https://conoroneill.com/ Recent content on Conor's Bandon Blog Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Wed, 31 Dec 2025 11:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2025/12/31/la-sportiva-prodigio-max-review/ Wed, 31 Dec 2025 11:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2025/12/31/la-sportiva-prodigio-max-review/ As I have only done 30km in the La Sportiva Prodigio Max so far, you can take this review with a grain of salt. You can read my full review of the La Sportiva Prodigio Pro here, which I absolutely loved. So when the Max was announced I immediately pounced. I was imagining something like the Pro but for massive distances. Possible a wider base and toe-box with a more cushioned relaxed ride. https://conoroneill.com/2025/07/28/la-sportiva-prodigio-pro-review/ Mon, 28 Jul 2025 05:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2025/07/28/la-sportiva-prodigio-pro-review/ This won’t be a very long review as there’s not a lot to say about the La Sportiva Prodigio Pro, other than go buy them now! I’ve spent the past few years mostly running in the Hoka Speedgoat and the Brooks Caldera. If you’ve read my other reviews you’ll know that I also like the NNormal Tomir 2.0 and the Saucony Endorphin Rift. OTOH, I rate the Salomon Vision as the worst trail shoe in decades. https://conoroneill.com/2025/07/27/the-glorious-grossglockner-ggut-gwt-35/ Sun, 27 Jul 2025 05:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2025/07/27/the-glorious-grossglockner-ggut-gwt-35/ My inability to finish any race in the past two years has been weighing heavily on my mind for quite a while. Between DNFs, Cut-Offs and injuries, I was starting to doubt my ability to finish any race at all. Admittedly everything has been ultra-length in that time so maybe it was just a case that I’m not really cut out for the long stuff. As we planned our summer vacation, we had our usual challenge of finding somewhere that I could run trails and somewhere my wife could swim. https://conoroneill.com/2025/05/08/i-want-exoskeletons-not-vr-goggles/ Thu, 08 May 2025 06:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2025/05/08/i-want-exoskeletons-not-vr-goggles/ Back in the blogging heyday I would sometimes post a few times per day. Sadly it’s been a few times per year for close to a decade now, with social taking over. I’m going to experiment a bit with reverting to quick posts that normally end up on Twitter or Threads. I must also use ChatGPT o3 to build a simple posting tool for the Hugo system this blog runs on, that doesn’t require me to change how I do everything. https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/07/hoka-speedgoat-5-mid-gtx-boots-are-life-savers-running-shoe-review/ Sat, 07 Sep 2024 07:01:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/07/hoka-speedgoat-5-mid-gtx-boots-are-life-savers-running-shoe-review/ As you can read in my review of the truly awful Salomon Vision shoes, my hopes of running the Kerry Way Ultra in 2024 were ruined last weekend. I had an x-ray on Monday to confirm that it wasn’t a break. I then went to my physio/PT on Tuesday. He confirmed multile ligament tears. He was pretty blunt that I’d be nuts to try KWU. Despite all the icing, compression and elevation that I had done since Saturday, I still had very restricted motion and some pain. https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/01/salomon-vision-review-is-another-ankle-breaker/ Sun, 01 Sep 2024 13:01:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/01/salomon-vision-review-is-another-ankle-breaker/ This won’t be a long review. How could it be when I’ve only done 1 km in the Salomon Vision. It’s more of a rant. I buy maybe 6-7 pairs of running shoes a year. Usually equally split between road and trail. For many years the trail ones were Altra, Hoka, Inov-8 and Brooks. I wanted to try Salomon but every review made it sound like I’d have to remove two toes to fit into them. https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/01/nnormal-tomir-20-review-a-grower/ Sun, 01 Sep 2024 07:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/09/01/nnormal-tomir-20-review-a-grower/ I can’t imagine there’s a trail runner alive who hasn’t heard of Kilian Jornet. He’s the goat when it comes to mountains. 6 years ago my kids brilliantly reached out to him and John Kelly to see if they could get an autograph or something to mark my 50th birthday. Kilian sent a very cool signed card and John, the legend, sent me a video, which I’ll never forget. So the whole NNormal thing obviously caught my attention. https://conoroneill.com/2024/08/18/what-happens-when-every-race-is-a-dnf/ Sun, 18 Aug 2024 06:17:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/08/18/what-happens-when-every-race-is-a-dnf/ I took up running in 2009 to try and lose weight. It didn’t work but I ended up loving the sport anyway. Despite having completed over 25 marathons and a handful of ultras I’m still a terrible runner and brutally slow. Having said that, I see 2021 and early 2022 as the pinnacle of my running, to-date. The Kerry Way Ultra Lite in 2021 was the first time I’d ever finished a race “mid-pack”. https://conoroneill.com/2024/03/18/is-the-saucony-endorphin-rift-my-new-do-anything-trail-shoe/ Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:17:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/03/18/is-the-saucony-endorphin-rift-my-new-do-anything-trail-shoe/ I have a strange relationship with Saucony running shoes. The Endorphin Speed was the first time I’d bought any shoe from them and it instantly became my favourite road shoe of all time. V2 was equally good. My Endorphin Pro 1, whilst flawed, has more miles on it than any other pair of shoes I still have in rotation. And then there are their trail shoes which have been an unmitigated disaster for me. https://conoroneill.com/2024/03/18/the-brooks-caldera-7-is-a-step-backwards-from-the-6/ Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:17:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/03/18/the-brooks-caldera-7-is-a-step-backwards-from-the-6/ I did most of my trail running over the past year in 2 pairs of Brooks Caldera 6. They did sterling work in my three Ultra DNFs and many training miles. Strangely I don’t think I’ve seen a single other runner wearing them. I gave them a very positive review last year which I updated when I realised they had one terrible design flaw - the two parts of the upper separated during a run because they were only connected via a thin layer of glue. https://conoroneill.com/2024/02/09/owning-your-own-content-part-986/ Fri, 09 Feb 2024 06:17:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2024/02/09/owning-your-own-content-part-986/ I’m one of those tech elites, that Ben Evans is digging at on Threads, who thinks everyone should have their own blog (he said WordPress site). I think his artisanal/mass-production angle is missing the point. The issue is about control and ownership, as always. I was reminded once again of the importance of owning your stuff this morning. This is a topic I banged on and on about from 2005-2010 when I finally gave up and accepted that Twitter/Facebook/etc had won. https://conoroneill.com/2023/06/08/the-garmin-forerunner-955-solar-a-great-watch-with-one-infuriating-design-flaw/ Thu, 08 Jun 2023 06:00:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2023/06/08/the-garmin-forerunner-955-solar-a-great-watch-with-one-infuriating-design-flaw/ After a couple of great years with the Forerunner 935, the ever-reducing battery life started to become annoying and I decided last summer to upgrade to the 955 Solar. Overall I like the feature-set and it generally feels like a solid upgrade to the 935. I particularly love the maps navigation. Being able to load up a course like the Beara Way Ultra and follow it via glances, along with some buzzes and beeps for major turns and going off-course, is an amazing time and hassle saver. https://conoroneill.com/2023/06/04/the-inaugural-beara-way-ultra/ Sun, 04 Jun 2023 06:00:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2023/06/04/the-inaugural-beara-way-ultra/ Guaranteed finish I’m pretty sure the great Hal Higdon’s training plan for an ultra would be: Do minimal daily sessions Do one long slow amble a week Skip core and glute exercises for a month Don’t get that long-term hamstring issue sorted out DNF after 88K of a different ultra three weeks prior Don’t sleep for the week beforehand Setup for success like this, I headed to Castletownbere at 3am from Bandon to try the first ever Beara Way Ultra. https://conoroneill.com/2023/05/22/the-brooks-caldera-6-is-an-ultra-devouring-monster/ Mon, 22 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2023/05/22/the-brooks-caldera-6-is-an-ultra-devouring-monster/ UPDATE: See below for a major proviso to this post. My entire history with Brooks until a few months ago was one pair of Adrenaline 19s which did not suit me at all. I always associated the brand with big reliable heavy running shoes for conservative joggers. The Caldera 6 takes that reputation and shreds it, in the best possible sense. The perfect shoe doesn’t exist I’ve been on the hunt for the ultimate ultra-distance trail running shoe since I started going longer in 2017. https://conoroneill.com/2023/05/22/having-a-wtf-moment-at-the-waterville-trail-running-festival/ Mon, 22 May 2023 09:42:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2023/05/22/having-a-wtf-moment-at-the-waterville-trail-running-festival/ Waterville To my shame I had never been in Waterville until early 2022 when my Kerry Way Ultra recces began. Despite its remoteness, its position on the Ring of Kerry means it’s always busy and buzzing. And as an absolute bonus, all the tourist traffic means that vegans are very well catered for everywhere in the town! Last year I also learned about the Waterville Trail Running Festival from Yvonne Walsh and vowed to give it a go this year. https://conoroneill.com/2023/02/13/columbia-outdry-extreme-mesh-running-jacket-ive-been-dreaming-of/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 05:42:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2023/02/13/columbia-outdry-extreme-mesh-running-jacket-ive-been-dreaming-of/ For someone who runs a lot in bad weather, I’ve bought very few running jackets since I started back in 2009. But once I started running trails, I had to up my game. They can be summarised as: 2009-2017 Various cheap generic windcheaters 2017 - Decathlon heavy running jacket. Not very breathable. Still use it. 2018 - The classic Ronhill Infinity Torrent Running Jacket with the chest pocket square. Still great. https://conoroneill.com/2022/09/09/conors-top-tips-for-dnfing-the-kerry-way-ultra/ Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2022/09/09/conors-top-tips-for-dnfing-the-kerry-way-ultra/ DNF? For non-runners reading this, DNF means Did Not Finish. In my preview post I ended with “Let’s see how I do. Particularly when the rain comes in at night.” On the plus side, the rain came in during daylight hours. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to the start. Nope, nope, let’s thank some people first. Thank Yous Elieen - The woman, the legend. Words like “community” and “culture” have become overused and devalued. https://conoroneill.com/2022/09/01/watch-your-first-ultramarathon-online-with-the-kerry-way-ultra/ Thu, 01 Sep 2022 06:00:32 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2022/09/01/watch-your-first-ultramarathon-online-with-the-kerry-way-ultra/ The Kerry Way Whilst millions of people have completed marathons over the past few decades, ultramarathons are still pretty niche. Ireland has a bunch of fantastic ultrarunners and a handful of amazing ultramarathons. The big kahuna of them all is the Kerry Way Ultra, which is about to have its tenth outing on September 2nd and 3rd. The Kerry Way is a wonderful trail that traverses the entire Iveragh peninsula. Many people travel from the US and mainland Europe to do multi-day hikes of the route. https://conoroneill.com/2022/01/26/mirch-masala-best-vegan-menu-in-ireland/ Wed, 26 Jan 2022 06:00:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2022/01/26/mirch-masala-best-vegan-menu-in-ireland/ We are spending two weeks in Clon whilst our kitchen gets rebuilt and decided to treat ourselves to an Indian takeaway on the first night. A bit of googling revealed that there was a new place called Mirch Masala, so I loaded up their website on my phone and my jaw hit the floor as I started browsing the menu. The range of vegan and vegetarian options is almost beyond belief. https://conoroneill.com/2021/10/17/how-flahavans-oat-milk-can-outmarket-the-big-brands/ Sun, 17 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000 https://conoroneill.com/2021/10/17/how-flahavans-oat-milk-can-outmarket-the-big-brands/ I was so pleased when I heard Flahavan’s was getting into the oat milk market. As the most famous porridge brand in Ireland, it seemed like an obvious move. I only turned plant-based in January 2020 and switched to oat milk pretty quickly as I preferred, and still prefer, its taste to all the other plant milks. Having Flahavans as an option along with the usual Oatly, Califia, Minor Figures and Alpro means I can now finally support Irish farmers again with my cuppa tea and coffee.