200km Kerry Way Ultra Marathon 2019

Why do it again?

The Kerry Way Ultra was the first Ultra race I ever heard of and upon discovering it, I just became fascinated by the event. Ever since completing my first event at the Kerry Ultra Running Weekend it has always made me question what else is possible. In 2017, having completed the 57km Kerry Way Ultra Lite, I went on to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro the highest mountain in Africa and in 2018, having completed the 200km Kerry Way Ultra in such horrible conditions, it gave me the confidence to go and row the Atlantic in April of 2019 as part of a 6-person team.

So, to motivate myself again to get to the starting line in Killarney I resorted to a not so solid theory that I have for whenever I revisit a challenge for a second time. In effect I think like this:

If you do something challenging once, no matter how hard you prepared or trained there can always be a small chance that beginners’ luck may have played a role. But if you take on that challenge a second time and succeed, you can with all certainty eliminate the fact that luck ever played a part and know that your success was well earned.

No doubt that there are flaws in such a mentality and they are exceptions like rowing across the Atlantic (likely to be a once in a lifetime experience) but that was my mindset coming into the 2019 edition of the Kerry Way Ultra. Last year, I felt lucky to have completed the 200km foot race around the Kerry Way which had taken me through valleys, across mountain passes, through winding forest trails,over bog - all in extremely wet and cold conditions.

Last year’s result I put down to following experienced runners Tom Downes (@madhausarch) and Ray Lawlor (@raylawlor) at key points on the course; I would have struggled more if it wasn’t for them.

Coming into Killarney at the end of the race in 2018 I was physically and emotionally spent and had to leave straight away after finishing as I was shivering with the cold and disorientated from a lack of sleep.

Considering last year’s result and the mentality I had now adopted towards taking on the Kerry Way Ultra for a second time the goals for 2019 were simple:

1. Eliminate any doubt in my own mind that last year’s result was down to luck.

2. Put together back to back KWU results

3. Enjoy the race more.

Thankfully on Saturday evening the 7th I jogged into Killarney after 37 hours and 55 minutes completing the Kerry Way Ultra for 2019 having reached all the goals I had set.

The Build Up to KWU 2019:

So, rewind to the 23rd of May, I had just finish rowing across the Atlantic from Portugal to French Guiana. The experience had been amazing and as a result of our efforts we set four world records after 52 days at sea, but to turn my body around after such an exhausting effort was going to be tougher than I had expected.

The Kerry Way was in 3 months’ time and I had to develop a game plan as to how I was going to recover from the row, ramp up my training to take on 200 km and taper again in that time. Below are some of the points I believe that helped me on my journey to reaching my goals:

• Strength and Conditioning:

Getting off the boat from rowing across the Atlantic the muscles in my legs had withered away, Rosa had to link me in her arms to get me from the marina to the car. After 52 days at sea and a small bit of rest my focus immediately switched to the Kerry Way. In the city of Cayenne in French Guyana, not able to sleep, I would get up at 4 am in the morning to do calve raises and squats. The Kerry Way Ultra was 3 months away and I felt so far behind what was needed to complete the course.

Upon returning to Ireland Strength and Conditioning was now a big part of my training with HIIT Sessions, Burpee’s, A kettle bell was left in the kitchen and exercises were often performed adhoc throughout the day. Concentrating on calves, quads, groins, glutes and hamstrings.

As the weeks progressed, I started to feel my strength coming back and introduced some foam rolling during the taper in to the event.

• Training:

In Cayenne, excited to get back running I went for a 5km run and when I got back to the apartment I was completely knackered. Disappointed when I looked at the watch and realised it had taken me 48 minutes to complete it. Mixing up different types of runs with hills and intervals into my training made a massive difference. Three weeks later I took part in a Half Marathon in Amersfort in the Netherlands and the week after lined up in Belfast for the Energia 24hr. Disappointing performances after each, drove me on to train harder and after 2 weeks of good training in July I took on the Galty 7x7’s feeling exhausted at the start line I took off and started relatively OK only to completely fall apart for the last 10km.

Following the race, I questioned then if I had too much ground to make up to complete the Ultra and thought about dropping down distance to the 100km Ultra Night event.

It took me a week with the help of Ross Young from Core Health and Fitness Durrow to recover from the Galty 7x7’s.

With no more events left I concentrated on doing some Recce’s of the KWU route, long runs at home such as the 4 Parish Push, introducing back to back runs, doing more interval training and making my fast runs faster.

The light bulb eureka moment came when I took part in a Naas Parkrun and finished 7th in a time of 19m 11sec, that evening I then went out and ran for another 37km. The hard work was starting to pay off with my confidence starting to build. I’d come a long way from my measly 5km run in Cayenne. In accordance with the running I also went for long walks during the week and hiking at the weekend to increase the time I spent on my feet with a focus to also getting more comfortable being outside at night in all types of conditions.

• Hydration and Nutrition:

After 52 days, rowing 2 hours on with 2 hours off then repeating that cycle continuously, my body was simply worn down. In a bid to build myself I reached out a friend of mine Colman Power (@colamn_power_organic_fitness) who encouraged me to eat an organic wholefoods diet high in vegetables and healthy fats. Slowly but surely, I started to feel more energetic throughout the day, recover faster from training sessions and enjoy the foods I was eating.

What my nutrition looked like leading up to the Kerry Way Ultra:

• Week of the race: In the build up to the race I would hydrate with coconut water and stick to whole foods and up my carbs slightly.

• Night before the race: Met up with a gang and had a vegetarian pizza with artichokes, olives and spinach – It was lovely.

• Morning of the Race: Peanut butter, oats and banana washed down with coconut water

Throughout the event:

• First Quarter: Homemade energy balls, snack sugar peas, pineapple slices, Snickers and water.

• Second Quarter: Homemade energy balls, snack sugar peas & figs, boiled potatoes (a Foilmore specialty) with water with a hydration tablet and tea at the checkpoint

• Third Quarter: Porridge at the checkpoint, snickers, salty dark chocolate, peanut M&M’s, figs with Coke, water and tea with 2 sugars at the checkpoint.

• Fourth Quarter: Sandwich, homemade energy balls, Snickers, gels and Coke.

In comparison to last year I didn’t eat that much throughout the event and tried to keep to whole foods.

The strategy was to leave the caffeine gels and sugar towards the morning as I tend to feel very groggy in the morning after running through the night. In all, I was happy with my nutrition and had no stomach issues and felt strong.

How the Race panned out:

This year I went a good bit faster from the beginning and felt strong all the way to Foilmore. In Foilmore with hiking poles in hand, I took my time as there are few places along that section where you can really make up time, but with that said, I was still somehow managed to make it into Waterville which is pretty much halfway just before it got very dark. It was just the way the day had worked out, but I had spent much of the race by myself and I was quite happy tipping along at my own pace and in my own company. In Waterville my crew arrived: Rosa and Neil, it was great to see them as I was well ahead of last years’ time. Fueled up and ready to go I left the aid station with Ray Lawlor my companion from last year and we made steady progress on towards Caherdaniel. Eventually, I let Ray run on and made my way into Caherdaniel by myself. In that time by myself my mood had dropped significantly, and I spent quite some time at the aid station where Rosa and Neil just tried their best to get me smiling and into a more positive mindset. Here I resorted to taking the very socks off Neil’s feet as I had packed Rosa’s lovely pink trim socks by mistake into the dropbag, this bought about a few smiles between us. When the volunteers turned down the lights to get some sleep that was the hint I needed to get moving.

Caherdaniel to Sneem was awful from the point of view I ran very little and wanted to quit several times. Eventually I made it to Sneem and after a cup of tea, warmed up the body with a change of clothes and had a small bite to eat my mindset shifted, and I started to believe once again that I could do this. Running in parts on the route into Templenoe and then hiking strong towards Kenmare.

Last year I had ran the last quarter of the race in such a tired frenzy of fear believing I wouldn’t make the cut off at Kenmare. This year I still had my senses and enjoyed the run into town. In Kenmare I ate a sandwich and sat on the grass with Neil and Rosa. We popped a few of the monstrous blisters on my feet and put on new a new pair of runners. Taking off out of Kenmare I enjoyed every second as I was part of a pack of runners and we could all feel the excitement build as we jogged closer to achieving our goal. Coming down off Torc and through Killarney National Park I just enjoyed the sun, the route, and let the sense of achievement build.

That's a wrap:

This year I was an hour slower than in 2018 but I know exactly where I lost that time:

• Laughing at the pink socks I packed, resorting to wearing Neil’s socks and the sorry state I was in with Neil and Rosa in Caherdaniel,

• A period of doubt stopping on the trail wanting to quit on the way into Sneem.

• Chilling out on the grass in Kenmare eating a sandwich with Neil and Rosa while popping some of the wired monstrous blisters on my feet.

• Enjoying the sense of achievement and the beautiful evening along the final section of the route into Killarney.

Coming into the finish having completed the 200km Kerry Way Ultra

Jogging into Killarney I was delighted and this year I got to spend some time soaking up the atmosphere around the finish line talking to Eileen Daly, the amazing Race director who makes the Kerry Way Ultra possible, Have a chat also with Sean Clifford (@runseanierun) about his training and other adventures, Get plenty of pictures standing with the finish sign surrounded by my amazing crew Neil and Rosa, Have a laugh with the amazing race volunteers from each of the checkpoints, Hug friends and fellow contestants some who finished and some who unfortunately DNF’d but were all still present at the finish. Then as darkness came we headed inside for a cup of tea and a chat.

With the campervan parked close by I then later fell into bed with a gear bag under my feet keeping my feet elevated. Feeling the blood rush down from my feet I was happy having reached my goals and with a smile on my face I fell asleep within minutes.

Thanks:

• My crew Rosa Navarro and Neil Butler both were amazing and I really think that only for them I may not have made it. Their patience, kindness, commitment and humor make me look back on the race with a smile. So grateful to you both.

• The event organisers - Eileen Daly (The Wildest & Kindest) as well as all of her dot watchers who keep an eye on the trackers to ensure no one get lost, checkpoint volunteers and helpers. Fair play to all for the spirit in which they help out.

• Ross Young and Colman Power for helping me train, recover and fuel in the lead up.

• Last but not least my Mother and Father, they really haven't a clue what I do be doing running around the place but they continuously encourage me to do what makes me happy and that in itself means a lot.

Legends roll call:

• This year's winner was Brian Buckley (@trailrunner_bucks). Brian has been a top runner for many years and in winning the 2019 edition of the The Kerry Way Ultra Brian won his first ever race in a fantastic time of 25h 20min. Brian run's with a smile and is well deserving of the win. A big well done to Brian

• Sean Clifford finished in 2nd for the third year in a row, Sean is a savage competitor and someone who has massive respect among-est all the runners at KWU for both his fearless style of running and the untold work he does behind the scene's to promote KWU. Sean Clifford is definitely regarded as a Kerry Way Ultra Legend.

• Ciaran Croke knocked 4 hours off his time from last year to set a new PB and has now recorded back to back results (2018 & 2019). Equally impressive was Ciaran's girlfriend - Katie O'Neill who crewed for Ciaran from 6 am until late on Friday. Katie then went to Dingle to run a marathon and then made her way back again to Killarney to cheer on the Ultra Runners getting to the finish line. Well done to both Ciaran and Katie.

• Congratulations to Tom Downes, Ray Lawlor and Noel Ward three friends and all round ultra running rock stars who successfully completed the three in a row. These men are getting faster each year and keep raising the bar so who knows how many more results they will go onto achieve and how many more PB's they still have to rack up in this event.

• Tina Reid after attempting the event 4 times, finally cracked it and ran back into Killarney with plenty of time to spare to complete the event for the first time. Massive Congratulations to Tina and also to Adolfo Garcia who ran alongside her completing the event for a second time himself.

• John Boyle who ran 110km around the Alps in Chamonix, France at UTMB the week before then rocked up and ran 200km at the Kerry Way. While running more in a week then most people do in a month or year John also went on to become the first person to put together 6 results in a row at the Kerry Way Ultra Weekend. That's pretty awesome to be fair.

Lots of top class performances over the weekend too mention but I hope the above gives everyone a flavor of some of the incredible people who take part.

A major well done to everyone who turned up and gave the KWU their best effort.