Training leading up to this race has been a bit hap-hazard to say the least, no real long run's since Art O'Neill back in January except a 26mile run the weekend before this race which was a bit of a shock to the system as to what running 26miles feels like again. MUST KEEP UP REGULAR LONG RUNS! Preferably hilly. On holidays in SA for 2 weeks leading up to this event didn't exactly help either, a few trail runs/hikes up table mountain and plenty of mountain biking.
I knew I'd be struggling with this one distance-wise but the Wicklow Way has a great reputation in the Irish Hill running scene so come rain, hail or shine, I wanted to attempt it. And sure enough rain or hail is exactly what we got! I got a good few laughs at work the day before the race, the weather reports from the Dublin/Wicklow area had been to "avoid if at all possible". Landslides, roads turning into rivers/lakes. Snow on higher ground. Road closures all over Wicklow. This was going to be an interesting one!
So not to be deterred I called Kill and we laughed over the phone at the weather and weirdly, looked forward to seeing what Djouce Mountain could throw at us. Friday evening after work, I packed my gear (NB, must come up with a kit checklist, only for Anna reminding me I'd have gone away without Jacket and Trail shoes, phew, not the first time either) and set off towards Dublin. Great timing (pure fluke) had myself and Kill meet on the road to Glencullen and straight into Johnny Fox's overflow car park to set up for the night. First thing that hit up when we got there was the cold, so straight away we hopped into the warmth of Johnny Fox's for a Pint of the black stuff by the fire. Lovely. Then around half 11 we called it a day and hit the hay.
Up again around 08:00 to duct tape lucozade sport bottles with handles, if i was ever to get sponsorship one day it'll hopefully be from Duct Tape. Packed two drop bags, one at Crone woods which we would visit twice, out and back and also a drop bag went to halfway point at Ballinastoe. Plan was to set off with nothing, and at each station grab a bottle of sports drink and carry it with me. Also threw in a few bananas and oat bars. I had the pre-race, unbeatable, porridge, coffee, poo combination. Hasn't failed us yet! Crossed the road to the start line and saw the early Ultra's go off. A surprisingly big group of near 30 people set off at 08:30 to give themselves a little more time than the normal start of 09:30. Saw a lot of familiar Ultra running faces at the start, great to catch up again on everyone's stories since their last race I met them at.
Our start time of 09:30 came around very fast so it was time to lube up, put on ridiculously short shorts for this type of weather. Where else would ya get away with it? Pre-race briefing was a pretty serious affair due to the conditions, no chances taken with this one. Fair play to the organizers everything was done to a T and we set off bang on 09:30.
Didn't know what to expect from this race, all I knew was, snow covered mountain, 52km and 1900m of climbing in all. Great to get moving, hanging around in running attire gets very cold! So quickly got warmed up a settled into a nice rhythm. Ended up settling in with a group of 5 lads, a few from NIMRA. I chatted away to one of the lads that knew the course on what was ahead of us and boy was I sorry, ignorance is bliss sometimes! So got to our first real climb after a long road downhil section and started climbing Glencullen Mountains fireroad. Legs were turing over pretty slow and to be honest struggling already with the uphill, maybe long training run last weekend wasn't such a good idea. Managed to stick with the group up and over Prince Williams saddle then descended down to Glencree river through a mixture of really fun downhill sections, fireroads and a little road. Really glad of the grip of the trail shoes on the downhill sections and I flew down those having great fun! However, what goes down must go up again and after running along Glencree river for a spell, the ascending happened again. Soon after we were at crone woods and grabbed a bottle of sports drink and drank this along the way. Wasn't feeling that I needed anything yet, quite the opposite actually but I knew I'd need all the energy I can get for later on! And so began the climb up to Djouce. Along the way we got to the top of Crone woods and spotted Powerscourt Waterfall in all it's glory, flooding in the Wicklow has its advantages too! Pity about the fog as we got higher, scenery must be amazing up here on a clear day. As we ascended, out of the fog Djouce became more clear. It was getting cold at this stage, we were approaching the shoulder of Djouce mountain and being on the easterly side of the Mountain we were fully exposed to the wrath of a freezing strong easterly wind. Pulled the buff over my face, pulled up my hood and head down to grin and bear it. Ran as much up this as we possibly could but snow just got deeper and deeper until it was over 30cm in parts so began a feeble plod. Your foot would break through the snow only to be met with a puddle of ice cold water underneath. Soon I forgot I had feet they were so numb and wondered how long more of this there is. Eventually slipped and slided our way though the snow, around the shoulder of Djouce and found the board walk.
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| Boardwalk? |
Well what was left of it anyway. The only way you could make it out in the snow was some 1ft deep foot prints either side of the board walk every now and again. Creating some of my own markers along the way. The board walk was extremely slippery so had to jog very slowly over this to make it down safe. Eventually after descending for what felt like an eternity, the snow disappeared again and I felt like I had feet again. Descended the fireroad all the way down to Ballinastoe where they recorded my number, I ate some food, grabbed another bottle and dropped my empty then off I went again. But this time something wasn't right, the cold and exertion to get to half way must have really hit me but I couldn't run up towards Djouce and was relegated to a plod. On the way up towards Djouce again, the Trail runners starting out at 12 ran passed as if I was stopped. Good to meet Padraig on the way and tried keep up with him for a bit to have a chat but legs weren't having anyway of it so had to say my goodbyes and told him to enjoy the snow up top! So continued on up Djouce, managed to pick up the pace again until the board walk whre we were all reduced to the same speed, no one willing to step off into the unknown to try overtake. That lasted until we got around the shoulder of Djouce and began to descend. This was one of my favorite bits of the whole race! Who knew, running downhill in the snow could be so much fun! With a bit of ignorance as to what was actually under the snow and numb feet I flew down and managed to over take a good few on the way down to the river at the bottom of Djouce. On the way up a relatively small climb, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm usually pretty good with climbing but I could barely manage to lift my legs to get up what felt like the biggest mountain in the world. Eventually got to the top of this small hill and it was a downhill trail to Crone woods from here. Tried to pick up the pace again but couldn't even run downhill, what was going on?! I remember just feeling ridiculously weak finding it hard to stay in a straight line. I must have been staggering somewhat because for 15mins everyone who passed me was stopping and asking if I was alright. I wasn't too sure to be honest but told them all, ya I'm fine, go on away. Never felt this bad in a race before but if there's anything I know about long races is that the bad patches eventually go away. I eventually made it down to Crone woods again, I managed to get running again and shuffled my way down. Stopped here to have a banana, and some water. Grabbed another sports drink and off I went. Jogging was still proving difficult and just as I approached Glencree river I saw some guy stopped up because of cramps and just stopped in beside him to feel sorry for myself. Not too sure what was actually said, I think it might have been mostly grunts by me, he was having a tough time too. It's bad but it feels good knowing your not the only one struggling, and as bad as it is, it picked me up a bit and managed to jog along the river and up towards Prince Willians seat again, I was running uphill again, wayhey! Ran down the other side of Glencullen mountain and began to feel strong again overtaking people along the way. Next I wasn't too sure if I was hallucinating when I saw, in the middle of nowhere, a guy walking up towards us in a shirt, tie and waiscoat shouting encouragement, I though I've really lost it now, I happily greeted him but also wondered about my own sanity. Thankfully after the race, Kill confirmed hee saw this oddball too, some strange goings on in the mountains around these parts! I pushed the final uphill towards the finish to come in somewhere around 5hrs 44mins to be awarded a hard fought Wicklow way mug! And what a cup of tea that was later...
A great race and a great day out. IMRA races are great. Volunteers couldn't be more helpful and the runners are so friendly, especially in tough times. Its amazing for a race with €15 what you get, and long may it last!
Results and a few pic's here: http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/1024/
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| Here's me having a tough time of it, caught rotten! |
