Seven things: Inspirational Donegal figures receiving national attention

Joe Barr: Man Of The Year nominee

At 64 years of age, ultra-cyclist Joe Barr from Newtoncunningham, is showing no signs of slowing down, after just being crowned Ultra-Cycling World Cup Champion, 2023, despite shattering his pelvis in eight places just 10 weeks before his final event.

“I chose not to believe that this was a season- or career-ending injury,” he says. “I crashed in the US and was bombarded with the need for surgery but I knew intuitively that this may not be the case. I trusted myself.

“I was lucky in that, while my pelvis was broken in eight places, it was not displaced. Surgery wouldn’t have aligned it any better so time was to be my healer. I started to plan my final race of the season as soon as I could sit on a saddle."

Becoming the Ultra Cycling World Champion is no easy feat. It is a season-long competition where ultra-cyclists compete over four events, two of which are timed and two of which are distance. The two timed events are twelve and 24 hours and the aim is to cycle as far as you possibly can during those time frames.

Barr took up endurance cycling at the age of 49 when his 6-month-old baby, Ross, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. Thankfully Ross beat the odds and Joe has been cycling ever since to raise money for children’s cancer.

Throughout his 15-year career Barr has won the Race Around Ireland twice, become the 500-mile World Champion, completed the Race Across America twice, published an autobiography, become a Guinness World Record holder for cycling the entire Wild Atlantic Way without stopping and is of course a current Ultra Cycling World Cup champion.

Barr shows no signs of collecting his bus pass anytime soon, “one last milestone for me is to become the first 60+ cyclist to go through 500 miles in 24 hours, 2024 seems like a good year to do that,” he adds.