Ballyhoura Mountain Marathon report

This was a really enjoyable training run and was well worth the trip to Kilfinnane outdoor adventure centre where the organised walk was due to start. There was a very relaxed atmosphere in evidence with the walkers and runners mingling at the start. The day looked like it was going to get very warm so I decided to travel light with just a bottle and a small pouch for a few gels, hoping that I would be able to get water from one of the marshals somewhere along the route if I needed it. This was my last long run before my Wicklow Way attempt and I wanted to see if the gel belt would be ok as I want to travel light and only bring the bare minimum with me and pick up food and water along the way from Robbie and Jeff who have kindly offered to help me. I quickly settled in to a nice pace with Paul saltat the front of the group, with Robbie and John close behind. There was only a handful of people running the route and this served to make it feel even more like a training session as opposed to a race. The route wound it's way along the road out of kilfinnane until we hit the start of the trail through the first forested area. It basically followed this pattern for the rest of the morning with short road sections linking nice forest tracks and open mountain tracks. There was lots of ascent and descent to cope with so combined with the mix of terrain it worked perfectly as a last long run. 4 hours and 12 minutes after we set off, we arrived back at kilfinnane and signed in. The organisers had dinner laid on for all participants so we had a nice munch before we set off back for cork. A well run event that could work really well as a race if it was advertised as one