The story of Killary Gaelforce began in 2006 when renowned adventurer and Director of Killary Adventure Company, Jamie Young, supported by Failte Ireland and others, brought his dream of hosting the largest one-day adventure race in Europe to life. Gaelforce West was born and adventure racing in Ireland came to be. Here is a snapshot of how the Gaelforce journey has progressed since then.

Gaelforce Events is born creating one strong and recognisable brand for the events that were to come.

The Connemara Adventure Challenge (a sprint adventure race) and the Turf Guy Challenge (an obstacle race through the Connemara bog) began and were unique events for the Irish adventure racing scene at the time.

Gaelforce Events take on the wilds of Donegal with Gaelforce North. A sprint distance event was added to Gaelforce North in 2012 to cater for the less experienced racer.

In 2012 the Bray 10km Trail Blazer brought runners on a 10km trail and beach run along the cliffs of Bray Head on a spring evening. Now a sell-out event renamed as the Bray 10km Cliff Run. 2012 also brought a new and daring direction with an open water swimming event in October, The Great Fjord Swim. Taking place in magnificent Killary Fjord and now including 3 distances it continues to grow each year.

In 2013 the Turf Guy toughened up as it became the Turf Warrior and much ingenuity and expense was invested in making this a superb obstacle course which featured on Ireland’s Fittest Families. 2013 saw the introduction of a women-only adventure race in Galway.

2014 saw the introduction of a women-only adventure race in Roundwood Wicklow.

2015 saw the Gaelforce Mountain Run, taking place in the Maamturk mountains begin. Experienced mountain runners were attracted by the unmarked routes and generous prize money. This is a Gaelforce staff favourite as it is our home training ground and is such a spectacular location and a tough challenge.

2016 brought more innovation and daring with a night cycle and a regular triathlon - both in Connemara. The Night Rider Sportif took place in April on a beautiful moonlit night and the Connemara Triathlon was launched in September.

In 2016 John West Ireland joined as title sponsors of Gaelforce events providing natural protein products to our athletes.

2017 saw us take on the exciting task of bringing a major adventure race to the capital city with Gaelforce Dublin in February. We stayed in Dublin for a second trail running event in 2017 as the Howth Summit 10km run began in October 2017 and has had extra waves added due to its phenomenal success!

And finally…for now, 2018 brought an added level of endurance to the already iconic Gaelforce West with the introduction of Gaelforce West Ultra. 152km of pure endurance! 
 

2019 see's the addition of the Gaelforce 10K Kippure trail run to the Gaelforce events calendar. It is part of the Gaelforce 10K Trilogy trail run series.

We are very excited about the future and we look forward to seeing you at one of our start lines soon.