2026 Series Culminates at Majestic Mourne Mountains!
We are coming to the end of the 2026 Skyrunner® UK and Ireland Series and what a season of racing it has been! The final instalment takes us to the majestic Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland for the epic SkyRun the Mournes®, on Saturday the 10th of October. The current forecast suggests a cool and sunny day (albeit windy on the tops) — optimal conditions for autumn racing.
The event, which was revived in 2024 by Apex Running after a two-year hiatus, now offers three distances to test the mettle of skyrunners of all abilities:
Mourne SkyUltra: 50km with 3,500m+ (fifth race of this year’s SkyUltra® Series).
Mourne Skyline: 35km with 2,700m+ (the iconic Northern Irish skyrunning event, this year celebrating its tenth edition and this year’s Series Finals race. Also part of the Irish Skyrunning Championships, alongside the Seven Sisters Sky Challenge).
Mourne SkyTrail: 20k with 1,300m+ (fourth race of this year’s U23 Series).
Read on for a breakdown of the routes, and to find out just some of the speedy folk who are lining up to race.
Forecast clear weather on race day will show off the routes in their full majestic Mourne mountain glory! © No Limits Photography
Mourne SkyUltra®
First off at 7am is the 50km Mourne SkyUltra. Now in its third year, this ultra is growing in popularity and attracts many local runners who have already completed the longstanding Skyline and are looking for an even bigger challenge. This route doesn’t mess around, and from the start takes runners from sea level straight to the top of Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland. After the first aid station, runners climb to the top of Slieve Binnian before joining the main Skyline Route, however omitting a second climb of Donard at the end – the sting in the tail feature of the Skyline and SkyTrail. Runners will have 12 hours to complete the challenging course.
Also worthy of note, the ultra route also traverses nearly half of the indomitable Mourne Wall. Made of granite and taking nearly 20 years to complete, it was constructed to protect a catchment area of the Silent Valley Reservoir from sheep and cattle and is an impressive feat of civil engineering, as well as being an iconic landmark of the local area.
A whopping 50km route with 3,500m+ awaits runners in the SkyUltra on Saturday!
Leading the billing in the women’s race is Irish adventure racer and prolific ultrarunner, Laura O’Driscoll. O’Driscoll won this race on her last outing in 2024, along with the 14 Peaks Ultra earlier that year, and she hasn’t been wasting her time since then. Last year she won the Granite Peaks Ultra 50K, also in the Mournes, and she won the recent 2026 Eco Trail Wicklow 80K. She has also represented Ireland at World and European Championships on many occasions.
Laura O’Driscoll claiming victory in this race in 2024 © Evan Davies
Ireland’s Kristin O’Sullivan took second at last year’s race, also placing seventh overall, so she should be well up there too. She has previously placed third at the Seven Sisters Skyline in 2023 and won the 120-mile Kerry Way Ultra in 2024.
Ireland’s Deirdre O’Gorman has taken third in the last two editions of the Mourne SkyUltra and will be looking to improve on that for her third attempt. This year, she placed an impressive fourth at the arduous UTS 100 Mile. She has plenty of wins to her name too, including the Chianti Wine Run in Italy last year (we like the sound of that!) and the 2023 EcoTrail Wicklow 80K and 2023 Galtee Crossing.
Deirdre O’Gorman approaching the top of Slieve Donard during the opening kilometres of last year’s Mourne SkyUltra © Erin Walker
Local to the Mournes, Ashley Crutchley will be hard to beat in the men’s race. He placed second here last year, and also recently took second at the Sydney Ultra Marathon 100K in Australia. However, he’s even better known locally for strong performances in short mountain races, and he recently won the popular Buzzard’s Roost race – a perfect tune-up race for a longer challenge.
Northern Ireland’s Lee O’Boyle took eighth in the 2024 Mourne Skyline, but there is lots to suggest he might fare better over the longer distance. He won the Norn Iron Ultra 100 Mile in 2025 and 2022, and the Mourne Way Marathon back in 2019. He also took fifth at the Maurice Mullins Ultra in 2023 and finished TDS earlier this year.
Lee O’Boyle ascending the first climb of the 2024 Mourne Skyline © Evan Davies
Challenging the locals for the win is UK hill runner, Jono Atkinson. Based in Scotland, Atkinson took third in Skyline Scotland’s Steall Marathon last year and races regularly for Ochil Hill Runners.
See the full start lists over on the race’s GPS tracking page, now live HERE.
Several huge climbs feature on the return leg of the Skyline © No Limits Photography
Mourne Skyline®
The original and still the main event – the 35km Mourne Skyline kicks off at 9am. The race was a staple in Irish mountain running for many years before it was retired by its previous organisers, the Maxwell brothers after the 2021 event. Happily, it was revived in 2024 by Apex Running, and despite the changes behind the scenes, the tried and tested route has remained the same. Runners depart from sea level in Donard Park and run to the shoulder of Slieve Donard before setting off on the winding and gently undulating Brandy Pad trail towards Fofanny Dam. After a runnable first third, the real climbing kicks in, and the course racks up ten summits and 2,700 meters of climbing – culminating in ascent of Slieve Donard (850m) and a fast 5km descent to the finish.
All the local money for the men’s race will be on Northern Ireland’s Tom Crudgington. Still aged under 23, he has already reached legend status at home, winning most of the short mountain races he enters by a big margin. Over the water, he recently scored a big win at the Ben Nevis Race and also took fifth earlier in the year at the Three Peaks Race, and he has represented Ireland and Northern Ireland internationally in mountain running.
Race favourite Tom Crudgington in action at last month’s Ben Nevis Race
After a second-place finish at the Seven Sisters Skyline last month, Scotland’s Sam Fisher will be a strong challenger for the win. He also recently took third at the Ochil 2000s long fell race and won the 23km Trail Automnal Des Hautes Alpes in France last year.
Irish international runner Enda Cloake is becoming a regular face at the Skyrunner UK and Ireland Series, and he shouldn’t be far off the front either. He was most recently fifth at the Seven Sisters Skyline last month and third at the Copper SkyTrail in August. Further back, he won the Seven Sisters Sky Challenge in 2024 and has had bags of wins at ultras in Ireland.
Enda Cloake: 2024 Irish Skyrunning Champion © Evan Davies
Mourne runner James Millar should have a good shot at the podium, just coming off a third-place finish in the 30km Seven Sisters Sky Challenge. He’s done well in local mountain races this year too, including fourth at the Spelga Skyline and the Cairncastle Classic and second in Flagstaff to Carlingford. He also placed 10th in the half marathon at this year’s Istria 100 by UTMB.
In the women’s race, Welshwoman Carys Mai Hughes looks like the one to beat. This year alone she placed second in the Trofeo Kima 20km race and took fourth in the Skyrunning World Championships. She’s also made the podium at SkyRaces in France and Italy and should be well at home on this technical course.
Carys Mai Hughes at this year’s Skyrunning World Champs in La Gomera © Gomera Paradise Trail
Lara Coates from the Lake District in England is also one to watch. She’s had some great results at competitive fell races this year, including winning the Buttermere Horseshoe and fifth at the Borrowdale fell race. A teammate of Hughes, she also represented the UK at this year’s Skyrunning World Championships. She is still in the under 23 category and we expect to hear a lot more of her name in future!
Another strong podium contender is the UK’s Helen Brown, who has been a well-known name and face on the domestic Skyrunning circuit for many years now and is never far off the mark. Just this year she placed third at the Snowdon SkyRace, second at the St. Sunday Sky Race and fifth at the Scafell Sky Race.
Helen Brown racing in the Lake District at the Helvellyn Sky Ultra © Lake District Sky Trails
Another promising U23 athlete, Northern Ireland’s Holly Fisher is fast making a name for herself on the local mountain running scene. She has been a regular feature on podiums at short mountain races and this year represented Northern Ireland at the Snowdon International Mountain Race.
See the full start lists over on the race’s GPS tracking page, now live HERE.
Mourne SkyTrail
The third and final event, the Mourne SkyTrail commences at 11am. It takes in Slieve Commedagh and Slieve Donard and accumulates 1,300m of elevation gain over its 20km route. It works well as an introduction to skyrunning for newcomers, or as a fast and runnable route for seasoned runners too. And the field of runners lining up is a good mix of both!
The iconic Mourne Wall, as seen from Slieve Donard, which dominates the skyline here!
Lucy Milling of the UK is the top ranked runner in the women’s race, and she will be doubly incentivised to win by the chance to take the U23 Series win also. So far in the series this year, she’s won the St. Sunday Sky Race, placed second in the Copper SkyTrail and she sits second in the Overall Series rankings for women.
Lucy Milling taking on the first climb of this year’s Copper SkyTrail © Evan Davies
Northern Ireland’s Esther Dickson is also racing, and she needs no introduction to skyrunning. She won the Mourne Skyline in 2021 and drove herself to hospital immediately afterwards to have stitches on her badly bloodied leg! This year she’s featured extensively on podiums in local mountain races. She won the Luke’s Mountain race and placed second in the Slieve Donard Race, and she has represented Northern Ireland internationally several times.
Ireland’s Karen Crean who was in the top ten at this race last year is also returning for another go. She also placed fifth in last year’s EcoTrail Wicklow 19K.
On the men’s side, Northern Ireland’s Mark Stephens looks like a good shout for favourite, having won the 30km Seven Sisters Sky Challenge last month. He’s raced well this year at local mountain races too, winning the Spelga Skyline in July and taking second at the Loughshannagh race in June.
Mark Stephens en route to victory at last month’s Seven Sisters Sky Challenge © Excel Sports
Australian based in Belfast, Daniel Squires could be the top challenger. He was second in the Fjällmaraton 100K this year. He also won last year’s EcoTrail Wicklow 46K last year and was 10th in the 2025 UTS 50K.
Special shoutout also to the Race Director Michael Jones, who is double-jobbing this weekend by racing the SkyTrail! He placed fifth in the Skyline back in 2016 in a speedy 4:06. So, who knows what he could pull out of the bag?
See the full start lists over on the race’s GPS tracking page, now live HERE.
Best of luck to all racers taking to the start lines of this epic event and stay tuned for our race reports arriving on Monday!
