Rapid Ascent

Benbaun is a magnificent mountain, beautifully secluded in the wilderness of Connemara, and on this day it was an amazing run, the sun was beating down, a dew lay on the ground following the previous nights rain and I had the mountain to myself at 7 in the morning. I packed lightly seeing as I was running to the top, leaving from the bottom of the ridge I hit for the top of the mountain.
This run is testing in a beautiful way, making your way up the ridge and also the final push up to the summit is very steep while in the middle the ground is very marshy and broken but remains relatively flat.
The first 10 minutes are always the toughest and so they proved to be in a good kind of way, having reached the top of the first ridge my legs had loosened up and I could open up on the flat ploughing through the marshy terrain leaping over wet ground and making towards the peak I could see rearing up ahead of me, I had this entire part of the land to myself and it is a wonderful feeling dancing along walls 100's of meters above the ground with your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground, how I spend most my days anyway.
The ridge on the lead up to Benbaun is a magnificent part of the run stretching for a few kilometres before finally you come up to the bottom of the last major push upwards. The clouds began to clear as I made my zig zag route up along the scree towards the top of the mountain,  I could see lough Inagh and the surrounding Maam and Bens stretching out to either side of me.

 I pushed on towards the summit ploughing up through the sliding rock, I reached the top in 26 minutes and 45 seconds, I sat on top in the makeshift shelter surrounding the trig point caught my breath and took in my surroundings. It was a wonderful day the sun was bearing down and all around me were the mountain ranges, scenery, lakes and rivers of Connemara. I sat eating for some time before packing up and hitting for the car along the centre of the horse shoe, following the river back towards the main road and my car.
A brilliant run, simple but testing and a great way to spend the morning.



"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way"