"Gaelforce West 2018" by guest author Ann Horan

Guest Author, Ann Horan, continues her Adventure Racing Season in Mayo, for Gaelforce West 2018. How did she fare?

Operation Moonshot

Gaelforce West has been around a long time. When people ask "What kind of racing do you do?" rather than getting into a long, complicated explanation I usually just reply with "Have you heard of Gaelforce West?" Most people have. The beauty of the event is that all competitors do the exact same route and this route doesn’t change year on year. I did Gaelforce West in 2017 and finished 5th lady. I got to the finish line absolutely buzzing. I wasn’t sure why I was so happy as my time of 5:01 wasn’t anything to write home about. I think I’d made quite a few rookie errors, learned a lot and was absolutely sure that I’d be returning the following year to dip under the 5 hours and knock a serious chunk off my time.

My first time doing Gaelforce West I didn’t really have any goals other than the usual "Go as hard as you can and just enjoy it." This year was different. I had two goals. The first was to knock at least 10 minutes off my previous year’s time. I had to look at the start list to set my second goal. The news broke on Thursday on the Dublin multi-sport WhatsApp group that the start list had been released. I clicked on the link supplied by Greg Dillon and scanned Wave 1 for female names. Looking at the list I could see that five of last year’s top six had returned to do battle. I often find myself racing for second or third place behind the likes of Moire O'Sullivan or Laura O'Driscoll, but today I shot a text to Luke McMullen saying "There’s nobody I'm afraid of on that list. I think if I race well and all goes to plan I'm good enough to win this." Luke replied back saying that he was in much better form than he'd been in for Quest Wales and that he'd also be travelling down to Westport to win the race. No pressure!

I was giving Barry Cronin a lift as his wife, Clara, and their four month old were gone to Kerry to visit friends for the weekend and he was car less. On Friday evening I picked him up in Rathfarnham, managed to squeeze two bikes into my Toyota Corolla (one in the back, one in the boot) and then we hit the road West. After a quick registration we joined the rest of the Dublin multi-sport crew in an Italian restaurant. Then it was back to the B&B for an early night. I was sharing a room with Orwell clubmate Brianne Mulvihill. who I'd convinced to come down. Brianne is a strong triathlete but this was her first introduction to adventure racing. I knew we'd be neck and neck all the way round. We'd be of similar ability on the bike, she would run faster over the tarmac road sections and I'd make up ground on the rough stuff.

Out of the Frying Pan

Every time I have to set my alarm for "ridiculous o'clock" I vow that this is the last time I’m getting up in the middle of the night to do a race. My alarm jolted me awake at 4.45am. I'd everything laid out and ready to go so preparations were quick and efficient. After a km downhill walk to Westport town centre we were on the bus for 6am. It's a long enough journey out to the start line so I got chatting to the lad beside me. He was a primary teacher too so we'd something in common. I couldn't help noticing that he blessed himself at least four times at various stages of the journey. I wondered if this was something I needed to add to my pre-race rituals. We got off the bus, warmed up on the run down and got a lovely group photo under the start line gantry.

Into the Fire

The horn blew and we were off. I remembered from the previous year that the toughest part of the whole race for me had been the initial long 14km road run. This year I felt the same but the sun that was beating down was adding to my discomfort. My ultra running friend Gavin Byrne had kindly given me a loan of a squishy flask bottle, so at least I'd had the sense to bring water in my back pocket this time round. I started up the front of the field but a few girls passed me on the run. When Brianne passed me I had to restrain myself from accelerating to match her pace. I let her go. It was going to be a long day.

I got to the kayak section in 5th place and was given a single kayak. I've practised kayaking a lot since last year but unfortunately haven't really seen the fruits of my labour. I enjoy kayaking but haven't quite worked out why I'm not getting faster. There was no back support on the kayak and my lower back ached for the entire crossing. I got passed by two doubles. I finished the kayak and climbed up the bank to start the 2km boggy section. My head wanted to use my mountain running skills to glide gracefully over the bog but my legs felt like jelly and refused to comply. I started off walking and used the opportunity to eat some jelly babies from my back pocket. Eventually I got going again, first a shuffle and then a slow run.

The Hunted

I was relieved to get to my bike and looked forward to catching some of the girls who had passed me earlier. I caught up with a Mallow competitor and we worked well together taking turns on the front. Together we caught up with Brianne. I said "Let's work together Brianne" but she said she had bad cramps. When we got to a steep hill Brianne passed by and shot up the hill. I cursed Isaac Newton but let her go and hoped it wouldn't be the last time I'd see her before the finish. I remembered the previous year I'd lost concentration on this bike section and lost time by taking it too easy. This year I worked harder whilst trying to block out the cramping pains that had started in both my adductors. By the time we got on to the rough bog road I'd caught up with Brianne again. She took a slight lead on the hill before Croagh Patrick which meant she was leaving transition as I was entering. This time I was careful to remember exactly where I left my bike. Last year when I came down from Croagh Patrick I lost a huge chunk of time running around transition in a complete panic shouting "I can't find my bike. It's white and wine. It's a Giant!" to anyone that would listen.

I felt good heading for Croagh Patrick and could see Brianne up ahead. I soon realised that I wasn’t making ground on her and she seemed to be pulling away gradually. I just needed to keep her in sight. Keiron Kelly and Luke McMullen passed by on their descent. Luke didn’t look well. His face looked as white as a sheet. I worried about him and really hoped he would make it home safely. Peter O'Farrell was next to pass. He shouted "It's very close Ann. The leader is only three minutes ahead." Barry Cronin passed then and shouted something like "focus on Brianne."

Becomes the Hunter

I tried my best but the heat was bothering me and the many walkers blocking the pathway were making me feel irritable. When I got closer to the summit I started to recognise many of the descending faces. Close to the summit I was surprised to see Elizabeth Wheeler so close to me starting her descent with Brianne on her tail. I got to the top and dibbed in. Now was the time to play my trump card. I took off down Croagh Patrick at speed and silently hoped the huge amount of time I'd spent in the mountains over the past year at the expense of any road or speed sessions would finally pay off. I passed Brianne quickly and set about creating a huge time gap.

Elizabeth was still nowhere in sight when I got back to my bike. I knew I was a lot stronger on the bike as I’d made 7/8 minutes on her on the first bike leg. I could smell victory and knew if I rode hard I’d have a very good chance of winning Gaelforce West.

Falls Prey

I had been extremely cautious last year and had walked the bike a lot. However this year to win the race I knew I’d have to put my fears aside and only dismount when absolutely necessary over the rough sections. I felt good and was about 7km from the finish. I was riding down a section of loosely packed small rocks. I’m not sure exactly what happened next. I must have been uncomfortable with the speed I was picking up, pressed the front brake by accident and maybe hit a rock simultaneously. It happened very quickly. My cheek hit the ground hard. There was blood and my face was stinging with pain. Time to worry about that later. I grabbed my bike to continue the chase. I picked up the handlebars and the wheel came flying off. My bike was now in two pieces. Half the front fork was still attached to my front wheel and the other to my bike.

Harsh reality hits. I’m not going to win Gaelforce West. I’ll probably be left with a permanent facial scar and how much is my bike going to cost to fix? A few men pass me by. They are kind and stop to ask me if they can help. I tell them that there’s absolutely nothing they can do as I contemplate my next move. I slowly start to walk to the finish line with a part of my bike in each hand. More men stop to offer help. My roommate for the weekend, Brianne passes by. She asks if I'm ok. I say "No. Look at my face!". She interprets this to mean that I've punctured and am feeling sad. She doesn't look at my face. Instead she keeps her eyes firmly fixated on the rough ground in front of her whilst tightly gripping the handlebars and soldiers on to take her second place podium spot. More men stop as I keep repeating "Just keep going. There's nothing you can do. Don't ruin your own race." A man from "Go Tri Adventure" stops and insistently says "Seriously is there ANYTHING at all I can do to help you. I'm only doing this for fun." This amuses me as I question my own sanity. I realise that's exactly why I do these races too. For fun. Where did it all go wrong?

I get to the bottom of the road and the marshals tell me I need to be seen by First-Aid. I know I'm being stubborn and unreasonable but I beg them to take my bike and let me run the last 6km to the finish. They give up arguing with me and I start running in the direction of Westport. As I'm running along the third place female, Go Tri Adventure’s Keira Webb stops her bike and tries to help me. I tell her that she's coming 3rd and to keep going. She eventually leaves. I start to walk and then a car comes along. Two girls ask me if I'm ok and offer me a lift. I gratefully accept having decided I'd rather a DNF than a mediocre time that would be worse than my previous years.

Alcohol... in Wipe and Pint Formats

When I get back to the finish line my first priority is to get a print out of my times to the bottom of Croagh Patrick. I need to know that I've improved. I have to salvage something from the day. All the Dublin gang are sitting on the grass looking very happy. They've all finished in the top 40 and are delighted. Luke won the race after a close battle in the final two kilometres. He is delighted but his attention is focused on my bleeding face as I relay my war story. I can feel my face swelling so Barry Cronin brings me over to the ambulance.

I've met Barry at the finish line after winning races and I've met him after lady luck has not been on his side. He expresses a similar level of emotion under both circumstances. He doesn't get excited. Today he informs me that he's had two punctures and finished 8th. Barry is happy enough to hang out at the "pity party" in the ambulance. The lady attending to my injuries reassures me that my cuts are superficial and will heal quickly. She tells me I'll have a black eye and gives me an ice pack for my face. She tells Barry that if I start coming out with anything strange or seem confused I'm to go straight to A&E. On an entirely unrelated topic I ask her if I can go drinking later. She says "You can but don't do the dog on it."

Fast Forward to Madden's bar 10 hours later, the prize giving is done and dusted and Dublin Multi-sport are about to leave for a late night bar. I've a full drink in my hand. Barry says "Come on we're all going. Knock that back quickly." I remind him about the ambulance and the dog. He looks confused.

I'm still not sure if I was very lucky or very unlucky on Saturday. If I got to turn back the clock and do it all again would I have done anything much differently? Probably not. Sometimes you get a choice you can settle for second place or take a gamble and go for broke.

2017 Splits Versus 2018

Year	14k Run	1km Kayak	4km Run	32km Cycle	C.P (up) Shoulder	C.P(up) Top	C.P (d) Shoulder	C.P (d) Base
2017	1:16:45	09:32  2 per	25:07	1:33:08	20:40	17:27	10:34	11:13
2018	1:12:06	11:18  single	24:24	1:25:32	19:17	18:07	09:28	10:04
Split	-04:39	+1:46	-0:33	-7:36	-1:23	+0:40	-1:06	-1:09

As can be seen from the above table all my times have improved apart from the kayak (It was a double last year as opposed to a single this year. Singles are slower) and the top part of Croagh Patrick (where Ciara Brady caught up with me in 2017) I was on course to knock nearly 20 minutes off my time from last year.

All my limbs are intact, I've a winter bike and I'll be back training this week. Roll on the Moxie in two weeks!

Read more race reports by guest author Ann Horan.

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"Quest Wales 2018" by guest author Ann Horan

Guest Author, Ann Horan, reports back on her successful cross-channel adventure race, Quest Wales.

Arrival

Anyone who has visited the rural village of Betws-y-Coed, nestled at the edge of the Snowdonian National park, raves about its beauty. I knew Quest Wales was going to be a very special event ever since I’d pencilled it into my diary back in January. Located just one hour from Holyhead, my Orwell clubmate, Luke McMullen offered to drive us both across on the ferry. Luke takes a strategic, calculated approach to his training and racing so I knew the logistics of the trip were in safe hands. Rosy Temple decided to jump on board in March so we had a fully packed car as we made our way to the ferry on the Friday before the race.

After a few dodgy turns in the O’Connell St. area, we made it to the ferry with 15 minutes to spare. We were just about to purchase some overpriced hot beverages from the restaurant when my phone rang. It was Barry Cronin on the other end and I could hear the loud wails of a discontented baby in the background. Barry calmly explained that the East link toll bridge had been up and they were waiting at the wrong end. Barry is one of the calmest individuals I have ever met. If I were ever trapped in a burning building or in a similar crisis and could have one companion I would choose Barry. Barry was travelling to the ferry with Greg Dillon and his brother John and all three of them had now officially missed the boat. They would have to wait until 9pm to get the next one. The ferry crossing was fairly uneventful after the initial drama and we arrived in Holyhead on schedule.

We set off in search of our accommodation and as we drove closer to the village of Betws-y-Coed we looked out the car window in awe at the beauty of the rugged, sparsely populated, Snowdonian landscape. We dropped Rosy off at her plush, 5 star hostel, located 5 miles from the village and continued on to our own B&B. We were greeted by our host who was not at all keen on us bringing our bikes indoors. The prospect of leaving our precious steeds outdoors for the whole night, at the mercy of the elements, was incomprehensible. After much pleading and eyelash fluttering (Luke’s lashes of course) the host agreed to store two clean bikes in his cellar.

Race Day

People approach races in different ways. I start to feel nervous and excited from as early as a week in advance of a big race. This drives me to leave no stone unturned in pre-race preparation but by the time race morning arrives I have entered what one of my sisters describes as the ‘verbal diarrhoea’ stage. This involves incessant chatter to any poor individual who has the misfortune of being in my company. Luke is ordinarily funny and good humoured but on race morning goes into silent, intense, focused mode. This was a serious clash of pre- race personalities so I tried to stay out of his way for the most part as we got set to leave the B&B and roll down to the start line.

The Quest registration tent and bike-racking area were set up in the village green, a perfect location for the carnival atmosphere that lay in-store. The sun was out unexpectedly and I had to shed my base layer to account for this. Quest Wales starts off with a 6km run up a tough steep mountain trail towards Linc Parc lake. I hadn’t bothered to warm up and was surprised at the speed at which the female field took off. I calculated that I was in 6th place as I power hiked up the steep incline. In a lot of ways the first stage of these adventure races can be the hardest as competitors jostle for positions trying to put their stamp on the race. As we finished the first running stage, a quick and efficient transition allowed me to overtake two females. I jumped on my bike and was lucky enough to almost immediately find the wheel of a man wearing cycling shoes. I stuck to his wheel like glue for the first 4km out the road until the road kicked upwards. I could see Jill Horan up ahead. I was making ground on her. She dismounted her bike as the gradient got too much. I continued on a bit further but eventually chickened out too and dismounted. On hindsight I reckon I could probably have made it up without dismounting. As the surface was good and I managed to cycle all the remaining steep sections. I was in second place very briefly before another female whom I didn’t recognise powered past me on the descent. This girl was an experienced cyclist evidently as her bike handling on the rough terrain was excellent.

Coming into the kayak section I was in 3rd place and was relieved to be given a single kayak. The kayak section was short and was over all too fast. Before exiting for the run I stopped and guzzled water loudly from the water tank much to the disapproval of kayak instructor Brian Keogh as he observed me. Twenty seconds wasted .. tut tut!! Words of encouragement and a brief synopsis from Brian of the terrain that lay ahead and I was off on the 11km run. It wasn’t long before Jill powered past me on the steep uphill fire road. I could only watch in awe as she quickly disappeared from view. I was all on my own for most of this run and for the first time had an opportunity to really relax and take in the picturesque wilderness surrounding me. As I returned to transition I could see that the strong cyclist who had passed me earlier on the descent was only a minute or so ahead.

The second bike ride was not as hilly as I had expected and included a very steep downhill section before a busy main road. For safety reasons, we had to dismount and run for 800metres. As I ran down this steep section my toes pressed painfully against the front of my runners and I worried about losing control of my bike. I visualised the chaos that would ensue if my trek Emonda broke free from my grasp and took off on a solo descent of the hill. On reaching the junction I quickly mounted my bike and headed back towards transition in the village green. It was on this section that I felt the familiar painful cramping sensation in my left adductor muscle. I get this cramp in almost every adventure race I do. By now I know how to alleviate it and it never really hampers my performance. In some ways it is almost satisfying as it serves to remind me that I have entered my pain cave, emptied the tank and left absolutely nothing out there.

Back at the village green it was disheartening to see the winner of the race Killian already there.. Finito! while I still had another 7km to run. Running up the hill on the final run I met club mate Luke descending at speed followed shortly by Barry. Barry gave me time splits of 40 seconds and a minute and a half on the two girls who were ahead of me and within catching distance. I thanked him but as I huffed and puffed up the hill was not at all confident I could close the gap. Looking around at the breath-taking views of Liyn Elsi lake in the last 4K I began to really enjoy the race and soak up the beauty of my surroundings. This feeling of contentment didn't last long alas! Not far ahead I spotted the lady who overtook me on the bike section earlier in the race. I tracked her down like an animal creeping up on its prey. As a primary teacher, one of my favourite essay titles for my students is ‘The Day I Became Invisible’. I usually get entertaining stories of pranks played on friends or visits to the cinema and sweet shops. Today I wanted to make myself invisible and creep past my competitor unnoticed and on to the podium. Too late, I had no superpowers to employ! My heavy breathing alerted her to my presence. She looked back and her pace quickened considerably. I quickened my pace to match hers. With less than 3km to go it was ‘race on’ for that final precious podium spot.

The last 2km section of the race was a continuous downhill and was steep in places. At the very end of a three or four hour race running downhill at speed hurts. At this point I was elbow to elbow with my opponent. Now was not the time for exchanging pleasantries so neither of us spoke. As we ran along in stony silence I psychologically prepared myself for what was to come. I knew that whoever was willing to suffer the most would make it over the line first. I told myself that I was the stronger runner as I had been the one to catch up with her. I had to make one move and I had to make it count. I accelerated down the fire road creating a gap. I ran as hard as I could extending the gap with every step. My feet were burning with pain as they hit the hard ground. I was relieved when the road flattened out on entering the village and eventually turned left for the finish line along the soft grassy football pitch. At the finish line the MC announced that I was indeed third lady in the expert route and I was pleased with this confirmation.

Climb Hills, Then Podiums

The sun was smiling down again and everyone was in high spirits. My Orwell clubmates Luke and Barry had finished 2nd and 3rd in the men’s expert field and John Dillon from my Kayathlon team, was feeling very pleased with himself having won the challenge race after a shaky start.

Betws-y-Coed is an ideal location for a race such as this. Picture Dingle on a much smaller scale. I can really see Quest Wales increasing in popularity year on year. The village is well set up for tourists and has a good selection of local accommodation and eateries for varying budgets. There are endless options for activities to do the day after the race too if you manage to get out of bed after the post race celebrations in the Royal Oak. Plans are already being hatched for next year’s trip and I can’t wait to go back!

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