The view is good from the cheap seats

27 April, 2025 - Brian Mullins

This report is a little bit different as it comes from the lens of the volunteer spectator. I’d recommend this role actually as it gives one a brilliant insight into your competitors and exposes their weakness or maybe their lack thereof!

I’d got my excuses in early for this one with RD Jeremy when I signed up as first aider as I knew I’d be half sleepwalking having just flown in from a Y3P outing the day before and expected my legs and brain to be utterly fried beyond belief. To be fair it mattered not as Jeremy had everything beyond prepared as only an engineer can, word of bias here is I am also an engineer so this was not a surprise!

Earlier on in the week late Wednesday evening I had gone for a final training run, for my own sufferfest abroad, on the course around Gougane and I can never remember it as dry but also knew that with heavy rain forecast for Thursday into Friday that could change the ground considerably by Sunday and all evidence of the runners appearing off the mountain towards me confirmed that suspicion.

Arriving up Sunday morning the MMRA van was already in situ, and I thought I was early at 9am, with Nick and Jeremy getting things set up. Soon enough we had the full complement of volunteers and discussions turned to ultrakayaking, the meaning of Gúgán (it’s rock cleft or crevice in case you are wondering so that means Gúgán Barra is Finbarr’s rock cleft, hey everyday is a school day) and talk of future races both closer to home and further afield.

I gladly accepted the lift from Steve up to the high car park with my first aid bag in tow as Roisin was admirably going to do the actual real first aid back at the finish should I push any semi dead bodies her direction! With Philip, Micheal, Henry, Eddie, Stevex2 and Sean dotted at other locations out on the mountainous course the field was in good hands and would never have to resort to lesser hands such as mine! Phew!

I quickly made my way from the high car park to the high point of the main trail where the long course mountain runners would be descending towards me from their boggy excursion but also the point that would mark the high point of the short course. Jaysus these engineers have it all worked out, high point of short course, low point of mountain course, I’m getting confused already and I’m a fecking engineer. Did I mention I’m an engineer! I’m not drowning yet….

The short course runners weren’t far behind me and they were motoring well up a stiff steep climb towards me and thankfully the grim drizzle and strong wind weren’t after arriving here so all was good. Ted Feehan continues to inspire with his athleticism and I can only hope I have half of his ability when the time comes.

Again planning was on an excel spreadsheet level schedule as no sooner was the short course gone through then Sean appeared as my partner in crime for the long course marshalling. I have no idea what happened for the next 30mins as there was definitely a book, or at the very least a short story, in the running commentary of the race that unfolded towards us! If Richard Pugh is ever retiring from horse racing commentary Sean is the man to replace him. I will attempt to describe what I think happened but artistic licence may be employed.

By now it was clear that the wind was stronger up high and the ground was much wetter than earlier in the week when I had been up there. Proof of this fact was the leading male, Nick Hogan covered from head to toe in peat who had clearly gone swimming somewhere across the top, maybe that’s the trick for winning races but it’s an impressive trick nonetheless. Not far behind was the evergreen Sean Quirke getting back into form and signalling his intent with his Irish Champs singlet, the mere sight of which can automatically make fellow competitors wilt with doubt and believe they have already lost! It’s a good strategy Sean but just beware I once wore my well worn out Ireland singlet at an innocuous enough Imra outing a few years ago and finished 20th so it doesn’t always allow you to walk on water, though clearly in Gougane it’s a help given the amount of water that needs to be walked on or dived through if you are Nick! About 10 secs behind Sean was John Paul who is getting faster every race and was descending very well taking a much faster and straighter line than his two challengers. Don’t put that one up on Strava JP, I’ll need it for next year!

The runners were coming thick and fast after that covered in various amounts of peat, loam, slop, smiles, blood (not requiring first aid once they saw who would be administering it, I.e. me!) and general positivity. Maire epitomised the whole vibe when she was smiling from ear to ear and clearly disappointed when she was told the bog was over and it was 3km on hard packed steep path back to the finish. You can always go around again sure….

The women’s race was an impressively close affair and hurtling towards us not long after JP had passed myself and Sean was Eve with Lisa less than 10secs behind. Race radio earlier had indicated Lisa had led it out uphill but Eve had used her mountain legs to pass on the combination of undulating terrain across the top and the technical descent before the final 3km of hard packed trail. Both of these ladies are serious competitors and it was sure there was going to be no quarter given until the tape was cut at the line. If we had we one of those Golden Trail World Series mountain bike cams for that final 3km I’d say it would have been an impressive spectacle. I must ask Robbie if we can sell the van and buy a drone for these close battles to be witnessed by the wider community. Well ok maybe not sell the van but a few first aid kits, sure a stream and a wet wipe solves all issues. Not far behind them was Carol, who must surely have levitated over the whole of the mountain course as neither Sean nor myself could spot a spec of peat on her person as she casually remarked that she wasn't great at descending boggy ground!! All evidence to the contrary is all I can say.

It wasn’t just Nick who had used the new tactic of swimming along the bog to gain valuable places as many more appeared from the fog coated in a new peaty paint job yet they all had white shiny teeth so were either just back from a trip to a dentist in Turkey or else had gone swimming. The fact I could see their teeth meant they were smiling so it also meant I was smiling, no injuries!!

Wandering away back down to the finish after the last competitors had crossed the line I couldn’t help thinking to myself I felt better than if I had just ran the 6miles. In fact everyone at the finish was smiling as always, irrespective of whether they had just ran or had been volunteering. These outings always restore one’s faith in humanity (to be fair I had gone from cattle mart central in Manchester Airport to isolation central in Gougane within 12 hours so maybe the effect was amplified!).

All I can say is get yourself to Finbarr’s Rock Cleft next year as it’s a good one, it packs a lot more punch than you would think and both Nick and Eve have said they are unbeatable over the course. Just kidding lads, though seriously…..

Oh and volunteer. It’s how you get to meet ultrakayakers (who knew it was a thing), people wearing sunglasses in the mist (not naming anyone in particular, Philip!), and others who casually throw in they were in Lake Garda and Gougane isn’t that impressive (sacrilege!). And sometimes as an additional bonus you get to meet me in first aid mode………..