Weekly Race Report - 8th June 2025
Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race
The Ennerdale Horseshoe remains one of the true classics in the fell running calendar—an unforgiving, remote high-level route encircling the beautiful Ennerdale Valley. Clocking in at 23 mile and north of 7,500 feet of elevation gain, it's a race that tests the resilience, skill and endurance of even the most experienced fell runners.
With 9 checkpoints to reach during the race, and summiting some of the Lake Districts finest including Great Borne, Green Gable and Kirk Fell to name a few, it was a job of course for Colin Brennan.
Conditions were far from ideal with low temperatures and poor visibility at height - but an unreal day in the mountains saw Colin finish as 2nd M60 and 75th overall in a time of 6:19:01.
Cairncastle Classic Fell Race
East Coast Athletic Club decided to leave the sunshine from previous years packed away and today opted for more changeable weather for the latest NIMRA Championship Race and Irish Mountain Running Association Ulster Championship Race at the Cairncastle Classic. The medium category race was 10mile in distance with over 2,000ft of elevation, climbing over the Sallagh Braes, Knockdhu and Scawt Hill.
Peter Tees was first home for the club after a tremendous race finishing in 12th place in 1:28:03. Finding himself in a 'shorter' race compared tohis recent adventures, Shirhaan Hameed finished 41st in 1:42:11. Adele Tomb bagged a 3rd F50 age cat finishing 61st overall in 1:52:57. Uber keen to also bag an age cat, Carolyn Crawford only went and entered herself twice to give herself the best chances of such. The tactic paid off as she finished 3rd F40 and 72nd overall in 2:01:47.
Hill & Dale: Loughshannagh
This is arguably the toughest run in the Hill and Dale series, but there's little arguing that this race has the best scenery.
A clockwise route of the horseshoe (4mile and 1,500ft of elevation gain) this year saw runners head up through the boggy ground to Ott for their first test. It was on to Slieve Loughshannagh next and then over to Doan. After shooting around the sandy banks of Lough Shannagh it was then the steepest climb of the evening up Carn Mountain before a fast descent back to the start where beautiful views of Spelga awaited.
Making his Hill and Dale debut, Jonny Rowntree had a great night in the mountains finishing 117th in 1:05:30.
Killyclogher 10k
Killyclogher GAA hosted their annual 10k and 5k races in the village on the outskirts of Omagh on Saturday morning. Ciarán Ferris and Aidan Mooney made the trip for the 10k race, with Ciarán making the most of a trip home from England to pull on the purple vest.
Ciarán was the clear winner of the 10k race after a fantastic run and a finish time of 0:32:50, with almost 3 minutes between him and second place. Aidan also had a great run finishing in a time of 1:06:02.
Fairhill 5 Miler
Springwell Running Club was again very well represented at Ballymena Runners’ Fairhill 5 Mile race. There were 26 of our members on the start line at the Broughshane Road entrance to the Fairhill Shopping Centre to begin the race. From there the route takes the runners down to the Ecos Centre, with the majority of the race meandering through the tree lined trails and paths there, before the runners’ strength was tested with a few challenging climbs over the last mile.
Stephen Fillis was first home for the Club, running 0:22:39 to claim 22nd place. Stephen was closely followed by Rodney McPhee (0:29:53) and Mark Gardiner (0:29:55), who both manged to creep in below the 30-minute mark.
There were strong performances across the board here, with 7 of our members recording personal bests: Mark Gardiner (0:29:55); Shaun Carton (0:35:14); Dara Watterson (0:35:20); Paul Laverty (0:35:48); Deborah McPhee (0:36:49); Paddy Magee (0:39:57) and Fiona Walker (0:42:29).
22nd Stephen Fillis 0:29:39; 25th Rodney McPhee 0:29:53; 26th Mark Gardiner 0:29:55 (PB); 30th Maurice Walker 0:30:24; 52nd Rhys Walker 0:32:35; 91st Shaun Carton 0:35:14 (PB); 94th Dara Watterson 0:35:20 (PB); 100th Paul Laverty 0:35:48 (PB); 119th Paul Quinn 0:36:32; 125th Deborah McPhee 0:36:49 (PB); 165th George Mimnagh 0:38:46; 170th Pauline Mullan 0:39:07; 188th Patrick Magee 0:39:57 (PB); 190th Mervyn Thompson 0:40:02; 204th Helena Dornan 0:40:52; 237th Fiona Walker 0:42:29 (PB); 243rd Louise Hanna 0:42:46; 246th Andrew Wilmot 0:42:58; 279th Janet Patrick 0:44:32; 335th Julie Corbett 0:47:42; 361st Lynn Stewart 0:48:45; 402nd Sheila McConnell 0:51:27; 403rd Pauline Duke 0:51:31; 406th Anne Marie McKenna 0:51:50; 416th Rhona Laverty 0:52:37
Out the Line 5 Miler
Last Thursday night was the return of Foyle Valley AC’s Out the Line 5 Mile race. Starting on the riverside pathway just up from the old Foyle Road Railway Station, the course is two and a half miles ‘out the line’ towards Carrigans, where runners turn back on themselves and run straight back in to the start line. The course is a flat and fast one and produced some very fast times.
Runners were faced with a light headwind on the way out but benefitted from it on their backs after the turn. First home from the club was Christopher McNickle in 0:27:56. Colin Loughery dusted off the racing shoes for what was a return to racing after 6 years to finish in 54th place in 0:34:25. Christine Bonham had a great run to claim 1st place in her age category in a time of 0:42:26, and 109th place overall, while Nicole O’Connor made it back just under the 40 minutes mark to claim a 5 mile personal best (0:39:55).
9th Christopher McNickle 0:27:56; 19th Stephen McLaughlin 0:29:40; 31st Ryan Kennedy 0:31:49; 54th Colin Loughery 0:34:25; 88th Leanne Quigley 0:39:17; 93rd Nicole O’Connor 0:39:55 (PB); 109th Christine Bonham 0:41:26 (1st F60)
