Taking in the sights of the Dingle Peninsula

ATHLETICS:A new challenge for the intrepid marathon runner gets under way in Kerry this morning with a 26 mile race that starts and finishes in Dingle

ADVENTURE IS big industry these days. There’s only so much running on the treadmill we can do before we start to feel like woolly mice. We’ve finally realised the exercise bike doesn’t go anywhere. Suddenly, we’re all into the great wide open.

We do, after all, have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a snowy wasteland, without food. But huge brains, small necks, weak muscles and fat wallets – these were the dominant physical characteristics of the Celtic Tiger generation. Now that we know that generation is gone – and good riddance – we have huge brains, thick necks, strong muscles and empty wallets.

And aren’t we better off?

Nowhere is this more evident than in marathon running. It used to be those brave enough to run 26.2 miles were concerned about two things; that the course was flat, and if they had to drop out, there was an easy route home. These days it’s not just about running 26.2 miles, but where you run it. It has to be over the mountains or through the desert or maybe even across water. Better still it has to be repeated several times in quick succession. In a strange way the longer it takes the more impressive it becomes – and it’s not about finishing first anymore, but being the first person to do it.

All of which helps explains why 2,000 runners will this morning converge on the Dingle Peninsula, ready to conquer another marathon first. They’ll set off around Slea Head, through Ventry and Dunquin, against the backdrop of Mount Eagle, and within view of the Great Blasket Island.

Starting and finishing in Dingle town, it promises to be one of the most spectacular marathon routes in the world, or if not then one of the most challenging.

Actually, only about a quarter of them will do the full marathon, as most have opted for the half marathon – and will finish in Dunquin, before travelling back to Dingle by bus. Still, it’s the first time anyone had the ambition or nerve to stage a marathon in this part of the world, and judging by the response it seems it will become an annual event. Despite Kerry’s great sporting tradition, it also seemed as if no one could recall a marathon ever being staged in Kerry.

Ken Dunne, the man responsible for bringing marathon running to Dingle, certainly had only his own experience to call on: “To the best of my knowledge it is the first marathon run in Kerry. I haven’t heard any mention of it otherwise. It’s definitely the first in Dingle.”

Dunne is obviously a man with both ambition and nerve. He runs the Hi-Way bar and restaurant in Limerick, and has been coming to Dingle for years, often using it as a training base for his frequent assaults on the marathon and also the ultra-marathon distance:

“Having done a lot of marathons over the years, I just got tired of towns, and started doing more coastal runs, and over hills and mountains. I came across this 26-mile route in Kerry, and did that several times in training. It’s such a spectacular course, and got to me every time, that I thought I should have a crack at staging a race here. I’ve spent the last eight or nine months trying to make it a reality, and here we are now.”

He’s employed a professional event management company – and got the Garda and county council and civil defence and all the relevant authorities on board:

“It’s a fairly big operation, but at the same time is fairly manageable. We’ve got 2,000 runners and that about hits the nail on the head. I’m very happy with it. I’ve spent the extra money to make it as professional as I can. A lot of it has come out of my own pocket, just to get it up and running. You just can’t cut corners out here. But the idea is to make this an annual event, and ultimately I would like to get paid for it. It’s a labour of love right now, and primarily about running an event in Dingle. My goal is to get 5,000 runners on this course in the next couple of years, and I think I can.”

What is certain is that it’s the first time there’s been a road closure on the Dingle Peninsula:

“That’s almost too strong a word,” says Dunne, “because life will go on in Dingle. All the secondary roads will be open, but as the marathon moves on the road opens right behind it. We’ve a vehicle leading the race and the road only closes as that approaches. But we’ve had a great response. We’ve got about 40 or 50 runners from the US, about 60 from the UK, and after that a few from Russia, Italy and Spain.”

Dunne has clearly gone to great lengths to make the Dingle marathon a reality, but could it really be the first marathon in Kerry? I called up Kerry’s greatest marathon runner, Jerry Kiernan, to see what he reckoned: “As far as I know it’s the first in Kerry, of any description. I’d almost swear by it. But you have to remember that marathon running outside of the big cities is a very recent thing. Only the national marathon, which is once a year, pre-dates the Dublin marathon, which started in 1980.

“One time I was actually down in Dingle with the folks, got out of the car just outside the Tralee side of camp, and ran back to Listowel. That would have been 23 or 24 miles. And of course back in the day people in Kerry would have thought nothing about walking 20 or 30 miles. But if people did run 26 miles in Kerry it was for other purposes. It wouldn’t have been timed or flagged. So this must be the first actual marathon. Unless of course Con Houlihan might know. He’s like an owl, and would remember these things.”

Right away I called up the great man himself: “Not in our time anyway,” says Con. “We’ve had plenty of road races in Kerry, and lots or people would have walked 26 miles. But I don’t know of anyone running a marathon. Not in the last century anyway.”

That must be it then – but before giving my written guarantee, I put a final call into Kerry’s greatest ever runner, who would only talk to me on the promise of total anonymity: “Of course there’s been a marathon run in Kerry,” he said, without hesitation.

“Twice, in fact. Sure wasn’t I there? In July, 1962. When the Irish NACA championships were held in Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. They always staged the marathon with those championships . . . ”

He returned to the phone moments later: “I’ve the scrapbook here in front of me. In 1962 it was won by Seamus Kearns, the small man from Newry, in a record 2:37.07. The following year in 1963 they were staged in Killarney again, and there was a severe heat wave. Of the 12 runners that started only three made the finish in Fitzgerald Stadium, the winner being Noel Henry, in 2:37.28. That was good running in the conditions.”

There’s a mini heat wave in Kerry this weekend, and for those runners that do make the finish line around noon today one thing is also certain; they won’t easily forget their first marathon in Dingle.

“ And of course back in the day people in Kerry would have thought nothing about walking 20 or 30 miles. But if people did run 26 miles in Kerry it was for other purposes. It wouldn’t have been timed.