Five locals to take on epic mountain race in transylvania tomorrow

Five local people are set to take on a major challenge when they take part in the Transylvania 50K in Romania tomorrow.

Veteran runners Dennis McMonagle and Jimmy Nugent from Athlone travelled to Romania today with Jimmy Kelly from Castlesampson, Norman Hunter from Dysart and Claire Connaughton from Glasson to take part in the mountain endurance race tomorrwo. A number of family members are also travelling to lend their support.

They are all members of Marathon Club Ireland and in total 12 to 15 members will taking part in the race this weekend.

Some members of the Irish contingent are due to take on the Transylvania 100k. The Transylvania 100k and 50k race began last year and the local group will be among the first Irish participants of the tough, mountain race.

There is a cut off point of 15 hours for the 50k race and 30 hours for the 100k race and each of the participants will need to carry a kit with items such as compass, whistle, headtorch, a survival bag, waterproof jacket and trousers, hat, gloves, long sleeved top, emergency food, a race map and first aid kit.

While they’re not entirely sure what to expect of the upcoming race, all five runners have run ultra marathons (anything over 26 miles) and mountain races before.

Jimmy Nugent explained that it was Claire who got them to sign up to the race. 

“I was planning somewhere different to do my 200th marathon and we were coming back from another marathon when Claire mentioned Transylvania,” he said.

“Within an hour on Facebook there were 40 people interested in going. Unfortunately, it won’t be my 200th as I was injured earlier in the year.”

Dennis McMonagle added: “Claire did all the research and once she put up the information we booked it straight away.”

Having run almost 500 marathons between the five of them, the group is looking forward to taking part in the Transylvania 50K next week. Dennis said that they signed up for the race last October and while they have been taking part in regular marathons since, they haven’t been doing any specific off-road running in the run up to Transylvania 50K.

Jimmy Kelly added: “I’ve been building up the mileage this year, running marathons and then ultras and now the 50K.”

He added that while each participant will be issued with a laminated map, the route will also be signposted along the way and he understands they’ll be able to see the next signpost from the previous one each time.

Jimmy Nugent added: “I’m hoping the five of us will stick together through the rough terrain.”

They would also like to be able to get a photo of all of them together at the peak of the mountain and Jimmy Kelly explained that there is a cable car that families can use to get to the top of the mountain to meet them.

The race begins and ends at Dracula’s castle in Bran, Romania, and Jimmy Kelly said the route may have to be altered slightly due to the risk of an avalanche as there is heavy snow there at the moment.

The starting elevation is 700m so the five are expecting temperatures similar to the top of Croagh Patrick on a chilly day, but the temperatures may well drop into the minuses by the time they reach the top.

Norman Hunter said he is hoping the race will be fun and Jimmy Kelly said he is looking forward to a new experience.

Jimmy Nugent added: “It’s a different challenge and we get to see another part of Eastern Europe.”

Jimmy Kelly said: “It’s more about the experience, than timings.”

While Jimmy Nugent and Dennis McMonagle are well known locally for the amount of marathons they have taken part in, many of them for charity, the other three are relative newcomers to the marathon scene, but have still managed to clock up almost 100 marathons between them.

Norman explained: “I bent over in work one night, out of breath, and I decided I had to do something about it. Walking wasn’t doing anything so I took up running. In July 2013 I did my first 10k and that was it. It’s the buzz, it’s really addictive.”

Since then he has run 14 marathons and said if he doesn’t getting out running in a couple of days, it will bother him.

Jimmy Kelly said he had always been into running and two years ago while in Lebanon he was training for his first marathon when he injured himself on his last training run and was unable to do it. Instead he ran his first marathon in Dublin in October 2013 and has since completed 30 marathons.

Claire Connaughton, who is the driving force behind this particular trip, said: “I ran the Connemara marathon two years ago and a year later to the day I ran my 25th marathon in Connemara and this year I ran my 50th marathon in Paris, exactly two years to the day later.”

And while they all love running marathons, they admitted that it can be an expensive interest as entry can be up to €100 and then there are travel expenses.

However, they praised Marathon Club Ireland, which regularly runs marathons at weekends for €20 entry and Jimmy Nugent said: “We meet with other members regularly at weekend and we’ve formed a great bond of friendship as a result.”

This bond will hopefully see them through their latest challenge tomorrow when they take on the Transylvania 50K.