Warriors Festival
Strandhill, Co Sligo
Knocknarea by Chim Chim
The central event of this festival is the gruelling Warrior’s Run, a competitive and gruelling event, which takes runners from the beach front at Strandhill over a 10 mile (15km) route involving a seriously challenging 1050ft climb up Knocknarea and back down to the beach again.
It’s not for the faint hearted, but each year hundreds of runner step up to the challenge.
In 2010 the winner of the men’s race, Eoin Gahan, completed the run in just over 54 minutes, which is speedy enough for any 15k, but is nothing short of extraordinary over such difficult terrain. Marie McCambridge, the women’s race winner, was home in just over an hour. The festival website has a complete training plan for prospective runners.
Though this festival was first held in 1985, the origins of the run at its heart go back a little further, to a pub bet in 1979, when a group of drinkers began to speculate on the fastest way to the top of the nearby mountain.
In addition to the run, there is a music festival running over two days and a fireworks display on Saturday night, fancy dress, quizzes, a poker tournament, a fun fair and a host of other events – plenty to keep non-runners and runners alike amused.
Details and Location
Details of how to enter and of the programme of events around the run will be posted to the festival website.
Take a look at the streetview in the map below to get an idea of what you’ll be facing if you plan to enter this race.
