Mona Purcell - A middle of the road adventure racer

I noticed on our blogs all our race reports whilst brilliant and informative were all from elites. So I felt I had to ammend the situation and write my own race report.

I am a middle of the road competitior with an unfortunate competitive streak. This means on race day no matter how many times I brief myself just to relax and enjoy the day I go at it like there is a demon at my heels and fall over the finish line not in the best of conditions!

As a single working mother of a 3 year old, I am never going to get to this imaginary fitness level I strive for. I juggle quite a few things in life and training is just another ball in the air. However it is always there and no matter what the weather or what is going on in my life I will always try and get a minimum of 3 hours in a week.

Clearly this is not enough to be anywhere near competitive but its enough that when I pick a race I can up the training for a couple of months coming up to it and hopefully finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

I completed Gaelforce West in 2009. Unfortunately it was a reccie to take over organising the race and so that was the last time I could do it as it has now become the busiest working day of the year for me as I now watch all you guys fall over the finish line. I still do adventure races but I can only enter our competitors’ races but that is always fun for lots of reasons!

Gaelforce West Race Report from an average racer
I was up early after a very fitful night of sleep. Drinking half a bottle of merlot before bed probably wasn’t in the runners nutrition guidebook.

Living in Westport at the time I could not believe the buzz around the town at 6.30am, it opened my sleepy eyes very quickly and suddenly I was bounding on to the bus. The bus was filled with men all sitting with a space beside them. I was like a kid in a candy shop! Of course in my panic I picked the only married guy on the bus but he was great fun and the hour journey passed in what seemed like minutes.

The day was beautiful and Glassluin beach, always stunning was putting on a star performance. The sun was still only rising in the sky and the horizontal light gave an added ethereal beauty to the morning and indeed the competitors.

After a quick toilet stop it was time to line up with the other 250 competitors on my wave. The atmosphere was electric. My adrenalin was pumping and I could see everyone around me felt the same way.

The starter went and we were off!
I am always a slow starter and I try not to get alarmed as it seems as if the whole race passes me by. I am 41 and my body does not take kindly to go from standstill to sprint no matter how many stretches I do. So I tried to ignore everyone around me, keep the head down and pace myself. In 2009 the race still went over Salruck pass. With a very steep ascent thankfully it gave my a chance to overtake a lot of the fast starters which was a great boost.

I suppose around 1,000 competitors had already descended the other side and so it was like a massive 500m mudslide. I took it very slow and watched with increasing alarm as men and woman kept loosing their footing around me and flew down on their backsides. Amazingly, only pride seemed to be injured and I gratefully joined the famine trail on the other side in one piece.

Muscles finally warmed up I started to increase the pace and made use of my 15 years of running around Connemara bogs and made light of the uneven muddy, rocky surface. I was actually starting to enjoy myself, I even managed to enjoy the stunning scenery, relishing in the precarious position of the famine trail, perched 300 ft straight up from the sea.

Then we came around the last corner and I could see the Killary Adventure water site where I knew we were starting our Kayak phase. Easy, I was not tired and could see the end of the 14km run ahead.
Then something happened, I kept running on the road but it did not seem to get any closer, it was like a conveyer belt but going backwards. You would think that being from the area I would know exactly how far away it was but no I had completely misjudged it and my legs started to turn to led, the wind was pushing me backwards and I felt like it would never end. I found the biggest man I could see and unbeknownst to him I tucked in behind him and used him as a wind buffer.
I nearly crawled the last kilometre. Blisters had come up on both feet, I was exhausted and I was only close to finishing the very first section of a long day.

I got a great cheer when I arrived at the watersite (handy when you work with all the marshals) and I collapsed on the ground, completely delighted there was a timeout. Runners off, Compeed plaster on (no, myself nor Gaelforce are sponsored by Compeed but I have to say they are a modern medical masterpiece) and I craftily looked around for someone who had the look of a kayaker so I could then pop up and say I needed a partner, yes I am dreadfully competitive.

My judgement paid off and me, and Thomas from Carlow flew across the Killary in no time, and with the time out and the smooth kayaking I felt completely ready to go again.
I knew it was only about 3km to the bikes, again 1km over terrible boggy ground, which I loved and then around 2km on a road.

As with all adventure races I do, the fun is about whom you meet on the route. When you are just about to give up and it all seems too daunting it’s amazing what energy and support you will get from fellow competitors. On the way up from the harbour I met David who was doing the entire race with a headcam and camera so he could raise money for the heart foundation. He was also incredibly easy on the eye and I could have followed him anywhere!

I reached my bike in moderately good form and this is where I had strategically planned to re-hydrate. A lot of competitors had started the race with water in their camel backs but I was pretty sure I could manage the first run with no water and I knew I could drink at the water site. It paid off, I did not have the extra weight on my back and I was able to have a long drink at the bike transition, fill my camel back (a lot easier to take the extra weight cycling) and I also had 2 cartons of Ribeena strapped to my cross bar)

I am not a fan of gels or energy drinks. However it is ESSENTIAL in all races that you have worked out your energy intake for the duration. I am a little odd (in more ways then one) and I actually take a supply of “real food”. Homemade brown bread with loads of nuts and seed through it with butter and honey works well for me. More traditional “real food” would be bananas and fig rolls.

However there is endless discussions, articles, books etc on this subject. My own theory is to keep really well hydrated with water and liquid with calories (either energy drink or in my case Ribenna) and then if you are able to eat, something that you find very easy to digest. If you can stomach gels, then this is obviously the most practical solution, otherwise experiment during training sessions.
This of course all relates to how hard you want to push yourself. I have 2 friends who pottered around the course in 12 hours with a flask of tea and ham sandwiches and sat down to have little mini picnics! (Unfortunately for my friends there is a course cut of time on most races now)

So I did not let myself stop for longer than necessary at the bike transition, and headed off up the Delphi valley, next stop Croagh Patrick. Actually next stop near  the top of Drummin Hill, where the burn in my calves overtook my brains need to keep going. Thankfully I was not the only one to resort to pushing, the hill was soul destroying. We all muttered and grumbled to each other as we tried to keep the pace up whilst pushing our bikes to the top.
I caught up with my handsome photographer and tried not to pass him out but needs must and my competitive spirit takes no prisoners.

The cycle was the section I most dreaded. I blame my mother for making me cycle to school rain, hail or snow in a drafty gabardine, school skirt and knee socks. I have since had an unreasonable dislike for motion on two wheels; I will run or drive but nothing in between.

However cycling is of course a necessary evil for any adventure racer and so I duly did my training through gritted teeth and mind curdling boredom.
But as is often the way in life, the cycle section was my best part. I flew it. Passed out many competitors on my wave( we were all wearing coloured bracelets that year). Eventually though Ribeena was drunk, bananas eaten and Croagh Patrick still looked like a pointy hat on the horizon. I had just turned left off the N59 approx 8km to go and I just couldn't be bothered. I was fed up and wanted to finish. Then just when all seemed lost, a man flew past me with big brown bunny ears flapping in the wind. That was it; I was like Alice and her white rabbit. Follow that rabbit.

He was flying down the hills but stalling going up, so for the next 8 km we continually passed each other out until the base of the mountain loomed out of the now misty drizzle.
And that was it. Everyone says they have a nadir on race day - The wall on marathons etc. Croagh Patrick was mine. I lived in Westport at the time and had done nearly all my training on Croagh Patrick. I was able to go up and down from the Mayo mountain rescue base in just over an hour. I was actually looking forward to it the most on race day as it had become like my backyard I was so comfortable with it.

But as I found a spot for my bike and looked up to the summit through the mist, my heart sank like lead and I just slowly shook my head in disbelief. I was wrecked, ruined, exhausted (a bit teary even). I COULD NOT climb that mountain. Really are you insane, I need to go home to bed and rest my aching limbs. Thanks I'm off now.

However I am not a quitter. I do not say this as a boast, there are plenty of times in life when one should just walk away but of course this was not one of them.
I had lost my white/brown rabbit man so it was just up to me. I swallowed the rising panic and just told myself to put one foot after the other and so I started my climb. One of the most unfortunate parts of the ascent is been passed by the runners coming off the hill with a look of happiness and relief, mingled with pity for you. (I am not that good at reading emotions; this is just what I felt myself passing the poor cratures on my way down)

The climb went on forever. I was still trying to beat the 6 hour mark so I tried to keep the pace on but it was one of the hardest physical things I have ever had to do. My entire body and mind was screaming at me to stop. I had just given birth 9 months previous to that day (yes in hindsight give yourself a year off ladies) and it did not come close to this torture.

I can say with hand on my heart I have never been so glad to see a church. I cannot say I am a religious person but at that moment the skies were singing.
The moment did not last long and I felt the earth move a little under my feet, time to sit down and force some food and drink into me.

I had made good time up so I kept pushing myself. I gave myself less than 5 minutes and took off again down the slopes. I had plenty of practice coming down off the reek so suddenly it all seemed possible again, I tried not too look to smug as I jogged down passed the sorrowful creatures slogging up the hill.
I had not done a reccie on the final Scelp route to Westport as that involved extra cycling, which was always to be avoided. I had it in my head after I reached the summit of CP it was all down hill to the finish line. Eh no. Back into first gear going up impossible hills on the Scelp, so muddy that the back wheel was losing traction and I was on a road to nowhere.

Now I got into a rotten mood, which in retrospect was very helpful. WHO told me it was all down hill to Wesport. WHO had not mentioned the Scelp was like cycling over a riverbed, WHY did no one tell me how scary it is to cycling downhill over rocks and grass. It again seemed to go on forever and I was like a crazy lady cursing and mumbling to myself.

However, the anger propelled me along and with heart in my mouth on final descent (a word of wisdom, get someone to show you how to cycle down hill at speed), before I knew it, my heart was soaring and with a final burst of energy, I was whizzing along the smooth flat surface of the quay road into town. Dodging traffic with grace I pulled up in Westport House, dumped my bike and sprinted over the finish line to a great applause. My 9 month old daughter Kate was at the finish line to give her Mum a big hug, lots of happy tears and best of all 5 hours 54mins. Score!

There are only six days to go before the 2010 Gaelforce West Adventure Race, so if you’re one of the 3,000 hard souls who’s signed up for the 65km trial of endurance, chances are the butterflies have already started fluttering around your belly.

If you didn’t already know, the organisers recently announced a change to the first section of the race.

That running leg has now been extended by just under 2km and takes a slightly different route, so according to Derval Devaney who was the third woman past the finish line in last year’s race, it’s even more important now to pace yourself.

“It’s really important you don’t tear off at the beginning of the run even if you’re tempted to because so many other people are,” says the Galway woman.

“The distance on the first running leg has increased by 1.9 kilometres, so you’ve nearly run a half-marathon before you even get to the bike stage so you should make sure to pace yourself because it’s a long day.”

Devaney is an experienced triathlete who has recently started to make a name for herself in adventure racing, so when she offers advice you’d do well to prick up your ears.

All your hard training should be done by now, but according to Devaney there’s still plenty you can do in the days before the race and during the race itself to ensure you post the best time possible.

“The most important thing is that you make sure you’re well hydrated,” she says. “Take in plenty of fluids in the week coming up to the race and maybe even get up a little earlier than normal during the week so it isn’t such shock to the body when you have to do it the morning of the race.

“Your diet in the days before hand is important, but you should also think through what you’re going to be eating on the day.

“At this stage you should be practicing eating the gels if that’s what you intend to do on the day of the race to see if they agree with you.

“Last year I had a gel which didn’t agree with me at all. I didn’t get enough fluids in during the race either and I crashed twice. So you should really be practicing all those things before the event.

“Every hour during the race you should be getting your carbohydrates into you wether it’s a bar or some gel, so have a think before hand about the stages in the race when you might get some fuel on board.”


The quickest route up and down the Croagh Patrick leg of the race tends to cause the most debate, but considering Devaney lives in Westport and regularly trains on the reek she’s probably better qualified than anyone to offer advice.

“I always go up and down by the path,” she says. “That’s the route I’d done in training and one I was most comfortable with.

“I just think it’s very tough on the legs going straight up the steep side even though it’s more direct and I found it quicker going up and down the path.

“I came down the direct route a few weeks ago for a change and I turned over on my foot. If you’re going to come down that way you’d want to have very good core stability and wear a good pair of trail runners. Going off the path with ordinary runners is asking for trouble.”

“Of all the advice going though, I think the best I could give to all those who’ll be taking part in Gaelforce is to just enjoy yourself as much as possible. It’s a hugely enjoyable day out.
 

In the unlikely event you cross the line ahead of Peter O’Farrell at the Gaelforce West adventure race on August 21, chances are you’ll have won the thing.

The Dubliner has won three of the four Gaelforce races to date, and will most definitely be in the mix at the head of the field again in three weeks time.

No-one knows the course better than the Rathfarnham runner, so if you’re looking for a few tips have your pen and paper at the ready.

“I think the key to training for Gael Force is to do plenty of hill-running because you spend over 60% of your time on foot during the race,” says O’Farrell.

“In the first section of the race - the 12 kilometre trail run - you should only be going at 60-70% of your maximum. You’d nearly want to be worried that you’re going too slow.

“If you go too hard, too early, by the time you get to Croke Patrick things could be looking pretty bleak.

“The main thing really is to have a bike with plenty of easy gears and if you have plenty of easy gears for the running yourself you’ll be fine.

“If you’re doing it for the first time the main thing is to just enjoy it rather than worrying about doing it under a certain time.”


“Most of the hard work should be done by now. There’s no point panicking with three weeks to go - just make sure that you don’t get sick or injured.

“You could still have two or three hard spins on the bike which would definitely bring you on between now and the race. It’s probably too late to get any better at running, but two or three hard four hour sessions in the hills on your bike will definitely stand to you.

“Just make sure you don’t do the dog on it the days leading up to the race. On the day a lot of people cramp, so take something along the lines of a dioralyte sachet and just make sure you stay drinking throughout the race.

“You should have as big a breakfast that morning as you can get into yourself like a massive bowl of porridge or something else with plenty of fuel.”

If you’ve taken part in Gaelforce before then you’ll know the leg of the race that separates the wheat from the chaff is the ascent and descent of Croagh Patrick.

O’Farrell’s master of the reek has been the key to his three triumphs. Last year he made it up and down in a scarcely credible 37 minutes, which not surprisingly was quicker than anyone else.

“The winner of Gaelforce has never been in the lead at the bottom of Croagh Patrick,” says O’Farrell. “I’ve always come through from second, third or fourth at that point to win it.

“The winning and losing of the race is always the Croagh Patrick leg, so I make sure I still have something in the tank when I get there and then absolutely bury myself on the ascent and descent.

“Hill-running is a bit of a specialist sport, and the guys who are good at it still have an advantage over everyone else.

“There are more and more guys with running and triathlon backgrounds coming into adventure racing who will only get better and better. When they do that will be the end for us hill-runners, but for now we still have an advantage on that course.”
 

LAST YEAR'S RACE REPORT (2009) ..........by John Harrington from The Star.

Some Christians will tell you that a bit of suffering is good for the soul. If that’s the case, then everyone who took part in the Gaelforce West adventure race last weekend is going straight to heaven.

65 kilometres is the sort of journey most people would only consider doing with four wheels and a combustion engine under them, yet over 2,000 men and women signed up to take part in the biggest adventure race in the world.
And if they’re anything like me, I’m sure that quite a few of them were wondering why the hell they had at various points during the race.

Completing the journey from Glassilaun Beach in Galway to Westport in Mayo was obviously a massive physical undertaking, but it was just as psychologically taxing.
The weakest muscle in the human body is often the brain, and there was more soul-searching on the race-course last Saturday than a pilgrimage to nearby Knock.

For most of the competitors, this was the greatest challenge of their lives. And by the time they’d completed a course that snaked through some of the most spectacular scenery in this country they could boast of their greatest achievement.

Apparently one positive outcome of the economic recession is that more and more people are getting out into the countryside and running and cycling as an antidote to the gloom that’s hanging over the country.

It was certainly hard not to be impressed by the serried ranks of people in all shapes and sides in breathable waterproof gear that flooded Westport last weekend to prove that Adventure Racing is one of the fastest growing sports in the country.

Gaelforce West is only four years in existence, but it’s already phenomenon. Every year the number of competitors has doubled, and from 7am last Saturday morning they took of from Glassilaun beach in waves of 200 every half hour.
The sheer volume of competitors took an obvious toll on the course, but running, and occasionally falling, through the regular stretches of water-sodden bog made it feel like an even more visceral challenge.

The first section of race was a 12k run from Glassilaun beach to Killary Adventure Centre that went up hill and down dale and gave you very early notice that this could well be the longest day of your life.
When you already have a pain in your knee after just 3 kilometres, the thought that there are still 62 more to go isn’t a very comforting one.

No matter how bad you might feel though, there’s always someone else worse off. It can’t have been easy for example to be in the shoes of a certain Mr. Tim Ryan, who realised at the race-start line he’d lost his car keys.
So not only did he have to deal with the physical pain of over six hours of running, cycling, climbing and kayaking, he also had to wrestle with the mental anguish of knowing all the time he had no way of getting home to Tipperary.
Spare a thought too for those unfortunate souls who having run 16 kilometres and kayaked across Killary Fjord to reach the bicycle pick-up point, had to pull over after little over 200 yards down the road to fix a puncture.

It was hard to have too much sympathy though. Because everyone who raced last Saturday must have had at least one moment when they were sure no-one could be feeling as bad as them right now. More than likely on the Croagh Patrick climb.
The pain magically disappeared on the last cycling leg into Westport though, and at the finishing line men and women who had could barely put one leg ahead of the other going up Croagh Patrick were bounding along like Spring lambs.

The anguish of the previous 65 kilometres was magically washed from legs and beaming smiles were the order of the day as the scale of what had just been achieved sank in.

If you could have bottled the positivity in Westport that evening you’d have a sure-fire antidote for these recession blues.

Maybe those Christians know what they’re talking about after all.

John Harrington

We have made a change to the cycle route into Croagh Patrick. This is to improve the route making it a one-way system on this section, improving the competitors experience and also to make the route safer.

The new route will be along a bog road. This is an unsealed road and will have some potholes. You can still use your road bike for this section, but you may want to think about your tyre choice and pressure for this section.

To help you with this we have sought the advice of Padraig Marrey who cycles the route on a regular bases and is a well known cyclist through out Ireland.

Tyre choice:

The best type of tyres are Continental Gater Skins, with the second choice being Specialized Armadillos. A cheaper option is Rubines.

The key thing for most participants on racers is tyre pressure, it needs to be between 110-120psi, if they you are not sure whether your tyres will take this pressure check the side wall of the tyres. Competitors with Hybrids will get by without tire change but again tyre pressure is very important it needs to be around 70psi or more. Nearly all novices make the mistake of not pumping their tires hard enough.


We may have another small route change for the running section at the start of the race. We are just waiting for the Galway County Council to confirm with us, and as soon as we know we will let you know.

To view on a map where this route change is visit the race website here

Well the snow has melted and the sun is out, time to get training. It is always hard to push yourself out the door but it is always worth it, even though I know this at the beginning it does not make it any easier! I have a 6 month old Husky/Lab x called Herbie who is my motivation at the moment. If he doesn’t get out of the office for exercise he drives the Gaelforce office mad!
I think for me a little exercise often is going to work. I hope the weather holds for the weekend so I can get out on my bike, unfortunately Herbie can't come, his little legs aren't up to it yet.
Get out there everyone while we have the weather!

Ciara