Reign of Terror 2017 - Done and Dusted

20 October 2017

The contrast with the initial Reign of Terror event of 2016 and 2017 could not have been greater. In 2016 it was a glorious sunny day with firm underfoot conditions and the King’s River very shallow and easy to cross. In 2017 after post Hurricane Ophelia and the follow up Storm Brian the course and challenges were very different. None the less a record number participated and the stewarding was again first class. Following on from the success of last year the Reign of Terror obstacle course race this year’s event was fixed for Saturday 21st October, a year exactly after last6 year’s event. The months of preparations started to be put in place the previous Saturday and the new obstacles and course layout was looking good. Then storm Ophelia came on Monday and Tuesday which cause havoc but the forecast for the following days of extreme rain meant the call had to be made on removing all river crossings which of course meant a redesign of the course. Panic stations all round as the scrambling to re position the course began. Then came the flooding of adjoining land which was greater than expected. This meant a further redesign was called for. The call went out for all available persons to join in the already huge team to help get the course set up. What followed was an unbelievable act of community effort as huge teams of people stopped what they were doing, took half days or even full days off to join the cause in order to get the job done. The courage, resolve and determination of the committee and all those involved to never give up and see the job through was emotional and inspiring to watch and be part of. Despite storm Brian deciding to show up the course was ready for record numbers of entrants. The day itself saw the first wave of competitors going off at 9.00 a.m.; these were the elite and the endurance athletes. The elite were doing the 10km Route as fast as they could and local man Sean Connery retained his title by a comfortable margin. The endurance competitors set off to run as many laps as they can over the course of the day, a feat of immense effort. The rest of the participants set off in groups from 9:20a.m. and at 10 minute intervals after that. All competitors were warmed up by the 1st year sports and exercise student of WIT under the leadership of Donna Dunne before they took to the course of either 5km or 10km length. They crawled, squeezed, jumped, laughed, walked, ran, hung out of various obstacles as they went around the course. An added feature of the course was that this year with the kind permission of the OPW all competitors ran through the fantastic grounds of the Medieval Kells Priory before they looped around to finish at the Mill in Kells, exhausted wet, destroyed in mud but extremely happy. This event would not have been able to go ahead without the kind permission of the local landowners and we are all in a debt of gratitude to them. It would be impossible to thank everyone individually who helped in any way to make this happen but from the bottom of their hearts the organising committee wish to express a thank you to all who in any way made the event a great success.. The phrase "People are awesome" springs to mind.