IMRA Ultra Marathon Trail Championships 2018 (9th June)

Ultra Marathon honours for David Fagan

As if a marathon wasn’t tough enough, or even a 50k or 100k race, how about a 127km race on the Wicklow Way from Clonegal in Co. Carlow to Marlay Park in Dublin starting at midnight? The course has 3,000m of climbs, the event difficulty is categorised at 10 (“extreme”), and why not pick one of the hottest days of the year to do it, just to add a bit of spice? Not put off by the fact that one of the Aid Stations along the route is called “The Dying Cow”, that’s what David Fagan undertook on Saturday 9th June when he competed in the IMRA (Irish Mountain Running Association) Ultra Marathon Trail Championships. Among the required equipment he had to bring with him was waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers (not needed of course!), mobile phone, head light and spare batteries, reflective upper outer layer, map of route and compass, food and drink, whistle, gloves and hat, a foil blanket and a tracker. Lugging that load along with him, it took him 16 hours and 34 minutes to complete the course, enduring temperatures in the mid-twenties Celsius at times, and finished an incredible 11th overall of 110 finishers, placing second in his master category. Now that’s some serious endurance!