Granite Peaks Ultra 2025
A Legendary Clash in the Mourne Mountains
By Sean Clifford · · Race Preview
In the Mourne Mountains, or Beanna Boirche, where granite peaks claw at the sky and ancient myths whisper through the valleys, an epic battle looms on May 25, 2025.
The Northern Ireland Mountain Running Association (NIMRA) presents the Granite Peaks Ultra, a trio of races—80k, 50k, and 25k—that serve as the Irish team trials for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) in Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain, from September 25–28, 2025. With target times of 9:30 for men and 11:00 for women in the 80k, and 6:25 for men and 7:45 for women in the 50k, only the top four in each race will earn a coveted Irish vest.
As Irish playwright Brendan Behan once wrote, “It’s not that the Irish are cynical. It’s rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.” This defiance resonates in the Mournes, where runners will face a landscape that bows to no one, testing their grit against its unyielding granite. We will soon see are these Irish lads and ladies cynical or full of respect !