Runner Eoin Keith from Cobh wins the 2022 Pennine Way Winter Spine Race

Eoin Keith from Cobh is one of the top Ultra runners in the country and he has just won the recent Montane Winter Spine race in England!

This is his 3rd Winter win and comes only half a year after winning the Summer Event, where he also set a new course record.

The race involves running the full 431km (268-mile) length of the Pennine Way national trail from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders . The course has an overall ascent of 13,135m (43,093ft) and overall descent of 13,255m (43,487ft), with the highest point being Cross Fell at 892m (2,926ft).

While Keith set a new record with a time of 77hrs 34mins 52secs last Summer, the Winter event was much tougher and took 92 hours 42 minutes and 30 seconds.

Cork runners complete the 170km UTMB ultra around Mont Blanc

The UTMB is one of the most famous ultra races in Europe and it was held this year at the end of August. The 170km race starts and finishes in the magnificent Chamonix in the French Alps and contestants do a loop around the base of Mont Blanc taking in Italy and Switzerland along the way. Entry to he race is only possible if contestants have built up enough points from completing other qualifying ultra races.

As far as I know, four runners from Cork took part this year.

Eoin Keith from Cobh finished the race in 28 hours 04 minutes and 11 seconds and was placed second in his age category.

Cork runners Brian Buckley and Remi Delille

Remi Delille who is a US citizen living in Rochestown finished in 65th position in 28:13:06 while Brian Buckley finished in 69th in 28:19:20. Brian is a former winner of the 200km Kerry Way Ultra.

The fourth Cork finisher was Tom Downes who completed the course in 42:50:54 in 905th place.

No doubt there are several runners from Cork and Ireland already planning the 2022 edition.

Runner Eoin Keith from Cobh wins the 2021 Pennine Way Summer Spine Race

Eoin Keith from Cobh is one of the top Ultra runners in the country and this year, he won the recent Montane Summer Spine race in England.

Keith not only won the race but also set a new record with a time of 77hrs 34mins 52secs. This was was 29 minutes faster than the existing record set by Mark Denby.

The race involves running the full 431km (268-mile) length of the Pennine Way national trail from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders . The course has an overall ascent of 13,135m (43,093ft) and overall descent of 13,255m (43,487ft), with the highest point being Cross Fell at 892m (2,926ft).

Keith is also a former winner and record holder of the winter version of the race. He described the experience of racing along the Pennine Way in summer rather than winter as ‘a joy in comparison’.

Links...

1) Eoin Keith and Anna Troup post record times with wins in summer Spine Race - Grough.co.uk

2) Eoin Keith and Anna Troup break records at Montane Summer Spine Race - Trailrunningmag.co.uk

Cork runner Eoin Keith wins 170km ulta race in Oman

Last weekend, Eoin Keith from Cobh in Co.Cork finished first in the 170km UTMB race in Oman on the Arabian Peninsula.

Eoin crossed the finish line in a time of 36 hours, 4 minutes and 29 seconds and ahead of some 2,000 competitors.

The profile of the route can be seen above and it included a 3,000 metre summit. Note that Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain by comparison is just over 1,000m!

In a post race interview, Eoin said...“It was so technical, possibly the most technical race I’ve ever done. There was a long 1,000m descent which you normally would expect to make tons of time on but we were so slow. It makes it easier to keep going mentally because it’s so technical that you need to concentrate pretty much the entire time.

There’s no real let up mentally and it was intense racing all the way. But very enjoyable, Oman is a gorgeous country and the mountains are truly spectacular.”

Corkman Eoin Keith finishes 2nd in Britain's Toughest Ultra

One of the top Irish Ultra runners Eoin Keith has just finished 2nd in the Montane Spine Ultra, aptly described as Britain's more brutal race. The mountainous course runs some 430kms (268 miles) along the Pennine Way from Sheffield to the Scottish borders.

Eoin, who is from Cobh completed the mountainous course in 4 days,2 hours,18 minutes and 23 seconds which was the 3rd fastest time ever.

Eoin, the Irish 24-hr record holder will now take a well earned rest before starting training to try and regain his national 24-Hr title at Belfast 24 hour in the summer.

Irish results from the 2018 European 24 hour Championships

The European 24 hour championships were held in Timisoara, Romania over the weekend and there was a strong Irish contingent present.

The mens team consisted of three from Cork! Eoin Keith from Cobh racked up an impressive 144 miles over 24 hours. Aidan Hogan of Rising Sun AC finished with 135 miles while fireman Alex O'Shea of St.Finbarr's AC ended with 109 miles.

Results for Team Ireland:
Men’s Team 8th with 663.81K (3 to score)

Individual Men
Eoin Keith -232.65K -19th (144.6 miles)
Aidan Hogan-218.02K - 31st (135.5 miles)
Eddie Gallen-213.13K -36th (132.4 miles)
Alex O’Shea-175.53K - 60th (109 miles)

Results for Team Ireland:
Women’s Team 13th with 464.55K  (3 to score)

Individual Women
Amy Masner- 220.85K -10th (137.2 miles)
Louise Smart-204.57K - 22nd (127.1 miles)
Susan McCartney-39.12K - 71st (24.3 miles)

Full results

Revised results for the Irish 24 Hour Championships

The World 24 Hour Championships were held in Belast this year and it also doubled up as the Irish 24 Hour Championships. There were some serious timing issues as outlined in this explanation issued yesterday.

The revised results show that Eoin Keith from Cork actually set a new Irish 24 hour record of 248.436kms beating the old record by 44 metres.

Alex O'Shea from Cork with 244.253kms (151.772 miles) also moves from Bronze to Silver in the Irish Championships ahead of Tim Brownlie.

Irish 24 hour Champion Eoin Keith sets new Mizen to Malin Record

After setting out from a wet and windy Mizen Head on Saturday the 29th of April, the current Irish 24 Hour Champion Eoin Keith finally arrived in Malin Head in Donegal on Tues 2nd of May. This run of the length of Ireland from Mizen to Malin was set in a new record time of 3 days, 3 hours and 37 minutes. The previous record was 3 days, 15 hours and 36 minutes.

Eoin is originally from Cobh in Co.Cork and has represented Ireland in Ultra running competitions on several occasions. He is also the current Irish 24 hour champion which he won in Belfast in the Summer of 2016.

Live Tracking for the Mizen to Malin Record attempt was available here :
http://live.primaltracking.com/headtohead/

When it comes to any record attempt, the one question is do you run from Malin to Mizen or Mizen to Malin? The theory is that with the prevailing winds from the south-west, going from South to North might be the better option.

On Saturday, the weather was wet and windy but at least the wind was behind Keith. On Sunday, the weather improved although there was still the benefit of a southerly breeze. The high pressure became the dominant feature on the Bank Holiday Monday with the sunshine and heat ebing a factor.

Results & photos of the Irish 24 hour Championships in Belfast...Sat 25th & Sun 26th June 2016

The Irish 24 hour championships were held last weekend in Belfast on Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th of June 2016. This is one of the main Ultra races in Ireland and one of only two Ultras that count as Championships.

A large number of runners and crew descended on Victoria Park in East Belfast for the event on Saturday morning. Located between between the Harland & Wolff Dockyards and the George Best International Airport, it made for an ideal venue with a course that was just over one mile in length.

At least 4 runners from Cork took part in the full 24 hour race which started at noon on Saturday. Eoin Keith who is originally from Cobh was dominant once again with an amazing 150 miles being covered.

The suprise performance of the 24 hour race was that of Aidan Hogan from Cork. As a newcomer to the Ultra scene, he ran an impressive 147.9 miles and indeed was running well all the way up to the midday deadline on Sunday.

Aidan Hogan...2nd in the Belfast 24 hour

Alex O'Shea of St.Finbarr's AC took on his first 24 hour race and finished in 5th place overall. More importantly, Alex finished just above the 24 hour B standard of 220kms which means that he is now eligible to be selected for an Irish team for the European and World 24 hour championships.

Alex O'Shea...inside the international B standard

In total, there were 86 competitors in the 24 hour race and 44 managed to break the magic 100 mile barrier. Grellan McGrath of Eagle AC finished in 10th place overall with a distance of 125.3 miles, surpassing the 102.6 miles which he did in the same event in 2015.

Grellan McGrath of Eagle AC...10th overall

24 hour Finishers from Cork...
1 Eoin Keith ...24hr... 241.738kms...150.0 miles
2 Aidan Hogan... 24hr ...238.132kms...147.9 miles
5 Alex O'Shea... 24hr... 220.675kms...136.6 miles
10 Grellan McGrath... 24hr... 202.318kms...125.3 miles


Full results

In addition to the 24 hour race, there was also a 24 hour relay race, a 12 hour race and a 100km event.

In the womens 12 hour race, visually impaired runner Sinead O'Kane from Youghal finished in second place with 69.8 miles! Sinead also finished second in last years 12 hour race with 68.3 miles.

2nd Woman...Sinead Kane... 12 hour... 112.479kms... 69.8 miles

Photos...
1) The organisers have a nice gallery of photos HERE
2) There is another gallery of about 80 photos HERE

Silver medal for Aidan Hogan in the Irish 24 hour National Championships

Clonmel AC were the winners of the 24 hour relay event

Irish Ultra Runner Eoin Keith wins 190 Mile Ultra in the UK

The Northern Traverse is a 190 mile ultra race across the north of England. It starts on the west coast in Whitehaven and goes across the Lake District, the Pennines and the North York Moors before finishing near Whitby on the east coast.

This year, the race started on Monday the 30th of May at 10am. The first man home was Irish Ultra runner Eoin Keith who finished Wednesday the 1st of June at about 1:38pm..a total of 51 hours 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Eoin is originally from Cork and now lives in Dublin. Back in January of 2016, he won the 268 mile Spine race in England.

Ian Corless has a report on his website... https://iancorless.org/2016/06/01/northern-traverse-2016-eoin-keith-takes-victory/

Irish Ultra runner Eoin Keith wins 'Britains Most Brutal Race'

Irish Ultra runner Eoin Keith has just won 'The Spine Race', billed as one of the hardest Ultra races in Britain. Eoin who is originally from Cork completed the 268 mile (431kms) course in a time of 95h 43m knocking over 15 hours off the previous 2014 record of 110:45.

Eoin is one of the top Irish Ultra runners having won the Irish 24 hour championships in Belfast in 2015 and has represented Ireland on several occasions in the past.

As you can see from the map below, the race starts near Manchester, runs up the spine of Britain and finishes near the Scottish border.

What's even more remarkable is that it's in the middle of the winter when conditions are at their worst.

Video interview with Irish Ultra-Marathon runner Eoin Keith

Eoin Keith from Dublin is one of the leading Irish Ultra-Marathon runners. In this 11 minute clip, he talks about a year in which he became only the 4th person in history to run 300 miles in 3 days; and setting a new Irish 24-hr track record of 152 miles(245kms).