of the event. 2018 saw a generous pool of prizes and with Robbie’s big hopes for the annual race in the future, we wish him well, and encourage any keen mountain runners to train up for the 2019 “Carrauntoohil classic”, get a bunch of runners together and make it a weekend adventure away.

Report by Tassie