ITERA Ireland
On The Ferry to Kerry
Rob Howard / 19.08.2016
With the ‘ITERA Ferry’ (a rib ride with bikes) across the Shannon Estuary being cancelled teams have been making their way to the regular car ferry at Killimur, taking this across to Tarbert in Kerry to continue the race.
This has imposed a dark zone on them as the last one runs at 21.00 – any teams arriving after that will have to spend the night at Killimur, waiting for the 7am ferry next morning. The clock will be stopped, but the prospect of an emergency bivvy out on a foul night of heavy rain and high winds isn’t an appealing one. (Teams can if they want, book into a B&B or Hostel, but that is only if they can find one nearby.)
So they’ve been racing to get the Ferry to Kerry, unsure quite what the distance on this new route is, or what the course will be on the far side. This particular race has turned into an adventure where dealing with surprises and uncertainty is all part of the challenge!
When I saw the two remaining members of Nile Swimmers, Mark ‘Cranny’ and Rhodri Lacey, on top of the Cliffs of Moher during the afternoon they were loath to stop for more than a moment, keen to push on and get to the ferry. They made it comfortably enough as I met them again on the 8pm ferry. “We pushed hard for 3 hours to get here,” Cranny said, “but we got it done.”
He was encouraging his younger and inexperienced race partner, who had felt it was make or break for their race to beat the dark zone. “I just knew we had to get here,” said Lacey, “but I’ve no idea what we are doing next!”
They are an interesting pairing. Cranny a very experienced racer but one who has not raced for many years and looking to return to adventure racing again, and Lacey a complete novice. “It’s my first race,” he told me. “I don’t really know any racers and have never done it before, but thought I’d give it a go! I teach coasteering for a living and am pretty fit. I also compete at triathlon so thought I could do it.
“I have never, ever ridden or paddled for so long though! And I’ve found the transitions hard. I start one thing then get distracted and move to another and end up wandering around achieving nothing much!”
The pair, who were complete strangers before the start, are getting on well and set off from the ferry aiming to reach the coasteering – unsure if it would take place at night or where the course would go next. They are just taking it as it comes.
There were two other teams on the ferry, both from Ireland. Rachel’s Irish Adventurers who are still full course, and Team Big O who are on the short course. They were all crammed together in the tiny cabin on the ferry for the half hour crossing and speculating about how the weather might affect the course going forward.
On the far side they set off into the wind and the rain to find out ...
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