Early on Saturday morning the teams arrived in high spirits for Check In and briefings at Fossa Community Centre. Although there was a drizzly start to the day the weather soon cleared up for a glorious morning on the first leg of the event. Fully briefed and kitted up for all eventualities, teams headed for the start where they began their first Challenge, to conquer Ireland's highest peak, Carauntoohil, a demanding 1039m ascent.

The weather remained kind to the teams, with glorious sunshine and clear skies offering fantastic scenery and views. With all teams successfully conquering their first mountain, it was time for their support crew to whisk them away to the Dingle peninsular. Here they would climb Mount Brandon, 952m, in glorious sunshine with stunning views out to sea and up the West coast of Ireland. On a couple of occasions the views were obscured and teams enveloped by low cloud, but these were soon cleared by the strong breeze coming in off the Atlantic.

With all teams safely off their second mountain by 10 pm, it was time for the walkers to get some well earned rest while their support crews embarked on the over night journey across Ireland. Heading for the Wicklow mountains, just south of Dublin, there was an early start on Lugnaquillia to complete the event. Teams were greeted by a beautiful sunrise at Challenge Base, and were in fantastic spirits, considering the time and stage of the event, as they headed off. All teams completed the 925m ascent in good time and were cheered across the finish line by Challenge staff, volunteers, support crew and fellow teams.

There were fantastic displays of team spirit and determination on this event that everyone should be really proud of! But the real achievement of the weekend has to be the £34,500 (£27,000) raised by teams that will go to support CARE International's poverty fighting programmes overseas.

Special mentions need to be made to the team from Roadstone Dublin Ltd (Team WATER) who won the top fundraising prize by bringing in a fantastic £10,000. And to Noel Godfrey from Siac Ferrovial JV (Team FOOD) whose team not only made the fastest time on the event, but his dedication and enthusiasm for the Challenge from the day he registered was limitless. From recruitment, through training and fundraising, he tackled everything with great humour and showed fantastic support to fellow teams taking part.

Noel had this to say after the event:

Tremendous organisation and support from the CARE team, a supreme performance from our team for a truly worthwhile challenge, stories to talk about for a long time, a must-do event for any company. Well done guys!

CARE Challenge Sponsorship & Marketing Manager, Michele Evans, added: "we're delighted with the results from this year's event. All teams took part with great commitment and determination. The fundraising total is fantastic and will make a real difference to CARE's work overseas. We would like to say a big thank you to all teams, support crew and sponsors for taking part and making this such a fantastic event. We look forward to seeing you on the mountains again next year!

At the post event party at the Arlington Hotel in Dublin, participants enjoyed a hearty meal accompanied by Irish music and dancing. Some even summoned up the energy to enjoy the music and show off some dance moves of their own until the early hours of Monday morning. A well known way to stretch out those weary legs!

Team Results