Words by Maeve Murphy
Last year, we lined out for the Kerry Way Ultra Relay as “Bunch of Nutters” an all-woman team competing with one simple idea in mind: to show that a team of women could. Could take on the distance. Could handle the hills. Could race hard. It could belong in a space that still feels, at times, like it needs a few more women standing on the start line.
The Kerry Way Ultra Relay is the team event in the Kerry Way Ultra: roughly 200km of trail running along the Kerry Way, starting and finishing in Killarney and taking runners through some of the wildest, most beautiful and unforgiving parts of the Iveragh Peninsula. The relay teams share the route between them, passing the tracker from runner to runner at designated crew stops.
This was an incredible sporting experience that stayed with us long after we crossed the finish line. We clambered up bog mountains, traversed the boardwalks, navigated through the magic, wild and dark skies of Kerry, had a ridiculous amount of fun in the team Volkswagen ID Buzz, celebrated and supported each other at the handovers, and finished second – close enough to taste what might be possible, and far enough away to start plotting the return journey somewhere around the first post-race coffee.
This September, we’re coming back to the Kerry Way Ultra teams event as, “Long Distance Relay-tionship” and once more (as of the date of writing!), the only all-women team to compete in it. We’re back not only to reinforce the point but also because we loved it. Because the Kerry hills have a way of getting under your skin, and because once you’ve felt that mix of nerves, grit, exhaustion, laughter and teamwork on the route, it’s very hard not to want another crack at it.
At the heart of this team is friendship, but also something a little bigger: a shared belief that trail running is for more people than often think it is. So who are the “Long Distance Relay-tionship” team members?
The Team
I’m Maeve Murphy, a corporate and M&A lawyer, mom of two based in Killarney, long-time adventure racing and trail running enthusiast, and “strategic instigator” of the group. Over the years, trail running has taken me from the hills of Kerry in the Kerry Way Ultra Lite and the phenomenal Waterville Trail Festival, to Trail Dents du Midi in Switzerland, the 7 Cidades in the Azores and plenty of places in between. After completing the Kerry Way Ultra Lite in 2024, I felt there was something missing from the adventure for me, or, more specifically, three things. I wanted to participate in the team event, to have that camaraderie and support, and specifically I wanted to create an all-women team: strong, fearless and proud. I’m hugely inspired by women who are changing the face of trail and ultra running, in particular Sophie Power, founder of SheRACES, whose work to make racing more inclusive and accessible for female athletes really resonates with what we are trying to show in our own small way. It is also amazing to see Irish trail racing taking on that same spirit of inclusion, with Ireland’s first ever female-only trail race – Ultra Trail Na Mbán announced for April next 2027, a 24km and 56km trail race organised by Trail Críu across the Wicklow mountains, which we are so excited about. I’m passionate about more women taking on trail running and making the sport more visible and possible. So …I started not-so-quietly plotting a womens team for the Kerry Way Ultra Relay event, and I knew straight away who to call first.
Ger Arnott – a long-term friend connected by our shared love of the mountains. Ger is the competitive one — the woman who hears the word “challenge” and somehow interprets it as “excellent, but can we make it harder?” After being enthralled by her venture into the Kerry Way Ultra Relay last year, she has wasted no time levelling up this season, taking on the Wicklow Way Ultra, a 127km trail race across Wicklow. Ger is also a keen Hyrox competitor, so she brings a brilliant mix of endurance, drive and a fairly high tolerance for discomfort. As a mum of two, visibility for women in sport is incredibly important to her: she’s out on the trails leading by example so her daughter never has to question whether she can do something just as tough. While she’ll be the first to clarify that she’s not actually a scientist, Ger is our resident sports science enthusiast, helping us think more intelligently about nutrition, muscle development and recovery. She brings a depth of knowledge from her career in marketing across food science, women’s health and pharma that gives the team a real edge — even if some of us are still mostly applying it in the form of nodding seriously while thinking about the glass of chardonnay or chocolate at the end of the run.
Anne Carrayrou brings a different kind of strength. She is gritty, loyal and an avid running enthusiast, the kind of person who turns up and gets on with it. Anne, who is originally from France, now lives in Dublin and is a super proud mother to a little one who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Maeve initially roped Anne into joining her on the Waterville Trail Festival in 2023 and she has since developed a love of the trails, joining the Dublin mountain running team, competing in the Kerry Way Relay in 2024, the Trail des Avens in France and the Eco Trail Wicklow. Anne is also inspired to run for her little one who can’t – and because of this she channels so much love and meaning into every challenge she takes on. This year, she’ll also be running the mythic SaintéLyon, a winter 80km ultra trail in France, chosen for its symbolism of starting in the dark, finishing in the light and the distance representing roughly the number of people living with SMA in Ireland. Anne also brings a wonderfully dry French sense of humour that tends to appear at exactly the right moment, usually when morale needs lifting or cows are blocking the path! Following Maeve’s path in bringing more women to trail running, Anne has now also encouraged more female friends to join her running adventures in the Dublin mountains.
And last, but certainly not least, there is Dorota Biedron, originally from Poland and living in Ireland for more than ten years. Dorota is the quiet leader of the group — the sort of person whose calm presence improves everything without her ever needing to say very much. She is the empath of the team, the one who notices if someone is tired, hungry, stressed or needs a bit of looking after before they’ve even said it themselves. That kind of support matters more than people realise in an endurance team. Dorota has a way of making everyone feel steadier, more capable and better fed with her savage homemade flapjacks! She also happens to be an absolute natural in the mountains: strong, sure-footed and totally at home on rough ground. She is a complete mountain enthusiast and, frankly, a bit of a goat – the kind of runner who makes steep terrain look less like a problem and more like a personality trait.
Individually, we are very different runners, with different backstories, motivations and strengths. Together, we have a shared goal and keep each other going, adapt when things get messy, dig in when it gets tough and laugh when things go sideways – which, in trail running, is often.
That is what we think makes the Kerry Way Ultra Relay so special. You run your own leg, but you never really run alone. Every climb, wrong turn, dark patch, snack strategy and burst of stubbornness feeds into the next person’s effort. You hand over more than a tracker, you hand over momentum, belief and the responsibility not to let the side down.
And yes, being an all-woman team matters. Visibility matters. Sometimes the biggest barrier to trying something is simply not seeing yourself in it. But we are not turning up just to make a point. We are turning up as runners who love the sport, respect the challenge and want to race well. If that also encourages more women to sign up, join a club, take on a trail race or simply give the mountains a go, then all the better.
Anne Carrayrou – Fundraising “For 80 people who can’t – I run” open until 3.12.2026
