Ahead of tomorrow's Shay Elliot classic, we've put together an account of one of the other tough events of the Irish calendar - the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan. This year the riders were blessed by blazing sunshine for three of the four days, with standout rides from Aidan Collins and Eric Downey, though many of the Orwell contingent's chances were scuppered by crashes. Read on for all the details!

Thirty-seven people braved the Adare tailbacks, hit the better roads of Healy-Rae country, took over the Tralee town centre apartments and embarked on what in the cold light of day was utter madness. Three days of back to back sportives in the mountains of Kerry. Most of us had never done something like this before. Here are some of the survivors' stories...