On January 6th, 1592 Art O'Neill, his brother Henry, and Red Hugh O'Donnell made a bid for freedom to the remote Glenmalure Valley over 50km away from the Dublin Castle, where they were imprisoned by the English. O'Donnell successfully reached a safe-house in Glenmalure, where he found refuge (he had lost both big toes to frostbite). Henry was separated from the other two and Art O'Neill had died of exposure in the mountains only miles from his goal.

The Art O'Neill Challenge recreates the route, travelling from Dublin Castle to Glenmalure in aid of and under the watchful eyes of Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team. The challenge can be done as a walk, hybrid (where you run the first 30km on roads and hike/run the next 23km through the mountains) or ultramarathon, starting at 1am on 16th January 2016. One of our Air Quality Team at AWN, Avril Challoner, was lucky enough to receive a highly sought after place in the challenge this year starting in the early hours of January 16th. Avril writes:

"When I applied I knew there was a low chance of receiving a place, the challenge is restricted to 200 places and had over 800 applicants for 2016, with names chosen by a ballot. I have completed a number of other races (The OMM, Gaelforce West, Great Lakeland 3 day and the Dublin Marathon) but nothing of this length in one go and certainly not starting at 1am, this is a challenge I am not sure I can finish which is very exciting. One of the most difficult parts of the challenge for me, will be the 23km of mountains, much of which is open unmarked mountains requiring night-time navigation. If this was not enough of a challenge, this year the mountains will be covered in snow which makes everything difficult to recognise and slows progress, not to mention the numerous freezing river crossings.

The finishing times last year varied from 5 hours 57 minutes up to 15 hours 30 minutes. Finishing the challenge is my number one goal. As it is my first ultramarathon, I have no idea how long it will take me, I expect between 10-12 hours. If I do succeed in finishing the challenge, no matter how long it takes, I'm sure I will be doing so with a big smile and looking forward to a hot chocolate that the race organisers provide as the finishers cross the line (which just happens to be a river). Then after a few hours' sleep I can start thinking about my next adventure!"

For any further information, or to try secure a place for the 2017 challenge, see http://www.artoneillchallenge.ie/