On 15^th August 1992 the Spartan Red Sox hosted the very first “Seven Sevens”, with just 15 participants. At the time it was popularly believed that there were 7 mountains over 700m in height and whilst that was corrected in later years by Ordnance Survey, the name had stuck.

That initial day 30 years ago included only four runners; Marty McVeigh, Kevin Quinn (both Newcastle AC), Martin McNiff & Jim Brown (BARF)…indeed Jim remains the current Race Director. It is creditable to note that all four of these pioneers completed the circuit within six hours.

The seven summits which have to be completed in the race are Donard, Commedagh, Bernagh, Meelmore, Meelbeg, Binnian & Lamagan with the course direction alternating annually. The overall course length is 18 miles and covers 2,500 meters of vertical ascent.

This years event was an anti-clockwise affair and took place on Saturday 6^th August with 73 runners putting their toe to the line – Newcastle AC had five competitors.

Newcastle AC’s Mark King, Pete Grant, Rachel Wallace, Alan Ritchie & Gary McEvoy prior to the start.

Given the firm ground conditions and favourable visibility the day had all the ingredients for a fast race, the only downside for the participants being the higher than comfortable temperatures.

The race started at a blistering pace with the overall winner, Adam Cunningham (Mourne Runners) leading the way from start to finish. Adam’s time for reaching the summit of Slieve Donard was an eye watering 43 minutes with an overall finish time of 3hrs 48 mins. His control of the race was a masterclass, with his position never under threat.

The race for Second and Third place was an absolutely electric affair with Timothy Johnston and Paul Pruzina putting on a classic battle over the full distance….the time difference and margin in ability between the two was literally only the time taken to “clock-in” at the top of each summit. However, in the end it was Johnston who had the edge with a margin of only seconds over Pruzina.

1^st =  Adam Cunningham, 3h 48m 47s
2^nd = Timothy Johnston,   4h 09m 47s
3^rd = Paul Pruzina,              4h 10m 28s

The competition between the ladies was well contested, with magnificent results for the first three;

5th =  Alice Flint (BARF),                         4h 30m 37s
12^th = Esther Dickenson (Newry AC),   4h 09m 47s
15th= Martsje Hell (North Belfast),       4h 57m 30s

It was also a good day out for the Newcastle AC runners, with all of the Teammates making the best of the testing heat. Results for the local club were;

8^th     =  Gary McEvoy,          4h 37m 03s
13th =  Pete Grant,               4h 57m 04s
37th =  Mark King,                5h 53m 17s

Alan Ritchie retired after the Bernagh checkpoint with Rachel Wallace retiring on Meelbeg.

Overall there were 61 finishers, with everyone treated to a smorgasbord of gastronomic treats by the host club, BARF – Many thanks to all the organisers.

Race Report by Mark King

Dromara’s Zak Hanna was in Austria last weekend after his success in the European Athletics Off-Road Championships in La Palma, Canaries. The Newcastle & District AC athlete was participating in the 2nd race of the 2022 World Cup Series after his brilliant 2nd place in the 1st race in the Series in Portugal in June which was followed by a fine 5th in the Canaries.

The Grossglocknerberglauf covers 13.4km and finished high up in the glacier after 1265m of ascent.

Hanna in his playground high above the glacial lake below in the shadow of Grossglockner

Hanna is making a big name for himself globally in the mountain running scene and he was off at the start in a big leading bunch which included 30 minutes track 10000m and 62 minute half marathon Kenyans and Italians. He admits himself that he didn’t feel that great over the first half of the race but in the second half as the going got steeper he felt more limk himself. Overall he finished 13th in 1 hour 17 minutes and 21 seconds and is already looking forward to next week’s even tougher race La Montée du Nid d’Aigle from St Gervais les Bains in the Chamonix Valley in France (Saturday covering 19km and over 2000m of climb).

Going into race 3 of the World Cup Series in France, Hanna still lies in 2nd place behind Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno. Continue reading →

The lesser-known island of La Palma, in the Canaries, was the location for the ‘inaugural’ European Athletics Off-Road Championships with races over the first weekend in July. Most impressivley, the host town, El Paso, significantly affected only a year ago as part of the eruption of the local volano with houses gone forever under the lava.

Newcastle & District AC athletes Zak Hanna and Tom Crudgington were both selected to represent Ireland. Hanna in the uphill only race on the Friday evening and 17-year-old Crudgington in the U20 up and down race on the Sunday morning. Continue reading →

On Sunday 29 May Newcastle AC’s Steffi Warnock completed the Edinburgh Marathon. This was Steffi’s first Marathon and she set a target of sub 4 hours. Steffi had put in months of training, increasing her weekly road running mileage, whilst continuing with CrossFit and mountain running. The versatile athlete initially adapted her training plan to move the traditional long run at the weekend to a Tuesday to make sure she didn’t miss out on the Sunday mountain run! All her hard work and consistent training paid off as she completed Edinburgh in a time of 3 hours 55 minutes and 33 seconds.

Steffi at Edinburgh Marathon

Most people would take a few weeks off after a marathon however Steffi decided to celebrate by running the Mourne Way Marathon just two weeks later. Steffi was at the start line on Saturday 11 June ready to go. Conditions were far from ideal on the difficult, mixed terrain course which starts in Donard Park and follows the Mourne Way through Tollymore, out onto the open mountain from Trassey to Leitrim Lodge before hitting the trails in Rostrevor to the finish. There was a headwind for much of the middle section of the course on the open mountain and heavy showers on and off throughout the day. Steffi had an impressive run finishing 4th female in a time of 4 hours 56 minutes.

Steffi after completing the Mourne Way Marathon