?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 and Sea2Summit. Some brilliant performances in Lough Derg saw Laura O’Driscoll and Shane Scully take the honours in the expert race while Lisa Clerkin and Philip Smith were the winners in the sport race. So what has this done to the tables and what can we expect in the upcoming races?

Full tables can be found on the MultiSport Adventure Ireland website at this link:
http://msai.ie/adventure-race-ireland-organiser-points-seri…

There are 9 events in each category and an athletes best 5 results to count towards their total score.
Current standings after 6 events:
Expert Series Women’s:
1. Laura O’Driscoll
2. Ellen Vitting
3. Aine Mahony

Expert Series Men’s:
1. Mark Pinfield
2. Darren Quinn
3. Shane Scully

Sport Series Women’s:
1. Niamh Garvey
2. Martina Dunne
3. Lisa Clerkin

Sport Series Men’s:
1. Niall Smith
2. Philip Smith
3. Bernard Smyth

In the women’s Expert the win for Laura O’Driscoll has all but guaranteed that she will retain her national title and she sits on top of the table with 499 points. The only person who can snatch the title is Ellen Vitting who would need to win all 3 of the remaining races. A tall order for sure but not impossible, we might see a show down in Westport?. With 3 races to go there are a lot of athletes still to complete a 5th event so it’s still all very much to race for yet. Aine Mahony is probably favourite for third place assuming she does at least 1 more race…if she doesn’t then Rosy Temple and Karen Shannon will stand to benefit with plenty more in the top 10 who could yet claim a spot.

In the men’s expert series a top ten finish at Lough Derg has moved Mark Pinfield to the top of the table pushing Darren Quinn (who has had a fine year to date and is surely a bright prospect for the future) in to second place. A 4th straight win for Shane Scully in Lough Derg puts him as overwhelming favourite to land the national title now. Mark Nolan would need to win all 3 remaining races to take the title. If Mark doesn’t win all 3 races then just a single podium finish for Shane will secure the title. It’s a hot battle for 2nd and 3rd place with plenty of racers still fancying their chances. Barry Cronin has been Mr Consistent all year and another strong top 3 finish will have him well in the mix and no doubt he’ll be thinking about a strong finish to the year. Gary Scully has amassed 3 second place finishes from 4 starts…the next event at Quest Killarney will suit him and if all are distracted trying to mark Shane then we have a sneaking suspicion that this could play in to Gary’s hands and in the Battle of Mangerton Gary will have an eye on the top spot which will put him in a great standing for the series.
Shout out to Laura O’Driscoll, Garry Carroll and Darren Quinn for completing all the races in the expert series so far…serious consistency and commitment

In the sport series the women’s category after a fine win for Lisa Clerkin we now have 6 different winners for the 6 events!
Niamh Garvey remains in top spot on 489 points. Lisa Clerkin has been the star performer over the past few races and 1 more good result could see her sweep in and challenge for the series title. Niamh Cleary has also been on fire, 1 more good result will move her into the podium spots but 2 good results would seal her top 3 spot. Catherine Hallahan also has had a great season, after her first ever race at Quest Kenmare she has followed up with 3 great results including 2 podium finishes…a good result in Killarney and SCAR and she will also be in the running.

A mighty performance by Philip Smith at Quest 12 a few weeks ago, where he finished second, didn’t appear to have a negative performance as he stormed to first place in Lough Derg with a fine race and is now sitting 2nd overall in the series. In what’s becoming a familiar line up it’s now Smith, Smith and Smyth and Niall, Philip and Bernard continue to deliver super results and continue to lead the way in the most competitive category in the series. 2 good results from Kieran Cosgrove and Des Kennedy had shaken things up a bit and there is a very strong, and getting stronger, chasing pack behind these lads. Anthony McGibney, Declan Donnellan and Colin McGibney are all in flying form and getting better every race, their day is fast approaching and they will no doubt be challenging for top honours soon enough.

So on to Quest Killarney on 12th October…it’s going to be a cracker, stay tuned for the Form Guide ?
Shout out to Niamh Garvey, Niall Smith, Philip Smith, Bernard Smyth, Anthony McGibney and Colin McGibney who have completes all 6 events to date ???