Lostock AC’s Tony Marlow made the trip to Killarny in Ireland to compete in the Kerry Way Ultra Marathon and performed well.

The Kerry Way Ultra Marathon route is a mixture of mountain passes, green trails, boggy ground, wire-covered sleepers and country roads where runners have to be completely self-sufficient with only emergency water provided at crew stops.

The 200km route follows the famous ‘Ring of Kerry’ and the race started from Killarney Racecourse before winding its way round Lough Leane.

Marlow decided to sign up to the race after a friend suggested it after he missed out on a different race earlier in the year.

Previous injury and then Covid had affected his training, so he took it easy through Macgillicuddy Reeks to the first checkpoint at 42kms. Refuelled at this checkpoint, he trundled on through Glenbeigh and Foilmore checkpoints before preparing himself for the notorious night section over towards Waterville, with its rough conditions under foot and numerous stiles. He arrived at the halfway point at 1am, where many competitors had dropped out.

He pushed on through the darkness, taking in the next two checkpoints before being reunited with daylight at Sneem.

At this point, he was starting to struggle with sleep deprivation and thoughts of retirement but after a good talking to by the crew he continued along the coastal section in deteriorating weather to the penultimate checkpoint at Kenmare, only 28 kms to the finish.

Really struggling with tiredness and wrecked feet by this time, it took all of Marlow’s reserves to push on to the finish in a brilliant time of 38hrs.

On Sunday, Lostock member Nikki Hamerton and Mary White took part in the Shrewsbury quadrathlon where both ladies completed a 500m river swim, a 4k kayak followed by a fast, but windy, 20k cycle and 5k run.

Hamerton finished second lady overall in a fantastic 1hr 49minks 32secs, with White finishing seventh in 1:59:00.

Tom Grundy completed the Achille Ratti organised Derek Price Memorial Grisedale Horseshoe in the Lake District on Saturday.

For a race of around 11 miles, it packs in 5,000 feet of climbing which makes for a tough outing. He had a great run on his first time at the race finishing in 3:03:08.

On Sunday, Johanna McManus took part in the Altrincham 10k and finished sixth lady in 46:55.