Battling Glenmalure, Joe Barr on his way to Race Around Ireland victory. He crossed the finish line in the early hours of this morning (Photo: Team Joe Barr)
Joe Barr (59) wins Race Around Ireland 2018
Joe Barr has won Race Around Ireland for the second time; claiming the 2018 victory after sleeping for just three hours in five days.
Barr, a former road race pro turned endurance rider, looked shattered when he reached the finish line in Trim, Co Meath, after 2,157km.
Joe Barr rode the first Race Around Ireland back in 2009. That effectively launched a second career for him, as an endurance rider.
And though now aged 59 years, his reputation grows at home and internationally in the endurance wing of the sport.
This time around Barr approached the race as a much more experienced athlete but also a decade older. And he faced a race-long challenge from Czech endurance star Svaťa Božák.
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Barr had made his move early in the grueling event; pressing on hard on the first night after seeing his rival stopping in Coleraine.
Božák was then forced to respond or see the title slip away. And that set up a head-to-dead no-quarter-given dynamic from the outset.
Both riders forced each other to keep pressing at a pace and on a time schedule that neither found comfortable, nor had planned for.
In the end, it was a very close run thing. Barr ran out the winner by two hours after 104 hours of racing. The Irish rider would finish in the small hours of this morning, some 38 minutes after midnight.
“That wasn’t easy,” said 59-year-old Barr of the event which he described as his most aggressive since taking up the discipline.
“It’s great to come back here. Before I started I said I wanted to do a really good ride.
“I sort of knew it might be my last time here. So to win it a second time and to have to race all the way is more important.”
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The Meath Fire Blazers and Trim CC who won the eight and four-man team categories.
Joe Barr said a lot had changed in the decade since he’d last won the event; endurance racing now more popular and more competitive than ever.
“It’s a different race, it’s a professional race. When we came here in 2009 the sport was just starting. Look what’s been achieved. I think this may be my last solo in Ireland.
“And when we do Race Across America next year I think that might be my last solo. I’ve raced for 45 years, every year so it’s time."
“I really enjoyed the climbs and thank you to Race Around Ireland for the prizes,” he added. He won both special intermediate prizes.
The Joe Roche Award and the Ciarán Smith Award were on offer for fastest times through special sections.
On the brutal race around the country, in some wet and cold conditions, Barr singled out Kerry for special mention. He said it tested him to his absolute limit.
“When I came here, climbing big hills was what I do best. So I pushed on all the hills. But Ballaghisheen nearly got me. I pushed hard and halfway up I nearly blew,” he explained.
Team categories, Ultra race
A Trim Cycling Club selection, in whose town the race finished, won the Race Around Ireland four-rider team event.
Michael Molloy, Fergus Fagan, John Lee and Alan Kearney rode in relay throughout the 2,157km race.
And in the eight-man team category, Meath Fire Blazers proved victorious in a time of 77 hours and one minute.
The team was captained by Brian Rogers and also included Ian Caldwell, Matt Smith, Gary Ayton, Barry Quinn, Seán Mulligan, Thomas Nelson and Gavin Shipp.
They shared the riding duties and raised funds for Meath Hospice in their three-day non-stop journey.
Philip Culbert won the Race Around Ireland’s sister event held at the same time; the Irish Ultra Challenge.
The 48-year-old Dubliner rode to the finish Trim GAA Club in record speed after 1,075km. He spent 47 hours and seven minutes in the saddle.
More to follow.
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