Irish Mountain
Running Association

Union Wood

AuthorDateMessage
Barry GallagherApr 29 2024, 3:02pmHi all,

Entry now open for Union Wood (Sligo), the first race in the West League.

A nice mix of gravel, forest trails and single track. Just under 8km long with one of the most beautiful views of county Sligo thrown into the mix. Perfect for every ability. It was one of the league favourites last year.

Short course & early start available. Full maps & details on the event page. If there are any questions, please ask.
Barry GallagherApr 29 2024, 3:04pmCalling out for some volunteers for this. First aid officer & 4-5 marshals still needed.
christian headleyMay 2 2024, 2:11pmHey! I'm signed up to run, but could I help in marking the route or something before the race starts?
Barry GallagherMay 7 2024, 9:15amHi Christian, sorry for the delay, I thought I would get a notification on forum replies for some reason. Thanks for the offer but I have the route marking and running volunteer roles sorted. I'm still short a few non-running roles at the moment (2 marshals & first aid).
Eiviltas Evan RadaviciusMay 7 2024, 3:17pmHi Barry if you're still short of helpers on Friday evening I can switch to non-running.
Let me know what time you want volunteers to show up?
Evan
Barry GallagherMay 7 2024, 7:07pmHi Eiviltas, thanks so much for that offer. Hopefully it won't come to that but I will let you know ahead of time if I'm stuck. Ideally would like volunteers onsite from 11am, just in case there are some Early Starts and I need to get a couple of key marshals out at their spots.
Eiviltas Evan RadaviciusMay 11 2024, 4:41pmThanks to Barry and the volunteers for giving up their time on a day like to host it. Really. Enjoyed it.
Jeff SwordsMay 12 2024, 1:14pmResults posted, any issued mail imraresults at gmail dot com.
Barry GallagherMay 13 2024, 11:00amI'm glad you enjoyed it, Eiviltas!

We had a fantastic start to the West League with 84 competitors on the day. The weather was gorgeous, maybe a little hotter than some runners would have liked, but there was plenty of refreshments (even ice-cream!) at the finish line for everyone. We got great feedback about the course. Thanks to Rory Connor's excellent work last year, we have a route that showcases the best of Union Wood and keeps everyone challenged.

A huge thank you to my volunteers. Everyone stepped up in a big way. Many took on double or triple duties to make sure everything ran smoothly and I'm truly grateful. Aaron, RĂ­an, Juan, Anne-Marie, Alastair, Brian, Aoife, James, Niamh, Laurna and Trish. I have to shout-out Turlough seperately for his guidance over the past number of weeks. If we were back in the days of 0.15c SMS messages, I'd owe him a small fortune!

There are a lot more races to look forward to in the West this summer. Carrowkeel is up next, a fantastic out-and-back route that takes in some of Sligo's ancient landscape.

As an aside, 20% of registrations for Union Wood were by women who took part in the Women's Trail Series ran by Theresa Kilgannon in the previous weeks. A big kudos to her. The gender split on the day was 60/40 m/f.