A group of 10 Irish mountain climbers set a record yesterday when they completed climbing 26 of Ireland's highest peaks in just under 100 hours.
The group was taking part in the Ulster Bank 100-hour challenge and attempting to become the first people to scale every peak in Ireland's 32 counties in less than 100 hours. They completed their final peak on Mount Errigal in Donegal just before noon yesterday.
The group consists of three teams of four climbers - Ulster Bank, GE Money and members of the 5 Peaks world record team.
To achieve their goal, they had to negotiate 26 mountains, cover 161km (100 miles) and scale 10,000 metres over the course of four days and four hours.
They have raised €100,000 for Sophia Housing and the Irish Osteoporosis Society. The challenge began on Carrauntoohil mountain, Co Kerry, on Wednesday and finished on Mount Errigal yesterday. They completed the challenge in a time of 98 hours and 55 minutes, setting a new world record. The previous record of 168 hours was set by two Australian climbers in 2004.
Team leader Cathal Cregg, whose 5 Peaks team successfully broke the world record for the five highest peaks of Britain and Ireland in 2004, explained why they initially felt the challenge was going to be hard to achieve.
He said the 100-hour limit included the time allocated for all transportation by car, sleep and meals. It represented the equivalent of four marathons back to back over four days.
The challenge required everyone taking part to climb the highest peak in each of the 32 counties. Six of those peaks border neighbouring counties such as the Galtees in Limerick, which spill into Tipperary, which is why there are 26 peaks to be climbed, not 32.
Laura Shilling, from GE Money in Dublin, was the only woman taking part. She is a keen marathon runner.
"At first I was afraid I might not be able to keep up. There's a famous hill in Glendalough, Co Wicklow, called Camaderry, which rises sharply at a 45-degree angle to over 400 feet," she said.
"I knew that I had to be able to get up it in 10 minutes or under, to be able to comfortably keep pace with the lads.
The other participants were David Kenneally, Thurles; Johnny Belton, Wicklow; Dubliners Kevin Leavy, John O'Regan and Darren Delaney; Cathal Craig, Ballinasloe; Dermott Curley, Galway; Ian McKeever, Wicklow and Jim McCormick, Belfast.