2024 Skyrunner® National Series set for showdown in the Mourne Mountains!
After a two-year hiatus, the Mourne Skyline™ is back with a vengeance this weekend for its tenth anniversary edition, also joined by the inaugural Mourne SkyUltra®! With nearly 400 Skyrunners from 15 nationalities entered, these two SkyRaces will conclude the 2024 Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series (INFO), as well as the inaugural SkyUltra® Series and Irish Skyrunning Championships!
Excitement is already building ahead of the weekend as the elite start lists in both races are stacked with heavy hitters! Can this strong competitive field shake up the overall series rankings? The weather forecast currently looks favourable, with a few damp spells due to arrive midday on Saturday. Read on to learn more about the who’s-who of elite runners taking part in this year’s grand return of the event, now organised by APEX Running.
Brennan Townshend is back this year having previously set a new CR at the Mourne Skyline in 2018 © No Limits Photography
First to set off will be the runners in the new 50km/3,500m+ Mourne SkyUltra, starting at 07:00 from Donard Park. This epic ultra-distance route begins with a full ascent of intimidating Slieve Donard, which dominates the horizon from Newcastle. From here, runners will head south to visit the first aid station at Carrick Cottage Café, before summitting the Slieve Binnian summits above Silent Valley, and then heading north to join the Mourne Skyline route at the 'Brandy Pad'. From here the course follows the classic Skyline route via Fofanny Dam to the finish – though competitors will be delighted to omit a second ascent of Slieve Donard along the way! This exciting new race is the ultimate grand tour of the Mournes and the final race in the inaugural SkyUltra® Series! Discover the route in full on our Strava account HERE and find out more about the route on its website HERE. And while you’re at it, why not also follow Skyrunning UK on social media via the Facebook Page HERE or Instagram HERE!
After a close duel at Lakeland 100 this summer, Mark Darbyshire (pictured) will again go head-to-head with Gavin Dale © Ian Corless
In the men’s race, Mark Darbyshire (ITRA Performance Index 888) will be toeing the line for his second race in the Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series. Darbyshire is having a great year of racing already, with wins at the Arc of Attrition, Ultra-Trail Snowdonia (UTS 100M) and Snowdon Ultra last month. Chasing him will be La Sportiva athletes Gavin Dale (Index 828) and Ry Webb (Index 807). Dale has scored top 10 finishes in both the UTS 100K and Lavaredo Ultra Trail (LUT) 80K this season, while Webb (who finished just one place behind Dale at LUT 80k) has focused on the West Highland Way, finishing top 10 in both the Devil o' the Highlands and Highland Fling in a single season. Also watch out for Irish athlete Gavin Byrne (Index 764) who will be bringing his home advantage to bear on this classic course, following a year of fell racing in the Irish hills.
Runners Maciej Dzieledziak and Chris Pocock, currently 6th and 12th respectively in the men’s SkyUltra® Series, will both be racing their second counter this weekend and will be eager to improve their overall position. Dzieledziak will be looking to build on his 3rd place finish at Seven Sisters Skyline 55kk last month, while Pocock will be looking to conclude a top 10 finish in the overall National Series ranking.
After a two-year hiatus for the event, we can't wait to return to the majestic Mourne Mountains this weekend!
In the women’s race, renowned mountain runner Nicky Spinks (Index 649) and Irish elite Laura O Driscoll (also Index 649), are neck-and-neck in the SkyUltra® Series; tied at 500 points each. Spinks won the recent Seven Sisters Skyline 50k while Driscoll won the 14 Peaks Ultra (part of SkyRun Eryri®) in June. Whoever comes in first out of this pair will claim the SkyUltra® Series win — so the pressure is on! Spinks will also be looking to secure a top 3 spot in the overall National Series this weekend.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on Irish athlete Bernadette Quinn, winner of the Norn Iron Ultra 100 this year (Index 488) and 3rd in the recent Seven Sisters Skyline 50k. She’ll be chasing a 3rd place in the women’s SkyUltra® Series.
Live GPS tracking is available to view HERE and regular updates throughout the day will be shared on the Skyrunning UK Facebook Page HERE or Instagram HERE.
Nicky Spinks and Laura O Driscoll are tied for the SkyUltra® sub-series win, with 500 points each © Tanya Raab
At 09:00, runners in the classic Mourne Skyline race will be setting out from Donard Park. First held in 2014, this 35km & 2,700m+ route takes in many of the prominent peaks of the northern Mourne Mountains, traversing endless technical and rocky trails, and handrailing the impressive Mourne Wall. Runners will descend to the aid station at Fofanny Dam before heading eastbound back to the coast, exploring new trails before a final sting in the tail — the climb up Slieve Donard — the highest summit in Northern Ireland, with its unrelenting gradient. Competitors should take a moment to glance up at the summit, for views to the Irish Sea, because it’s all downhill from here in a mad dash back to Donard Park! Discover the full route on our Strava account HERE and find out more about the event on its website HERE.
In the women’s race, overall winner of the Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series, Victoria Thompson (Index 675) will be back on the start line this weekend. Despite closing-out the series early, with a win at the Seven Sisters SkyChallenge 30k last month, untouchable Thompson won’t be resting on her laurels. We’re expecting her to be giving Isobel Oakes (Index 665) and Kasia Osipowicz (Index 534) a run for their money at the front of the race! Oakes is an Irish athlete and previous winner of the Seven Sisters Skyline, who also competed as an elite in the European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships in La Palma in 2022. She’ll be up against Polish athlete Osipowicz, who is no stranger to hard competition, after being crowned Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series champion in 2019. Osipowicz has since sustained a hip injury but is making an impressive return to form this series. We’re also expecting another solid performance from Russian skyrunner Elena Medvedeva (Index 565), who finished top 10 at the Snowdon SkyRace and 2nd at the St. Sunday Mountain Race.
Will untouchable series winner Victoria Thompson scoop another win this weekend? © Tanya Raab
In the men’s race, there’s going to be no shortage of action! Overall series leader and U23 series winner Caleb Nonhebel (Index 691) has scored high points in the sub-ultra races so far, but he’ll be up against some big names in the classic Skyline this weekend. Craig Lowe (Index 732) and Enda Cloake (Index 760) sit in series positions 2nd and 3rd respectively, just a few points behind – and both will be gunning to be crowned series champion this weekend! Cloake, who finished 12th in the Skyrunning World Championships (SKYULTRA) in Spain and won the Seven Sisters Skychallenge 30k last month (ahead of Scottish U23 Nonhebel), will also be hoping to conclude a win in the inaugural Irish Championships (more info HERE). Lowe will be aiming for a top result too, after finishing 3rd at the Snowdon SkyRace and racing well at the Matterhorn Ultraks Extreme this August.
Can Enda Cloake win both the Irish Championships and the overall series this weekend?
To top off the big-hitters, elite fellrunner Brennan Townshend, winner of this year’s UTS 50K will undertake his first race of the Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series on Saturday. But he’s no stranger to this event, having won and set a new course record in 2018. Townshend has been clocking up lots of international races this season and will surely be pushing the pace at the front.
Live GPS tracking is available to view HERE and regular updates throughout the day will be shared on the Skyrunning UK Facebook Page HERE or Instagram HERE.
It’s time for the last race in the Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series!
And so the magic Mourne mountains will be the stage for the series showdown this weekend, with a whopping £1,000 awarded to our Overall Series champions (plus invitation to the end of season SkyMasters final of the Skyrunner® World Series!). Second and third place series winners will receive £500 and £250 respectively – but that’s not all! There’s still a £125/£75/£50 prize pool for the top 3 M/F finishers in both races on Saturday, as well as prizes for age cat winners U23 and V40 upwards.
Follow Along Online
If you’re a devoted dot-watcher, then make sure you have the live GPS tracking bookmarked (links above) and at your fingertips at all times on Saturday! Regular updates with be shared throughout the day on the Skyrunning UK Facebook Page HERE and Instagram HERE.
Skyrunning UK Director and RD for this event, Mike Jones will also be around at the finish line and prize-giving and with this his first event outside of Snowdonia/Eryri, don’t forget to say hi and let him know what you thought of your race experience!
Watch out for detailed race reports coming your way soon…
