Diamond quest report 2009

Padraig Marrey missed out in the Diamonds when he got 2nd in Diamond Quest adventure race based in Co Down, he was beaten by former Fell running World Champion Bobby Bryson of Fermanagh.

Adventure racing has become very popular in the last few years especially since Gael force (Westport) introduced a sprint event back in 2006.

Padraig Marrey has turned his attention to this type of endurance racing since and he says that he “likes this type of event which involves hill running, kayaking and cycling, the courses are usually very tough and gruelling with as many hills as possible thrown in to really test the participants” each participant has to be self sufficient which means carrying a small rugsack with mandatory kit like survival bag, rain gear, medical kit, water and food.

To date he has been successful with a string of top 4 results but with no win yet.

In the Diamond Quest event which Started in Carlingford with a 15.5k mountain/ trail run, 1.5k Kayak across Carlingford Lough and a 47k bike spin over the Mourne mountains and finished in Newcastle, Padraig had a terrific race to net 2nd place in a time 3hrs and 12minutes, he also had a bit of bad luck when he punctured early in the bike section but says that he still would not have won as Bobby was too strong.

Padraig was using the event as preparation for Gael Force 6 which is on in late August see www.gaelforcewest.ie for details, he said that the Diamonds course was gruelling and even harder than GF6 as the running section was longer over very hilly and alternating terrain and the bike section was savage with 2 climbs one been the Spelga pass, he said that he was happy enough with his result as he had been doing very little running and his fitness was not near his peak yet.

Click here to see full results and break downs.