SHE MIGHT BE 70-years-old but Dubliner Caitlín Bent doesn’t look it and she certainly doesn’t act it.
She’s the country’s best mountain runner for her age category and in her own humble way proclaims, “probably the only one too!”
Most recently, she ran the Powerscourt Ridge, a pretty brutal 16 kilometre off-road race in the Wicklow Mountains that featured over 500 metres of elevation.
Bent whipped around it in just three hours, winning the over 70’s category – simply because she was the only one in that age bracket.
Only ten men over 50 years took part and three other women over the same age.
Bent does it for the craic, loves a few pints of Guinness after and she has no intention of stopping any time soon.
“It’s running over the the mountains and winding through the rivers and forests why I do it,” she explained.
“There’s nothing like the freedom it gives you and that feeling you get afterwards, it’s getting away from everything.
“It’s better than any pills for any health issue any doctor might give you; it takes away a lot of the worries of life,” she added.
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Born in Clondalkin but now living with her husband in Tallaght, Bent has been racing since 1980 – exactly half her life.
“At the end of every year I say ‘I won’t bother next year’ but if I didn’t race I’d be so annoyed looking at the results, even if I was down at the bottom, so inevitably I’ll give it another shot next year, and the year after.
“I can’t believe it’s been 35 years since it all started, though.
“I was orienteering before this because the people who started mountain running here in Dublin were orienteers – along with my husband, but his knees gave up so he can’t really do it anymore.”
Joe and Caitlín Bent picking their way up a snow gully under Carrántuathal, Kerry during the 1970's.
Bent admits she rarely sees her GP. Instead, she lives by a different creed.
“I’d rather go out half prepared than not go out at all – it’s just being on the hills, it energises me.
“I live by a few simple rules; One, I have a good diet and I eat a lot. I could maybe do with losing some weight.
“Secondly, I never took it too seriously and for that reason I never got any really bad injuries. I’m just glad I’m still running.
“I seldom go to the doctor, maybe twice a year. I’ve just been lucky in that regard that I’m not on any pills, thankfully. I’m looking for a piece of wood here to hold onto,” she laughs.
The longest race she did this year was a round of the Leinster Championship Mountain Running League, a 21-kilometre monster in the West Dublin Peaks.
For over four and a half hours Bent slogged her way around the course at the end of which she won and was crowned provincial champion.
Not that medals are the slightest motivation.
“Not in the least,” she upheld.
“I just have to be on a mountain as often as possible. It gets into your blood and becomes an obsession.
“I do it for the sheer love of it and I think the key to my longevity is because I never smoked, though I do drink.
“That’s half the enjoyment of it; going to the pub after for a few points of Guinness! That goes right down to your feet!
“I wouldn’t say if I didn’t drink I’d be better, a few pints never hurt anyone.
“It’s always been my way; every year I’d go mountaineering in the Alps, even though now it’s more hill-walking.
“When I was younger I did mountaineering with the ice axes and crampons and stayed in huts with no hot water but not anymore, not for the meantime anyway.”
70-year-old Caitlín Bent is Ireland's oldest mountain runner - and isn't stopping anytime soon
SHE MIGHT BE 70-years-old but Dubliner Caitlín Bent doesn’t look it and she certainly doesn’t act it.
She’s the country’s best mountain runner for her age category and in her own humble way proclaims, “probably the only one too!”
Most recently, she ran the Powerscourt Ridge, a pretty brutal 16 kilometre off-road race in the Wicklow Mountains that featured over 500 metres of elevation.
Bent whipped around it in just three hours, winning the over 70’s category – simply because she was the only one in that age bracket.
Only ten men over 50 years took part and three other women over the same age.
Bent does it for the craic, loves a few pints of Guinness after and she has no intention of stopping any time soon.
“It’s running over the the mountains and winding through the rivers and forests why I do it,” she explained.
“It’s better than any pills for any health issue any doctor might give you; it takes away a lot of the worries of life,” she added.
Born in Clondalkin but now living with her husband in Tallaght, Bent has been racing since 1980 – exactly half her life.
“At the end of every year I say ‘I won’t bother next year’ but if I didn’t race I’d be so annoyed looking at the results, even if I was down at the bottom, so inevitably I’ll give it another shot next year, and the year after.
“I can’t believe it’s been 35 years since it all started, though.
“I was orienteering before this because the people who started mountain running here in Dublin were orienteers – along with my husband, but his knees gave up so he can’t really do it anymore.”
Bent admits she rarely sees her GP. Instead, she lives by a different creed.
“I’d rather go out half prepared than not go out at all – it’s just being on the hills, it energises me.
“I live by a few simple rules; One, I have a good diet and I eat a lot. I could maybe do with losing some weight.
“Secondly, I never took it too seriously and for that reason I never got any really bad injuries. I’m just glad I’m still running.
The longest race she did this year was a round of the Leinster Championship Mountain Running League, a 21-kilometre monster in the West Dublin Peaks.
For over four and a half hours Bent slogged her way around the course at the end of which she won and was crowned provincial champion.
Not that medals are the slightest motivation.
“Not in the least,” she upheld.
“I just have to be on a mountain as often as possible. It gets into your blood and becomes an obsession.
“I do it for the sheer love of it and I think the key to my longevity is because I never smoked, though I do drink.
“That’s half the enjoyment of it; going to the pub after for a few points of Guinness! That goes right down to your feet!
“It’s always been my way; every year I’d go mountaineering in the Alps, even though now it’s more hill-walking.
“When I was younger I did mountaineering with the ice axes and crampons and stayed in huts with no hot water but not anymore, not for the meantime anyway.”
Photos courtesy of www.actionphotography.ie
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