The Reeks Running Festival is an annual event organised by IMRA Munster. There are 5 different races for different abilities with the toughest being the Skyline, it requires preapproval to enter because it is so difficult and attracts competitors from all over the world.
Mairead, the owner of New Leaf, ran the Skyline race. It was her forth time doing it, but she was still nervous because it’s such a challenging race. It has dangerous near vertical climbs and is really exposed. It takes place over 16 miles of some of the most rugged terrain in the Reek’s mountain range. Mairead said “Although I was very nervous there are some really lovely people involved in organising it year after year. John Cronin did a great job of settling the nerves and as soon as I put a foot on the mountain and saw the incredible scenery all the nerves went and I just got on with it!”
The other races were a “Vertical” is straight up – an intense 800m climb over 3km. On Sunday there were a trio of races – 3 Lakes Of The Glen was a new race for 2024 and it was a great success, it was so beautiful because it took you to new places in the Reeks with stunning views of the lakes and Carrauntouhill. It was marked really well by Brian Mullins, he’s a very experienced mountaineer, and he chose a really great route, difficult but achievable.
The race organiser was Robbie Williams, who owns Fitnessworx Gym in Cork. Robbie did trojan work to pull off this event. He had great support from volunteers, it couldn’t go ahead without the marshals and first aiders – standing at the top of mountains all day and keeping the competitors safe.
Cronin’s Yard deserves a special mention, for those who don’t know it, already. It has been used as the traditional starting point for ascents of Ireland’s highest mountain, Carrauntoohil for over 300 years and has a cafe, camping pods and offers camping facilities too. John and Esther are great people and hosted the event and were really warm and welcoming.
New Leaf sponsored all the prizes for the races – that was six prizes for each of the five races. We provided gorgeous hampers and gift bags and they went down really well.. We also got support from some of our amazing suppliers who provided some fabulous spot prizes and gift hampers. We’d like to thank Wholefoods, Optimum Nutrition Ireland, Revive Active and NaturesPlus.
Great pics Mairead and well done on the Skyline. Thanks for being out there to help on the Sunday as well, the encouragement and refreshment coming down Maolan Bui at the end of a hard race gave a real lift!
Declan.