THERE will be two Kerry runners competing in the Energia 24 Hour Race this weekend.

Excitement is building for the race, which will take place on Saturday, July 1 in Victoria Park, Belfast.

The two Kerrymen competing are Killarney man Denis Keane from Marathon Club Ireland and John Starrett from St Brendan’s AC in Ardfert who are set to try to run as many laps of the race track in a 24 hour period.

Continued below…

This year the event is being run alongside the World 24-Hour Running Championships on July 1 and starts at 12 noon. The entry list includes 74 men and 26 women with ages ranging from 27 to 67 all looking to see how far they can go in that 24-hour period.

Entries came in from across the UK and Ireland and from as far away as Australia, France, Hong Kong, Iran, India, South Korea and the USA.

Now in its 8th year, this year’s event sold out in record time in December last. All 100 places were snapped up in under three hours.

Ed Smith, Race Director, commented, “It’s going to be a memorable weekend’s racing in Belfast and hopefully people will come out to support all the runners who are capable of posting some remarkable distances in the 24-hour period.”

“The fact that this year’s Energia 24 Hour Race is being run alongside the Schneider Electric 24 Hour World Championships. This means competitors in the 24 Hour Race will be running alongside some of the best ultrarunners on the planet.”