Stone Cross to Lug Relay

The Stone Cross to Lug relay is not an orienteering event but it is dominated by orienteers. I'm not sure if this is because orienteers are less worried about the navigational aspect of unmarked open-mountain running, because of the distance or because of the terrain. Whatever it is, those of us who ran the relay a couple of weekends ago really enjoyed our runs over the mountains. There were 3 Setanta teams, 1 Ajax team, 1 GEN team, 2 mixed teams (also containing Setanta members) and 2 individuals who were running the complete event.

It was a cool morning but not too bad. I considered wearing long sleeves but decided against it. Sure, if I was cold I had my compulsory jacket and hat in my bag. Niamh started us off at 8am and we jogged along in a friendly bunch but Mike Long reminded us all that we were in a race by running ahead and taking the lead. We started to string out a bit as we ran along the start of the Corrig race route and up the first ride. Mike headed right but Tony Doolin had advised me to continue straight up. Mike thought this looked too rough and boggy and that the next ride would be better but I stuck with Tony's advice and took the shortest route. It was a bit rough but as we came out onto open the mountain there was no sign of Mike. We headed towards where the peak of Sehan should be in the mist. Then I saw Mike coming from the right, but he had been passed out by Shane Enright who was first to the top with Donough O'Keefe and Mike reaching it about the same time. I wasn’t far behind. Shane headed off the wrong way so I shouted to let him know but he had lost his lead.

Mike led the way to Corrig followed by Shane, Donough and then me. Robbie and Paul were behind me but I knew they were probably going to take it easy as they had the complete 53km to run. The run up to Corrig was easy enough. I know it pretty well from the Wednesday night races.

Then it was a right turn to Seefingan. I couldn't see much of the hill but it is straight forward run, across the saddle where I could see the guys heading and then up the track to the summit. It was a bit wet and soft in the saddle. As I reached Mary Healy (who took an early start), she was stuck in a bog. I was preparing to stop and pull her out but she had managed to pull her way free just as I came along side. As I started up the track Seefingan the 2 guys passed me. They were stronger through the bog but I stuck with them up the hill. We reached the summit but were unsure in the mist. There were 2 signs one advising that we were entering the National Park and the other advising us to stay out of the rifle range! We decided that it was the summit. I had been sure all along that I would be able to see Kippure from here and wouldn’t have to navigate at all, but no, we couldn’t see far at all.

As I took out my map, Paul took a compass out of Robbie's bag and started to unscrew it. I had no idea what kind of compass he had; it looked like some kind of military compass. It wasn’t the time to try to learn how to use it… so I took out my own compass and took a bearing from the map to get the right general direction. I put the compass away again, kept out the map and headed off in the direction I indicated. Robbie and Paul started to run more to the right. I shouted to them that if they hit the forest they had gone too far right and I continued, a little unsurely, towards what I hoped was Kippure.I climbed in and out of the peat hags, it was slow going. I couldn't see anyone else. It was kind of eerie in the mist but calm and peaceful at the same time. The mist seemed to lift a little but I realised it was because I had dropped a little lower and had just crossed the saddle. I continued back up into the mist again. After a while I saw someone over to my left. Had I caught up with someone? No, I didn't think so. It wasn't Donough, Shane or Mike. It was Frank going along confidently on a compass bearing. I caught up with him. I was sure we should have been nearly at Kippure. I was sure we should have been able to see the mast. Then Frank said he could see the mast. I looked up and saw a thicker column of mist reaching up into the sky only 30 or 40 meters away. I couldn't believe we were so close and couldn't see or hear anything. It was too calm for the wind to be whistling through the cables. I heard the 2 guys catching up again and the 4 of us made our way across the top of Kippure to the road. I didn't want to miss it but I couldn't see anything that would guide me to where it was, so went slowly. Then I saw the barriers and took off again.

I hoped over the fence. Robbie and Paul were about to follow me but Frank said we would be mad to go that way, that the road would be much easier running. I shouted back that it is much more fun to run through the heather and to follow me. I looked back a wee bit later and was on my own again. The others had chosen the road. Tony had advised me to go straight down through the heather. His advice was right early on so I trusted him! I bounced down through the heather happy to be out of the mist and to be able to see again. I couldn't see Donough, Shane or Mike though. I must have lost a lot of time to them crossing from Seefingan to Kippure.

One more little climb and I was on the final stretch on the road. I couldn't see anyone behind me. I must have made the right decision. I jogged along the last couple of kilometres to the Sally Gap and handed over to Dave in 4th position. I was happy with that and happy that I made it in less than 2 hours. A little more confidence from Seefingan to Kippure and I would have been faster. Robbie and Paul arrived in about 3 minutes later with Frank a minute behind that. Thanks for your pre-race advice Tony!!

The rest of the race went well. Peter Kiernan took over from Mike Long in first place, Shane handed over to Philip about 30 seconds behind, Donough handed over to Jacqui another 3 minutes behind and I handed over to Dave about 4 minutes behind that.

At the Wicklow Gap we waited to see who would emerge first. We could see someone at the summit of Tonelagee. Was it Peter or Philip? Paul Mahon hadn't arrived yet so it was a quick call to let him know that there was a runner on the way and he may need to be ready to go soon. Paul made it before the runner arrived but it turned out to be Peter Kiernan who had had a great run. Philip was second and handed over to Paul, Dave was third handing over to Mick Mangan, as Jacqui had made a bit of a mistake. Kevin O'Riordan was 4th handing over to Niall McAlindan and Jacqui arrived in 5th and handed over to Colm Hill who was chomping at the bit with a goal of breaking 2 hours. Colin Walsh was just behind her in 6th.

It was now time to go to Fenton's at the Glen of Imaal to see how it would all pan out at the finish. Greg Byrne (Ajax) was the first to round the corner and arrive at the finish. Paul Mahon (Setanta) was second and Niall McAlindan was third.

Thanks to Niamh O'Ceallaigh for organising the event. More details can be found on IMRA.
Leg 1
team 1 Frank Brazil real time - 09:58:53 - time for leg - 01:58:53     (Setanta)
team 2 Mary Healy real time - 11:02:25 - time for leg - 03:02:25
team 3 Simon Coyne real time - 10:06:40 - time for leg - 02:06:40
team 4 Mike Long real time - 09:36:32 - time for leg - 01:36:32
team 5 Hazel Thompson real time - 09:55:58 - time for leg - 01:55:58     (Setanta)
team 6 Shane Enright real time - 09:37:28 - time for leg - 01:37:28     (Setanta)
team 7 Donough O:Keefe real time - 09:47:05 - time for leg - 01:47:05     (Setanta)
team 8 Robbie Williams real time - 09:58:30 - time for leg - 01:58:30
team 9 Paul Tierney real time - 09:58:30 - time for leg - 01:58:30

Leg 2
team 1 Colin Walsh real time - 12:49:10 - time for leg - 02:50:17     (Setanta)
team 2 Wayne Jenkins real time - 14:12:00 - time for leg - 03:09:35
team 3 Kevin O:Riordan real time - 12:57:06 - time for leg - 02:50:26     (Setanta)
team 4 Peter Kernan real time - 11:34:56 - time for leg - 01:58:24
team 5 Dave Weston real time - 12:23:50 - time for leg - 02:27:52     (Setanta)
team 6 Philip Brennan real time - 12:02:10 - time for leg - 02:24:42     (Setanta)
team 7 Jaqui Howard real time - 12:47:39 - time for leg - 03:00:34     (Setanta)
team 8 Robbie Williams real time - 13:27:40 - time for leg - 03:29:10
team 9 Paul Tierney real time - 13:10:20 - time for leg - 03:11:50

Leg 3
team 1 Eileen Walsh real time - 15:45:08 - time for leg - 02:55:58     (Setanta)
team 2 Joe Lalor real time - 17:01:30 - time for leg - 02:49:30
team 3 Niall McAlinden real time - 15:18:38 - time for leg - 02:21:32
team 4 Greg Byrne real time - 13:58:35 - time for leg - 02:23:39
team 5 Mick Mangan real time - 15:42:18 - time for leg - 03:18:28     (Setanta)
team 6 Paul Mahon real time - 14:12:18 - time for leg - 02:10:08     (Setanta)
team 7 Colm Hill real time - 14:50:55 - time for leg - 02:03:16
team 8 Robbie Williams real time - dnf - time for leg - dnf
team 9 Paul Tierney real time - 16:19:30 - time for leg - 03:09:10