Super fit athletes show their mettle in Tipperary's Knock ME Down Adventure races

Pictured above: Diarmaid Condon of Knockmealdown Active presents Kealey Tideswell, overall winner of the Knock ME Down Adventure Mór race is presented with her prizes after the race in Newcastle last Saturday. 

A mammoth crowd of almost 600 participants took to the hills and valleys of the Knockmealdown Mountains region to take part in the Knock ME Down Adventure Races last Saturday.

This is a record number for the event, which has never topped 600 participants before. It has grown in popularity since its inception in 2016, when just 90 participants took part. The cycling, running and kayaking event took over the village of Newcastle for all of Saturday. It started and finished at Newcastle GAA Hall. 

Those taking on the longer, 62km route, left Newcastle at 8.30am. This event, known as the MÓR, heads 15km by bicycle to a transition zone at Kilballyboy Wood outside Clogheen. From there, participants were taken on a challenging 2.5km run past Loughglenbridge, climbing on to Bay Lough. 

On arrival at Bay Lough, they were able to rest their legs but faced a lung searing and arm tiring half-kilometre of kayaking around the lake. This scenic journey was followed by a downhill stretch back to the bicycles at Kilballyboy Wood.

 From this point, rapidly tiring limbs were dragged on their bikes over The Vee for 21km and on to Mount Melleray Monastery, where a super-challenging 7.5km mixed route of Coillte tracks and forest paths awaited them. 

This glorious stretch of the course passed by the Holy Year Cross monument, although most participants will have been completely unaware of the wonderful sights around them. 

Having finished in Melleray, MÓR participants again mounted their bikes and prepared for a painful ascent to the ‘County Bounds’, on the border of Waterford and Tipperary.

 From here they had a gloriously steep descent for the rest of the 13km back into Newcastle. 

The slightly less punitive event, a 32km Challenge, started via the same course until the return to Kilballyboy Wood Transition Zone. 

From here, Challenge participants cycled the 15km route back to Newcastle.

WINNERS

62km MÓR - SUPREME CHAMPIONS - Kealey Tideswell & Bernard Keane

Female Over 40 - Winner - Kealey Tideswell – 2:52:20, Runner Up – Geraldine Heery – 3:15:06, Third Place – Ger Kelly – 3:25:51

Male Over 40 - Winner – Bernard Keane – 2:52:54, Runner Up – Peter Walsh – 2:53:09, Third Place – Colm Crowley – 2:59:41

Female Under 40 - Winner – Clara Hogan – 3:15:02, Runner Up – Helena Walsh – 3:17:48, Third Place – Caroline Godard – 3:29:14

Male Under 40 - Winner – Carl Sweeney – 2:56:03, Runner Up – Diarmuid McNamara – 3:03:26, Third Place – Tadgh Moriarty – 3:03:46

35km Challenge  SUPREME CHAMPIONS – Alison Donnelly & Conor Hennebry

Female Over 60- Winner – Siobhan O’Mahoney – 1:58:45, Runner Up – Olive Heffernan – 2:07:13, Third Place – Hilary Collins – 2:09:02

Male Over 60 - Winner – Patrick Walsh – 1:47:49, Runner Up – Eddie Liddy – 1:58:16, Third Place – Noel Heffernan – 1:58:45

Female 40 to 60 - Winner – Anne Kavanagh – 1:56:20, Runner Up – Brigid Coffey – 1:57:05, Third Place – Sinead Finn – 1:57:21. 

Male 40 to 60 - Winner – Padraig O’Reilly – 1:33:11, Runner Up – Matthew Byrne – 1:37:24, Third Place – Padraig O’Connor – 1:38:07. 

Female Under 40 - Winner – Alison Donnelly – 1:39:39, Runner Up – Claire Walsh – 1:40:04, Third Place – Sharon Martin – 1:40:04. 

Male Under 40 - Winner – Conor Hennebry – 1:22:31, Runner Up – Brendan Murphy – 1:26:19, Third Place – Paul O’Neill – 1:33:07. 

All participants returned to a fine selection of refreshments, consumed in a relaxed setting, at the recuperation zone behind Newcastle GAA Hall.

 Thanks

Knockmealdown Active, the volunteer community group that organised the races, thanks everybody who took part for making this such a superb event. 

They also thank the huge team of volunteers that come along every year to help make this event happen. 

This year there were over 120 marshals and stewards helping assist participants make it safely to the finish line. 

Without this wonderful community spirit, it would be impossible to run the event. 

Booking for the 2024 event will open in May next year. You can register your interest by signing up for email updates at www.KnockMeDown.ie.

Pictured below: A competitor celebrates finishing the kayaking challenge on Bay Lough during the Knock ME Down Adventure races last Saturday. Check out more photos from the Knock ME Down Adventure races published in this week's edition of The Nationalist now on sale in local shops.