Its the eleventh hour (actually the 80th hour) of the Turas as teams start face the final hurdle over the next 36 hours of non-stop racing. Its been an exciting few days, and last night during the swim across Killmacilogue Harbour, one of the members of Wilsa Helly Hansen (of which Irishman Eoin Keith is a member) was attacked by a gannet who had probably never seen anyone swim in his territory at such an hour!
It was all action at the Sneem Hotel this morning as teams arrived after their row across Kenmare Bay. Teams looked pretty good in the rowing boats, a discipline which usually takes a lot of practice together as a crew to master. First in off the row to transition onto their bikes was French team, Sport2000-LaFuma Vibram, who’s female member Myriam Guillot blew away spectators as she towed some of her teammates on the swim last night. What a woman! The French were closely followed by Kiwi team Orion Health looking fresh and sprightly as they bounded up the pier into transition. After Orion Health was second French team Wilsa Hellyhansen.
The Turas has morphed into an all-out race to the finish which could potentially happen tomorrow at around lunchtime in the Gap of Dunloe, twenty four hours earlier than initially estimated. Race Director Con Moriarty has been blown away by the speed of the teams “this is essentially the third race within a race, the leading teams will be going hell for leather over the next 13 hours from Sneem to Portmagee where they will be expected at around 11 or 12 o’clock today. From there they will continue to Caherciveen and Dromod and as night falls, its on to Bealach Beama, where a Play At Height zipline has been suspended to wake up any potentially sleepy adventure racers as they zip closer to the end of the journey. They will paddle the Killarney lakes overnight and stop at Dunloe Hotel at around 1-2am for a spot of archery. From there they will complete a long trek overnight in the Mac Gillicuddy Reeks to race into the finish at Dunloe Golf Course”.
Geoff Hunt, director of the AR World Series is in the thick of all the action and has been catching up with teams throughout the race “The top teams are going to go all out today and it will essentially be a 38 hour sprint to the finish. With the top teams so closely bunched together, it could be anyone’s for the taking!”
Irish Team AR Denny have been having a tough time of it. As they were seen navigating north last night, away from the race route, race officials are still awaiting confirmation that they are withdrawing. Irish AR Midlands and Gaeilgoir are currently on the rowing section and although they have been put onto the short course of the Turas they are in great spirits and the experience of such a high level of international competition will definitely serve them well in the future. Ciaran O’Nuaillain of Team Gaeilgoir is highly impressed by the level of competition “we had very little time together as a team and to even get this far, the fact that we are still going after 4 days, makes us very proud of ourselves as a team”.
Communities in South West Kerry are dazzled by such elite extremism passing by their doorsteps. There will be plenty of entertainment in Dromod as locals provide music and entertainment to egg on competitors as they pass through on bikes this evening. Failte Ireland and South Kerry Development Partnership have been very impressed by the amount of attention The Turas has been getting over the last few days, a testimony to the growing trade of adventure activities in Ireland and the promising future for adventure tourism.