The Wicklow Round is a long-distance hill running challenge in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. The route follows a prescribed 100-kilometre circuit of 26 mountains, which must be completed in a fixed order, that total over of elevation; there is some flexibility on route-choices between peaks. Rounds completed outside of a cut-off time of 24-hours are not generally recorded. Irish ultra-runner Joe Lalor is credited with the creation of the Round.
The first person to complete the Round was Moire O’Sullivan, in a time of 22:58:30 on 29 May 2008; O'Sullivan went on to write a book about her experience on the Round called Mud, Sweat, and Tears. Eoin Keith set a new record of 17:53:45 on 30 May 2009, which stood for nine years until it was beaten by U.S. runner, and Appalachian Trail record holder, Joe McConaughy, in a time of 17:09:44 on 6 May 2018. Several other runners have set records for the fastest Round. Between April and May 2019, the men's record was broken across three consecutive attempts, by Paddy O'Leary, Shane Lynch and Gavin Byrne. These attempts were featured in the short documentary film, "Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile".
, the record is 15:04:30, set by Irish IAU Trail World Championships contestant, Gavin Byrne on 18 May 2019.
Route
The 26 mountains of the Wicklow Round must be completed in the order as outlined below, as well as the check-point in the forest of Drumgoff. SequenceGoal (peak or check-point)Start Military Road – Featherbed Track junction1 Kippure2 Carrigvore3 Gravale4 Duff Hill5 Mullaghcleevaun East Top6 Mullaghcleevaun7 Moanbane8 Silsean9 Oakwood10 Table Mountain11 Camenabologue12 Lugnaquilla13 Corrigasleggaun14 Carrawaystick MountainCheck-pointDrumgoff15 Mullacor16 Derrybawn17 Camaderry18 Tonelagee19 Scarr20 Knocknacloghoge21 Luggala22 Djouce23 War Hill24 Tonduff (also called Tonduff North)25 Prince William's Seat26 KnocknagunEndMilitary Road – Featherbed Track junction
Completions
The Irish Mountain Running Association (IMRA) record the following sub-24 hour completions of the Wicklow Round:
NameDateTimeMoire O Sullivan22:58:30Eoin Keith17:53:45Paul Mahon19:39:25Paul Nolan19:39:25Jason Reid19:39:25Adrian Tucker22:18:45Greg Byrne20:56:00Billy Reed20:56:00Finbar McGurren20:56:00Richard Nunan21:57:02Jeff Fitzsimons21:57:02Zoran Skrba21:57:02Gareth Little23:39:36Laurence Colleran20:45:00Liam Vines20:45:00Paul Morrissey23:47:32Andreas Kusch23:47:32Pol O'Murchu23:25:03Mike Jordan23:21:00Sam Scriven23:21:00Brian O'Meara23:21:00Kevin Shannon21:59:36Mark Shannon21:59:36Paul O'Callaghan21:25:00Adrian Hennessy19:36:00John Ryan Preston21:06:00Liam Vines22:56:00Karina Jonina22:37:43Joseph McConaughy17:09:44Paul Keville22:59:00Warren Swords22 July 201823:13:45Brian Kitson22 July 201823:13:45Paul O'Callaghan21 December 201823:38:00Paddy O'Leary16:27:20Shane Lynch16:23:32Gavin Byrne15:04:30John Murray2 June 201922:05:23John Murray3 August 201923:41:08Daniela Lubiscakova24 July 202023:14:26Philip O'Connell24 July 202023:14:26
Books & Films & Podcasts
Dooster Film (July 2019). Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile. Award-winning documentary film. Running Gingerly Podcast: The Wicklow Round - Irelands great unsung mountain round
See also Denis Rankin Round Lists of mountains in Ireland Wicklow Mountains Wicklow Way
References
External links Official Site: Irish Mountain Running Association: The IMRA Wicklow Round Account of the first-ever successful official Round on the old route, 2007 (Tony Kiernan and Gary Moralee): The Wicklow Round Account of the first-ever successful official Round on the current route, 2009 (Moire O'Sullivan): Running over Mountains and around the World: Wicklow Round Route Book about the first-ever successful official Round on the current route, 2009 (Moire O'Sullivan): Mud, Sweat, and Tears - an Irish Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery Account of successful official Round on the current route, 2012 (Finbar McGurren): Get No Sleep Adventure Racing: Wicklow Round 2012 – Report Video of successful official Round on the current route, 2013 (Richard Nunan, Zoran Skrba and Jeff Fitzsimons): Vimeo: Wicklow Round 2013 Account of successful official Round on the current route, 2013 (Gareth Little): summit2summit: Wicklow Round Success – Summer 2013 Video of unsuccessful official Round on the current route, 2014: YouTube: Wicklow Round June 2014: Director's Cut Account of successful unofficial Round on the current route, 2016: Carnethy Hill Running Club: Wicklow Round Documentary film about Paddy O'Leary's Round on the current route, 2019: Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile