The Wicklow Round is a long-distance hill running challenge in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland.[1] The route follows a proscribed 100-kilometre circuit of 26 mountains, which must be completed in a fixed order, that total over 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) of elevation; there is some flexibility on route-choices between peaks.[2] Rounds completed outside of a cut-off time of 24-hours are not generally recorded.[1][3] Irish ultra-runner Joe Lalor is credited with the creation of the Round.[4][5]

Wicklow Round
Lugnaquilla, highest peak on the Round at 925 metres (3,035 ft); highest mountain in Leinster.
Length	100 kilometres (62 mi) depending on actual route
Location	Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
Established	2008
Trailheads	Fetherbed Track Junction
Use	Hiking, Fell running
Elevation change	circa 6,000 metres (19,685 ft) depending on actual route
Highest point	Lugnaquilla at 925 metres (3,035 ft)
Lowest point	Drumgroff at 50 metres (164 ft)
Season	All year round
Hazards	sinkholes amongst heather
Surface	bogland, moorland, sheep paths, roads
Website	IMRA

The first person to complete the Round was Moire O’Sullivan, in a time of 22:58:30 on 29 May 2008; O'Sullivan went on to write a book about her experience on the Round called Mud, Sweat, and Tears.[6][7][8] Eoin Keith set a new record of 17:53:45 on 30 May 2009, which stood for nine years until it was beaten by U.S. runner, and Appalachian Trail record holder, Joe McConaughy, in a time of 17:09:44 on 6 May 2018.[2][9] Several other runners have set records for the fastest Round.[1][4] Between April and May 2019, the men's record was broken across three consecutive attempts, by Paddy O'Leary, Shane Lynch and Gavin Byrne. These attempts were featured in the short documentary film, "Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile".

As of July 2019^[update], the record is 15:04:30, set by Irish IAU Trail World Championships contestant, Gavin Byrne on 18 May 2019.[10]

Route

The 26 mountains of the Wicklow Round must be completed in the order as outlined below, as well as the check-point in the forest of Drumgoff.[11]

Completions

The Irish Mountain Running Association (IMRA) record the following sub-24 hour completions of the Wicklow Round:[11]

Books & Films

• Moire O'Sullivan (July 2011). Mud, Sweat and Tears: An Irish Woman's Journey of Self-Discovery Paperback. ISBN 978-0615505152.
• Dooster Film (July 2019). Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile. Award-winning documentary film.

See also

• Denis Rankin Round
• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• Wicklow Mountains
• Wicklow Way

References

External links

• Official Site: Irish Mountain Running Association: The IMRA Wicklow Round
• Account of the first-ever successful official Round on the old route, 2007 (Tony Kiernan and Gary Moralee): The Wicklow Round
• Account of the first-ever successful official Round on the current route, 2009 (Moire O'Sullivan): Running over Mountains and around the World: Wicklow Round Route
• Book about the first-ever successful official Round on the current route, 2009 (Moire O'Sullivan): Mud, Sweat, and Tears - an Irish Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery
• Account of successful official Round on the current route, 2012 (Finbar McGurren): Get No Sleep Adventure Racing: Wicklow Round 2012 – Report
• Video of successful official Round on the current route, 2013 (Richard Nunan, Zoran Skrba and Jeff Fitzsimons): Vimeo: Wicklow Round 2013
• Account of successful official Round on the current route, 2013 (Gareth Little): summit2summit: Wicklow Round Success – Summer 2013
• Video of unsuccessful official Round on the current route, 2014: YouTube: Wicklow Round June 2014: Director's Cut
• Account of successful unofficial Round on the current route, 2016: Carnethy Hill Running Club: Wicklow Round
• Documentary film about Paddy O'Leary's Round on the current route, 2019: Coming Home - Ag Teacht Abhaile