Some of my Reston Runners friends and I, began looking for a race on a distant shore
A half marathon on Achill Island Ireland caught our eye; a place we'd never been before

A plan quickly jelled to do the contest, and Lea lined up a mainland-hiking route
Fourteen of us set off on the July adventure, to learn what western Ireland was all about

Achill has a fascinating history, with its people, some very hearty types
The Keel town's people cheered for us as we raced along country byways, then we finished to bagpipers' pipes

After a tour of Achill, we were off to our Westport B&B, where a hasty assault on Croagh Patrick was planned
High winds and driving rain tore at the few who reached the summit, where they were barely able to stand

The next morning, Peter, the tour organizer, delivered maps, walking sticks, lunches and instructions, to augment what we'd brought
Then we began our search for the little yellow man, who guided us toward our daily finishing spot

At first we hiked along gravel lanes, with hillside meadows adorned by colorful sheepThen all of a sudden, we were walking in bogs and the mystery was always, how deep?

The young men from the Bradford clan, probed the bogs with their sticks and, likely made nervous wrecks of the frogs
The idea was to try to step on the tufts of grass; I'd given anything for a few planks or logs

Did it rain on us, along the Western Way Trail? Yes, from time to time but then out came the sun
We learned, that green things get greener and wet things must get dryer so, our clothes drying game was more fun

In the evenings, our meals were "Pub Grub" or better so, you could choose what suited your wallet or life
And how about that lonesome cab driver and, his attraction to the farmer's wife

I had hoped to get pictures of wild critters and, why there were none, we really didn't have a clue
The word was that most animals had been eaten during the famine so, the ones that remain were only just a few

Eventually our adventure of seventy or so miles ended with, hundreds of photos documenting our experiences along the way
I'll remember Ireland's natural beauty and friendly people plus, the hometown gang that brightened each day