Bantry paid host to an Alaskan athlete this summer who extended his fitness regime with several runs around the wonderful hills of West Cork.
BANTRY paid host to an Alaskan athlete this summer who extended his fitness regime with several runs around the wonderful hills of West Cork.
Michael Connelly (16) is an Alaskan-born member of the US Skyrunning team but a regular visitor to this part of the world.
Skyrunning is the extreme sport of mountain running above 2,000m on inclines of over 30%.
Michael’s team took fifth place in the Vertical Kilometre in the 2018 Youth Skyrunning World Championships at Gran Sasso in Italy earlier this month.
They took 12th place in the 16km to 9,000ft event, competing against 20 teams from all over the world.
Michael’s mum Claire Tooher is from Slip Lawn in Bantry originally and his great grandparents were also from Bantry.
‘Mikey has done a few runs with the West Cork Trail Runners and he loves running in West Cork and in the mountains over Bantry and Kerry,’ mum Claire, told The Southern Star.
