Ed scoops Ultra Runner of the Year accolade

ED McGroarty feels that if he had written down what 2021 was to deliver for him before it happened it would be sold as a work of fiction.

The Raphoe ultra runner broke the record for running the length of Ireland from Mizen Head in Cork to Malin Head in Donegal. Ed completed the course in a new record time of 3 days 1 hour 55 minutes.

The previous record of 3d 3h 47m was set by Eoin Keith back in 2017. He then followed that up by breaking his own Irish 24 hour road record in Belfast, covering 256 kilometres in one day to cap a remarkable 12 months that also saw him star for Ireland in Big Dog’s Backyard World Championships.

And it’s because of those remarkable achievements that the Bray native has been named Ultra Runner of the Year by Athletics Ireland.

“It was a surprise when I got the email and was told about the award, I wasn’t really expecting it but I’m delighted, it’s brilliant!,” he beamed.

“It’s a great boost, those little things keep you going, keep you going out on the road every night.”
Looking back on his achievements over last year still fills Ed with pride, especially the two records he achieved.

His completion of the Mizen to Malin run was particularly impressive given he had to overcome horrendous early summer weather, including torrential rain and more wintry conditions.

Fortunately, he likes to be well prepared and even though he was doubting himself when packing his wet weather gear, he’s glad he did.

“I couldn’t have written last year if I had wanted to – it would have been a best seller for fiction if I had,” he joked.

“We wanted to do [Mizen to Malin] earlier in the year but lockdowns meant you couldn’t leave your county, or even your own town and then we planned it for around May but different counties were in lockdown, so last year worked in our favour that the National Championships were cancelled in June so we did that instead.

“It went spectacular, but I was thinking with it being early July we’ll have long days and short nights to run through, but how wrong I was!

“Fortunately I packed everything – all the wet gear, two rain jackets and a pair of ski trousers I train in.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘what am I doing here, this is ridiculous’ but we had them out on day two and I’d never been so glad to put them on!”

Just a few months after completing that quest, Ed was back in action at Victoria Park in Belfast where he set another new record of completing 256 kilometres in 24 hours.

And while he fell a little short of is original target, he wasn’t overly disappointed.

“Everything went to plan,” he admitted. “I had been aiming for around 264 kilometres, the plan was to try to average 11 kilometres an hour and I was holding that for quite some time.

“But as you get on into the race you find yourself slowing a bit or you go into little slumps where you lose time or lose distance.

“But getting up to 256 kilometres was fantastic and that bettered my previous result by close to seven kilometres and it was the first time that any Irish person had broken 250 kilometres in a 24 hour race.

“That was special anyway so there wasn’t any disappointment that I didn’t hit my goal.”

Ed, a member of Lifford Strabane AC, is currently preparing for the Anglo Celtic Cup 100k race in Scotland in April, when he’s hoping to launch his 2022 season in style.

“I was delighted to be selected for that team because they are only sending a small team this year,” he added.

“I ran a good time last year in it and I think, by the skin of my teeth, I got back onto it this year, so I’m delighted.

“And the Anglo Celtic Plate, like so many Athletic Ireland events is self-funded, so this year, Hanley Energy from Meath have come on board to sponsor the team travelling to Scotland, which is a great help.”