Northern Ireland Mountain Running Association
www.nimra.org.uk

 

All Ireland Championship, Saturday, 29 May

Fri 28 May 2004 - Ian Taylor

The All Ireland Championship is being held this Saturday, 29 May on Lugnaquilla in the Wicklow Mountains. This is an annual challenge between NIMRA and IMRA athletes. It rotates around the four provinces in turn and this year is also being used for selection of the all-Ireland team travelling to the European Championship in Poland in early July. Rumours suggest that there will be a strong northern squad travelling down for the race and crac.

The race is 10.1 km with a climb of 718 metres. It starts at 12 noon from the base of Camara Hill (Grid Reference S 984929) and goes straight up the ridge of Camara Hill on a vague path to the shoulder of Lugnaquilla, then climbing more steeply to the extensive flat summit. In thick mist I discovered that finding the descent ridge again can be tricky! Last year the race was won by Paul Nolan in 54:56 with the first female being Nicky Cinnamond in 75:50. In 2002 Robbie Bryson won in 52:34 and John Lenihan took 50:52 in 2001. Previous race reports are at Events on www.imra.ie, where you will also find location and route maps.

If travelling from the north, take the ring road (Western Parkway) round Dublin (with tolls) and at the end of it take the N81 through Blessington. About 11 miles through Blessington take a left turn for the village of Donard, then right in Donard and head generally south and then east up the valley.

Selection for the All-Ireland European Championship team will be based on results in this race, with 4 Senior Men and of 4 Senior Ladies to be selected. The European Championship is on Sunday, 4 July at Korbielow, 54 miles from the nearest main airport of Krakow. It is expected that the team will fly out on Friday, 2 July and return on Monday, 5th. To date I only have information about flights from London with flights changing in Germany at ?139 and non-stop ones at ?221. I guess similar prices should be available from Dublin. Accommodation at the race is provided.