Welcome to episode 4 of Trail Running Ireland. The show is hosted by Eoin Flynn, UTMB Finish Line Race Announcer and 10 times Irish International Mountain Runner. 

First up, Eoin is joined by fellow Irish International and winner of the EcoTrail 29k 2019, Ruairi Long, who brings us the latest trail and mountain running race news from home and abroad, including news of a 1 million dollar virtual Trail race!

(13m30s) Our expert trail running coach Rene Borg, talks about getting the “general phase” right as we build towards arriving in peak condition for racing at the end of the summer. Rene also speaks about the long term benefits Trail running has in terms of injury prevention in comparison to road running.

Rene can be contacted at www.runningcoach.ie

(32m30s) For our feature interview, we speak with Ireland´s number 1 ranked trail runner over the last few years, Paddy O´Leary.

Paddy talks to us about:

·        The current political landscape in the US where he currently lives and the work he is doing regarding finding a cure for CV 19. It´s far from all about running with this man.

·        How both chance and determination led him to the top of podiums in Trail Running races all around the world

·        How he became a professional Trail Runner with North Face and some helpful advice to any runners who might be looking to try and get a sponsorship deal.

·        His tough decision to choose between going for an Olympic Marathon qualifying time or staying on the mountains

·        His mental determination to finish UTMB

·        His trail running adventures in South America and his race in the World Championships in Patagonia

·        His thoughts on the development of Trail and Mountain Running in Ireland with a specific emphasis on putting structures in place for our young runners.

A big thank you to our show sponsor, EcoTrail Wicklow, taking place on Sept 26th 2020. 

https://wicklow.ecotrail.com/

Finally, a special thanks to Basic Needs with Trail runner Shane O´Mahony from Cork on drums, for our very cool soundtrack.

Get your running gear on, let´s go!