Two Newcastle AC athletes (Ashley Crutchley and Ethan McMullan) were selected to represent Northern Ireland at the Senior Home Countries Mountain International in Glenshee, Scotland on Saturday 11th May. The Glas Tulaichean race is an uphill only race – a 7.2km run with 670m of ascent to the Munro summit (which stands at a height of 1,051m). Continue reading
Category Archives: Mountain
Slieve Donard Race 2024 – Report, Results and Photos
A brief respite from the Hill & Dales for one blank Thursday only gives the regular head the balls the chance to gear the legs up to take on our biggest and baddest peak around. Saturday 11th May was the 79th consecutive staging of the Slieve Donard race, unbroken from 1945 and if historical conflicts, economic strife or recent pandemics (cough) ain’t going to postpone it then there’s not much left to stand in its way for the future. A word of appreciation to John Adgey taking on the race in his 80th year, as old as the race itself, if you’re still running up mountains naturally caps will be tipped your direction.
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Newcastle AC athletes selected for Inter-Counties Team 2024
Three Newcastle AC athletes (Tom Crudgington, Ashley Crutchley and Tanya Cumming) were selected as part of the NIMRA team that travelled to Keswick, England to compete in the British Inter-counties Senior Mountain race on at the weekend. This year’s race also doubled up as the British Athletics trial race for the “up and down” event at the Senior European Off-Road Running Championships due to take place in Annecy, France from 31st May to 2nd June 2024. Continue reading
Newcastle AC success at the NIMRA Granite Peaks Ultra and 25k
The inaugural NIMRA Granite Peaks Ultra and 25k happened on Saturday 20th April. The Ultra was a distance of 50km, summiting 14 peaks with over 3000m of climbing. The 25km has over 1150m of climbing. Weather forecast was looking good but the day ended up being much warmer for the races than anticipated.
Double Gold for Newcastle AC at Glenariff
This weekend saw the second race of the mountain running season with Glenariff – otherwise affectionately known as ‘The Spud Run’. Set in the beautiful Glens of Antrim, the race starts from the Glenariff Community Centre, and makes it way along a muddy lane for nearly two miles, up a 370m climb and back along the same route. Unlike the Slieve Gullion race the week before, which is almost a straight up and down, Glenariff is more like a tough cross country with a mountain in the middle. Seasoned spud runners know that the real challenge is not necessarily the climb but switching tired legs from the muddy descent off the mountain to fast running mode for the two-mile lane home.
Provisional Calendar 2024
Provisional calendar for the Hill & Dale Series and Slieve Donard Race:
| Date | Start Time | Event |
| Thursday 11 April 2024 | 19:30 | Castlewellan |
| Thursday 18 April 2024 | 19:30 | White Plains |
| Thursday 25 April 2024 | 19:30 | Slieve Martin |
| Thursday 2 May 2024 | 19:30 | Binnian |
| Saturday 11 May 2024 | 14:00 | Slieve Donard Race |
| Thursday 16 May 2024 | 19:30 | Rocky |
| Thursday 23 May 2024 | 19:30 | Luke’s |
| Thursday 30 May 2024 | 19:30 | Millstone |
| Thursday 6 June 2024 | 19:30 | Loughshannagh |
| Thursday 13 June 2024 | 19:30 | Meels |
| Friday 21 June 2024 | 19:30 | Drinnahilly |
Races are subject to permit. Further details, including how to enter, will be available soon.