and had just began to drift off when I was nudged back to full consciousness by an official who moved me on. What sort of place has this country become when a man en route to some overseas marathons cannot grab some sleep behind a couple of airport cash machines? Hell in a handcart and all that. A couple of hours wandering around and the gates had opened allowing me to charge through and claim a proper padded bench to kip upon. Luxury!
My lack of sleep became apparent during the short flight; I remember seat-belting myself in to ensure I would be completely safe in the event of a crash, a brief glimpse of a cloudy shoreline through half-opened eyes and then the bump as we landed. One of the most trouble-free flights I've ever enjoyed.
After a few misunderstandings with the strongly Ulster accented car hire assistant during which I thought he asked how my journey had been but in reality I seemed to agree to fully comprehensive insurance, which I didn't want, however once that was sorted I set off for the border in my smart black Fiesta, fully prepared for the armed control point and intensive questioning regarding my intentions. Well, to be honest I had checked whether there was still anything like that in place and so was prepared for the unencumbered drive into the Republic.
My digs at the Tullyarvan Mill Hostel were basic but exactly what I required and at about £80 for five nights I was never going to complain about anything anyway. After a walk into Buncrana town I set off across the boggy interior of the peninsula to Redcastle for the race briefing and to collect the required accoutrements, namely race number, dibbing chip and daily instruction cards which were satisfyingly exhaustive. Harold, the genial and exceedingly helpful organiser held a brief talk covering the shuttle bus details and start times; 7am for those expecting to take over 6 hours, 8am for 5-6 hours and 9am for the speedy guys. It was explained that there were some stern hills and so to add half an hour the expected flat time.
I wasn't planning on doing anything more than jogging round and so got myself back to the Redcastle Hotel by 8am the following morning for the medium paced group. After catching up with a number of familiar faces from the UK circuit we queued up to have our dibber necklaces cleared then reset and of we trundled into the pleasant Irish morning. The first 10 miles took us along the north-western shore of Lough Foyle past craggy coastline interspersed with small deserted beaches to the Shrove lighthouse where the route took us left and onto the first real climb of the day before doubling back so that our route to the lighthouse was now to our left as we climbed to the midway point enjoying evermore expansive views of the Lough and Northern Ireland across the water.
Dominating the scene for the last few miles, initially to our left and then as we switched back, on our right was the rounded mass of The Warren, a mountain rising above the town of Greencastle, and as we passed the halfway point the route turned ominously and headed directly up its testing slopes. Three miles of effort later we descended to the north-eastern coast of Inishowen and to views even more spectacular than prior to the climb.
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| Kinnego Bay |
Finish for day one was in the town of Culdaff where we were served a hot meal in one of the pubs. After a leisurely discussion of the many sights of the day, the shuttle bus was boarded to take us back to Redcastle Hotel. A contented drive back across the beautifully bleak inner peninsula, a relaxed stroll into Buncrana for supplies during which I noted the peaty waters of Crana River resembled a flow of ale. It almost made me jump off the wagon!
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| Flowing ale |
Day two necessitated a drive back out to Culdaff for a short bus trip to the start, about three miles north of the town.
Today's route took us to the northernmost tip of the island of Ireland at Malin Head, famous for its weather station; the shipping forecast mantra 'Rockall, Malin, Hebrides', which has wormed its way into collective consciousness now has added vibrancy for me having run headlong into what seemed gale force rain lashing in from the wild Atlantic waters of sea area Malin . This was bleak, beautiful awe-inspiring stuff.
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| Gale warnings for sea areas Rockall, Malin, Hebrides |
Once the route turned back after a loop of the headland the going was much easier and I finished back in Culdaff in just under five hours feeling strong, although a delay in the dibbing system gave me a time a little over five hours, about 15 minutes faster than the previous day and again with a negative split. It was during the welcome warming post-run meal that a plan formulated; 15 minutes faster each day and all with a negative split? That sounded like a nice challenge to myself!
Day three started back in Culdaff and finished directly outside the hostel at which I was staying so the obvious thing to do was get the coach to the start and run back 'home'. This meant running with the faster people but also meant that I could pass the first half in the company of good friends Rosie and John which was a very nice change to the reasonably lonely first two days. However at halfway I had issues of negative splits and a 15 minutes to address so I pushed on a little quicker on my own. There was a potential thwarting of my plans ahead in the shape of the Mamore Pass. After a relatively flat first half, I was faced with maintaining a decent time over this forbidding mountain pass
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| Photos never seems to adequately convey steepness! |
The photo really does not do justice to the zig-zagging steepness of this climb, however, going straight down the other side was equally tough on the legs, but with time on my mind I went for it feeling slightly out of control. My thumping feet disturbed one of the ragged sheep grazing at the side of the road and he bolted along the road ahead of me, soon picking up a startled companion, then another, until it seemed as if I was pursuing a frightened mini-flock down the road. At the bottom of the hill a lone marshal was operating a water station and her eyes grew wide as the out-of-control flock thundered toward her. Her scream caused them to veer sharply right onto a small track where they gathered, eyeing me accusingly. I was starting to worry that I'd be chasing my woolly pacers all the way to the finish line. Having given up on my human sheepdog trial attempt I got my head down and put in some effort over some testing undulations, managing to record a speedy (for me) final full mile of 8:32 to achieve the negative split desired.
The final day, took us from Buncrana via Muff back to Redcastle and required a sub 4:30 to keep my goal on track. It also meant driving from the start to the finish, getting a bus back to the start, running to the finish and then later driving back again. The Muff marathon really did involve several hours of shuttling back and forth for me. As the flattest of the days I was able to cruise to halfway and then accelerated in the heat to finish in 4:26 and claim a fourth negative split. The medals for each day were able to be fixed together to form a single mega-medal which even incorporated an outline of the Inishowen Peninsula and approximate maps of the four routes. Genius!
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| The Mega-medal! |
13th August 2015 Kinnego Bay 5:14:46 #89
14th August 2015 Malin Head 5:00:30 #90
15th August 2015 Mamore Pass 4:46:13 #91
16th August 2015 Muff 4:26:19 #92
I'm tempted for 2017. It's still nigling there in the back of my mind.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fantastic few days in a stunning location. We are already booked in for 2016!
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