Saturday 1st August proved to be another busy day for the DRR. Setting off at 2 am, the Irish 24-hour record holder Aoife Mundow (Drogheda AC), set off from the white arch on a solo run with end of section support from husband and 2016 DRR completer Pól.

Aoife ran a strong and steady round comfortably under the Karina Jonina’s August 2018 record, eventually returning to complete the circuit in a record-breaking 19 hours 12-minute, therefore lowering the female record by a massive 2 hours and 8 minutes!

Following a record-breaking weekend, for the DRR to close off July, Gavin Byrne, the current Wicklow Round record holder, decided at the last minute to see how he would fair across the 39 peaks of the Rankin Round.

Starting off at 5 am on Saturday 1st August with a great support crew, Gavin stormed around the course in the second-fastest time we have seen for the round in 14 hours 22 minutes, just 1 minute under the pre-July course record set by Konrad Rawlik (Carnethy). No doubt with the knowledge gained, Gavin could come back and challenge for Steven Shields 13:37 course record in 2021!

On Sunday 26th July, Steven Shields (unattached) of Bessbrook County Armagh, just three weeks after breaking the Mourne 500s record, bettered Konrad Rawlik’s (Carnethy AC) April 2017 record (14:23) by running a very impressive 13:37 for a clockwise round. Congratulations Steven – brilliant running.

Denise & Aine have written a great report from their recent clockwise round completion – click here to read the report

The committee of the Denis Rankin Round will be accepting notifications of attempts on the Round from 15th June 2020, but this will be subject to you accepting and putting into practice the following advice.

We have made this decision in recognition that travelling to the Mournes for exercise and outdoor activities is now permissible under the government measures to reduce the spread of COVID- 19, but we are mindful of the advice to stay local and avoid unnecessary journeys and at all times to practice social distancing and avoid unnecessary strain on emergency services.