Athletes brave the waters and the wild for charity

EVERYBODY needs a break — climb a mountain or jump in a lake, songster Christy Moore once hummed, and over the weekend participants in the inaugural OSI Irish Adventure Challenge took him literally.

From the crack of dawn, 60 men and women dashed from the waters to the wilds of Kerry in a superhuman effort to raise money for charity.

Reminiscent of the heroics of that mythical army of ancient Ireland, Na Fianna, the competitors — divided into 30 teams of two — warmed up with an uphill jog to the shores of the upper lake of Killarney.