Marcus Howlett of Run The Kingdom.

THERE’S A NEW running event winging its way towards Kerry in 2016 and judging by the enthusiasm that the organiser, Marcus Howlett, and the running community of Tralee and beyond have shown so far, it promises to be quite the experience.

Marcus, CEO/Founder of the ‘Run The Kingdom’ (RTK) company and Race Director of the Tralee International Marathon, is now delighted to bring the ‘Kerry 24/12/6 Hour Endurance Track Race’ to the Kingdom this September. 

The event, which the RTK website states will be one of the ultimate tests of running endurance in Ireland, is already proving incredibly popular with those determined and tough as nails runners, as at the time of writing, the event is already over half way to being sold out. 

It will all take place at the An Ríocht track in Castleisland on Saturday September 24th through to Sunday September 25th, will see runners take to the 400m long track where they will complete laps of the track for their chosen period of time, with a 6 hour run, a 12 hour run and a 24 hour run the options available. 

“It’s the first time that an event like this will be held in Kerry and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) really, there was one held in Belfast but this will be the first time something like this will come to Kerry,” said Marcus talking to us yesterday. 

“Ultra-running is a growing area and personally, I’m into ultra-running myself and the track out at An Ríocht is just perfect for the event,” he continued. 

“It’s not just going to be a sporting event, it’s a tourism event aswell. We have runners coming from all over Ireland and from the UK aswell, it’s going to be a great chance for Castleisland to show itself off on a national and international scale,” he continued. 

While still a long way off yet, Marcus is hoping that on the day, as many people as possible get down to the track during the event to give support to all the runners, especially those who will be running during the night when it will be most difficult. 

“To run for 24 hours non-stop around a 400 metre track, it’s hard enough to run that long out on the road but to do it on a track, that takes mental toughness, they’ll [the runners] have a great sense of achievement. It’s going to be fantastic event,” he finished. 

To find out more about the ‘Kerry 24/12/6 Hour Endurance Track Race’, you can head over to the RTK website HERE where everything is layed out in detail.