The KerryWay Ultra Night 2024 - A great night out for the Longs

Third time lucky!

The first time I participated in this race was in September 2021. It has become a staple event in the calendar for my household as I crewed for my wife, Aisling, in 2022 (she finished 2nd) and we swapped roles in 2023 when I took on the full distance of almost 200 km. The race itself has gone from strength to strength, now with a stunning finish line in Killarney racecourse overlooking some of the most beautiful, mountainous scenery that Kerry has to offer.

Pace was good from the get-go. In fact, it was Aisling that pushed the pace initially much to my dismay as I watched my heart rate take a sharp rise - flashbacks of last year's race and working too hard too early in the humidity, which did not go well for me (more on this later). I had a feeling Aisling wanted to get out front and if I was being honest with myself, I was keen to get on the podium this year so I was happy to give a small push early on. That being said, I wasn’t being silly, I knew where my fitness was - and I knew where it was not! I was keeping a firm eye on my heart rate this year and honestly, it was difficult to keep it below 165bpm for those early hills coming out of Dromid, where I left Ais and pursued my own race. It was humid. There were pockets of hot air all over the course. Definitely some nice coolness every now and then, but my gear was absolutely clung to me from about 20 mins in and naturally remained that way for the whole night.

Made my first of too many course direction errors in one of the fields on the way over the ridge to Waterville. You think you know the course, but then it’s nighttime and you second guess yourself and obviously you pay for this with both time and energy. Frustration energy, the worst kind of wasted energy. I can laugh at it now, kind of. Fortunately, this early on in the race there were a few people around to steer me in the right direction. I got into Waterville feeling great, bang on my predicted time and ready to keep chipping away at my race plan. Full disclosure, I looked at last year's winning time - Martin Durco won in 11:45 - I looked at my time from 2021 when I finished fourth (ran most of that race with Martin actually, a shorter course of 87k) and I decided I would aim high and shoot for this. I figured if everything went right, I could be very close.

This year differed greatly for me, as I ran completely solo for over 90% of the entire 101k. In the past, I have had company, which can be of great value in a long distance, nighttime, trail run. Running on my own is how most of my training goes, so I am used to being inside my own head - it’s not a scary place and I know I am welcome there which helps. I can play songs over and over in my head, like an in-built playlist with a wide range from Rage Against the Machine to Beethoven on command. The chance to run solo for this distance also offered me the opportunity to find moments of ‘flow’ throughout the night. ‘Flow’ is a phenomenon coined by Mikhael Chicksentmihally which captures moments in life when even difficult tasks are done with an almost effortless nature of total immersion in the task at hand. It can be described as striking a perfect balance between the challenge in front of you and the skills you think you have. In the zone, is a phrase that comes to mind when describing ‘flow’. I have been studying the concept as part of a coaching project for both college and my workplace. It’s perhaps one of the most interesting concepts that we can experience while performing tasks but rarely do we actively seek to become familiar with it. Throughout this race, I was able to dip in and out of this feeling, much more so than ever before, and it felt great! Until it didn’t.

In the past, my ultra races have been dictated by the cooperation of my stomach. Quite a common feature in the ultra endurance world. It’s a crazy amount of sugar consumption when you think of it. My dentist is putting an extension on his house this year. Last year I ran the KWU full distance. My stomach was in disarray from about 20k into the race. The humidity slapped me in the face and my response was to keep pushing my desired pace, rather than pay heed to the environment. The result was lot’s of squatting in bushes, dehydration, calorie deficit, kidney damage and finally, urinating blood. Nobody’s plan. It wasn’t a total failure, I finished the race, that alone is a victory that most people can’t even comprehend and I need to remind myself of that every now and then. There was also great learning from that race. Pay attention to what’s going on with your body, moment by moment, adapting to internal demands as well as the external environment are key for success in ultra endurance events.

And so there it was, again, not long after refuelling at my first drop bag in Caherdaniel - something in the pit of my stomach that was telling me something. I had consumed about 4 soft flasks (500mls) of Maltodextrin with a touch of MiWadi at this point, along with Rice Krispy bars and salt pills. A regular occurrence on long training runs but this had a remarkably similar feeling to my 2021 race (previous blog post on this event) when I simply couldn’t stomach anymore Tailwind. Experience told me that I needed to go to plan B. Plan B was to ditch the Malto, switch to water and increase the consumption of gels and salt pills. The decision to switch immediately was pragmatic, but I was also very lucky that I came upon a tent with volunteers that had water right around the time I felt my stomach talking to me. From then on, at every bag drop, I filled my soft flasks with water and took more gels with me, leaving the premixed Maltodextrin/MiWadi and Rice Krispy bars behind. I can honestly, and finally say, that my stomach was not a major concern or hindrance for the vast majority of that raceday.

What was a hindrance, was my second guessing of directions on the course. Directions I had flagged, because they were issues before. That’s the worst part. Crossing the N70 just past Derryquin I managed to convince myself that the crossing wasn’t just straight across the road (which it was) and that it was a few hundred metres up the main road (it wasn’t). I remember running hard up that road and having that sinking feeling that I was after making a mistake. I turned around and ran past the crossing in the opposite direction for another few hundred metres, just for good measure and to make sure I had made a total balls of the whole situation. The only encouragement that I received from all of this extra work was that nobody caught up to me, it hadn’t cost me any places in the race - that I could see.

My times to each bag drop were starting to fade though. Not dramatically, but trending in the wrong direction. I was only 11 minutes behind my plan by the time I reached Templenoe. I was feeling great and genuinely felt I could make up that time quite easily with around 40k left to go and plenty left in the tank. I sought out the water tank and was directed by one of the many, very helpful volunteers to the source. He was chatting away and explaining to me that I was doing ‘very well’. Of course at this point in the race, with nobody in sight for a very long time, one does begin to wonder, how well am I doing? So I asked him exactly that. He said “well you are about 20 minutes behind the next person”. Okay very good, “and how many are ahead of him?”. “Oh I don’t know that, will I check?. “NAH”. So in my head, I could have been anywhere in the top 10 and I felt it was best not to know exactly where and continue with my plan and try to get to the next bag drop as fast as possible. The next person being 20 minutes ahead was also a good ‘carrot on a stick’ to keep me motivated to push harder and try to catch someone. In hindsight, I may have let these thoughts go to my head. I absolutely hammered the hill up to the golfcourse just after the Templenoe bag drop. I’ve never run it as hard, not even on a training run. A great sign of how much I had left in the tank, but a very poor energy rationing strategy.

Then I went and made a balls of the field in Templenoe. Everyone who has run the KWU in the dark, knows this section. It’s notorious for errors. I actually did a recce of it during the summer and made voice notes for myself of the whole section. I could play it out in my head. There is a black marker in the field that you need to take a hard right at, and follow the path over towards the lights in Kenmare. I was standing at it. All I needed to do was take the right turn. Instead I convinced myself it was the next black marker and went straight ahead which ended up with a left turn and doing a loop back on myself. I actually ran into a man coming head on towards me who informed me I was going the wrong way. This really knocked the wind out of my sails. I got into Kenmare, a bit deflated, and 27 minutes behind my planned time. These are the moments where you need to really dig deep and find strength and optimism. Not when you’re flying it and feeling great, but when you’ve made some errors, are very fatigued and still have a long way to go. So I filled up my flasks, took my last few gel pouches, changed my runners and socks and took off as the sun was rising over Kenmare.

The hills out of Kenmare were bigger than ever before. They had grown overnight. At this point some company would have been very welcome, but still nobody was in sight behind me and obviously with my calamity of errors, the lead in front had likely grown. I kept telling myself that everyone in front of me could be fading now too. They could also be making mistakes. They could be walking right now. I still had an estimated time for this section. I still had goals. I needed to muster up some positivity to keep myself in the game. I pushed on, with fresh socks and dry shoes and deep breaths. It was the loneliest part of the race but it was now bright and that was enough to keep the spirits high. The scenery in this part of the world is absolutely stunning, even when you are hanging on by a thread. I was absolutely delighted to reach Torc and get down to the flats of Muckross park - although this may well be the hardest part to actually ‘run’ as the tank is so empty by that stage. Entering the finish chute, I saw my first competitor since Caherdaniel, Jason Willams, who was already showered and changed at this point. I smiled and said “I never even saw you”, which is true, I never saw him or the winner Dealga McAree, not once, such was their pace - I was never catching these guys. I genuinely had no idea where I had finished when I crossed the line, I just knew that I had given this a very good rattle and despite a few errors, I was extremely proud of my performance overall. I was chatting to Eileen and the lads at the finish line, exhausted but ecstatic about completing another amazing race. Eileen handed me the third place award and we had a good laugh at my bewilderment upon receiving it. After finishing fourth in 2021, having a rough time during the full in 2023, this meant a lot to me.

Then I received the news from Paul Twomey, that Aisling was coming in as first female and also fourth overall. What a day out for the Longs. I barely had enough time to clean myself up before Aisling arrived at the finishers chute and she even managed a jump over the finish line. Aisling had a very different day (night) to mine where she was running with another competitor for the vast majority of the race. They had great chats and pulled each other through much of the journey. That’s what ultra endurance sport can be like. You can make bonds with people that create friendships. Or you can enter your own mind and get to know yourself better than you had ever thought possible. It’s a beautiful sport, with one of the best communities you could hope for surrounding it.

My introduction into the world of positive psychology and coaching psychology has really helped with my training, my racing and my life in general. If you are interested in how, feel free to contact me.

Next year I might give the Lite version a rattle just to have all 3 distances done down in Kerry. As always, it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination. Stay FITFORLONG.