Most Inspiring Person of the Year - In Memory of Olly O'Neill supported by Craghoppers: Outsider Awards 2023

Inspiring, impressive and downright incredible! We put the call out for you, our readers, to let us know about the most inspirational people from the Irish outdoor and adventure scene in 2023! And you didn’t let us down.

Competition!

To celebrate this year’s Outsider Awards Craghoppers have agreed to give you the chance to win €500 of Craghoppers kit! Fill out the form below.

COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED!

If you’re a nominee, consider yourself cordially invited to our annual awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 21 February 2024 in the Sugar Club, Dublin. We are thrilled skinny to announce that our fab sponsors are on board to help us celebrate all that is great and good about the Irish adventure scene, so it’s guaranteed to be a good party.

Our hugely generous title sponsor for the Outsider Awards 2023 is Sport Ireland Outdoors, our other supporting sponsors are Craghoppers, Leave No Trace, Salewa, Vagabond Tours, Sustainable Travel Ireland and Nuasan.

For everyone else, a limited number of tickets are on sale through the link below. Subscribe to our email newsletter on our homepage to hear more about the Outsider Awards 2023.

BUY YOUR TICKETS

We were bowled over by both the quality and quantity of the stories you sent us. So sit down, make yourself comfortable and read the spine-tingling and inspirational stories of these extraordinary people who are now officially on the list of nominees for the #OutsiderAwards.

Eamonn Keaveney, endurance unicyclist

Eamonn Keaveney (31) aced one of the most original and impressive feats of endurance the country has ever seen this year – when he rode the length of Ireland on a unicycle in just six days.

Eamonn – who hails from Claremorris in County Mayo – has been raising money for suicide prevention charities since 2016, when he walked around Ireland barefoot and earned a World Record in the process. He followed that up in 2018 by climbing 10 Irish mountains, also barefoot.

Then a year later, while bartending at Warde’s in Claremorris, one of his customers asked him, what was next? For a laugh, they looked up unusual journeys on the Guinness World Records website. “We came across the ‘fastest time to unicycle across Ireland record’, and for some reason I thought, ‘hey, I could do that!’,” says Eamonn, even though he’d never even seen a unicycle in real life at that point.

But he soon learnt how and bought himself a huge unicycle. Covid and an injury delayed the challenge but in 2023 he told himself it was this year or never. His record-breaking ride from Mizen to Malin Head raised almost €6,000 for Simon Communities, who work with those at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

His advice for anyone wanting to take on a life challenge? “Don’t give too much weight to the voice in your head that says you can’t do something. I’ve had people tell me they could never do what I did – but that’s not true. I think it’s very important not to put yourself in a box and put limits on what you can do before you’ve even tried.”

Nikki Bradley, runner

Nikki Bradley (37) inspired the whole country this year when she returned to running following a leg amputation to take part in the VHI Mini Marathon.

Nikki – who is from Donegal – was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer aged 16. She’s since received two hip replacements and in 2022 underwent rotationplasty surgery, which saw her thigh removed and her knee, shin, and foot rotated and then reattached where her hip was.

She’s been using crutches since 2012 and now also wears a prosthetic, yet Nikki has never let that stop her from heading out on adventures and pushing herself to the max. She’s climbed glaciers in Iceland, abseiled off Fanad Lighthouse in Donegal and finished the iconic and gruelling 24km Fan Dance in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

In 2023, she was approached by VHI to be an ambassador for their 10km Women’s Mini Marathon. “It was a great opportunity to restart my training after my amputation, so it was an easy yes,” says Nikki.

She found the training enjoyable but says the atmosphere on race day was by far the biggest highlight. “The route passed St. Vincent’s Hospital and my mum, sister and I took a moment to stop outside to reflect on the fact I was passing the hospital during this hugely positive event rather than going in for treatment,” she says.

Her advice for others wanting to challenge themselves? “Don’t overthink it, just sign up. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Keith Russell, ultra runner

Keith Russell (40) achieved a national first this year, when he became the first Irish person to compete in the iconic and highly technical Big Dogs Backyard World Championship ultra race in America.

Keith – from Navan in County Meath – did his first backyard ultra in 2021, setting a new national record in the process. Unlike a regular ultra, which is defined as a race of marathon distance or longer, in a backyard ultra, competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6.706 km in less than an hour, vying to be the last runner standing.

“It’s not for the faint-hearted,” says Keith. “It will ask you questions you never even dreamed of and push your boundaries further than you could ever imagine.” He tapped out after 74 hours of running and sleep deprivation. “It was a tough moment for me as I knew I wasn’t going to make the start line for the next lap,” he says. “But I also knew my body was done, I couldn’t have done anymore.”

Just getting to race at Big Dogs was a huge goal for Keith and he loved the experience and friendly support system that exists around the event. “You meet so many people, runners, and crew,” he says. “A girl from Michigan called Annabelle contacted me to see if I needed someone to crew for me. We struck up a great friendship and had great laughs. We will definitely aim to be back there in 2025.”

Ricki Wynne

Ricki Wynne, a 40-year-old mountain ultra runner hailing from Leitrim, secured a spot on the Irish senior mountain running team for the World Mountain Running Championships 2023 in Innsbruck. Chronicling his running journey on Instagram, Ricki serves as an inspiration to individuals of all ages and backgrounds, encouraging them to persevere and pursue their dreams.

Through regular updates on his Instagram page, Ricki candidly shares the challenges and triumphs of balancing a manual labour job with high-level training. Renowned for his “Keep Showing Up” mantra, Ricki’s motivational words resonate with his followers whenever doubt creeps in.

In an outstanding mountain running season, Ricki emerged as the top-performing Irishman at both the World Mountain Running Championships and the CCC 100km race in Chamonix.

Ricki is a relative newcomer to the sport, he ventured into ultra-distance racing in 2017 with the Portumna 50k, completing it in a commendable time of 4 hours and 5 minutes. Hooked on the sport, he returned the following year, surpassing his previous time by over 20 minutes, marking the beginning of a consistent upward trajectory in his performance.

In a remarkable achievement in 2022, Ricki shattered the world record for the most vertical distance climbed and descended on foot in 24 hours. Running up and down Croagh Patrick 15 times within the given timeframe. He conquered a total ascent and descent of 12,000 metres, raising an impressive €37,000 for the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association.

For more details about this record-breaking challenge, you can visit: https://outsider.ie/challenges/hero-of-the-week-ricki-wynne-world-record-run/

Collette O’Hagan, runner

This year, Collette O’Hagan – a truly inspirational 74-year-old – completed her 900th marathon – an amazing achievement. She is also a big advocate of fostering and has fostered over 80 children in the course of her life.

Collette – from Dundalk in County Louth – started running marathons in the 1990s, when Ireland only held two marathons a year, in Dublin and Belfast. She’d been ill for a while and her husband took her out running as part of her recovery. She started with a women’s mini marathon, then the Dublin City Marathon and since then she’s never looked back.

More recently, she started running multiple marathons each year having met members of the 100 marathon club. “I was infected by their enthusiasm and so began a journey which was to take me to many countries, running the six majors (Tokyo, New York, Boston, Chicago, Berlin and London) and several 24-hr events, including one in Belfast, where I won gold in my age category,” she says.

She has also fostered children throughout her life, inspired by a childhood of looking after her siblings, while her parents worked on a farm. “The idea to foster children came quite easily to me,” says Collette, who also worked in Romanian orphanages in the early 1990s. “When you foster, that child becomes part of your family until they can return to their family. Every child deserves a chance in life but not every child gets the chance.” She believes running helps her immensely in this role as it frees her mind.

Paddy Conaghan, swimmer

Paddy Conaghan (82) swam in every port and beach along Ireland’s coast this year, raising over €100,000 for charity. This expedition shows incredible endurance along with a story that warms the heart.

From the age of 17 to 80, Paddy – from Arranmore Island in County Donegal – didn’t swim at all. But in 2020, his friend set up a free counselling charity in Dungloe, called Gemma’s Legacy of Hope, and Paddy wanted to help raise some funds for them. He decided to do so by going for swims all around Donegal. He started going down to the local beach every day. “It didn’t take me long to get back into the swing of things,” says Paddy, “So instead of going around Donegal, I decided to do the whole of Ireland.” He raised over €100,000 and last winter he chose to take on the whole endeavour, known as the Ducking and Diving Charity Challenge, again, raising a similar amount for a clutch of charities in each province.

“I loved the training, travelling around the coast with the most breathtaking scenery, and meeting the most amazing people,” he says. Paddy was also blown away by people’s generosity. Many gave him food and hospitality, while others took time out of their day to show him around the beaches. When his van broke down, one couple even lent him theirs! “There was good in every day, and I would finish my day off with a wee whiskey or a pint in the local pub,” he says. His parting wisdom for us? “We only have one shot at life, so it is up to us to enjoy it and make the most of it.”

Jennifer Doherty, climber

Jennifer Doherty (37) inspired the country with her outstanding climbing achievements this year – becoming the first blind person to conquer Ireland’s seven biggest mountains.

Jennifer – from Buncrana in County Donegal – has been blind since birth. She always loved nature and the outdoors but hadn’t done much hiking, when the mountaineer Jason Black, who is also from Donegal, got in touch to see if she fancied joining a trip to Everest Base Camp in Nepal in 2022.

“The trip was life-changing,” says Jennifer, and it immediately left her wanting more. She plans to climb Kilimanjaro in the future and struck upon the idea of the 7 Summits Challenge to keep her fitness levels up.

“The hardest thing for me in terms of climbing while being blind is finding people to hike with at the level I want to or am capable of,” she says. “Sometimes people are nervous guiding me and when they are I can feel it straight away so I can’t properly relax. But Jason’s constant motivation and belief in me has encouraged me to do things I never would have thought of before.”

Jennifer loved the challenge and found she met lots of friendly and helpful people from all around Ireland. Of course, some sections were challenging, especially the final day in the Derryveagh mountains and the Seven Sisters in Donegal. “I thought I might never make it to the end but giving up was never an option,” she says.

Laura McEvoy, climber

Inspirational Laura McEvoy (21) overcame serious injuries from a car accident – which left her unable to walk – to take up climbing and then, decided to abseil down the Rathlin Wall at Fairhead – one of Ireland’s wildest cliffs – and then climb back up again for charity.

Following a car crash in October 2022, Laura – from Newcastle in County Down – suffered a fractured neck, broken back and incomplete spinal cord injury. She spent five months in hospital and was told there was no guarantee she’d ever walk again.

Yet, after facing these life-changing injuries, she decided to adopt a mindset of saying: “Yes!” to everything; she was invited to try an inclusive indoor rock climbing session, which she loved. “Mountaineering Ireland made the sessions so fun, and I found out that climbing is good for nerve recovery and coordination, so I was keen to keep it up for my rehab,” says Laura.

She wanted to do something extreme to mark a year since her injury and to raise some money, so she asked Ricky Bell and Paul Kellagher at Mountaineering Ireland for their suggestions. “They brought up the idea of the Rathlin Wall at Fairhead. I’d never seen the cliff so didn’t know the extent of this challenge but when I did, I thought ‘Wow’!”

Laura found pulling herself up the cliff extremely physically exerting, but she really enjoyed the day and the huge support she received and has already raised £4.5k towards running an inclusive outdoors programme next year. Her advice for others? “You are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for.”

Eoin Keith, Endurance Athlete

Eoin Keith

Eoin Keith (55), from Cork, has completed so many ultra-endurance races that we would be here all night if we were to list them all. Multi-day adventure races Primal Quest in Utah and the Adventure Racing World Championships in Tasmania, the Winter Spine running race, a 268-mile run in the depths of British winter along the Pennine Way (which he has won and broken course records), UTMB Oman, and the 360 challenge Gran Canaria are just a few of his proudest accomplishments.

Keith also partakes in 24-hour, 3-day and 6-day fixed-time races where he does crazy things like running around an indoor or outdoor track as many times as he can in that period without stopping – a hobby in which he has set multiple records over the years. “I’ve had at least one never-again moment in every fixed-time race I’ve done,” admits Keith.

When it comes to tough-to-complete races, Keith admits that the Barkley Marathons in the United States are like no other. It says a lot about a race when a letter of condolences is issued in place of an entry confirmation. The course consists of a 32km unmarked loop with no aid stations except water at two points. Runners then attempt to run the loop five times, changing direction every second loop. It sounds relatively benign compared with the other races Keith has under his belt but with 16,500m of elevation on almost impossible terrain, 55% of the races run so far have ended with not a single finisher.

Keith has come a long way since his running debut at the Dublin Marathon in 1998 and he shows no signs of slowing down. At the time of writing, he is busy preparing for The Spine and Northern Traverse races. “I’ll be thinking about a few more races to enter in 2024 as well,” he assures us.