NIMRA Juniors Shine at the 25th British & Irish Mountain Running Championships, Wales 2025

by Phil Hodge · September 17, 2025

Canolfan y Fron, Gwynedd hosted the 25th Junior British & Irish Mountain Running Championships on Saturday 13 September 2025, with Northern Ireland & Ulster’s young athletes delivering a string of outstanding performances.

Although thundery rain was forecast, conditions were thankfully dry with only a slight WSW wind.

Runners faced a gradual uphill start along either gravel or a grassy verge for around 500m before turning onto a narrow bridleway beside a disused quarry. From there, the climb steepened onto a shale path to a prominent peak, followed by a fast grassy descent. A flatter section led into a second climb to the summit, then another sweeping downhill and a series of sharp rises and dips through the haunting ruins of old stone buildings – a scene reminiscent of Highlander. A final short, steep pitch brought athletes to a 100m gradual rise, then a thrilling 1.5 km downhill charge to the finish.

3rd place for the U-20 girls, alongside the winners Scotland and runners up England

The U17 race was 6.23km with a 257m elevation gain, whilst the U20 race was 6.84km with a 300m elevation gain.

Results

Under-17 Boys:
Luc Le Blanc 10th
Caleb Lewis 12th
Aaron Agnew 15th
Ethan Lappin 20th

Under-17 Girls:
Abby Smith 7th
Joanna McGrory 14th
Megan Barnett 18th
Aoibhe Delaney 19th

Under-20 Men:
Patrick McDaid 8th
Rudy Mayne 9th
Eoin McConnell 11th
Oscar Purvis 17th

Under-20 Women:
Anna McGookin 2nd
Katie Graham 12th
Niamh Campbell 16th
Aoife Magee 19th

A special mention must go to Anna McGookin who is going from strength to strength in her debut NIMRA season. A silver medal to accompany her bronze at the International Mountain Running Cup in Slovakia in June!

Anna McGookin with her well earned silver medal!

The benefit of having a junior squad of 23 athletes this season, was that we were also able to enter some additional athletes as individuals. This meant that they were also able to gain valuable experience at this prestigious event. Alana Rose Farley, Tiarnan McManus, and Upe Spelskaite all produced outstanding performances.

Our U17 Girls and boys both finished in 4th place. The same result was the outcome for our U20 men, who were only 3 points off a bronze medal. The icing on the cake at the event was our fantastic U20 Women who secured a Bronze medal. It was worth the painful wait for them to announce us!

As always, on and off the course, our athletes conducted themselves brilliantly. Friendships were strengthened within the team and with the other nations. In particular, there was clearly a fantastic bond with the Irish team – with whom we shared the journey. From epic games of hide and seek, to the loudest cheers in the room, the partnership of the two teams is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

All in all, the NIMRA junior squad showed depth, grit, and superb team spirit, proving they can challenge the very best across Britain and Ireland. With such narrow margins separating the podium places, the future looks bright for these talented young mountain runners. Looking forward to the 2026 event being held in our very own wee country!