Carol Morgan is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ultrarunner, who specialises in non-stop mountain

ultramarathons An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

100 km and longer, often in challenging conditions with significant ascents / descents. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1973, where she trained as a nurse, she is an advanced practitioner in emergency medicine. Morgan holds the course record for endurance ultra event, the Kerry Way Ultra.

Early running years

Morgan started running in her thirties. and has been running with Nidd Valley Running Club in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, with whom she still regularly competes, since at least 2010, gradually adding longer and longer distances to her repertoire.

Competing in road races

2007 - 2012 saw Morgan compete in the Connemarathon road race in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in April. In 2007 she placed tenth in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

while incorrectly listed as from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. From 2009 - 2012 she placed either first or second in the Connemarathon

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

in conditions that varied from unseasonally hot sunshine to pelting rain. 2010 was particularly difficult with less than 5 minutes separated first and second place with both athletes experiencing the last 2 mile incline, known as the 'hell of the west' because it affords competitors a clear view of the finish long before you reach it, together. Since 2012 Morgan has limited participation in long distance road running saying she prefers the beauty of the mountains and bogs. She has chosen increasingly technical mountain events that require navigational knowledge and mandatory safety kits, and courses that include significant ascents / descents.

Competing in the mountains

In 2015 Morgan raced in France's CCC. In 2016 she placed 20th

Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

in warm weather conditions on a course which requires participants to demonstrate technical skills by accumulating points from a list of qualifying races. She was 11th in Spain's Transgrancanaria the same year. 2017 brought the

biannual An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

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Dragon's Back race which features a chasing start on the fifth and final day, and saw Morgan facing into the day with 15 minutes between the top three. Despite finishing well off the pace in 2015, she prevailed in 2017. In 2018 Morgan won the Glendalough Clover Ultra which weaves its way around the Wicklow Way despite successfully defending her 2018

Spine Race The Spine Race is a winter ultramarathon held over a distance of around from Edale, England, to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland, along the Pennine Way. Participants are allowed seven days to complete the course. The race has been held annually since 2012 ...

title just a few weeks previously. Glendalough Clover Ultra was a qualifying event for the Irish trail team in 2018 and Morgan was selected to represent

in the 2018

IAU Trail World Championships The IAU Trail World Championships are annual trail running World Championships, from 2007 up to 2015 was biennial, held for the first time in Huntsville, United States in 2007 and organised by International Association of Ultrarunners. Editions ...

Records

In 2017 Morgan reduced the women's record for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's Spine Race by 43 hours to 109 hours 54 minutes. Conditions in 2017 were relatively mild and boggy, and she finished 44 hours ahead of the second woman. In 2018 she successfully defended her Spine Race title winning by a margin of 10 hours in conditions so severe the non-stop race was paused for 12 hours (but not the race clock) due to heavy winds and snow. Amongst the other challenges of winter in the

Cheviots The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes Th ...

the 2018 runners had to content with frozen water bottles. While conditions varied for competitors over the course of the 4+ days in addition to eating

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

, Morgan has to contend with "50 mph winds with a chill factor of minus 16

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

, snow drifts up to erbelly button". Her record in the Spine Race was beaten in 2019 by

Jasmin Paris Jasmin Karina Paris (born November 1983) is a British runner who has been a national fell running champion and who has set records for the Bob Graham Round and the Ramsay Round. She is well known in Great Britain as a fell runner, but became ...

who surpassed Morgan's record by 26 hours 41 minutes. At home in Ireland she created a new record in the non-stop Kerry Way Ultra in 2017, covering the 200 km in 27 Hours and 58 minutes ranking fourth overall. The race, which covers the

Kerry Way The Kerry Way () is a long-distance trail in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a long circular trail that begins and ends in Killarney and is typically broken into nine stages. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Of ...

, took place during a code orange weather warning (heavy rainfall) and was awarded four points by the

(UTMB) as a qualifying race. In August 2020, Morgan set a new women's Lake District 24-hour record. Starting and finishing in

Braithwaite Braithwaite is a village in the northern Lake District, in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just to the west of Keswick and to the east of the Grisedale Pike ridge, in the Borough of Allerdale. It forms part of the civ ...

, she covering sixty-five peaks in a time of 23:57.Trail Running Magazine: Carol Morgan breaks Lakeland 24-hour record
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Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Carol Female ultramarathon runners Irish ultramarathon runners Irish female long-distance runners Living people 1973 births Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Fell runners Irish mountain runners