Mourne Mountain Marathon
A Romp Round the Mourne Mountains
Roger Knox / 06.10.2005
Given the relatively small mountain range, a challenging course and valuable prize money encouraged participation by many of the UK’s leading adventure racers. They were rewarded with two days of pleasant Northern Ireland weather with cool, calm and clear conditions throughout the event.
Day 1 commenced at Silent Valley reservoir with all courses heading North towards the Mourne wall prior to circumnavigating Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Ulster. Whilst the majority of Elites chose the well trodden Brandy Pad for the run to the overnight camp, the B Class faced a direct route necessitating strenuous cross graining up and down steep bracken covered hillsides. At the campsite, the C Class competitors continued to arrive well into the hours of darkness before proceeding to enjoy the few tins of alcohol so many of them had preciously carried throughout the day.
Day 2 saw the return of “the cluster�, where the first 5 checkpoints on the Elite and B courses could be collected in any order. This allowed for multiple route choices with local knowledge playing a key role in maintaining overnight positions.
Checkpoint 6 marked the end of the cluster as all teams converged before continuing on a running friendly point-to-point course towards the finish. Steve Birkinshaw and Morgan Donnelly won the Elite event, closely followed in 2nd place by Tim Lenton and Gary Tompsett. In the B Class, the 2nd placed local team of Stephen Cunningham and Keith Annett were unable to erode the overnight lead of Roger Knox and Richard Lawes who secured the overall win. The youthful team of Patrick Higgins and Seamus O'Boyle achieved C Class success.
The Mourne Mounatin Marathon’s friendly and easy going nature is free from the commercialism of many large mainland events and comes highly recommended both for first time adventure racers wishing to cut their teeth on unknown terrain and for experienced athletes honing their skills and eager to win some Lowe Alpine goodies.
For details of the race see www.mourne2day.com/.
[The author and his partner would like to thank Craigdon Sports for their support on the race.
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