All roads lead to Westport on the 10th November.

Year after year, this event is sold out months in advance and it’s not as if the amount of allowed race entrants is low. Almost 2,500 competitors jump at the opportunity to take part in the event.

The atmosphere is something special. The weather the days leading up to last years race can only be described as “uafasach ar fad” or miserable to any of our non-fluent Irish readership. Even the day of the race, the weather wasn’t great and deteriorated during the race, yet the local support from Westport’s finest was superb and the weather was soon forgotten about.

Westport is a super town. The nightlife is as good as you get anywhere in Ireland and when you have over 2,000 people in celebratory mode, it amplifies. The
awards banquet in the Castlecourt Hotel is great. Congratulations and libations are shared with willful abandon and celebrations go well into the early hours,
where dancing and cramping seem to go hand in hand.

For those of who are wondering about the course itself, I have broken it down for you below.

Hint: To view real-time elevation map, click play on map, then choose “Hills” from the Menu icon on the top right hand side.

Spirit/Supreme – Run 1

Supreme – Cycle 1

Supreme – Croagh Patrick

Route map for Croagh Patrick Leg

Supreme – Cycle 2

Spirit – Cycle 2

Spirit/Supreme – Final Run