We are blessed with so many great outdoorsy events here in Ireland! From swims and runs to adventure races, and everything in between, it’s really hard to pick just one to be crowned Best Outdoor Event for 2023. So we’re asking you, our readers, to decide. That’s right, you get to vote for the event that will be crowned Best Outdoor Event at the upcoming Outsider Awards 2023.

If you’re a nominee, consider yourself cordially invited to our annual awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 21 February 2024 in the Sugar Club, Dublin. We are thrilled skinny to announce that our fab sponsors are on board to help us celebrate all that is great and good about the Irish adventure scene, so it’s guaranteed to be a good party.

Our hugely generous title sponsor for the Outsider Awards 2023 is Sport Ireland Outdoors, our other supporting sponsors are Craghoppers, Leave No Trace, Salewa, Vagabond Tours, Sustainable Travel Ireland and Nuasan.

For everyone else, a limited number of tickets are on sale through the link below. Subscribe to our email newsletter on our homepage to hear more about the Outsider Awards 2023.

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We were bowled over by both the quality and quantity of the events you sent us. So sit down, get your notebook out and read about these epic outdoor events that are now officially on the long list of nominees for the #OutsiderAwards. The Outsider Event of The Year Award is a public vote category. That’s right you have the difficult task of choosing the winner in this amazing category! Good luck!

The Outsider Awards is a grassroots event so please vote only once. Any votes that violate our fair-play rules will be discounted and may result in the disqualification of the nominee.

VOTE HERE

Ring of Beara Cycle

Cyclists embark on a challenging 110km or 140km route which encompasses the magnificent mountains, valleys, and the rugged coastline of the Beara Peninsula. Cyclists pass through picturesque and quaint towns, enjoying food, music, and chat at the food stations dotted along the route.

Slieve Bloom MTB Fest

The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Festival is a two-day event showcasing the spectacular Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.

Wander Wild Festival

The only event of its kind in Ireland, this festival of the great outdoors offers a variety of outdoor activities like hiking, biking, swimming, saunas, forest bathing, photography, yoga, captivating talks and breathwork over three days.

Inclusion Games

This inclusive event saw over 400 individuals with varying abilities participate in activities including SUPing, water skiing, dragon boating, and dinghy sailing at the Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club

Quest Lough Derg

Taking in glorious Lough Derg and the surrounding hills of Killaloe and Ballina, this race, which is part of the popular Quest Series is always a great day out whether you choose to conquer the short, middle or long course!

Outdoor Therapeutic Activity Providers Network conference

Attendees enjoyed OTAP’s conference in November 2023, where they explored the transformative potential of nature-based therapy with experts, practitioners, and enthusiasts.

Kerry Way Ultra

The Kerry Way Ultra traverses the entire length of the 200km Kerry Way, a route through the Old Red Sandstone mountains of Kerry, touching Irish history, archaeology and folklore. This year, hundreds of hardy ultra runners took on the epic race in blistering heat in Kerry.

Swim In Pink

‘Swim in Pink‘ is an annual event that helps raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. In October, Breast Cancer Awareness month, thousands of people nationwide swam in pink and raised a total of €140,000 for the National Breast Cancer Research Institute.

LugMo Challenge

On a snowy day in December, 140 hikers climbed the tallest mountain in Leinster. In the process, they managed to raise €40,000 for the Ronald MacDonald House children’s charity.

Walk The Line

Walk The Line 2023 was the biggest Walk The Line to date with a great venue and fantastic weather. Hundreds of hikers took on the 22km or 11km hikes in the Dublin Mountains.

Women With Altitude

Women with Altitude is a Mountaineering Ireland initiative to encourage women to take on greater challenges in mountaineering. This year the Women With Altitude weekend took place in the heart of Connemara at Petersburg House, Clonbur, Co Galway.

Gaelforce Great Lake Swim

The second event of the Gaelforce Great Swim Trilogy took place in Lough Derg. Swimmers took on one of three distances; 3.9km, 2km or 750m.

Eco Trail Wicklow

Thousands of runners flocked to the town of Bray in north Wicklow for this glorious trail run in the Wicklow Mountains. Runners took on one of four distances; 19km, 30km, 46km or 80km!

Roz Purcell Hike Life x Leave No Trace Clean Up Hike

Roz Purcell launches Leave No Trace, Love This Place on Killiney Hill.

As part of the Love This Place campaign this summer Roz Purcell and The Hike Life teamed up with Leave No Trace to promote waste-free outdoor enjoyment. As part of this campaign The Hike Life did a litter pick hike around the Wicklow Mountains.

Good Glow Marathon Trip

In 2023, over 130 members of Team Good Glow travelled to the USA to run in the NYC Half Marathon.

Ballyhoura Moonlight Challenge

This 28km trail running race set off at 7:30pm last January which means competitions ran under the light of the moon (or headtorch!) through local woodlands and over Seefin Mountain in the Ballyhoura Mountains.

Pure Magic: Battle for the Lake

This weekend was like no other. Kitesurfing, sup boarding, surfing, live music and so much more. All at one epic festival!

Carlow Walking Festival

Carlow Walking Festival: Walking to Mt. Leinster

The perfect weekend break. The Carlow Summer Walking Festival offers a diverse range of walks across the Blackstairs Mountains, Mount Leinster, Altamont Gardens, the Barrow Way, the Kilbrannish Forest Trails, the South Leinster Way and Clogrennan Wood. The walks were led by experienced guides who are always more than happy to share their wealth of knowledge about the local area which is steeped in history.

Boyne Valley Walking Festival

This week-long walking festival offers a wide variety of different walks ranging from historical tours to more strenuous hikes in the beautiful Boyne Valley. Last year it took place during some beautiful weather at the end of the summer and all the attendees raved about the quality of the walks.

Run In The Dark

As darkness swept around the globe last November, 25,000 people worldwide got up from their armchairs, slipped on their red flashing armbands and pulled on their running shoes to run in the dark. Connecting 5k and 10k runners both physically and virtually across 5 continents, Run in the Dark is a global movement lighting up the night to help cure paralysis in our lifetime.