Newcastle Athletics Club member Zak Hanna has been selected to represent Ireland in the upcoming European Mountain Running Championships which take place in the scenic Swiss town of Zermatt, at the foot of the world famous Matterhorn mountain.

Living on the slopes of Slieve Croob outside Dromara Zak travelled down to Wicklow on Saturday to compete in the trial race which would select the team to travel to Switzerland.

With this year’s race an uphill only race compared to last year’s championship being an ‘up and down’ race, runners competing in the trial would start at Crone Woods car park on the edge of the Wicklow Mountains and climb along the Wicklow Way trails before entering the open mountain and begin the long and steep ascent to the summit of Djouce Mountain at 725 m (2,379 ft) above sea level-similar to running from Newcastle to the top of Slieve Commedagh.

Zak summited Djouce in first place with a good gap over the second placed runner to add another Irish cap to his list.

Zak Hanna and Tony McCambridge

A special report by Bogusboy

The Virgin London Marathon is one of the undoubted highlights in the annual running calendar. As one of the six majors (the others are Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Chicago and Boston), huge crowds flock to the capital for the annual 26.2 loop of one of the world’s most iconic cities. Logistically, it is work of genius that takes a full year to plan and it is increasingly difficult to get an entry with the revised qualifying times. Hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in a carnival like atmosphere that inspires the runners to keep going, particularly in the later stages when the legs are tired and the glycogen stores become increasingly depleted. The enormity of the challenge is best summed up by the words of the Prophet who remarked that ‘it is a 20 mile warm up for a 6 mile race.’ This year he added to his repertoire of sage like comments with the well-crafted observation that ‘if you run like the devil for 20 miles, you will meet him in the last 6.’ Continue reading →

Saturday April 27th saw the first round of the British Championship take place in Newcastle. The race was meant to be the same as last year, the Mourne High Line, which starts at Spelga and makes it’s way over to Commedagh before finishing in Newcastle but unfortunately due to the weather and strong winds organisers were forced to change the course at the last minute. Frantic course marking took place throughout Donard Park and with all marshals in place the race was still able to go ahead on time. The route would be starting in Donard Park going along fire roads to the Granite Trail, a sharp ascent to get the legs going then over to checkpoint 1 at the upper bridge before following the Glen river path all the way to checkpoint 2 at the saddle. Checkpoint 3 was on top of Commedagh before returning the same way down to the upper bridge again where a fast finish along fire roads and trail took runners back to Donard Park. Continue reading →

Saturday March 30th saw race 2 of the NIMRA championship take place in Newcastle, the classic Donard Commedagh route. Starting in Donard Park, runners have a free route choice to checkpoint 1 at Thomas’ Quarry, followed by a long climb to the top of Donard for checkpoint 2. A steep descent continues down to the saddle before climbing again to the tower on top of Commedagh, for checkpoint 3. From here, there is a narrow ridge leading to Slievenamaddy, then a slippery descent to the edge of Donard forest for checkpoint 4, a quick dash through the woods brings you back to the finish line. The section between checkpoints 3 and 4 is difficult to get right on a good day, and once again it proved decisive in many people’s race.

A trio of NAC led the charge to the quarry, Seamus Lynch, Zak Hanna and Mark Stephens, followed by Newry AC’s Kieron Kelly and then Timothy Johnston and Johnathan Scott, both of Mourne Runners. On the slopes of Donard, Hanna showed his superior climbing skills leading at the top by over 2 minutes, a lead which he held to the top of Commedagh. Although, it wasn’t raining, a cloud had parked on Commedagh’s summit, making it impossible to find the ridge without a compass bearing or good knowledge of the terrain. By the time runners were visible again at checkpoint 4, Lynch was now in the lead followed closely by Stephens then Hanna, with positions remaining the same to the end. Lynch took his 2nd win of the championship in 1:03:56, Stephens 1:04:25 and Hanna 1:05:29. Next home for NAC, having an excellent race, was Gary Mc Evoy in 6th place in 1:13:39 followed closely by a man who is making a return to the mountains after a short break, Colum Campbell finishing 8th in 1:14:26 and 2nd MV45. In hot pursuit was regular Fell racer, Pete Grant, finishing 9th in 1:15:25 and 1st MV50. A handful of NAC men followed, Sean Russell 19th in 1:22:28, Gerry Kingston 31st in 1:29:42 and 3rd MV55, Declan McElroy 32nd in 1:31:01, Barry Wells 41st in 1:36:04, Eugene McCann 1:43:01, Stephen Graham 2:02:35 after loosing a lot of places on Commedagh, and Nigel McKinney 2:11:31.

The ladies race was led by Megan Wilson and Mourne Runners’ Sarah Graham all the way to the top of Commedagh, before the mysterious fog sent both girls on a tour of the Mournes. This left the door open for Newry ac’s Esther Dickson, who expertly navigated her way to safety, taking the win in 1:15:33 and 10th place overall. 2nd place went to another great navigator, Lagan Valley’s Shileen O’Kane in 1:24:10 and 1st FV50. Finishing the female lineup was Omagh Harriers’ Ciara Largey in 1:25:34. Just missing out on the podium for NAC was Áine McCann who finished 4th in 1:33:25, followed by Mari Troeng 6th in 1:36:22, Paulette Thomson 7th in 1:38:26 and 1st FV45, Catherine McIntosh 2:02:15 and Bronagh McInerney 2:24:26.

There was also a prize for the fastest male and female going between Donard and Commedagh, generously sponsored by Hanna Bros. Taking the titles here were Seamus Lynch and Esther Dickson making it a win win for both of them.

When everyone eventually made their way off Commedagh they were well fed and watered by host club Mourne Runners. Race 3 of the championship takes place on Thursday May 2nd at 7:30pm, the H&D Binnian race.

Report by Hill Runner