Any marathon is a tough test of an athlete’s fitness and determination but the Connemara marathon, also known as the “Connemarathon” is tougher still as it takes the runners into the challenging mountain wilderness of west Galway. The course is described as meandering past bogs, hills, lakes, and the Twelve Pin mountains, rising up over the great expanse of Killary Lough, through the quiet village of Leenane, around the Maam Turk Mountains and all the way back up to Maam Cross again.

This marathon is not for the faint-hearted so we must applaud the performances of Garry Moore and Liam D'Alton in this gruelling test, which they had to run in less than ideal wet and cold and windy conditions. Both ran inside their pre-race targets and finished well up in their respective master age-group categories, so were well pleased at the finish.