KO Teacher Completes 125-mile Race in Ireland

Upper School history teacher David Baker ’04 and his brother Billy ’00 completed the 125-mile Kerry Way Ultra in Ireland held on Friday, Sept. 1st through Saturday, Sept. 2nd. The course ran along the magnificently rugged Kerry Way, a hiking path corsetting the entire Kerry peninsula. Beginning in Killarney, the course included mountains, bogs, swamps, forests, coastlines, cliffs, gravel paths, and roads.

The Baker brothers finished in the middle of the pack and were the top two Americans to finish the race. David completed the race in 36 hrs 40 min. and Billy was 36 hrs 57 min. Fifty percent of the people who started the race never finished, which tells you a bit about the intensity and difficulty of the terrain. The race does not provide aid at aid stations, so the runners need to have their own crew or be self-supported David said. Their father, Bob Baker, came on the trip to crew them along with two of their friends. The three crew members stayed up all day and night, driving around the Kerry peninsula to make sure the runners had access to water, food, and fresh clothes. For 120 of the 125 miles, the brothers ran the race together and supported each other through the highs and lows.

Baker finished the CUT112 in June, a 112-mile run from the Massachusetts-Connecticut line to the Long Island Sound in Guilford. This was his second time completing the race.

“It was a terrific adventure and the most difficult race I’ve ever done,” Baker said, “but also the most meaningful.”