Wicklow man claims new record
WICKLOW cyclist Diarmuid Kavanagh broke the Irish record for ‘Everesting’ after taking on a charity challenge to help raise funds for a fellow cyclist suffering from cancer.
27-year-old Diarmuid was born in Wicklow town and currently resides at Annamoe. He took to the saddle from the base of the climb at Slieve Mann in the Wicklow Mountains just after 7.50 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, to raise funds for Tomas Mulqueen, who is currently undergoing intense chemotherapy treatment at Cork University Hospital, for K Cell Lymphoma in his Oesophagus and Bone Marrow, both of which remain rare conditions in Ireland.
‘Everesting’ involves ascending and descending a given hill multiple times, in order to have cumulatively climbed 8,848 metres.
Speaking about the experience, Diarmuid said: ‘I enjoy spending time on the bike with friends and pushing my body to the limits, but this particular challenge would test every aspect of both my physical and mental strength, and so, I rose to it. I knew climbing uphill 37 times would be no mean feat, but the last few climbs were amongst the toughest I’d experienced in my life; not only was I exhausted, but I think I started to doze off at times too.’
There were times during the challenge where he had to use all of his mental strength to push him over the finish-line.
‘Upon reaching 12 noon, lap numbers were already starting to merge into one and by 3 p.m., the road was beginning to look fuzzy and supportive voices at the top of the climb seemed distant and almost dreamlike.
He was almost running on empty as he reached his last hour, but his cycling companions and the roars of encouragement from the watching crowd gave him the additional push he needed to dig deep and complete the challenge just before 6.30 p.m.
He had not only completed the Everest Challenge, but also broke the Irish record in the process, completing it in 10 hours and 42 minutes. Since then, Diarmuid has been entered into the Hells 500 Everesting Hall of Fame and sits in 51st position in the World out of 5,400 competitors.
While his Irish record was broken less than 24 hours later by Ronan McLaughlin, who also established a new World Record, but Diarmuid still remains proud of his achievement.
‘It was an incredible experience and although I left nothing out there today, I couldn’t be more grateful to my family, my friends and in particular, my cycling friends; Fintan Ryan, Cian Keogh, Luke Kearney and Sam Gilmore, who accompanied me on climbs throughout the day and made sure I was safe from any oncoming cars and most importantly, that I was fed and hydrated,’ he said.
The funds raised by the challenge will go directly towards assisting Tomas Mulqueen in the next phase of his journey after his Bone Marrow transplant in St. James’ Hospital, when he will require financial assistance with rental accommodation for up to six months, near the hospital in Dublin, and further funds for covering medical and donor expenses.