Watertown Wander 2026 Report
There was no two ways about it – the NIMRA financial situation was a bit stressed, and somewhat dependent on the bank of Ian Taylor, who provided overly generous terms for credit. There was a need for an “improved cashflow situation” so that we could keep supporting our junior and senior teams and put on events, provide prizes and support the mountain running community.
The NIMRA committee put our heads together What do we do well? Races. “Is there anything to be said for another race?”
But it was a good idea. A gap in the calendar was sought. A challenging prospect given the Hill and Dale series, which takes up a lot of space (and energy) and makes weekend races difficult to fit in. Saturday 9 May turned about to be free. Nothing else on that day except Putin’s “victory day” parade in Moscow, but NIMRA’s situation was nowhere near as dire as his and we were confident we could manage a better turnout.
A crack team pored over Strava heatmaps and made some calls and alighted on Silent Valley as a venue, with a selection box style route covering a little bit of everything with trails, a scrambly climb, scenic vistas, and of course a Boggy Bog. NI Water turned around approvals in quick time. The Watertown Wander was born – named after the village that housed the people that built Silent Valley dam and disappeared as the reservoir filled. Starting on the dam, we took in trails around Silent Valley park before heading up to the Mourne Wall and over Slievenaglogh, descending to the Banns Road and climbing quarry tracks back to the Mourne Wall. A descent across the Boggy Bog led back to the park, finishing with a sprint across the surprisingly long dam and down the grassy dam itself.
The race was part of the New NIMRA league, and was fully marked. Our friends at Pure Running teamed up with shoe company VJ to use the race as a come try it event, bringing a selection of VJ shoes for runners to try on – and even race in – before buying. This went down a treat, and we thank both for their support. NIMRA members get discount at Pure Running in Belfast – and they are now the only shop in NI to stock fell shoes.
Alan Magee put in a huge amount of work marking the course, and even managed to arrange glorious weather. So glorious that the author managed to burn his shiny head in only an hour of not wearing a hat. Oops.
On the stroke on 12 the 70-odd runners took off, with Jonny Scott’s early lead nearly undone by a tripwire dog lead he had to vault in the first 200m. Rumours are that Paul Brennan had bribed the owner to set this up or unfounded, but in any case Jonny, somehow still at full strength despite a strong performance at the Intercounties the previous Sunday and winning the Binnian Hill and Dale on Thursday, held his lead throughout and ran home in 51 minutes, followed by Paul Brennan and Con Halpin for 2nd and 3rd. First lady home was the irrepressible Karen Wilton, followed by Sonia McIntyre in 2nd and Martsje Hell in 3rd. Martsje’s strong performance marked her return to racing after knee surgery.
The general consensus was that the route was a hit, particularly for those making the transition to mountain running. Silent Valley is a fantastic venue and has perhaps been underutilised for racing! If all goes well, we may be back next year.
Thank you for everyone who took part and supported NIMRA, and also a special thanks to those who couldn’t make the race but chose to contribute. It is greatly appreciated and will be put towards continuing to develop and support our sport clubs in NI.
The NIMRA committee pulled out all the stops for this one at short notice, helping with organising, promoting, and marshaling on the day. I’d particularly like to thank our race wizard Alan Magee for refining and marking the course, and keeping everything running smoothly on the day (while I swanned off to take part). Worth mentioning Sharon Dickenson who despite a tender head after a very important birthday the day before still came and marshalled – fair play.
We’ll be hosting another race on 29 August in Attical to replace the now-cancelled Granite Peaks– details to come soon. Next race in the league is Millstone Hill and Dale on 4 June, and next championship race is Cairncastle on 6 June.
