This article is from page 57 of the 2011-07-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 57 JPG
ENNIS man Keith Whyte will represent Ireland in the ultra running world trail championships in Connemara on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Ennis Track Club athlete is the only Clare representative on the six-member team, which will compete in the 70K event that covers road, forest and mountains.
Keith, who only took up running four years ago, made his debut on the Irish team in March, when he ran 100K. He secured the qualifying time in that race for the World 100K Championships which will take place in Holland in September. “That will be the road championships. They asked me to take part in this one as well. This will be the first time the team trail championships are taking place in Connemara,” Keith told The Clare People .
He is looking forward to taking on the arduous challenge, which will take him between six and eight hours to complete.
“There will be a lot of mountains and a lot of climbing. Elevation will reach 2, 500 feet. Road racing is my thing, but this is a chance to run with the best trail runners in the world. Every continent will be represented with runners from more than 20 countries,” he said.
“I can’t wait. It’s a chance to represent your country. This will be my first world championships,” he added.
Keith has had a busy few months. He won the Kildare marathon in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes earlier this year, and also won the 50k trail run in Kildare in February. “I won that and it took off from there. I’m loving it. It’s great when you get to represent your country,” he said.