World Marathon Challenge.

Irish Ultra Runner Richard Donovan has set a new world record for running a Marathon on each of the 7 Continents.  He started in Antarctica last Wednesday 01st February 2012 and finished 4 days 22 hours and 3 minutes later when he crossed the finish line of Marathon number 7 in Sydney, Australia.  For further information check out World Marathon Challenge.

The Running Man

A video documentary by Giant Leap Productions.  This is the Story of  extreme athlete, John O'Regan and his endeavour at representing Ireland at the World 24 hour Marathon in Brive, in France.  The documentary also features athletic greats such as Richard Donovan, Eddie Gallen, Eoin Keith, Thomas Maguire and Tony Mangan.


The Running Man from Near TV on Vimeo.

World Trail Championships (course recce)

Tony ascending Diamond Hill during course recce.

Descending Diamond Hill with Kylemore Abbey in the background.

As part of the race preparation I went to Galway with Tony Brennan to meet with Keith Whyte, Barry Murray and Richard Donovan to do a recce of the WTC course and get a feel for what to expect.  The race starts Kylemore Abbey and follows the road into Letterfrack before the serious climbing starts.  The ascent of Diamond Hill which happens within the first 10K is fairly severe but the pain numbing views are spectacular.  I've ran trails all over the world and this has to be one of the most impressive courses I've ever been on.  

The short recce was enough to get a feel for what to expect and I finished the day looking forward to race day and have a fair idea of my race day plan.