The Knock ME Down Adventure Race has been running since 2016, when it hosted just 80 competitors. This has grown steadily over the years, apart from 2020 when the event was cancelled due to COVID restrictions.

The 2022 event will facilitate 630 participants, 315 taking on the Challenge event and the same number in the MÓR.

The event is run by the volunteers of the Knockmealdown Active group, which seeks to promote activity all along the Knockmealdown Mountains in South Tipperary and West Waterford. It includes many volunteers from the communities of Newcastle, Clogheen and Mount Melleray, without whom it would be impossible to run the event.

Funds raised from the Adventure Race and the group’s other major activity, St. Declan’s Way, go to raising the profile of the Knockmealdown Mountain region as a whole. It seeks to improve infrastructure and find new ways to utilise the very special amenities with which this wonderful natural resource provides us.

Recent projects include partnering with ORIS (the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme) to resurface the road to Baylough from the main car park. The group has also been maintaining and upgrading a range of walking trails along the Knockmealdown Mountains. It is carrying out surveys on the River Tar to assess its suitability for upgrading for use as a blueway.

Where possible, the group tries to make sure that any community involved in its events benefits from the presence of those events.