One of the great records in Irish sport will be challenged again this weekend when Kerryman John Lenihan (right) goes for his 12th consecutive victory in the Irish Mountain Running championship race on Carrauntoohil.

Each year, they come from all over the country to try and beat the man with the wild hair and heart of a mountain goat. Nobody, however, is able to take punishment quite like Lenihan and anybody who hopes to finish ahead of him on the 14km-course tomorrow will have to go through hell to do so. The savage climb, the highest in Ireland at 3,414 feet, can break the spirit of the most seasoned hikers, yet Lenihan, unbeaten on the climb, runs up and down the slopes like a mouse on a wheel. At least the competitors won't have to tackle the treacherous Devil's Ladder section, which has been taken out of the course for safety reasons. "Hill running is supposed to test the legs," says race organiser Douglas Barry, "and not the thickness of the head." Try telling that to Lenihan.