Gaelforce West on Aug 23rd 2008, was the second and final adventure race that I took part in to raise money on behalf of OYTI this year. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. Bizarrely though I enjoyed the event immensely!

I travelled down by car from Belfast to Killary Fjord in Co. Galway on the West Coast of Ireland the day before the event began to register and drop my bike at the designated check point in the race. I remember getting more and more excited as I got closer mile by mile to Killary and when I arrived there were already hundreds of people there at registration smiling and enjoying the beautiful sunshine, this was a great sight but sadly was not to last..

The race officials were warning everyone that there was rain forecast throughout the day of the race so to make sure we were prepared for the conditions, which would be wet, slippy and muddy. There were over 800 racers taking part in the event in four different waves, the elite class going first, then the runners, joggers, then finally walkers. I thought that this being my first go at a 65km adventure race I would go in the joggers class.

When I woke at 6am the following morning and looked out of my window I could see what the race officials were talking about. The rain was pouring down on the already boggy land that is so common in the west of Ireland. A swift bowl of porridge and a last minute check of my kit and away I went to Westport to board the bus that would take my ‘joggers’ wave of racers to the start line on Glassillaun beach.

On the bus on the way from Westport I met Barry Tinnelly, one of OYTI’s relief skippers from Rostrevor, unknown to me he is a keen mountain marathon runner and regularly competes in the Mourne mountains. At this point I started to question myself, was I in the right class? A very fit Barry sitting across from me, certainly made me think, ‘if he’s in the joggers class, how fit are the rest of them?’ I’d only done a month and a half’s training so suddenly felt very underprepared. He was encouraging though and there was no turning back at this point anyway.

So as the rain poured down about 200 of us shuffled together in the sand at the start line to try and keep warm, offering each other words of encouragement, the smell of deep heat was pretty stifling but despite all of the conditions the collective mood was high and when the gun fired to start the race we all cheered as we started the first leg, a 12km cross country run.

We started out running on sand which changed to about a mile on a rollercoaster like road leading to a famine track which skirted Little Killary fjord, crossed over a ridge line and then hugged the edge of Big Killary fjord. The conditions on the track were pretty rough after 400 people had already run through and torn up all the mud so needless to say my feet were absolutely soaking after about 10 seconds on the trail. The trail gave way to a brief road section leading to another trail which finished down at the shoreline where kayaks were ready and waiting.

Waiting for a kayak I munched a power bar to give me an energy boost, teamed up with Geraldine, a friend of the team at Killary Adventure Centre, to paddle the double, sit-on-top kayak across the fjord to complete section 2 of the race. We were quick on this section and completed the 2km in under ten minutes! This was a real energy boost because I find running difficult and the kayak section gave me a chance to give my legs a bit of a break.

Now on the other side of the fjord we had a 2km run across open bog land to get to the road. This was very tiring as the mud often came up to my shins and wanted to pull my shoes off my feet, mercifully though I made it across and ran the 3km up the road to Delphi Adventure Centre to pickup my bike for the next section of the race.

So now switching from on foot to wheels I had 35km to cover to get to the foot of Croagh Patrick. The first part wa

This year an intrepid team from OYTI took part in the first ever Belfast Rat Race Urban Adventure. Taking part on behalf of OYTI were Ben Craig, OYTI Youth Development Co-Ordinator, Amy Joyce, OYTI Volunteer and Peter Murray, OYTI Volunteer....

.....On the morning of the race, in true Belfast style the heavens opened and an almighty deluge arrived to make sure that if you weren't already apprehensive about the days challenge ahead you were now assured of it. The 'Event Village', an urban adventure base camp at the front of city hall where the race would start and finish, was a scene of wet and bedraggled competitiors sloshing about in the rain registering for the event and organising their gear. It was so exciting though to see everyone getting ready and despite the weather, looking enthusiastic and up for a full day of adventure.

The race kicked off at 11am and by this stage, mercifully, the weather had cleared up giving way to bright sunshine, lifting the spirits of all taking part. The first part of the course consisted of a treasure hunt around city hall, finding out who was mayor when? How many windows on the front of the hall? etc. On completion of the treasure hunt, competitiors were then given the secret details for the rest of the course, where the check points were and how much time you had to get to them.

The first part of the race was called 'Mean Streets', starting and finishing at the Event Village, this part of the race involved running and orienteering around the city centre in Belfast, ranging from the waterfront to the gas works, to castle court and beyond and taking about an hour and half to complete. Sadly during this section Amy Joyce, one of the OYTI team, stepped badly off a curb and hurt her knee, at this stage though it seemed as though it was more of an inconvenience than a show stopper. So on to section two, cycling to cave hill!

Adventure Loop 1. began with, the cycle to cave hill which was a great break from running but Amy's knee was still giving her trouble and so progress was slow much to Amy's annoyance, Pete and I were just happy to take it easy. On reaching the foot of cave hill, we had to leave our bikes and run up, around and back down cave hill, clocking in at different checkpints along the way. We made it to the first checkpoint, about halfway up cavehill, but the pain in Amy's knee had become unbearable and so as a team we made the decision to turn back and return to the foot of the hill where the was a doctor and a race official on hand to help. It took about half an hour to backtrack down the hill and the look of pain and frustration on Amy's face was simply heartbreaking. She had put in the time in training before the event and had plenty of energy left to give but was cruelly stopped by injury.

At the foot of the hill, the doctor examined Amy's knee, it was clear that she would not be able to continue and the race official indicated that she should retire and seek further medical advice. The official also suggested that Pete and I should continue with the race but that as we'd lost so much time that we should rejoin the race for the next bike section which many people had already progressed to. We had a team discussion and Amy was adament that we should continue, her Dad would come and get her. Pete and I didn't like leaving a team mate behind but decided to carry on, one team mate down.

So back to our bikes and on to the next check points, continuing on up the Antrim Road then turning right down Gray's Lane and onto the Shore Road to head back towards the city with a checkpoint at Corporation St. From here we crossed the Queens bridge, passed the Odyssey Arena and continued on up Airport Road West to the OYTI headquarters where there was a knot tying challenge and checkpoint. Next was a three mile time trial beginning outside the OYTI headquarters heading up the rest of the Airport road to the Security hut and back. The challenge was to complete this in 9mins, I ma

Keep your eye out for information on our end of seasn bash! Enjoy live music, prize giving for the best volunteer of the year, good food and much much more.

Peace out
OYTI Crew