Art O'Neill Challenge, live.

Retracing the 1592 escape from Dublin Castle

The Art O'Neill Challenge follows the route of a 1592 escape from Dublin Castle, through the night on road and open mountain to Glenmalure.

On 15 January 2027 both events set off from Dublin Castle: the Challenge, 62 km on road and open mountain for runners and walkers, and the Pursuit, a 25 km night road race to Kippure Estate in County Wicklow for runners only. Each is capped at 200 entries, and places in the Challenge were allocated by ballot.

The route remembers the night of 6 January 1592, when Art O'Neill, his brother Henry and Red Hugh O'Donnell broke out of Dublin Castle and made for Glenmalure on foot, without winter coats. Henry and Hugh reached safety, and the Challenge is named for Art. People commemorated the escape for many years before it became an organised event in 2009.

The Challenge runs on road for about the first 30 km, out through South Dublin past Stone Cross, to checkpoint one in Ballynultagh Wood. It then crosses Billy Byrne's Gap to checkpoint two near Ballinagee Bridge, passes Art's Cross and drops to the finish at Glenmalure Lodge. Participants choose to trek it or run it as a self guided ultra. Both checkpoints offer a place to rest and refuel by the fire, a drop bag waits at checkpoint one, and bags are returned at Glenmalure Lodge.

Since 2018 the event has been organised by, and solely for the benefit of, Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, whose members provide safety and rescue cover on the night. Entries are not transferable or refundable.

If a participant chooses to share the position of the phone they carry, you can follow them live on Livebib. The dot on the map comes from their own phone, not from the organiser's timing, and the official results are the organiser's.