Race Report by Hill Runner
Race 3 of the NIMRA championship took place on Saturday July 17th, in stark contrast to what the Annalong Horseshoe was like, Spelga was an absolute scorcher. Race director, Mark Hopkins, did an excellent job transporting water and supplies to Deers Meadow, helped by a team of marshals from BARF club who organised the event. His briefing at the start wisely advised that anyone feeling the effects of the heat should consider retiring, an option some took at the Deers Meadow road crossing.
The race starts at Spelga Dam and straight into the first climb of Butter Mountain before dropping down to cross the road at Ott car park. Here begins the long climb up Meelbeg to C.P 1 on the summit, followed quickly to C.P 2 on top of Slieve Loughshannagh, then a long ascent to C.P 3 at Slieve Muck. A steep descent brings runners down to the road crossing at Deers Meadow where there was a very welcome water station. From here it’s the same route as the Hill & Dale to the summit of Slieve Moughanmore, and then another sharp drop before crossing a river and heading to Pierce’s Castle. Long grass and heather with lots of hidden boulders and holes make this section a lot harder than it looks. From here the next C.P is on top of Rocky, from the summit of Rocky you can see exactly how far you have left to go! Just another 2 mountains and I’m home! The long descent off is quite rough too, followed by another river crossing (bath) and onto the Hen track. A nice grassy trail brings runners to the summit of Hen Mountain followed by one of the toughest climbs of the day, Cock Mountain. A hard mountain to conquer on its own, never mind climbing it at the end of a race in scorching temperatures, that’s a slow, painful experience! Upon reaching its summit it is downhill all the way to Spelga’s dam wall, where runners climb the 28 steps of hell to reach the finish line. Continue reading →
