Trio’s delight after victory in gruelling race

An Irish team have won one of the toughest, ultra-running events on the planet — a 250km race across Iceland.

The Racing the Planet Iceland event is part of the Roving Race Series, which moves to a new location every year. Previous locations have included Vietnam, Namibia, Australia, Nepal and Jordan.

This year’s event in Iceland covered a total of 250km and saw 278 competitors from over 30 countries take part in the six-stage event, which finished at the iconic Blue Lagoon on Saturday.

Competitors ran between 40km and 60km per day to complete the course, which traversed some of Iceland’s most isolated and exposed areas.

Weather was a huge challenge for a number of the competitors also — wind, rain and freezing temperatures were par for the course across the event, with temperatures dropping to as low as -2C in the tents at night.

The victorious Irish team was made up of three competitors, Heather Irvine, 28, Rory Arnott, 28, and John Murphy, 29, team captain.

Ms Irvine is a journalist for Outsider Magazine, while Mr Arnott and Mr Murphy are members of the Irish Defence Forces.

For Mr Arnott and Ms Irvine, it was the first time they had taken part in an ultra-running event. In addition to winning the team category, she also placed first in her age category for the ladies.

Speaking after the event, an exhausted but delighted Ms Irvine said she went through levels of pain she didn’t know even existed in order to finish the course.

“I had no idea what to expect. It was the most difficult, yet the most rewarding thing, I have ever done. For the first four days we raced neck-in-neck against a team from China, but we had a good strategy and in the end it paid off. I experienced new levels of pain and not sure my feet will ever recover but it was definitely worth it.”

Team captain John Murphy said teamwork was the key to coming out on top.

“It was certainly a very tough race but we worked together as a team and it paid off.

“The weather and the rough terrain ensured the race was very challenging but we gritted our teeth, moved as fast as we could as a unit and concentrated on enjoying the experience.”

The team finished in a total time of 35 hours, 44 minutes and 41 seconds. They were sponsored by production company Bold Puppy who were in Iceland to document the event.

The team were running in aid of Crumlin Children’s Hospital.