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About Padraig OConnor

Kerry native Padraig has been living in Dublin/Meath for past 20 years. Hanging up the GAA boots about 8 years ago, he has completed an unknown amount of races including 15 marathons across Ireland, UK and the US with a PB of 3hr 39min.Discovering Adventure Racing a few years ago was a game changer for Padraig and as a veteran of 20+ adventure races, he is always looking for a new challenge, the tougher the better! At home on both a road or mountain bike, he can be found most weekends running up or down a mountain somewhere! Big plans for the year ahead already having taking part in the most extreme adventure race in Ireland ‘The Race’ and with the inaugural Quest 24 event in his native Kerry in the pipeline.

The Form Guide – Quest Glendalough

The Quest Glendalough 2023 Form Guide   We are used to spending half the year Adventure Racing up and down the Wild Atlantic Way but come April there is only one place to be…Laragh in Co Wicklow for Quest Glendalough…the East Coast Grand National in the garden of Ireland…an absolute must do event. After the [...]

ARI National Solo Adventure Race Series Form Guide: Quest Glendalough ’22

And so on Saturday in Wicklow as we head back for Quest Glendalough 2022. Does expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected? We are not sure about that but we are sure that our predictions are getting worse and what was once unreliable predictions based on unrepeatable analysis of irrelevant statistics has now become a [...]

Continental National Adventure Race Series Form Guide: Fearmanagh Adventure Race

The Continental Tyres National Adventure Race Series has returned and this week we head to the Lakeland’s and FEARmanagh for round 3 of 5! The cobwebs have been blown off at this stage and looks like a mighty day of racing ahead…although of course for some of us not at the front of the field [...]

Continental National Adventure Race Series Form Guide: Quest Kenmare

The excitement has been building and finally the 2020 Continental National Adventure Race Series kicks off this weekend at Quest Kenmare! We are delighted to have Continental Tyres Ireland as the title series sponsor for 2020 and there are some fantastic prizes on offer again this year, Adidas trail runners, bike tyres, BestDrive vouchers…and of [...]

Continental National Adventure Race Series 2019 Review

Back in February we were delighted to share the exciting announcement that premium tyre manufacturer Continental had agreed to be title partner of the Irish National Adventure Race Series in conjunction with Series founders Multisport Adventure Ireland and promotion partner Kayathlon. This was a huge boost for our sport and there were brilliant prizes up for [...]

Ollie Kirwan – From the Race Directors Chair

We are accustomed to looking at events from the participants point of view, we do ‘competitor spotlight’ feature, we look at the experience they had doing the event, the moments that have brought them to this point, what impact the event may have had on their life, reasons why they choose this sport etc.... So [...]

By |2020-01-03T12:26:09+00:00January 3rd, 2020|Categories: Spotlight|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Continental National Adventure Race Series Form Guide: Sea 2 Summit

It’s looking like cold and wintry conditions as we head to Westport Sea2Summit for the last Expert and Sport races of the 2019 Continental National Adventure Race Series. This is probably the most difficult race to predict for a variety of reasons….With 2,700 people talking part and being sold out for months there are a [...]

Continental National Adverture Race Series Update – Round 8

We traveled south to Skibbereen for the second last event in the 2019 Continental National Adventure Race Series and after a sunny days racing the final tables are starting to take shape?...we are in for a serious day of adventure racing in 9th Nov in Westport at the final race Sea 2 Summit! In the [...]

National Series Form Guide: SCAR: Skibbereen Charity Adventure Race

Adventure Racers are heading to the southern coast this weekend for the Skibbereen Charity Adventure Race SCAR to battle it out in the penultimate event for both Expert and Sport categories in the 2019 Continental National Adventure Race Series. Expert While the expert series title was settled when Shane Scully recorded his 5th [...]

National Series Form Guide: Quest Killarney

We are off to the Kingdom of Kerry with 2,000 fellow adventure racers for Quest Killarney, the last event in the Quest Adventure Race Calendar. Sport In the women’s sport series so far we have had 6 different winners so every point counts in the remaining 3 events! Niamh Garvey has lead from [...]

Continental National Adverture Race Series Update – Round 6

?Continental National Adventure Race Series update ? After a mighty day racing at the inaugural Quest Lough Derg the Continental National Adventure Race Series points tables are starting to take shape. Six events are now completed and athletes chasing points now have just 3 events left in all categories, Quest Killarney, SCAR Skibbereen Charity Adventure Race [...]

Tyres: The All You Need to Know Guide

For any Adventure Racer one of the most important things you use is your bike…and one of the most important components of your bike is the tyres. Tyres are your only, and very small, contact with road. It’s important to have a stable and predictable tyre in all conditions especially in Adventure Racing where the conditions [...]

By |2019-09-07T09:19:50+01:00September 7th, 2019|Categories: Cycling, Equipment, magazine extract|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Cavan Kayakarun – 10 Years On!

Community Is Everything Community is an important thing, it gives us our identity and helps define who we are. It gives us something to be proud about and it helps shape what we do. In Maudabawn, Co. Cavan 10 years ago in May 2010, a group of friends were having a pint and as [...]

National Series Form Guide: Gaelforce West

We’ve just had an epic day of racing at the Dingle Adventure Race 2 weeks ago but there’s no rest for the competitors in the Expert Category of the Continental National Adventure Race series as this weekend sees the return of Gaelforce West to the series. The weather gods look to be smiling and it should [...]

National Series Form Guide: Dingle Adventure Race

The Continental National Adventure Race series heads to Dingle. After the epic event at WAAR in Donegal a few weeks ago we move to the other end of the country, south to the kingdom of Kerry and then to west Kerry for the Dingle Adventure Race. Expert In the women’s expert category Ellen Vitting [...]

National Series Form Guide: WAAR.ie

An epic battle is on the cards as the Continental National Adventure Race series heads to WAAR in the beautiful Donegal this weekend! The first of the new events in the NARS 2019 sees over 600 adventure racers head to west Donegal for the Wild Atlantic Adventure Race where they will run on what’s been [...]

Race Report – Quest Glendalough ’19 (Expert)

On the face of it the 59km Expert course doesn’t seem overly daunting, there are longer courses out there on the Adventure Racing calendar, but don’t be fooled, this is one of the toughest course you will take on...8 cramp inducing stages, 1,000m of climbing over 40k cycling, 800m elevation gain on 4 quad burning [...]

National Series Form Guide: Quest Glendalough

After a wild wet and windy opening event in Quest Kenmare the second round of the Continental National Adventure Race Series rolls in to Quest Glendalough....and hopefully the weather gods will be smiling down on us Expert In the women’s Expert, it’s round 2 head to head between Laura O’Driscoll and Ellen Vitting....hard [...]

National Series Form Guide: Quest Kenmare

Adventure Racing season officially gets underway this weekend in Kerry as Quest Kenmare plays host to the opening round of the Continental National Adventure Race Series 2019. With Continental Tyres as the title sponsor for this year there are some super prizes up for grabs at the end of the season and also along the [...]

The Form Guide: National Adventure Race Series – Sea2Summit

In the Expert category the womens title has been settled but Laura O’Driscoll will be looking to finish the season on a win and it’s hard to see past her taking the top spot here on the Supreme course. Leading the charge of challengers will likely be Lorraine Horan, Siobhan Murtagh and Sonia Knox. Local [...]

By |2018-11-07T10:00:36+00:00November 6th, 2018|Categories: Form Guide|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Form Guide: National Adventure Race Series – SCAR.IE

Adventure Racers are heading to the southern coast this weekend for the Skibbereen Charity Adventure Race SCAR to battle it out in the penultimate event for both Expert and Sport categories in the 2018 National Adventure Race Series. With titles still on the line and more importantly scores to be settled and previous bests to [...]

By |2018-10-19T10:18:45+01:00October 19th, 2018|Categories: Form Guide|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Form Guide: National Adventure Race Series

The National Adventure Race Series rolls in to Quest Killarney this weekend and we have a look ahead to how we think things might go! In the Expert category the ladies series looks to be wrapped up with Laura O’Driscoll on maximum points with 4 wins from 5 starts...the on form racer at the moment [...]

By |2018-10-02T11:45:57+01:00October 2nd, 2018|Categories: Form Guide|Tags: |0 Comments

Race Nutrition

We have all seen sometime, somewhere the heroic footage of Alistar Brownlee carrying his brother Johnny across the line, after he hitting the proverbial wall. This was partly due to running out of fuel and not getting the balance right. It can happen at all levels. Hopefully what we have outlined below will help you [...]

By |2018-09-17T20:42:00+01:00September 17th, 2018|Categories: Nutrition|Tags: , |1 Comment

Gaelforce West Ultra 2018 – Race Report

Gaelforce West Ultra is a brand new event in the adventure racing calendar and hopefully it is here to stay!!! Those good folks at Gaelforce don’t mess around, this was never going to be a walk in the park and with an expected finish rate of less than 50%, those brave enough to take it [...]

Race Report – The Race Donegal 2018

The Race 2018 – a 250 km unsupported endurance adventure race across the rugged landscape of North West Donegal. To finish competitors have to complete 15km of kayaking, 166km of cycling, 5km of mountain running and 64km of road and trail running. It’s called the hardest endurance event in Ireland and for good reason….but it’s [...]

By |2018-04-20T13:12:02+01:00April 18th, 2018|Categories: Race Reports|Tags: , , , , |5 Comments

Bump, Bike & Baby by Moire O’Sullivan – Book Review

Moire O’Sullivan is a phenomenal athlete, I have met her at many events on the adventure racing calendar over the past couple of years, usually exchanging a few pleasantries at the start line before she flew off and left us mere mortals in her dust and she always has time for a friendly word of advice [...]

By |2018-03-13T09:36:49+00:00March 13th, 2018|Categories: Book Review|Tags: |0 Comments

Gaelforce Dublin – One year on!

With Gaelforce Dublin less than 2 weeks away (Sat 17th Feb), we spoke to seasoned adventure racer, Barry Dempsey, as he reflects on his race (49k route) last year... As a regular recreational Adventurer Racer when Gaelforce announced a new event in Dublin in February, i thought yes an event i can go to and [...]

The Inside Track – Westport Sea 2 Summit

All roads head west this weekend for Sea 2 Summit, the final event of the Adventure Racing calendar for 2017!!! Sea2Summit has 2 routes, the longer Supreme route and the shorter Spirit route. Both routes are fast and for the most part on sealed road (except for the Croagh Patrick section). The first and last [...]

The Boyne Adventure Race – Race Report

Trim was the destination as I loaded the bike in to the car and set off for the inaugural Boyne Adventure Race. After dropping the bike at the drop zone I headed for the start area. This was in a great location in front of Trim castle, The Race around Ireland start was getting set up [...]

Off The Bloom – Race Review

Off The Bloom Adventure Race – Sport Course A last minute opportunity to take part in the Off The Bloom adventure race popped up on Friday evening and I jumped at it, and was I glad I did...it’s a cracking event which is sure to only grow and grow. I packed up the car Saturday [...]

Red Bull 400 – That’ll get the blood pumpin’

Our man Padraig O'Connor flew the Irish Flag on the RedBull 400 Challenge... And here is how it went down or Up in this case!!!   I stood in the starting area, 75 other competitors beside me of every age and nationality…and all looking a lot fitter then me and like they knew what they were doing, [...]

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