The Wicklow Way
**Wild Running will be taking a four day Wicklow Way guided run this September, staying in Dublin (two nights) and the Glendalough Hostel (two nights). If you're interested in coming, please email us at info@wildrunning.co.uk**
The Wicklow Way
I was walking the Camino Santiago sometime around 2008, when this wondering whisper came about. A Dublin friend mentioned it to me. ‘Ah you’d love the Wicklow Way,’ she breezed. ‘It’d be great craic. It’s very beautiful and you don’t see that many people out doing it’. Her enthusiasm ticked on over time and I let it lie for an opportune moment. She was talking about the 129km (or 80 mile) route, which was established as Ireland’s first waymarked long distance footpath in 1981, and runs southwest from Dublin’s Marlay Park to Clonegal.
Finally this springtime, the whisper turned into a fait accompli. It was cemented by a friend Louise, who had come on one of my Dartmoor camps and subsequently signed up for some of my bespoke PT training, to get fit for the Pacific Crest Trail, a long distance odyssey from Washington to the Canadian border. She talked of forest fires, the threat of bears, the madness of strangers and the importance of place. She also told me about the Wicklow Eco Trail race at the end of September, which tickled my tastebuds.
All it needed was an accomplice in crime but it didn’t take much to persuade Rachel, my kindred spirit, to come with me. She is about the best company I could imagine but had never run more than 20 miles before and day one alone, would take us south from Marlay Park on the southern outskirts of Dublin, to Roundwood… 26 miles to the south. Still, I knew she could do it.
I decided to run-rather than walk it, or part of it, but knew we wouldn’t run the whole thing, with the time we had available, although I’m sure we could have! with an extra day. Having heard that the last day’s walking to Clonegal has the most tarmac and boreens (single lane roads), I decided that this section was the most missable.
Although we did have fun mercilessly deriding each other's additons and abstentions, it was clear we were not big packers and managed to take the minimum to get us through the Ryan Air cheap seats. This included a men's hoodie, some good trail running shoes, or if you're walking it, a reliable pair of hiking boots to cushion the ride, 1000ml water bottles, midge repellent (which we didn’t need), three pairs of socks (which we did!), a map of the route (which we definitely did), which we bought from a well hidden Dublin bookshop (OS doesn’t cover it), a compass (didn't need), phone and rain gear just in case.
It was JB Malone, who developed an interest in the heathery hills, beginning six miles south of Dublin’s urban sprawl. He'd planned a circular route, along the eastern flanks of the Wicklow Hills, heading back north on the western side. But access issues ruled this out.
Trailblazing new routes is the preserve of a dedicated few, who are in it for the long haul. Tirelessly treading paths, documenting and collaborating with landowners before committing it to writing for posterity. It requires a blend of planning, physical effort and reflection, with long periods of inactivity.
Over subsequent years, routes were added like St Kevin’s Way at Glendalough, running westward to Hollywood. The Dublin Mountains Way connects Shankill to Tallaght. The Avonmore Way links Rathdrum and the Sugarloaf to Bray. The European Ramblers Association have also added extended links to other spider’s webs, running right across Europe.
Rachel and I had chosen the finest three days of the year to run the way, or so we were told on more than one occasion. Normally we’d have encountered some clag or rain, or at least some wind blowing in off the coast. But we had nothing but blue skies, passing hilly mountain bike tracks, wooded valleys, river crossings, heathery glades- a lot of them, foxgloves, which like the acid soils of Wicklow, honeysuckle, dog rose, primrose and bluebells beneath beech trees and yellow birdsfoot on grassy verges. We started with an ice cream in Marlay Park and pretty soon were building a sweat climbing the cycle paths up to its highest point at Fairy Castle cairn, which is perhaps the last time you can get a truly panaromic view of Dublin Bay, leaving then old-new-world and Dublin's charms behind. Rachel's woops as we descended, made it feel like we were skiing not running. The heather and smell of pine, gave this part of the route a gaeilic-alpine feel, which is about as good a combo as I could envisage.
Seven hours later, but no more weary, we were coming down off White Hill, beneath the shadow of Djouce, the highest pass on the way, at just 733 meters. The acidic peaty ground had been overlain with wooden boardwalks, so we were able to run not sink, for most of the way. We could see the peaty forest flanks of Roundwood and a loch to our right. Neiethr of us were in any hurry to finish the run, except we had friends awaiting us in Roundwood.
Louise and her partner were patiently waiting for us at The Coach House, an elegant bistro pub, in Roundwood. Afterwards they took us back to their lovely apartment in Greystone, which was built during the Irish property boom, about 15 years ago. We learnt about Barry’s Tea- a staple in Irelend, Tato crisps and the Happy Pear, a PT couple who ran a health food and PT business in Greystone.
Day Two would be a much shorter day to Glendalough. It’s like the Keswick/Windermere of the Wicklow Way, visited by tourists in buses because of its monastic heritage and geological significance. The granite/schist junctions created opportunities for lead mines. It’s still well worth a visit, especially if you’ve never been there before.
You can circumnavigate the Upper Lake in Glendalough valley, to take in the miner’s village and the lead mines on its northern flanks. At the eastern end of the Lower Lake was a hostel, where we decided to stay.
We chose to spend the following day running the 10k or so around the lake, as it was so beautiful and Rachel had developed a hip problem. We’d also learnt that public transport could be a little unpredictable, having waited 90 minutes for a bus, which never arrived, in Dublin, to take us to the start in Marlay Park.
There’s a bus service at the hostel in Glendalough, which runs to Tinahely, which can also take you back to Dublin but we decided not to take this, choosing instead to take a cab to Arklow and a bus back to Dublin. We subsequently discovered there are all kinds of companies which will take your bags between destinations for not very much charge. However, the bespoke transport companies operating on the route are more pricey and you’re just as well advised to take a cab.
**Wild Running will be taking a four day Wicklow Way guided run this September, staying in Dublin (two nights) and the Glendalough Hostel (two nights). If you're interrsted in coming, please email us at info@wildrunning.co.uk**
There is a dedicated website www.wicklowway.com, which has a list of accommodation providers and transport options.