Emma Donlon- Female overall winner
Emma Donlon - The Extra Mile (www.theextramile.ie)
What a difference a year makes! Last year was my first year to try adventure racing and take part in Gaelforce West. By the time myself and my boyfriend Kevin Deery (who will I refer to from now on as Kev) decided to enter the race there were only spaces left in two waves - the elite wave or the walkers/joggers wave at 8.30. Not having done any adventure races at the time of entry we of course immediately opted to enter in the later wave.
One year on and how things have changed! Having got second the year before, there is no doubt what wave I’m going to join this year and am proud to be starting off with all the rest of the elite athletes. The part I’m not so delighted about though is the 5am start! Generally not able to sleep too well the night before a race anyway, I had resigned myself to getting little or no sleep before my alarm went off at 4am. I was very happy however when I woke just after 3am realising that I had slept quite soundly for the previous 4/5 hours. I rested for the last hour and was wide awake and ready to go by the time the alarm did sound. The B&B we were staying at (St. Anthony’s – couldn’t ask for a better place to stay or nicer people to look after you!) were very good about making ourselves at home in their kitchen and preparing some porridge and toast. On the way to the bus both Kev and I commented on how awake and fresh we felt for the time of day it was. This was short lived as after about 10 mins into the bus journey we both started feeling wrecked again! It was hard to picture on the journey to Glassilaun Beach in the pitch black that we would all be racing in a little over a hour’s time!
I was feeling quite nervous about the race as I was coming into it with an injury and the last 4 weeks of training hadn’t been what I planned. I broke two of my toes descending Snowdon in Wales four weeks previous and hadn’t done any running since on doctors orders as a result (with the exception of a run earlier that week to test the toes and see how they felt). Although the toes seemed to be healing well I was nervous about putting them through such a hard race when they still weren’t right, in particular the descent of Croagh Patrick. Another fear was I would go over on them again at some point during the runs as we were going to be continually on uneven ground. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed it would all work out.
Just before the start Kev and I went for a quick warm-up run. Kev was also coming into the race with an injury having hurt his back two weeks previous and despite being barely able to walk the previous weekend had decided to give the race a shot and hope the back held out. I was grateful having him by my side at the start, helping to calm any last minute nerves.
Before we know it the race briefing is over and we’re all lined up at the start line. A quick blast of the horn and we’re off. The sprint off the beach is something else! Elbows and feet flying everywhere, it was survival of the fittest and I was relieved to get onto the road in one piece! Knowing the pace was going to go hard for the first few kilometres I had resolved to not get caught up in all that and just run my own race. I would consider myself a stronger runner than cyclist (although I have been working a lot more on that this year and seen some vast improvements)so I wanted to try and get a lead if I could on the first run. I kept going at a steady pace and was happy coming onto the main road with my time. One we turned back off the road down towards the kayaks I started cramping and knew that unfortunately a toilet break was probably on the cards. Running down the last half a kilometre I was having the argument in my head whether I should stop at the portaloos very quickly and lose some precious time or whether I could keep going. By the time I reached the kayaks, my body had already decided for me, a stop at the portaloos it was!
When I exited I found Kev had just arrived into the transition area so it made deciding who to partner up for the kayaks an easy decision! We were a little slow in getting ourselves launched into the water as I had to explain to him where I had come from and why I wasn’t already out there which I did with some urgency, anxious not to lose any more time. We kayaked over without incident and arrived at the bog section of the run. Here is the last time I saw Kev as unfortunately his back had already started to play up and he was forced to drop out during the bike leg. I found the bog section particularly painful as I kept going over my toes and let out a yell or two along the way. I was very grateful to get back onto the road and happy to make it the bike transition area in one piece!
Once on the bike, I set off hard, knowing Mary Mulchrone won’t too be far behind and that she is a strong cyclist. It was nice to be on the bike and get a break from the running and take some of the pressure off the toes. I really enjoy the cycle on the Gaelforce route, love the scenery and the feeling of being out in the middle of nowhere and enjoy the speed you can get up on some of the sections. Last year I did the cycle on a hybrid, in fact I did all the races I entered last year on a hybrid, the only bike I had at the time. After a number of people advised me that I’d probably need to get myself a better bike, I bit the bullet at the start of the year and bought myself a racer and haven’t looked back since. That bike is now my pride and joy! One of the people I passed on the cycling section was Eamonn Hodge, someone I first met on the cycling section of the Achill Roar last year and who was one of the people who suggested upgrading my bike. I laughingly asked him what he thought of my new bike as I passed him by just before the big uphill section.
The only part of the cycle I really don’t like is the bog road before Croagh Patrick but having cycled it a couple times over the last two months, I didn’t find it as bad today. I passed Noel Brady near the start of the bog road running, having abandoned his bike a few minutes before after the chain broke. He had phoned home and had arranged to have another bike waiting for him at the base of Croagh Patrick so he could still finish the race. That man is an inspiration to us all!
As always when arriving at Croagh Patrick, the legs are in bits and scream out at me as I try and breathe some life into them and get them moving again. I very slowly jog up the bog section at the base of the mountain and then change my tactics and follow the line of guys in front of me taking a straight line to the summit through the heather. I have never gone this route before, always opting to follow the zig-zags but as everyone was forging straight ahead I felt foolish to be the only one turning right and following the longer path up. In hindsight if I was to do it again I would go the usual way I do up the path as I can run this, however the steeper ascent up through the heather forced me to just hike.
I always find the ascent of Croagh Patrick, although one of my strengths, very painful and I’m grateful when I finally reach the top. At the summit there is somebody there beside the dibber with a camera and they ask me if there if anything I want to say. Completely exhausted at this stage I manage to gasp out a no and promptly turn around and start running back down! The first part of the descent off the steep part of Croagh Patrick is the only part of the Gaelforce course that I truly hate – it scares me! I decide to follow the same path down as I did up as there is no one in front of me to follow and I have too little experience of going straight down to try it on my own. About halfway down the steep section I pass Mary Mulchrone looking very determined on her way up. I know Mary knows this mountain like the back of her hand and will no doubt descend in a straight line down and at speed. I decide, again due to lack to lack of experience on taking the more direct path, to descend via the zig-zags and try to do this as quickly as possible not wanting to lose any time here. Although I think I made a disaster of trying to descend the steep section at the top I look at my watch at the foot of the mountain and I’m happy to see my overall descent took just over 15 mins which was the time I was aiming for.
Now I’m back on the bike and on the home straight. I play it very safe crossing the Skelp (that nasty off-road section just after Croagh Patrick), opting to get off my bike a couple of times and run with it instead. I cycled all of this section last year but this year I decide to be more careful, preferring to lose some time here than risk a puncture and lose the whole race. I finally start to relax once I hit the main road back to Westport and push hard again to pick back up my speed. Hearing the crowds as I cycle into the Quays I finally start to acknowledge to myself that I’m going to do it, the dream is going to come true. The last 800m run, the legs are feeling tired and I’m grateful to see the finishing line come into sight with Kev at the end waiting to congratulate me on my win! What a day, what a race, I won’t forget this one for a while!