Keith Lane shows the way in testing Wicklow event

Navan runner achieves another remarkable victory

After a torturous route up hills and down valleys Keith Lane from Navan won the Wicklow Way Ultra Marathon.

The race is not for the faint-hearted, or for those who are anything less than supremely fit as the course is 127km long along the famous Wicklow Way from Clonegal in Co Carlow to Marley Park in Dublin.

The race started at 9pm on Friday (13th October) night with Lane, a clear winner, reaching the finish line after 13 hours, 22 hours, 58 seconds of sustained running.

Second in 14 hours, 24 minutes, 05 seconds was Sean Meehan (Dublin) while Stephen Mangan (Kerry) was third in 14 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds. The first woman home was Lianne van Dijk in 16 hours, 44 minutes, 34 seconds. Of the 70 starters, 50 finished.

Last year Lane won the Kerry Way Ultra Marathon - and achieved something else in the process. He set a new record, making the achievement even more remarkable. A truly mind-boggling achievement.

The Kerry way took the indomitable Navan runner 21 hours and 18 minutes to complete which was some way better than the previous record of 22 hours, 35 minutes set in 2021.

A former goalkeeper with Navan O'Mahonys, Lane took to running. While playing football had it's moments for the fortysomething Navan man the achievement of finishing, never mind winning an ultra marathon is hard to match.

"When you run an ultra marathon everything after that becomes a little bit easier," he said following that astonishing Kerry Way victory.