The Kerryway Ultra Nite - A nighttime trail run to remember

87 Kilometres running through rugged Irish countryside

The Kerryway Ultra Nite Fri 3rd September 2021 - a night to remember.

I wanted to get some thoughts and feelings down on paper as soon as possible after the race. My initial idea was to record some voicenotes right at the finish to catch those emotions while they were still raw. Here we are almost a week later and I’m sorry I didn’t but I’ll dig deep and try to remember.

Training and preparation for this race was pretty much on point. Looking back, it’s easy to say ‘‘I could have done more’’, but I couldn’t fault much in the buildup to this race. I was ready both physically and mentally. There was a level of uncertainty about this event which would not become apparent until it happened. I had never run through the night before. All other aspects have been tried and tested - distance, terrain, race route, nutrition (more on this later), gear selection and headlamps. Not my first rodeo, but running through the night would be interesting and particularly between the hours of 02:00 - 04:00 when deep sleep is supposed to be happening.

I checked in with my partner Aisling at Randles garage Friday evening in Killarney where we were met by the lovely Eileen (race organiser) and had our standard gear check. Eileen organised a bus for the small crew of athletes (maybe 20 or so) to get to our starting point in Waterville. The bus was mainly silent as nerves were probably starting to settle in for some competitors. We met the other 55 or so athletes in Waterville and had our timing chips attached securely. Superb organisation from start to finish for the entire event it must be said. I got to meet some of my clients competing in the race (before and after) which was a big part of the weekend for me. After all, these races are now a huge social event as well as sporting events, which we have been devoid of for 18+ months!

The start. So, my game plan was to run everything that was ‘runnable’ , power hike the uphills and run as many downhills as my quads could handle. Maintaining a rate of perceived exertion low enough that I could keep that effort going for about 11 hours but also high enough to finish in about 11 hours was the task I had to stay sharp for. When we started, I stayed with Aisling for a few minutes to make sure her knee was okay (story for another day) but once she gave me the nod I decided that while we were on a relatively flat section that I would give a small nudge and not lose sight of the lead pack. Ultimately this proved to be a good idea , but trying to stay with the lead pack through the uphill battle of Coomakista cost me some very burny calves within the first 10 kilometres. I feared I had cooked the lower legs a bit early on but as soon as we were back on flat the pain subsided as did any fear of muscle fatigue.

I barreled through Caherdaniel as there was nothing there for me in that town except a good feeling that I was pacing well and not far back from the lead group. Without a crew, I had ’bag drops’ (it is like it sounds) at different sections along the course. However, my decision was to pack enough food and fluid into my backpack to get me all the way to Templenoe (about 50k mark) without stopping. This was the major downfall of the preparation because if what you have on you is not working for you, you’re shit out of luck. Needless to say, what I had did not work for me. I can handle quite a bit of muscle fatigue and push through it, but when my stomach is bad, everything falls apart. This was not the typical stomach issues where a quick ‘pit stop’ would be enough to sort everything out. The best way I can describe how I felt would be like if you woke up on a boat, hungover, out at sea. The tailwind nutrition I had as my main source of fluid was the major issue. Usually my friend, it became my enemy and I had to discard it eventually. The small amount of water I had (1 litre) was gone by Sneem so I had 20k ish left to go before any new supplies were coming my way. It’s hard to say why the stomach acted up the way that it did but my thoughts are that it was a combination of the humidity and the fact that it was way past my bedtime. Then, at Blackwater Bridge, a man in a car appeared out of nowhere with encouragement and bottles of water. Saved. I really needed it and it made all the difference to have it there and then (not far from Templenoe at this point). So I filled up on some water and started chatting to Martin.

Martin. I met Martin coming out of Sneem and we exchanged small pleasantries (as you do in Ultra racing) but I continued on my quest to get closer to the group I imagined ahead of me. I noticed Martin kept pace behind me, quietly, but was staying close, which was very welcome as I was alone for most of the race to this point. Then, about 3.5hrs in my headlamp failed. I couldn’t believe it, brand new, fully charged, completely zapped. Martin waited for me, I used his light to get my spare out of my backpack and we were away again. This time we started chatting some more, but also put the head down and ran hard when it was required of us. We had a similar game plan and it was decided by Martin that we would run together. I was very happy with this arrangement. We need other humans sometimes to help with difficult situations and there are many of those through the course of an ultra. I can honestly say that running with Martin cut some considerable time off my run and I hope I did the same for him.

Once I hit Templenoe I had more lifelines in the form of a banana, a rice krispie bar and a can of coke. My thoughts had been narrowed on that can of coke for hours at this point. I wouldn’t drink a glass of the stuff from one end of the year to the next but on ultra runs there is nothing I crave more. The sugar is what my brain is craving at this point but it’s also a caffeine hit that is badly needed with the most difficult portion of the race right in front of me. I smashed the can in two gulps, ditched any rubbish I had with the help of volunteer marshalls and made my way straight up the hill to the golf course in Templenoe. Power hiking is a skill, I’m getting better at it and I use the time to eat while moving slower. Banana smashed, stomach well on the mend but not ready for the rice krispie bar, fresh water supply, salt and electrolyte tablets, I was truly back in business now. We started running harder on all flatter sections, passing some bodies as we gained momentum. Then came the tricky, boggy, grassy field section where almost everyone I spoke to got lost temporarily. I had trained on this section on a much rougher, wet day so by comparison it was easier to run but much more difficult to navigate in the dark. At this point you could see the lights of Kenmare town so you never felt truly lost, but we were clearly not on the trail anymore. We were being followed by a few lads so we had to voice our concern to them that we were leading them down the wrong path. I scrolled through my Garmin’s screens and found the route map I was following. We were off but only marginally and soon enough we were all hammering quads rolling down the well beaten track out of the fields and into Kenmare.

Kenmare. Just shy of 8 hours running done. I got a great tip from a client in my clinic a few weeks before the race to change out my trail runners for my road runners at Kenmare. He was bang on. The extra springiness provided by my road runners gave a new lease of life to my legs for the final push. I changed my socks and runners as fast as possible as I knew Martin wanted to wait for me so we could run the last section together and I didn’t want to hold him up. About 5 of us had rolled into Kenmare together (the lost crew from earlier). As we were getting our last drop bag of water and food, one of the racers asked a marshal whereabouts we were on the ranking list for the night race. He had a look and said ‘’ There’s only two lads ahead of you’’ . We made some light banter about the situation that there was a podium spot left for a sprint finish. It got me thinking though. My goal for this race was sub 11 hours and I felt if everything went right then this was achievable. Well it didn’t go exactly as planned but here we were with that goal in sight but also the possibility of a podium spot as the icing on the cake! We all took off up the hill (big bloody hill) out of Kenmare with the last of the food and water. I had gels as a backup in my Kenmare drop bag and this was exactly what I needed as solid food was still not happening. To this point I had only consumed 2 bananas , 2 cans of coke, 1 Ellas kitchen smoothie pack (the purple one), 4 salt pills and lots of water after having ditched my original nutrition. I felt great coming out of Kenmare and was happy the 2 gels and water would see me through. Martin pushed the pace, hard. He was on a mission, I was merely a passenger at this point, once we crested the third peak of the climbs out of Kenmare he was gone. We had left the other guys in the distance at this point but Martin was ploughing the road ahead at a pace I could barely manage. His headlight was getting further and further away and I thought to myself, he deserves the third spot, he pulled me through the day. Now I was alone again with my thoughts and it boiled down to one simple thing. Would I push myself hard, right to the end. Back in June, I competed in a 12 hr run in Killorglin and had a situation presented to myself at the end of the day. I had the time left to complete two more loops but only if I pushed myself hard. Or I could coast the last lap and be done with the day. I chose the latter and it weighed on me afterwards. I promised myself that if that situation presented itself again I would have the mettle to push forward, to dig even deeper and drive on. So here I was again, I could have coasted to my sub 11 goal, I wasn’t getting third at this point, the legs are screaming to slow down but the voice in my head was having none of it.

Maximum effort. It’s amazing what the mind can do. I was soon at paces faster than any kilometre previously clocked. As I made my way into the valley between the mountains you could see the sun was starting it’s rise. You get some views in these events that are so stunning they can take the pain away (temporarily). I took my turn back up into the final climb before the old Kenmare road and caught back up to Martin. I think he was cooked after the blistering (literally) pace he clocked up over the last big stretch. I pushed on hoping he would use my pace to stick with me but after I came down the rocky mountainside he was only beginning his descent. I shouted up to him, asking if he was okay, he shouted back ‘GO, GO, KEEP GOING’ so I narrowed my focus and made that final push for Torc waterfall. Legs are screaming at this point to stop running and up to now I would have run to an uphill and got into my power hike, but there were very few hills left. It’s amazing to think it but the hills are a break from running and you almost look forward to a good hill. With very few hills left, the last 10k of this course became very runnable and thus very hard on the sore legs. Looking back over the data, I still managed some of the best paces of the day over this stretch and soon enough I was back in the park and looking at Muckross House. There wasn’t another soul around me except for a few early joggers and bikers coming against me. I had a few looks behind just for fear I was being hunted down for the coveted third spot but I was safe. Back on the Muckross Road with less than 2k to go I was still gritting my teeth with pain to maintain pace and finish strong but I did have a smile underneath as I knew it would soon all be over!

I crossed the ‘line’ (the entrance to Randles garage) and rested my hands on my weary legs as the volunteer took my GPS tracker off my bag. Eileen came over to say well done and I thanked her for another great race but my mind was already wondering where my partner Aisling was at this point. Eileen dutifully found her for me on the laptop and she was on the old Kenmare road which for me meant she was okay and I could relax. It was only at this point in time did I finally realise that I had not come third, I was in fact fourth and by a large gap of 20 minutes. There was a blip in the GPS which means sometimes a runner will not appear if he/she is out of range. So there had been three guys ahead of us all coming out of Kenmare the whole time. As much as it would have been nice to get the third spot, that was not the goal for the day nor was it the motivation to keep running for 95% of the race. I can honestly say, I am proud of my performance. My goals were achieved and surpassed. Mission accomplished.

I still got to revel in Aisling’s third place female finish on top of my own performance making for a great weekend in the Long household. The Kerryway Ultra Nite was a night to remember. We will both be back to do it again, and one day will step up to do the full event. I thought about those guys and girls while I was out there and only one thought resonated….. HEROES!!