Killarney CC rider Jack Murphy, 16, won the Hell in Paradise 24-hour mountainbike race in Hawaii, beating the defending champion and ultra-marathon mountain biker Steve Villiger by a huge margin.
By Brian Canty
One of Ireland’s most promising up and coming mountain bikers has taken a very significant win against far more experienced competitors in Hawaii, where he is in school.
Killarney CC cyclist Jack Murphy (16) won the ‘Hell in Paradise’ ultra-endurance race when he recorded the highest number of laps of a five-mile course during the 24-hour event.
He beat defending champion and well-known ultra-endurance athlete Steve Villiger.
Murphy is spending his Transition Year with his cousins on the idyllic island in the Pacific Ocean and only entered the race to gain experience.
Torrential rain prior to the event made conditions dangerous as well as extremely demanding.
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But he got down to work early on and with the help of family and friends he stayed fed and hydrated throughout the day and night.
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The senior race, which took place where the iconic film Jurassic Park was filmed, attracted a huge crowd.
But Murphy wasn’t overawed by it and stayed close to the leaders for much of the early stages.
As darkness fell, he found himself two laps down on two pace-setters, but feeling strong he closed the deficit and moved into second around midnight.
Throughout the night he chased the lone leader and top favourite Villiger before catching him around 4am.
And for the remaining hours he succeeded in putting significant daylight between himself and Villiger as well as the others; crossing the line at 9am covered in mud but exhausted and elated.
He completed 36 laps of the course in a time of 23 hours and 21 minutes, a fine achievement just a fortnight after collecting his Junior Cert results.
Murphy looking the worse for wear but delighted with his win!
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