Galway endurance cyclist Karen Cassidy stormed back into Mondello24 Cycle history over the weekend of 20th and 21st June, smashing the 700km barrier to reclaim the women's solo course record and the 'Queen of the Track' title. Not only did she set a new course record for a female solo rider, she was the third-fastest rider overall in the entire solo field, completing 207 laps of the 3.4km track, covering a total of 718.29km in 24 hours. This isn't Karen’s first chapter at Mondello24, she took the win in the inaugural 'winter' edition in late 2021 with 171 laps, then broke her own record the following year with 182 laps. Since then, she's stayed close to the event as a coach and manager, guiding the Women's Cycling Connacht team in 2023, steering a Galway Bay CC four person men's team to a course record in 2024 and also managed a Galway Bay CC pair to victory in 2025. When Scotland's Jill Sommerville broke her record last year with 200 laps, that lit the fire to take it back. No stranger to success on two wheels, she is part of the record-setting Galway Baybes cycling team, has won the Wild Mayo Ultra 300k and set the record for the fastest woman to cycle from Mizen Head to Malin Head, covering the 570k in a time of 21:43:03.
Although it was a late decision to enter the race after a winter of training for the Cycle Against Suicide 700k+ N2 Portugal End to End Challenge, the 2026 JeepMondello24 Cycle was always on the radar. Speaking after the event on what this result meant to her, Karen said ‘Winning the solo women's category and finishing third overall was great, I was delighted. But it wasn't as special as getting the course record and cycling past the 700km mark, that distance had always felt unattainable. I turned 57 on the 19th of June, so I was worried that maybe I'm getting too old for this, but it's a good feeling to know that age is just a number. As I've always said, this endurance game is more about the head than the legs, and my head is getting stronger.’
The previous women's record stood at 695km; Karen didn't just break it, she sailed almost 20km past it. Supported across the weekend by her husband Noel Cassidy and her crew chief Padraic Benson, the duo ensured Karen was kept hydrated, fuelled and motivated to reclaim the course record.
On why she keeps returning to the Jeep Mondello24 Cycle she said ‘Mondello is slightly mad but completely magical, where else would you get to ride in complete darkness for seven or eight hours in such a safe environment, nothing but darkness, a few rabbits and some lights strung across the track. That fast buzz of speed in the first six hours, then questioning your sanity for at least twelve hours, saying never again, and then suddenly, in the last two hours, you pull it all together, encouraged by the other riders on the track and the supporters who gather alongside the pits to get you through the final stretch. It's just brilliant’.
Karen has yet to decide on her next cycling adventure or record attempt but we have no doubt it will be something epic.
