It began as a fundraiser for the club

A crazy idea in Glendalough AC: run the cyclists’ diamond, start and finish it by the lakes, and see who turns up.

Fifty-odd people did, that first May in 2016. The race has grown every year since, on the penultimate Saturday of May, deliberately before the valley fills with summer visitors. In 2027 we run the tenth edition with around 750 runners across the two distances.

It is still a club race. The marshals are members, neighbours and families from Laragh and Glendalough who give up a Saturday. Money raised goes back into the club and into the community that lends us the road.

Running in a national park

We are guests of Wicklow Mountains National Park, the NPWS, the county council and the landowners along the route. That shapes the race: a capped field, semi-self-sufficiency on the high ground, no plastic bottles handed out on the mountain, sweep vehicles, and a litter pick behind the last runner.