'Tears froze on my face' - Kinsale woman does ultra-marathon after learning to walk again
Accident survivor Olivia Keating who fulfilled her dream to complete gruelling Ultra marathon through arctic Swedish Lapland
It is a test of extreme endurance for ultra-marathon runners in the Arctic tundra, crossing Lapland’s frozen lakes and conquering snow-covered mountain terrain on the Ultra Ice marathon.
Olivia Keating took the five-day gruelling challenge all in her stride, notwithstanding badly skinned ankles for the entire route. Getting caught in a ferocious blizzard on her own in one of Europe’s last remaining wildernesses was just one of the hazards. She and other participants slept in primitive huts and also in tepees made of snow-covered reindeer skins.
Keating (43) from Kinsale, Co. Cork, pushed on to the finish, running and walking an average of 40kms a day, often in darkness with temperatures that dipped to 38 degrees below zero at the top of Swedish Lapland. She was among 18 from the original 28 competitors who completed the recent epic race and the only Irish woman taking part.
“I do feel a little bit proud, especially as its Ireland’s Women in Sport week; I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to finish that I decided not to do the race for any charity for fear of letting people down”, she told the , showing off her race medal. “I told nobody I was going except my immediate family who were very supportive but concerned for my safety also”.
Five years ago it was feared she might never walk again, let alone participate in any sport or do another marathon. “Marathons are a bit my obsession”, she admits. ”I’ve done 40 now, including this Ultra Ice marathon, for me it’s about finding that edge, testing your limits and boundaries and stretching them.”
The nation had watched Olivia and the trauma doctor who attended her describe on the Virgin Media One true-life series ‘Crash Scene Investigates’ earlier this year how she almost died after being knocked off her bicycle by a car. Olivia was out training the day before the Cork city marathon in 2016 on a road in West Cork.
She suffered multiple injuries to her body and face and hit a road sign with her head. As a result of traumatic brain injury, she had to be kept in an induced coma and many months followed slowly learning to move and walk again at the Central Remedial Clinic.
“I had to believe in myself that I would get back my strength and mobility and I stayed focussed on the dream of doing this Ice Ultra-marathon that I had signed up for before my accident”, she explains.
This marathon was the toughest I’ve ever done; my clothing froze, we carried our own 15 kg pack including dehydrated food and one change of clothes; I took merino wool knickers, my only concession to luxury but with all the excitement I forgot to tape my ankles before setting out to do 50kms on day one of the race. They ended up so skinned that I had to walk a lot more than running each day."
Each evening, Olivia was cheered by other competitors as she was one of the last in. “They were a great bunch, the two Irish Toms were hugely supportive and so was the organisation and the Sami people who helped us on the way.
Other Irish Ice Ultra participants included Enda Brady of Sky News who ran the first day whilst reality TV celebrity Spencer Matthews, married to model Vogue Williams, stopped after day two because he had Covid. Of the remaining contestants, Tom Curran of Cross Fit gym, Youghal, Co. Cork, was third overall and Tom Reynolds of Ballinskelligs Co. Kerry came in fifth on the 230km-long route.
“We had a great celebration afterwards, that beer was the best ever, I ate three burgers in a row and had the first shower in five days, heaven.” For her next challenge, Olivia has her sights on the Desert Ultra, a 250 km marathon in Namibia.
“If my story helps others to focus on something positive through a physical or emotional trauma then it’s a bonus, doing what I do”.
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