The Barrow Blitz

Philip McCormack described the Barrow as Ireland’s hidden gem.

By David Partridge
Photos: Pure Adventure Ireland

Philip McCormack described the Barrow as Ireland’s hidden gem. “The tourists go west or south, but here is the second longest river in Ireland”. It is indeed a gem, as is the event, run and won by his son Patrick.

I had doubts whether writing this as a special event or ‘secret holiday’ could be spoiled by publicity, but Patrick will protect this event based around his hometown in Ireland.

I signed up on a whim, adding a holiday and exploring new places to paddle. Ireland offers more rivers, loughs and coasts than any paddler could imagine. The Shannon was quickly added to my list; longest river with incredible scenery, but, as Philip pointed out, beset by headwinds and eejits in boats.

The west offers fantastic scope: inlets and a sheltered coastline. In the bar, I learnt that the Irish race circuit holds a winter and summer series with locations north and south and 30 or more paddlers, even in January, braving Dublin, Cork, or Achill Island. 

There is just so much scope, and all within reasonable travel distance. 

The bar was described at the briefing. “We will go there after; it’s a quiet place, a hardware store and pub.” To my mind, the great community and comradeship is what the Blitz is about; yes, it is an ultra for paddling (50km), but really, the endurance in the post-race wash-up is what counts. I fell by the wayside after a few laps. The only question at the briefing was how many portages, “Oh, maybe 12 or 13.”

There was a great gang of ‘regular paddlers’ from Northern Ireland, many of whom pitched up at mainland UK events such as the Great Glen. Once again, many new and old friends were reunited through paddling. We exchanged stories and lists of events and who is doing what: 11 cities, Glen, Broads Ultra or SUP 12. As the night lengthened out, so did the to-do list. Emily King had come over using the event as a part of a family holiday. Steve and Clara, John Dermot, and Rachel are based in the north, but they regularly paddle all over Ireland. They had dozens of tips and advice.

We did recall what, for most, was a lovely paddle. There was good flow, wind on our backs, great scenery, and fantastic support at the checkpoints.

The route signs drew gossip, such as ‘Don’t wash horses here’ on a slipway. We also tried to work out how many portages we crossed. “Thirteen perhaps; do you remember that one with rope steps? Patrick put those in!”

Entrants came from the UK, North and South Ireland, America, Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine. Most were drawn by the challenge and the event’s unique hospitality and friendliness.

The board choice was complicated. Patrick, a local riverman and experienced paddler ( he has completed the 11 cities nonstop), chose his one hardboard. Emily King had a 24-starboard airline ISUP. There were a number of infinity, starboard, and other options. There was a roughly 50:50 split between hardboards and ISUPs.

I was delighted to try the 2024 Red inflatable Elite. Thanks, Red, for the kind support. It was, to my mind, a great choice. It was not as quick as a thinner race board, but at 26 inches, it was quite sparky, and the stiffness was spot on. Its huge advantage was the relatively light weight in those 13 portages. Pulling a carbon board out without dinks would be a challenge, and Steve remarked how board preservation had slowed his race.

The discussion around the Elite revolved around the improvements. It has a better handle position for easier portage ( the older version was nose-heavy), and it is thinner, stiffer, and lighter – a much more competitive board. It looked scary, but after 50km, it felt more stable and forgiving than at first, and my confidence grew.

The course was brilliant. Although advertised as mountain views, we had low clouds, which at least kept the temperature down. 

Greeness, Ireland, is truly the Emerald Isle. It has trees, beautiful Victorian bridges, glimpses of stately homes, racehorses, cows, green fields, industrial heritage old warehouses, lock cottages, and churches – all unspoilt and inviting.

All along the route, people cheered, and even the fishermen shouted good luck. I saw a salmon leap – hundreds of Irish ‘hummingbirds’ kingfishers darting back and forth. At the briefing, Patrick noted the swans with cygnets, but Irish swans even seemed friendly.

The route down river avoids weirs, and the river is navigable, so there are stretches of canal with towpaths, cyclists, walkers and friendly encouragement. Sometimes, you wonder if you have gone the right way as the canal seems interminable, dipping away from the river. “Carry right on there. It’s only a mile or two more,” is the response. “I’ve seen another fella go past ahead.” Keen followers could cover the route on mountain bikes as the towpath follows the route.

The event is about the ‘craic’. There seem to be more supporters than paddlers. A gang of great children were mentioned in particular. They had come to cheer on Mum but had advice for everyone: Patrick, river man McCormack, who smashed out a record time, was asked why he paddled so quickly. Clara, who had a fin strike just before checkpoint two, hitting a submerged log under the bridge, was asked, “Was the water cold? Did she enjoy swimming, and did she realise this took her lead away!” The stories poured out in the Guinness fuelled afters. I will not mention the effect of bananas on some.

The results would be academic, except we need to celebrate riverman Patrick’s phenomenal victory. He was taken paddling at three months old by his dad, Phillip, a watersports instructor, and lives and breathes the water. He runs a watersports business and manages the event. Emily King Welsh, SUP lead for Paddle UK, was a Starboard team paddler and blitzed the women’s race. She was keen to foster Welsh-Irish paddling links. The honours, though, go to all who took part in Ireland’s only ultra.

Sponsors Basaltsix  (www.basaltsix.com) provided great prizes and supported the sup competition in Ireland.

The Barrow is a hidden gem, and the Blitz is a gem of a race. 

Riverman Patrick McCormack is truly a river dancer when it comes to putting on a show and deserves a bigger audience. If you want a holiday in Ireland, maybe a week or two of paddling, put this event into your calendar for next year to be sure it’s a great craic.

Oh, and in his summary, Patrick did mention 17 portages!

Results

Barrow Blitz SUP Challenge 2024 – 51.4km

Female:
1^st Emily King – Wales. 6hr 32min 25sec
2^nd Carla Milne – Ireland. 6hr 42min 39sec
3^rd Rachel Elliott – UK. 7hr 47min 40sec 
4^th Jessica O’Keeffe – Ireland. 7hr 49min 32sec
5^th Kärt Paalma – Estonia. 8hr 02min 30sec
6^th Merlin Veilberg – Estonia. 8hr 04min 28sec
7^th Pauline Barry – Ireland. 8hr 45min 06sec 
DNF Amy McCollom – Ireland.
DNF Arite Nelke – Latvia.
DNF Anastasiia Havronska – Ukraine.

Male: 
1^st Patrick McCormack – Ireland. 5hr 37min 02sec
2^nd Dermot Woodhouse – Ireland/USA 6hr 24min 35sec
3^rd Patrick Murtagh – Ireland. 6hr 42min 39sec
4^th David Partridge – UK. 7hr 03min 24sec
5^th Colm Kenny – Ireland. 7hr 04min 55sec
6^th John McDermot – Ireland. 7hr 07min 08sec
7^th Steven Bishop – UK. 7hr 21min 16sec
8^th Daniel O’Sullivan – Ireland. 7hr 38min 24sec
9^th Martin Rowe – Ireland. 7hr 46min 00sec
10^th Gavin Canning – Ireland. 7hr 50min 52sec
11^th Paul Farrell – Ireland. 9hr 04min 12sec
12^th Pa Whelan – Ireland. 9hr 04min 18sec
DNF Blake Kiely – Ireland.