Record Day at the Annalong Horseshoe 2026

Saturday 25 April saw BARF hosting race 2 of the NIMRA championship and this year’s first long race – the classic Annalong Horseshoe, in its toughest incarnation yet. New this year was the addition of the short course race, which was race 5 of the new NIMRA league. This year say 75 runners signed up for the main event, and another 57 in the short course – a record turnout.

The Annalong Horseshoe could be described as the toughest half marathon in Ireland (apart from the Spelga Skyline). Traditional Horseshoe weather is low mist, mizzle and visibility of approx. 50cm. Traditionalists will see the 2023 event as the pinnacle, where although the course had to be shortened, interest was maintained by the pre- and early-race deluge, high-peril river crossing, and general air of character building.

Alas, none of the sort this year, and we were cursed blessed with blue skies, sunshine and visibility as far as you dared look. Those whose running ability outmatches their sense of direction were elated, but all were apprehensive about a lack of heat acclimatisation after a thoroughly miserable winter. Short shorts and sun cream ended their long hibernation.

The first challenge of the great turnout was finding somewhere to park at Carrick Little. Expert-level parking Tetris by the BARF team ensured all cars were abandoned in a semi-respectable manner. BARF drill sergeant Claire was undertaking an extremely thorough kit check, with no allowance made for weather or rank – no runner got their dibber without carrying the mandatory kit, gloves and all. Just right.

The main race starts at the top of the Carrick Little track, visiting Chimney Rock, Slieve Donard, Slieve Commedagh, Cove Mountain, Slieve Lamagan and Slieve Binnian in order before hurling down along the Mourne wall back to the car park. 20 ish km and 1700 m of climbing (that’s 44000 cubits and 8.5 furlongs for those who prefer arcane measurements). The “short” course “only” took in Binnian, following the track from Carrick Little to the Binnian – Lamagan col before joining the route over Binnian to the finish. 4.9 nautical miles and 22000 inches of elevation, or 9 km and 550 m.

Long Course

The main event set off first, all runners together for the first section along the Carrick Little track. Adam Cunningham of Mourne Runners was favourite to retain his overall title from previous years, but between injuries, commitments to other races, and runners doing the shorter course, the race was wide open beyond 1st. The race was slow to get going, with nobody wanted to play their cards too early – but by the end of Annalong wood Adam was solidly leading with a small group attempting to follow him on a route to Chimney via Hare’s Castle. Most runners turned left at this point and headed via Rocky Mountain. By the slopes of Chimney it was clear that Adam had dropped his followers and by Donard he had a commanding leading, cruising home in a time of 2:30.

Behind Adam, Niall McCartan of BARF settled into 2nd place by the top of Chimney and finished in a time of 2:52, in one of his first forays into the longer distance races. One to watch, particularly if he actually starts doing some training. Behind Niall a game of attrition ensued in the heat, with Ben Mangan and Con Halpin fighting hard for 3rd but both were caught by the top of Binnian by Rónán Davison-Kernan of BARF, who used a combination of local knowledge and (dubious) heat acclimatisation from gratuitous hot tub use to maximise his chances and finish 3rd in 2:54. Rónán (the author) will now milk his first ever (and possibly only) podium finish and likely retire back to the mid-teens, where he belongs.

In the women’s race, Rebecca Magee (Newcastle AC) and Karen Wilton (Jog Lisburn) raced hard, nec and neck with each other as far as Cove. Rebecca, a strong descender, managed to open a gap on Karen and crossed the line 1st in a time of 3:05 (8th overall) with Karen 2 mins behind in 2nd (10th overall). Bronagh O’Gara rounded up the womens’ podium in a time of 4:02.

Short Course

On any other day, a race over Binnian would be the main event. The climb up Binnian from the north is a notorious back-breaker in numerous long events, and several runners commented on the novelty of reaching it relatively fresh. Three runners managed the lap under the hour mark, with Ashley Crutchley of Newcastle AC overcoming recent injury to finish 1st in 52:38, followed by Andrew Ó Donnghaile of Galway City Harriers in 2nd (56:21) and Alan Stretton of Armagh AC 3rd (59:43). In the women’s race, Ciara Ryan (unattached) took an early lead, sitting in 1st at the Binnian-Lamagan col, but was overtaken by Sam McNeilly (Newcastle AC) after the grind to Binnian summit. However, descending specialist Esther Dickson came into her element on the last leg from the summit to the finish, going from 3rd to 1st and turning a 1 minute deficit to a 2 minute gap, finishing in a time of 1:07:45, with Sam 2nd in 1:10:01 and Ciara 3rd in 1:11:07.

Well done to all on a tough, warm day, and congratulationas and thanks to Richard Wilson and the BARF team for putting on a very successful event. This was the first time a short course has been run in a NIMRA race and this served as an experiment to test the concept. It’s clear that it was a resounding success which can hopefully be repeated at July’s Spelga Skyline.

Next up in the Championship is the East Antrim AC’s Cairncastle Classic on 6 June, and the next league race is NIMRA’s Watertown Wander at Silent Valley on 9 May.