Trial for Northern Ireland Junior Mountain Running Teams

28 March 2019

Trial for Northern Ireland Junior Mountain Running Teams

The trial for the Northern Ireland Junior Mountain Running Teams will be held on Thursday 4th April at the Castlewellan Forest Park, in an event hosted by St Malachy’s High School, Castlewellan.

The event will consist of an U17 and an U20 trial. The U17 trial will be a 5k race with approximately 300ft of climbing along forest paths. This event is open to athletes born in 2003 or 2004 and will start at 7pm. 

The U20 trail will be a 10k race with approximately 1000ft of climbing along forest paths, starting at 6.45pm. This event is open to athletes born in 2000, 2001 or 2002.

Online entries will close at midnight on Tuesday 2nd April, however, registration on the day will also be available. To enter either event, please see here.


A route of the course is available by clicking here. This shows the 10k route. The 5km follows the same path until 4km, at which point it drops down to the lake path and follows the lake round to the carpark and the finish line.

Each registered runner/walker will receive a bespoke medal, with delicious post-race refreshments and entertainment available at the school after the race. There will also be category prizes for 1st/2nd/3rd Male and Female in each race and also prizes for junior runners.

As this is an open event, family members who wish to run can enter too, while the U17's and U20's are competing for their place on the 2019 Squad.

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2019 Racing and Training Opportunities

World Mountain Running U18 Cup in Susa Italy, 22-25 August 2019 Last year the Northern Ireland U18 male team managed to place 4th in this competition. This is the highest achievement for a Junior Mountain running team from Northern Ireland to date.


British & Irish U20 and U17 Mountain Running Championships, 20-22 September 2019 At this event last year Grace Carson was crowned U20 British and Irish Mountain Running Champion. On the same day Sorcha Mullan gained an Individual Bronze at U17 and the U20 male team gained a team Bronze.

To help the squads prepare, it is hoped to attend training camps throughout the season.

These trials will select the athletes that will compete at these Championships and help them prepare at the training Camps.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Team Manager, Phil Hodge – philhodge@hotmail.com