The 78th Slieve Donard Race took place on Saturday 13th May. This is the oldest mountain race on the island having been run annually since 1945. The race began in Donard Demesne, beyond the Donard Car park in Newcastle and went via the Commedagh Donard saddle to the summit of Northern Ireland’s highest point before the mountain runners took a line beyond the summit cairn and descended towards the quarry and the start/finish line. The morning’s clouds parted to allow runners a glorious sunny day in the Mournes. The fastest runner to the top, Newcastle AC’s Zac Hanna summited Slieve Donard in an incredible 33 minutes. North Down AC had 4 runners in the event with only John Adgey achieving the enviable record of reaching the summit in fewer minutes than he has birthdays! All 4 safely descended with Clair Quigley being the first to finish in 1:27:19. Donald Smith was the next finisher in 1:47:54 ahead of Trevor Patterson in 1:52:40 with John Adgey joining them shortly afterwards in 1:54:18.
[photo: Clair Quigley, Donald Smith, Trevor Patterson, John Adgey]