2012 Beast of Ballyhoura

Causeway

The event features the Beast of Ballyhoura Adventure Race, a uniquely Irish 36 hour non-stop race across the ancient & magical surroundings of counties Cork, Limerick & Tipperary. Mixed teams of four mountain run, bike, kayak, abseil, orienteer & shoot. Navigating the best route to win, prepare to meet your demons during this event designed to push each team to their limits (and maybe even beyond them). The Beast of Ballyhoura also incorporates the 8th All Ireland Inter Services Challenge to unearth Ireland’s toughest service men and women. Are you tough enough?

One of this years rope sections will include two 500 foot zip lines. Every team in this years event will get the chance to zipline thanks to the guys at Blackwater Activities. Don't expect much more info on details of what will be taking place during the event.

This year we are trying to put together a route that all teams should be able to finish. It's shaping up to come in around 170km at the moment but there will also be loads of other checkpoints which will be up to each team to decide if they want to visit them or not.

More details and links to the online entry page on the web site www.beastofballyhoura.com

Causeway

The experienced orienteering pair of Greg and Tish McCann are looking for two team mates for the Beast of Ballyhoura. Both of them have taken part in many orienteering events and took part in all 4 rounds of the CCAR winter series in which they finished 4th mixed pair. Let us know if you want to get in touch with them.

shotgunmcos

Would love to but not free that weekend. Might pencil this event in next year if I find a team. Do you need a certain Kayaking proficiency?

Enduro

Obviously the more proficient you are, the better the kayaking is likely to go for you. But the boats are Sit-On-Tops, so they require very little skill to move along in the right general direction. It's 2 to a boat, so if one even has half an idea of what they're doing then all will be OK!

Causeway

Enduro more or less sums it up with his post. The kayak stage can be long and it always uses sit-on-tops. Not the best kayaks in the world for a long paddle stage but it means it keeps the event open to pretty much everyone without us having to ask for folk to have a certificate to prove their abilities.

Causeway

Short video put together by Lisa Clarke to give you guys some idea what the ziplines in this years race are going to be like. 2x500foot lines out and back over the River Awbeg, you're going to love it!!!!

https://vimeo.com/42072926

shotgunmcos

Found a team, and Beast here I come

or rather ... gulp :eek:

Really, really looking forward to this now in a sadistic sort of way

Causeway

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Found a team, and Beast here I come

or rather ... gulp :eek:

Really, really looking forward to this now in a sadistic sort of way

Maybe you already have your entry in, if not don't leave it to late, I've just added 5 more team places which I expect to fill up pretty quickly.

Heading down this weekend to see if I can get a few more sections of the race sorted out. At the moment it's all coming together nice.

Four team-mates, Three Counties, Two Days, One Goal – BATTLING THE BEAST! The Beast of Ballyhoura 3rd August – 6th August 2012 - one of Irelands greatest Adventure Races - some places still available log on www.beastofballyhoura.com to register...

Enduro

Causeway wrote: »

- one of Irelands greatest Adventure Races -

You're under-selling it there... It isn't one of the greatest, it is easily the greatest!

shotgunmcos

Causeway wrote: »

Maybe you already have your entry in

I do indeed, although I've yet to meet any of my team

Been doing a bit of nosing around about this and I hear mostly excellent things about it, except for the swim bit.

Quick quesion: For bonus point sections, does the whole team have to get them or can you send someone off to retrieve?

Enduro

In any AR in general, with rare exceptions, everyone has to do everything. There's usually a 100m rule (All team-members have to be within 100m of each other at all times).

shotgunmcos

Hey Enduro have you done the Beast? If so how was it?

Enduro

I've done it multiple times. It's a great race. The duration is always going to be a challenge, but its the same for everyone. Over the years we've had sections on mountain bike, on kayak, and on foot that have been classics by any standard. And there are always some interesting extra challenges thrown into to the mix as well. If there's anything you want to know more about, or want tips on, feel free to ask.

Causeway

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Quick quesion: For bonus point sections, does the whole team have to get them or can you send someone off to retrieve?

All four team members will have timing chips on them and you will all have to visit the controls for each of them to count. You'll start as a team and hopefully finish as a team.

During last years Raid a team ended up DSQ becasue they split and got lost from each other, sadly for them this happened during the last hour of a 24hr race.

Teams need to remain within voice contact (before you ask phones don't count :rolleyes:) unless you are otherwise told to split for what ever reason by the RD or Marshal.

Interesting to hear what you're saying about the swim, last year was the first time for something like that in the Beast, most teams weren't looking forward to it for one reason or another but those who did it said it was one of the highlights of the race. That's the great thing about AR's you end up doing things and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. After it's all over it's these same bits that you remember.

Causeway

Is the Beast of Ballyhoura to much for you to take on? If it is then why not enter the Ballyhoura Blitz. This years event will run on Sunday 5th August, €30pp entry fee, free drinks bottle and tech t-shirt for everyone who enters by midnight 31st July.

https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=770

stephentbb2000

Looking for a female to make up our team, hoping to be competitive so if anyone has any names please PM me.

shotgunmcos

What is your team name? Have you tried contacting Ivan to see if he knows of anyone on standby?

stephentbb2000

Defence Forces Adventure Racing 2 (DFAR2)

Causeway

Things are looking good for this years Beast of Ballyhoura with the largest turnout of teams in the short history of the event.

One slight problem is that we already have 21 teams entered, we were going to cut the number at 22 but we already know about 2-3 other teams which will take us to 23-24. While we would be more than happy to have 24 maybe even 25 teams in the race we couldn't leave it until the last week to have these extra places filled as it just simply wouldn't give us enough time to sort out the extra logistics which we'll need to put in place.

In short we've increased the entry limit tonight (Wed) to 25 teams but the new closing date for the event will be moved forward by one week, now closing at midnight on Sunday the 22nd July or when full.

shotgunmcos

Cool 25 teams!!

When will we know more about who has entered? I'd like to pick a nemesis team

Also, just the one email about the course so far... the anticiaption is killing me!!! When will we know what that bonus Kayak is worth etc...?

I can't tell if I am looking forward to this or dreading it. Perhaps a bit of column A, and a bit of column B...gulp

Causeway

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Cool 25 teams!!

Doesn't sound like many but when you look at past races of this type it's got twice as many teams entered, start to look at the number x4 and then think about moving all the bikes, kit boxes and kayaks, it's going to big a big task for us but I guess we're up to it.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

When will we know more about who has entered? I'd like to pick a nemesis team

Very soon, hopefully by the start of next week if not before then.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Also, just the one email about the course so far... the anticiaption is killing me!!! When will we know what that bonus Kayak is worth etc...?

Some more info next week but you won't find out much about bonus points or or actual route until the eve of the race :eek:

pgibbo

Any update / results on this?

nerraw1111

I think Paul Mahon's team won, with Moire o'sullivan on the team.

Enduro

Provisional results are up on the race website now. There are also links to some photos. Valerie O'Sullivan's photos are phenomenal. She is a truely brilliant photographer.

Overall impressions: The course was totally unexpected in terms of location. All in Cork I think... you can't ask for better than that . A good course, with some fantastic locations visited that you'd never find off your own bat. The scoring system meant every team was racing to the finish, and teams were far more likely to cross paths on the course. There were more than enough sky-falling-down showers to keep conditions pretty interesting through the first day.

Hopefully shotgunMCOS will be along sometime soon to give some kind of race report. He led the race briefly, having won the first stage (the lake swim).

Enduro

Oh, I forgot to mention. Go onto trackthebeast.wordpress.com, where you can see the GPS tracks from the teams' trackers. It probably won't mean too much without knowing the location of the controls though, and which were mandatory and optional. Still, you can see the general idea of where everyone got to! It's also worth reading the team briefing notes on the website to see what information the teams were given on Friday afternoon, and to see how the race rules made for a good tactical race with lots of brain-work required to get your team their optimal score.

Rew

Enduro wrote: »

Provisional results are up on the race website now. There are also links to some photos. Valerie O'Sullivan's photos are phenomenal. She is a truly brilliant photographer.

Yeah, met her a couple of years ago at a GOAL exhibition, not only is she a great photographer but she's an incredibly nice person (and huge dog lover!!)

The Beast looked amazing, def something I will have to do some time.

shotgunmcos

Enduro wrote: »

Hopefully shotgunMCOS will be along sometime soon to give some kind of race report.

Some kind of race report here

Enduro

Good Race Report in the Sunday Times this weekend, written by Heather of team Outsider.

shotgunmcos

Enduro wrote: »

Good Race Report in the Sunday Times this weekend, written by Heather of team Outsider.

One on the website too by Moire of the winning MSAI team. Seems like they set their stall out to get all bonus points. She seemed to be a strong member of that team too.

On another note: what kind of kayak do you folk own/ train in for these multi day events?

Excuseless

shotgunmcos wrote: »

One on the website too by Moire of the winning MSAI team. Seems like they set their stall out to get all bonus points. She seemed to be a strong member of that team too.

On another note: what kind of kayak do you folk own/ train in for these multi day events?

Good reports all round on what was a challenging couple of days on the hills

Moire is a star in her own right and anyone looking for some inspiration should get a copy of her book "Mud, Sweat and Tears" where she recalls her struggles and triumphs on the mountains of Ireland.
She is testament to the fact that anyone can, with the right attitude and determination, learn to navigate - a vital skill that many choose to avoid the long and dedicated effort needed to learn.

Our team tactics were fairly simple once we had decided not to take in the first Kayak Checkpoint and a few other teams had including the UK team and DAR who on paper were likely to be our closest challengers along with the Army teams- Get all the other bonus controls and hopefully be done in time.
We moved well in general but a slowing of our pace and difficulty locating the final Ballyhoura trek bonus control cost us time and led us to play it safe and miss out two of the final bike section bonus controls. At that stage we were fairly sure we still could win with that tactic as we had passed the UK team when they were napping on the trail about 6am and we had some points in hand on them and all other teams at that stage.

A well balanced and team that works well together is vital for these types of races.
Experience is the great learner for everyone no matter what level you are competing at and hopefully we will see a repeat of the great interest in the Beast in future long distance events.

Well done all involved in organising and competing what is indeed a challenging race in less than ideal conditions.

Hopefully we will see most of you in Achill for the ROAR on Sept 8th - A great race and one where you will have recovered in time to enjoy the post race party

shotgunmcos

Excuseless wrote: »

shotgunmcos wrote: »

One on the website too by Moire of the winning MSAI team. Seems like they set their stall out to get all bonus points. She seemed to be a strong member of that team too.

On another note: what kind of kayak do you folk own/ train in for these multi day events?

Good reports all round on what was a challenging couple of days on the hills

Moire is a star in her own right and anyone looking for some inspiration should get a copy of her book "Mud, Sweat and Tears" where she recalls her struggles and triumphs on the mountains of Ireland.
She is testament to the fact that anyone can, with the right attitude and determination, learn to navigate - a vital skill that many choose to avoid the long and dedicated effort needed to learn.

Our team tactics were fairly simple once we had decided not to take in the first Kayak Checkpoint and a few other teams had including the UK team and DAR who on paper were likely to be our closest challengers along with the Army teams- Get all the other bonus controls and hopefully be done in time.
We moved well in general but a slowing of our pace and difficulty locating the final Ballyhoura trek bonus control cost us time and led us to play it safe and miss out two of the final bike section bonus controls. At that stage we were fairly sure we still could win with that tactic as we had passed the UK team when they were napping on the trail about 6am and we had some points in hand on them and all other teams at that stage.

A well balanced and team that works well together is vital for these types of races.
Experience is the great learner for everyone no matter what level you are competing at and hopefully we will see a repeat of the great interest in the Beast in future long distance events.

Well done all involved in organising and competing what is indeed a challenging race in less than ideal conditions.

Hopefully we will see most of you in Achill for the ROAR on Sept 8th - A great race and one where you will have recovered in time to enjoy the post race party

Well done on the win. Crossed your path plenty of times and ye were all business thats for sure! So what kind of kayak would you recommend for training for expedition type events?

Enduro

As with almost everything, specific training is *usually* best. Train in the type of boat you're going to race in. Beyond the might-as-well-not-be-there 2 minute paddle on a s(h)it-on-top you get in most multi-sports races in Ireland, there are a wide variety of boats used in ARs. Everything from rubber duckies (blow up canoes) to slick racing sea kayaks.

But of course, kayaking being a technical sport, there are advances to be had by upskilling in different types of boat.

E.g. Most ARs are done in doubles of some kind, so learning and practicing the techniques of working as a pair in a double is very important. However, I've found it very beneficial to work on my own technique by doing most of my training in a single so I can work on my own boat control, stroke, etc.

Different boats can be more useful for learning different things. I find river boats great for learning all the various paddling strokes, sea kayaks great for specifically refining forward paddling, white water racers for honing boat control and balance, for example.

As ever with AR, its best to be a good all-rounder!

The best thing to do though is to get proper lessons from an expert to begin with. We have internationally recognised top class coaches here in Ireland. They'd be the ones to go to get the best answer!!

Excuseless

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Well done on the win. Crossed your path plenty of times and ye were all business thats for sure! So what kind of kayak would you recommend for training for expedition type events?

Tks Mike

Have ( at least this once :eek:) to agree with Enduro - Tailor your kayak training to boats you are to use in races if kayak is to be a significant part of the races but if you start with good skills then you can transfer.
Tis like swimming - technique is well worth having

Many of us ( Enduro included!) spent too long mucking about in Sit on tops and did not learn good kayak control, positioning and stroke skills day one so best to learn the right skills day one and save yourself the bother of trying to teach a old dog new tricks

Once you have those skills you can paddle anything - Liffey Descent is a great fun event to put your skills into practice