STAGE 1: 13.5KM | RUN | MOSTLY TRAIL & SOME ROAD The start line is located at Lough Inagh Valley in Connemara. Run between the Maamturks and the 12 Bens in this stunning valley trail run that will bring you out in the Coillte forests at the back of Killary Adventure Centre. STAGE 2: 1KM | KAYAK [...]
The Reek is back! That's right Croagh Patrick is back after a 4 year hiatus! It was off and then it was on, then it was off but finally it's been confirmed, with huge thanks to all the wonderful work carried out by the Croagh Patrick stakeholders. Major renovations have/are been carried out on reducing [...]
STAGE 1: 13.5KM | RUN | MOSTLY TRAIL & SOME ROAD The start line is located at Lough Inagh Valley in Connemara. Run between the Maamturks and the 12 Bens in this stunning valley trail run that will bring you out in the Coillte forests at the back of Killary Adventure Centre. STAGE 2: 1KM | KAYAK [...]
Stone walls and the grass is green!!! We all have rituals of some shape or another. For me, it's car packed, Spotify on, Gaelforce West awaits, that can only mean one thing...the Saw Doctors and the "N17" will be the first song of choice as I leave home. Stupid I know, but it is what [...]
So what can we say about our next racer to go under the spotlight. Although relatively new to the sport, his racing record is about as roller coaster as you can possibly get. Wins, DNF's, DQ's, stories of unheralded selflessness. It's all in there. Ladies and Gents, we give you Luke McMullan... SPOTLIGHT TIME WHERE [...]
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 [...]
The conversation usually goes like this, being asked for the millionth time..... Everybody: “Oh you do triathlons?” Me: “No, I can’t swim....I do adventure races (cue puzzled looks)...running, cycling and kayaking, it’s off-road stuff, usually a mountain involved....” Everybody: “Oh like Gaelforce!!” Me: “Yes....they’re the ones”... So 2019 sees the welcome return of Gaelforce [...]
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 [...]
It was 6am. Dave Gowan & I sat on the transfer bus, waiting for it to fill up before we were to head off to the rendez-vous point. We were decked out in the brand new team kit but something wasn't right. I was having problems with my socks. When I looked down I was [...]
Fresh from her heroics at Gaelforce Dublin, we caught up with top ladies podium placer in the Expert route, Aine Mahony. She kindly agreed to go under the Spotlight. What is your name? Aine Mahony Where are you from? Cullahill, Co.Laois How old are you? 30 Occupation? Physiotherapist in the Mater University Hospital, Dublin What got you into Adventure [...]
FIRST THERE WAS GAELFORCE WEST AND IT WAS THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE. NOW THERE IS GAELFORCE WEST ULTRA. THERE IS A NEW ULTIMATE. MOUNTAIN RUNNING AND CYCLING 154KM Mountain running and cycling through the toughest routes in Connemara and Mayo over a distance of 154km, this is an endurance challenge that may break you and rebuild you [...]
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 [...]
Earlier this week I bumped into a jubilant podium placer in the Ladies Expert Race in Quest Killarney, Ann Horan. She had just come in third in the longest of the courses. Previous to that, we briefly met after Quest Achill where Ann placed fourth. She seemed in extra high spirits this time around and as [...]
The likelihood is that you have come across our next Competitor to go under the Spotlight. And the likelihood is that he will have had his camera out making the most of the awesome scenery. But don't mistake him for a photographer, this year he completed his 7th GaelForce West. He doesn't do things by [...]
This weeks Competitor Spotlight is about a man who has an awesome job. Part of this job is getting people in tip top shape for Adventure Racing. He is regularly seen bringing hordes of adventures to races. He is good at his job. He is not bad at racing either ;) I give you Bernard [...]
This weeks Competitor Spotlight is a little different than our usual spotlight. Paul Kelly, a relative newcomer to the Adventure Racing scene, took up running only 4 years and has come a long way since those first faithful steps. The work he is doing simply cannot go unnoticed. It's a subject that sadly is coming [...]
Last weekend, at Moxie, I took the plunge in the world of the expert distance races with the big hitters of adventure racing. Well it's safe to say I wont be jostling for podium positions there. This route was called the Moxie Pro (53km route) and it lived up to the billing... Moxie noun [...]
With days to go, the nerves are beginning to tingle and the planning has started. Bike checks, weather checks, water and carb loading...Check out this handy guide... Usually we would get the event organizers to do a quick preview but this time we got a past competitor and friend of Kayathlon.ie, Margaret Erwin if she could break the "sport" [...]
Alas the iconic Gaelforce West is almost upon us. For some, this is one of the first adventure races they have taken part in. Certainly one of the most demanding. A course that pulls no punches. Measured at an impressive 67km, which takes in, amongst other things, a scramble up Croagh Patrick, many consider this not a race [...]
