This weekend saw the second MonsterMac adventure race in Millstreet Co. Cork. Unfortunately I was not a competitor but this time the shoe was on the other foot I was one of the organizers and it’s a totally different perspective. A long day was put in on the day before the race marking the run routes and the bike routes. Transition areas were put up and registration set and ready. Thankfully the rain stayed away but it was a frosty morning and the sun rarely appeared so the layers were needed for this race. This year we put on a shorter route the BabyMac to encourage first timers and we had 70 brave virgin adventurers.
The race is held in The Millstreet Counrty Park which is a hidden gem of 500 acres of trails, forest and wildlife. When I was marking out the run route in the park I disturbed numerous ducks and a magnificent heron. The first leg of the race is a 9km run around the country park and then it’s get your bike and cycle 20 kms to the foot of Mussheramore mountain. The Expert competitors have a 9km hike around and to the top of Musheramore and then back on their bikes to do 25 kms back to the country park. The Sport competitors don’t do the mountain run they go back to the park. On return to the park competitors then had to rack their bike and run to the lake to do a 400 metre kayak around the lake. The very last leg is a run around a crannóge and then a dash to the finish line.
There was a large group of people who did the BabyMac for Sean Hurley Bucket List. He was tragically killed in a car accident and his friends and family are completing his bucket list in his memory. They were a great gang of people and an inspiration to many. For all of them it was there first time to take part in an adventure race.
The winner of the Expert race was Adrian Hennessy and in this photo he is the proud owner of a MonsterMac tankard made by myself. Winners from all the groups won mugs and tankards. A nice momento of the race. Thankfully everyone came back safe and sound and a huge thank you to the locals who volunteered their help to marshal the course. It was a warm welcome to all who took part and their encouragement to competitors made some of those hills a little more bearable.
Many thanks to all who participated and particularly to the residents of the Millstreet area for their assistance and support of this event
A special thank you to Hilary Jenkinson of Crannmor Pottery for submitting this to us
More pictures of the event is available on the Monstermac Facebook page
