Mourne Mountains host stunning Finals of 2026 Series!
The 2026 Skyrunner® UK and Ireland Series concluded on Saturday with a windy and wonderful day in the Mourne Mountains. Runners in all three events took shelter by the Mourne wall as they made their journeys around this unique landscape, with clear skies allowing breath-taking sea and mountain views.
On the men’s side, victory in all three races went to local runners, while visitors from elsewhere in Ireland and the UK took top spots in the women’s races. Read on to see how all three races played out.
Relentless forward motion at the 2026 edition of SkyRun the Mournes. © Erin Walker
Mourne SkyUltra®
Setting off before sunrise, 85 hardy souls took on the 50km Mourne SkyUltra. With no messing around, the route headed straight to the summit of Slieve Donard, with runners climbing around 850m in the first six kilometres. They then ascended Slieve Binnian before joining the main Skyline route along the Brandy Pad trail.
In the women’s race, it was ‘third time’s a charm’ for Ireland’s Deirdre O’Gorman, who claimed victory after two third-place finishes in 2024 and 2025. She said, “I’ve been trying for a long time! My goal was to be under eight hours, that’s all I wanted, so the win was a bonus.” She finished comfortably inside her target time, in seven hours and 51 minutes.
Deirdre O’Gorman climbing to victory at the 2026 Mourne SkyUltra. © Erin Walker
Her speedy time was no doubt helped by the presence of 2024 race winner, Ireland’s Laura O’Driscoll, just behind her and she said: “I knew Laura was on my heels pretty much the whole way. I saw her at one stage, we kind of had to debate which way we were going, which wall we were following. And then I went one way, she went the other, and we didn’t see each other after that, but I knew she was there… I didn’t look behind me because I knew if I did, I would panic!”
2024 Mourne SkyUltra champion Laura O’Driscoll on the opening ascent of Slieve Donard. © Erin Walker
O’Driscoll took second in 8:06, and Kristen O’Sullivan, also of Ireland, rounded out the podium in 8:44.
The 2026 Mourne SkyUltra women’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Laura O’Driscoll, 1. Deirdre O’Gorman, 3. Kristen O’Sullivan. © Jonny Gill
O’Gorman was also the first woman in the 40-44 age category – in fact, the entire women’s podium belonged to this category. Northern Ireland’s Kerri Munn-Bookless took fourth and was the first in the 45-49 category.
An atmospheric sunrise along the Mourne Wall greeted runners in the SkyUltra © Erin Walker
In the men’s race, there was no stopping local legend Ashley Crutchley, who scored a commanding victory over the visitors. He finished in 6:07, taking 52 minutes off his second-place finish time from last year. He was beaming at the finish and said:
“Aye it was alright. I think I took nearly an hour off my time from last year! The win was great, I was back with a vengeance, I got pipped coming off Commedagh [the final peak] at the end last year.
The conditions didn’t faze him too much, and he said: “It was really windy until Fofanny, until we got to the other side of the wall and then we were more sheltered. But the rain stayed away so I’m happy enough.”
Ashley Crutchley finally claims victory the 2026 Mourne SkyUltra. © Rad Szopinski
Taking second just over a half hour back from Crutchley was UK runner Jono Atkinson, finishing in 6:39, and the UK’s Jonathan Heasman was a distant third in 7:37.
Jonathan Heasman atop Slieve Donard in the opening kilometres of the SkyUltra © Erin Walker
The first 40-44, also taking fifth overall, was Ireland’s Lee O’Boyle. Northern Ireland’s Denis Burdakov was the quickest 45-49 in 8:25, and the UK’s Vincent McConville won the 50-54 category in 9:47. Ireland’s David O’Halloran was the fastest 55+ man in 11:04.
Provisional results from this race are now online HERE.
The 2026 Mourne SkyUltra men’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Jono Atkinson, 1. Ashley Crutchley, 3. Jonathan Heasman. © Jonny Gill
Mourne Skyline®
Under blue skies, the main event got underway at 9am – the 10th edition of the 35km Mourne Skyline. A staple on the Irish mountain running calendar for many years, save for a brief hiatus before it was revived by Apex Running, the revered route has remained much the same. From this year onwards, this race is also the Overall Series Finals race, which runners must start to achieve an Overall Series ranking (the results from this race will be the tiebreaker in the case of any series points ties).
There are not shortage of stunning landscapes throughout these routes! © Erin Walker
In dry but cold and windy conditions, racers set off to the shoulder of Slieve Donard, before heading out on the Brandy Pad for a glorious runnable section, before getting stuck into climbing ten of the Mourne Mountain’s major peaks.
As most of the locals would have predicted, Newcastle man Tom Crudgington won the men’s race by a big margin, finishing in three hours and 43 minutes. He seemed to take it all in his stride, and said at the finish: “It was all good. A wee bit windy up top but all good anyway.” Crudgington had run with second-place man, Scotland’s Sam Fisher, early on before pulling away, and he didn’t see any more of the competition for the remainder of the race.
Crudgington, who is still aged under 23, is having a stellar year and recently won the iconic Ben Nevis Race in Scotland. When asked for his secret, he said: “Just time on feet. Train hard and enjoy it – that’s the key!” Next weekend he will be representing his club – Newcastle AC – in the FRA fell relays in England, and he said jovially: “We’ll give that a wee lash anyway!”
Local Tom Crudgington running strong to victory at the 2026 Mourne Skyline. © Erin Walker
Taking second place was Sam Fisher of Scotland, finishing in 4:07. It was a tight turnaround for Fisher, who placed second at last month’s Seven Sisters Skyline 55k. We hope to see more of him at future series events! Taking third in 4:28 was another local runner, James Millar of Mourne Runners. This was a position he also occupied last month at the 30km Seven Sisters Sky Challenge race.
Northern Ireland’s Ian Stevenson was the first 40-44, also taking fourth man overall in 4:33, and Ireland’s Alan Kearney was the first 45-49 in 4:51. Ireland’s Derek Mullen was top 50-54 in 4:57 and the UK’s Jason McKay won the 55+ category in 5:28.
The 2026 Mourne Skyline men’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Sam Fisher, 1. Tom Crudgington, 3. James Millar. © Jonny Gill
In the women’s race, it was Welshwoman Carys Mai Hughes who took the win in spectacular fashion, closing in four hours and 33 minutes and inside the top five finishers overall. She loved the course and said at the finish, “It was stunning. It was my first ever SkyRace in the UK. I have raced in Europe where it’s sunny because I’d rather race in sunny warm conditions… Because we don’t have as much elevation the climbs were more manageable, but there was a lot of them. I lost track!”
Hughes recently placed fourth in the Skyrunning World Championships in the Canary Islands, a race about as far removed from a cold and windy day in the Mournes as could be. She said, “It was so hot and I drank so much water. I only needed a fraction of that today. There is an advantage to it being cooler here, you can work harder on less fuel and less hydration.”
Carys Mai Hughes en route to victory at the 2026 Mourne Skyline. © Darragh Loughran
Coming in in second in the women’s race was Hughes’ UK skyrunning teammate, Lara Coates of Keswick AC in England’s Lake District. A very promising fell runner and still under 23 years old, Coates delivered here with a strong 4:50 finish.
Keswick-based Lara Coates en route to 2nd place in the Skyline © Erin Walker
Taking third and first local was Newcastle AC’s Holly Fisher, who rounded out the podium in 5:33. Also under 23, we expect to see lots more of her in the future!
For the age category honours, England’s Emma Frost was the first 40-44 in 6:39 and Scotland’s Lucy Henderson was first for 45-49.
Provisional results from this race are now online HERE.
The 2026 Mourne Skyline women’s podium: (left-to-right) 3. Holly Fisher, 1. Carys Mai Hughes, 2. Lara Coates. © Jonny Gill
Mourne SkyTrail
Last but not least, the 20km Mourne SkyTrail set off at 9am. It was billed as an introduction to skyrunning, but there were plenty of seasoned runner still opting to race this shorter distance with 1,300m of elevation gain.
In the men’s race, it was another win for the locals, with Mark Stephens of Mourne Runners doubling down on his victory in last month’s Seven Sisters Sky Challenge to take the win here too. He had tight competition early on from Daniel Squires, an Australian who runs with Belfast club Annadale Striders. Stephens said: “It was quite hard going. Daniel really powered on on the way up the Glen river, then I just started to pull away a bit. It was really tough out there. The wind was pretty strong and coming up Commedagh it was icy cold. So, a wee bit of everything, but it was good. Great day, I’m very happy.”
Mark Stephens, the 2026 Mourne Skytrail men’s champion. © Rad Szopinski
In the end Stephens finished more than 10 minutes clear of Squires, who took second in 2:06. There was a smaller gap to third, with England’s Paul Brear Clarkson closing out the podium in 2:08, also the first 40-44.
Ireland’s Anthony McKinley was the first 45-49, finishing in 2:48. Northern Ireland’s William Fleck was the fastest 50-54 in a speedy 2:20, and Northern Ireland’s Mark Alexander was the first 55+ in 2:40.
The 2026 Mourne SkyTrail men’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Daniel Squires, 1. Mark Stephens, 3. Paul Brear Clarkson. © Jonny Gill
England’s Neha-Nami Ligertwood made short work of the course, taking the women’s win in two hours and 28 minutes. She said:
“It was a good race. It was tricky after 10K as I took a tumble, but the run up Donard was great.” As a student at Queens University Belfast, Ligertwood trains regularly in the Mournes, and that local knowledge and familiarity with the terrain no doubt gave her an edge.
Neha-Nami Ligertwood working her way to victory at the 2026 Mourne SkyTrail. © Erin Walker
Northern Ireland’s Naomi McCloskey took second in 2:45. It was a close battle for the last podium spot, with Canadian Megan Graham finishing just two seconds ahead of Northern Ireland’s Clair Quigley, both closing in 2:59. Quigley was first in the 45-49 category.
The 2026 Mourne SkyTrail women’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Naomi McCloskey, 1. Neha-Nami Ligertwood, 3. Megan Graham. © Jonny Gill
Ireland’s Caroline Fahy was the first 40-44, finishing in 3:16. Northern Ireland’s Claire Withers was the first 50-54, finishing in 3:14, and Ireland’s Orla French took top honours in the 55+ category in 3:08.
Provisional results from this race are now online HERE.
No shortage of moody, autumnal scenes at this year’s event! © Erin Walker
Once again, the Mourne Mountains provided a spectacular host to the season-end Finals of the 2026 Skyrunner® UK & Ireland Series. The final Overall Series rankings, as well as rankings for all sub-series’, including the Irish Skyrunning Championships will be updated in the coming days, with a season recap article to follow shortly after.
That’s a wrap from Northern Ireland, concluding yet another fantastic edition of SkyRun the Mournes, as well as an incredible season of UK & Irish skyrunning. We can’t wait to see you in the mountains again next year!
