Church Mountain
Forum Messages
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Liam Mooney | Jul 9 2025, 7:45pm | Hi folks. Two weeks until kickoff. I'm all good for non running volunteers now thanks. Drafted in Soprano Bryan Smyth to put the Striders choir through their paces for the last few weeks, so you can expect some fine angelic hymns from the heavens on the night! |
| Niamh O'Boyle | Jul 12 2025, 10:16am | Hi Liam, I had volunteered before your message here on the forum so am I needed? I can also help with race marking. Thanks. |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 18 2025, 5:33pm | Hi Niamh, yes I have you on the roster. Will email all volunteers in the coming days with details of their roles. Thanks |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 18 2025, 5:49pm | Hi folks, Preparations are well underway for this year's Church Mountain race. Hopefully the weather Gods will be as kind to us this year as last. Either way, there'll some great running and fun to be had. Entries go on sale from Monday at 9am. We are all good for volunteers on this race now. There are lots of volunteer vacancies still for upcoming races so please have a look at the calendar and volunteer where needed. Seahan could probably do with a few more at the minute. See you next week |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 21 2025, 9:16am | Morning All, The shop is now open for this race. A few reminders in advance of the race: Getting There As with all IMRA races, please try to carpool where possible. There is no parking available at the start / finish line location. The field for parking (https://maps.app.goo.gl/MiRf1y15K6SHr7S56) is located approximately 700m from the start / finish line. Please approach from the Hollywood side so that you are not meeting runners along the road. Turn off where signposted for "Athgreany" please. Parking Charges The landowner has generously requested that the proceeds from the parking be donated to Friends of Saint Lukes Hospital for Cancer Care & Research. Standard IMRA parking charges are in effect for those without a full car: €4 for a single person car €3 for two people €2 for three people FREE for a full car (4+) Registration Registration will open at 6.15pm. Everyone must first sign in at the Registration Sign in desk, and then proceed to the Laptop Operators desk to get your number scanned. All runners must go to BOTH desks. New runners for 2025 will also need to get their number at New Numbers desk. Registration will finish at 7.10pm to allow time to get to the start location. Public Road The road up to the start/finish location is a tight road with two blind bends on it. There will be two marshals slowing traffic, but please walk on the left on the way to the start line, and on the right on the way back, and ensure children are accompanied. Early Start There is an early start for runners who regularly finish above 160% of the winner’s time. The early start will be at 7.00pm sharp, so ensure you give yourself time to get to the start location. Junior / Short Course The junior / short course will start 5 minutes after the main race at 7.35pm. The start for the junior / short course will take place about 300m further up the track from the main start location. Private Landowners – Fences & Gates This race would not be possible without the goodwill of private landowners allowing us to pass over their lands. There are three kissing gates along the route. Runners must go through each of the kissing gates. ***N.B. Under no circumstances are runners to climb over gates or fences along the route.*** Refreshments & Prize Giving Refreshments and prizegiving will be at the start / finish line. We will have a gazebo set up at the start / finish line for people to leave some warm clothes in for after the race. Volunteers Thanks for all who have volunteered for this event. IMRA would not be possible without everyone doing their fair share of volunteering. I will email you later today with further details on your roles etc. Looking forward to seeing you all at Church Mountain on Wednesday. |
| Jonathan Wilson | Jul 21 2025, 10:12am | Loving the poster Liam!! See you all Wednesday |
| Alan Kennedy | Jul 21 2025, 10:30am | He's doing it again this year. Best race briefing (sermon) of 2024. And now we get an epic poem in advance of the race. And an amazing poster!! What has he instore for us on Wed night?? |
| Eimear Deegan | Jul 22 2025, 10:03pm | Heal Your Hurts - by Niamh Brophy You think the climb will grant you peace, A fleeting break, a sweet release. But here on Church, the stones don’t lie They hold your pain beneath the sky. This year you come with pain grown old, Or fresh for those who’ve just been told The mountain waits for first-time feet, To test their fire, and try defeat The Grim Reaper’s descent is all but near A chilling path for those who fear. Yet still it offers chance to rise, Redemption’s gift beneath these skies. Heal your hurts, but hear it clear It keeps your scars year after year. Beyond the climb, the valley’s dark, Where shadows wait and leave their mark. It speaks in groans beneath your tread, The gulley climb that breaks the dead. Visions flicker, doubts entwine— Face the truth, or lose your line. So race if you dare, but do not yield— This mountain knows the pain you wield. Church Mountain awaits, relentless, grim To test your strength... so let’s begin. |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 22 2025, 10:46pm | Just back in off the mountain folks…looking as resplendent as ever. Conditions a little soft underfoot in one or two spots after yesterday’s deluge, but not as near as bad as I was expecting to be honest. Entries close for Church Mountain at noon tomorrow. If you haven’t signed up already, what are you waiting for?! When have you ever regretted that €7 investment in a Wednesday night on the hills with this fine community of people?! Get off the couch, pack your gear, pay the €7 entry fee, and we’ll see you there tomorrow evening for some great hill running sprinkled with a smidgin of craic. Prizegiving (of sorts!) and refreshments will be at the finish line, which is about 700m away from the parking field, so I recommend that you bring up some warm clothing before the race and leave it in the gazebo that we'll have set up there for after the race. You’re going to want to hang around for the raffle (the now traditional Church Mountain bouquet of horse manure is back, along with some other memorable prizes!) and I'm pretty sure you'll need a while to process and analyse the nights events, ...so best to have something warm there to hop into. Don’t be the one kicking yourself on Thursday, for not buying an entry now! |
| Niall McHugh | Jul 23 2025, 8:44am | Howdy folks, don't forget our lovely little playlist to get you in the mood; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BfNhYu5Dvqay6SgKvCi2m?si=rMzVsuyWSEa78efjV9AsbA&pi=TUz0QD1_S3GCp And for some extra credit, we have assembled a b-side compilation, a sturdy set of music to sharpen and focus the mind; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2VxpqDHRpOZXjpHa3OdRwm?si=RAV5OiCBSX-8uwHmHMTd1w |
| Alan Kennedy | Jul 23 2025, 9:06am | Thanks Niall, and considering the news yesterday there has to be some Black Sabbath added (the self-titled will do) |
| Niall McHugh | Jul 23 2025, 9:16am | That's a great shout Alan, fair play to ya, I've added that in |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 23 2025, 10:07am | Less than two hours left folks to get an entry for tonight’s race! Entries close at noon. Hard to get much for €7 these days…but you get one heck of a night every Wednesday night out with IMRA! Just a couple of notes for later. Getting There As always, please carpool where you can. There is no parking available at the start / finish line location. The field for parking (https://maps.app.goo.gl/MiRf1y15K6SHr7S56) is located approximately 700m from the start / finish line. Please approach from the Hollywood side so that you are not meeting runners along the road. Turn off where signposted for "Athgreany" please. Parking Normal IMRA carparking fees apply. The landowner has kindly requested that all proceeds be donated to Friends of Saint Lukes Hospital for Cancer Care & Research. Registration Registration will open at 6.15pm and close at 7.10 top allow time to get to the start line. Everyone must first sign in at the Registration Sign in desk, and then proceed to the Laptop Operators desk to get your number scanned. All runners must go to BOTH desks. Private Landowners – Fences & Gates This race would not be possible without the goodwill of private landowners allowing us to pass over their lands. There are three kissing gates along the route. Runners must go through each of the kissing gates. ***N.B. Under no circumstances are runners to climb over gates or fences along the route.*** Refreshments & Prize Giving Refreshments and prizegiving will be at the start / finish line. We will have a gazebo set up at the start / finish line for people to leave some warm clothes in for after the race. Please bring your own cup if you can. To get into the mental frame of mind for what lies ahead of you later, I recommend a listen to Niall’s Church Mountain playlist above. Other than that...best of luck, and looking forward to seeing you all later. |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 23 2025, 10:10am | Oh, and one additional thing. Mandatory kit for tonight is Jacket only. Make sure you have it with you...it would be terrible to go around this course and all it entails, only to be DNF'd! |
| Tim Mangan | Jul 23 2025, 11:36pm | Chapeau Pierre |
| Alan Kennedy | Jul 23 2025, 11:48pm | Thanks Liam and your amazing masked team for another memorable night on Church Mountain. How to top last years? Well another great sermon, the music, the costumes and then we get a maiden on horseback and a gong to start the race!! The route was marked perfectly and was as fun as i remembered last year and the grub and drinks after were excellent. Thanks to all your team. |
| Joe Lalor | Jul 24 2025, 7:58am | Liam and team Oscars: Costumes, Sound Effects, Director. Catering: Michelin Star. Course: Blue Riband. Strollers Abú. |
| Andy Keeling | Jul 24 2025, 8:20am | Well done to Liam and the Lakeshore striders. You definitely know how to make a race interesting. Thanks to all the pagan druids witches and wizards out on the course. Who were way more polite and nice than their first appearance would suggest. Highlights were starting the race following a horse mounted, hooded celtic queen galloping away from us and being told that I was useless by a hidden speaker in the tight boggy ascent on the way back. Also Alice's Hollywood red carpet paparazzi shoot was great. Well worth dragging my tired legs off the couch for. |
| Laura Flynn | Jul 24 2025, 8:44am | Thanks Liam to you and your Lakeshore Striders crew for another great night’s entertainment at Church Mountain. You’ve set a new standard for races. The galloping horse at the start will never be topped. |
| Brendan Lawlor | Jul 24 2025, 8:52am | Great race last night.. an event really from red carpet registration Hollywood style, to druids and priests and scary masks, another sermon from the rock, the hooded mysterious horsewoman, the added water and bogs along various trails and then the lovely spread at the finish line. What’s not to love ! Big thanks to Liam and his great team of volunteers and marshals. Hope the injured runner gets well soon |
| Jeff Swords | Jul 24 2025, 8:56am | That was so entertaining and fun, brilliant from all the volunteers/cult members out there yesterday and those that made the winners wreaths for the finish. |
| Elaine Casey | Jul 24 2025, 8:59am | Please tell me there's a video for those of us that couldn't attend? |
| Anna Michael | Jul 24 2025, 9:02am | Thank you Liam, Lakeshore Striders and all volunteers. The Hollywood photo shoot set the scene for a brilliant evening packed full of surprises on a great course. Well done all. |
| Chloe Hay | Jul 24 2025, 9:57am | Thanks to Liam and Co for a cracking route and race costumes were amazing!. Great race, its evident a lot of time and planning went into it. Thanks to all the runners and volunteers for the help, I am very grateful. Me and my ankle will be back in a couple of months, only a bit of ligament damage!! |
| Paul Mahon | Jul 24 2025, 10:01am | Never has a visit to Church been some entertaining and memorable. Well done to Liam and all the Lakeshore Striders & other marshals for the considerable effort involved in this most interesting and undoubtedly entertaining race of the year. The Course terrain matched this in terms of variety and entertainment value and post race fayre was superb :-) |
| Lillian Deegan | Jul 24 2025, 10:02am | A mid-week like no other! Church was gonna be unique, the anticipation palpable going on last year. ‘Twas was some beast, the horse that is. What a fine specimen of an animal. Velvet cloaked lady (loved the hair and face art Keira, I get how it took hours to prep.) and all them there hessian clad masked druids - spooked the heck out of me. Still maintain West of the Garden County we have a rare breed, very rare! RD Liam, Eimear and all the Striders - what a great night out. Such a fantastic team you all are. Stellar atmosphere pre, during and post run out - massive thanks to each and all of ye. Them few bottles and pub chats with ‘74 & Co. gave me plenty of things to occupy my mind crossing the hill back east. Alan Ayling we missed your pub company this time round. And yep, that’s was some savage sized white horsie that lead us out last night. Speedy well wishes to Chloe. Nothing as bad as that kinda pain. You’re a little trooper! We’ll still see you about the scene in no time at all here’s hoping. Get well soon young lady ;) |
| Keelin Holmes | Jul 24 2025, 10:17am | Thank you so so much to everyone for an unforgettable evening on the hills, I brought my 5 kids and they thoroughly enjoyed the evening! They each came home with a headpiece and a melon !! We all loved thd mud, the costumes ! Thank you so much, Keelin and kids ! |
| Lillian Deegan | Jul 24 2025, 10:24am | Should have highlighted- last night we had Brian Farren take to the race route on his 201 run out. Since we added to the Club 100 plus t-shirt awarding, Brian set himself the challenge of reaching for the stars to don one of them special red shirts. Last weekend he hit the big roundy No. off Nephin. Tipping out in his new t-shirt last night, he looked every bit the part of the buzz. Huge congratulations Brian - more power to your footfall and here’s to the next how ever many. I personally love our 300 T best. The colour is really nice #JustSayin |
| Jeff Swords | Jul 24 2025, 10:48am | As always any queries about the results email IMRAResults at Gmail dot com |
| Dermot O'Eidhneain | Jul 24 2025, 11:26am | Last night was class ....thanks to all organisers and well done |
| Warren Swords | Jul 24 2025, 11:28am | For those of us that missed out…surely you’re going to do a Halloween night time edition? |
| Rob Tobin | Jul 24 2025, 12:01pm | Thank you Liam, Striders and all the volunteers for last night's Lughnasa-y. As a semi-regular visitor to Hollywood Glen I was elated and then deflated seeing this one appear in the 2024 race calendar only to realise I would miss it. My sense of FOMO compounded after the event when I learned of the weird and wonderful production that was last year's race at Church. I was delighted to be there last night, to chase the white horse, to have my shot at winning a bag of horse manure or insemination gloves in the raffle. An unexpected and pleasant surprise came when we were joined at the finish line by Mr. Tobin senior, who chose this of all courses to ease back into the IMRA fold after a near-15 year hiatus. Wishing Chloe all the best with your recovery - hopefully see you back out before long. Take a bow Liam & Co.. Long live the ghouls of Athgreany! |
| Henny Brandsma | Jul 24 2025, 12:05pm | Well done to Liam and all the strides and all other volunteers, great atmosphere, before, during and after the race, expected the ghost of Ozzie Osborne somewhere to turn up, he would have really liked the whole setup and costumes. A speedy recovery to Cloe, hope you're soon be up and running again. Cheers Henny. |
| Richard Allan | Jul 24 2025, 12:19pm | Please consider a Halloween repeat for those that missed out, as Warren’s suggesting. Crying into my tea reading the comments about the Wickerman-esque spectacle, not to mention the missed chance at a pair of insemination gloves. Brilliant |
| Rob Tobin | Jul 24 2025, 12:24pm | Richard - Not just a pair of insemination gloves, but a box big enough to keep a small veterinary practice going until the middle of next year's Leinster League! :D |
| Richard Allan | Jul 24 2025, 1:25pm | ...that is some serious competition for a box of Quality Street Rob.. I know what I'd be going for |
| Keira-Eva Mooney | Jul 24 2025, 1:34pm | The big question is who won the Pig Ears? |
| Brian Farren | Jul 24 2025, 5:29pm | Thanks Lillian. My face is now the colour of said t-shirt. :) #BaskingInTheGlowOfIt Thanks Liam and all the volunteers, what an event, couldn't believe it when that lady rode in on the horse. Wishing you a speedy recovery Chloe, hope to see you out on hills soon. |
| Alice Clancy | Jul 24 2025, 9:57pm | All hail Liam and the Lakeshore Striders! That was some production last night….every detail meticulously and brilliantly planned and executed!!! No photo can really do it justice! But to give a flavour of the evening, there are photographs from the Red Carpet/Reg, Start line sermon, finish/misery line and prizegiving/raffle on the race page, and high res versions are uploading and will be downloadable later this eve here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ag404vmxkumxa6jr6obgm/AKFn3MeqLqm-RlLYlY_B1uI?rlkey=o8ms93zjwzyp62m0hw5vu56ba&dl=0 The cabal are deliberating on the most important prize of the night (best red carpet pose) and the results are imminent….the shortlist is here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/e747payrox9107rzg9pja/ALbwk-E3aDQ7tbueh7LwLFQ?rlkey=9byve0p4i6wke4q4t1v8cac70&st=t50zp875&dl=0 Ps it was my nephew’s first IMRA race..he loved it but I fear his idea of what we get up to on Wednesday nights is somewhat warped…! Pps the pace in the junior race is fierce. I’m destroyed from trying to keep up with them last night!!! Phil and Liz, your junior league is genius! |
| Mick Hanney | Jul 24 2025, 10:05pm | Report added. |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 25 2025, 12:31am | Thanks everyone for coming along to the race last night! It was great to hear such positive feedback — we’re delighted so many of you enjoyed the race and the evening’s entertainment. Huge congratulations to Pierre Dubreil and Susan Glennon on their wins. Serious performances, especially given the heavy and testing ground conditions. Congratulations too to Chris Lepp on winning the “Best Pose” award at registration, fending off stiff competition from all sides, particularly from the not-so-young boyband category! Chris was selected following protracted and tense deliberations amongst the Striders judging panel today. Judges felt Chris’s star really shone through in his fur coat attire and blue steel stare. Well done, Chris! Please forward on your address and we’ll look at posting you out your prize…a beautiful bouquet of horse manure! ;) Of course, there was no judging panel required for the most stylish runner on the course last night…Charlie Johnston…take a bow! Best wishes to Chloe on her recovery. Hopefully it will only be a short-lived absence from the hills. Thanks to all who came to her assistance. Particular kudos to Anna Michael, (and possibly others!) who sacrificed high podium ambitions to tend to Chloe. Great to see that this selfless ethos is still alive and well in IMRA. I don’t know where to begin with thanking my team of volunteers. It would’ve been a very different night if I did not have the phenomenal team from Lakeshore Striders IMRA faction supporting me in the lead up to last night. I’m only really the figure they push out front on the night, but all the crazy, creative, and wonderful ideas came from this incredibly talented and industrious bunch. My main job these past few months has been vetoing the too mad and/or borderline illegal ones! But I think we landed on a fairly decent evening’s entertainment in the end. Between poetry, graphic design, playlists, 3D printing, electronics programming, costume creation, crown making, props gathering, and kitchens running on overdrive for the post-race feast — and the usual race prep (gorse clearing, course marking, deer skull procurement, horse manure gathering, and horse taming!) — it’s been a blast! Massive thanks to everyone involved for all your hard work, creativity, and good humour. Big thanks too to all the volunteers who joined us on the night. Not sure what you thought when you saw all the madness unfold, but ye embraced it well and brought a bit of much needed professionalism to proceedings too! Thanks again to Lillian for her support in the lead up and for whipping us into shape on the night. Special word of thanks to Alice for agreeing to come along and photograph proceedings. I don’t know what kind of filters she’s using, but somehow, she managed to make some fairly average looking hill runners look like they should be on the silver screen! Epic shots from registration, the start line, and from the finish line, even though she was still out of breath from the run. Thanks a million. Thanks Mick for the race report — a great read! And finally, thank you to all you wonderful runners. Thanks for embracing the silliness, bringing your good cheer, and behaving so well out on the course. You made it all worthwhile. It’s been a blast. See you on the hills again soon. |
| Liam Mooney | Jul 25 2025, 2:11pm | Hi All, Just a quick note to say that there was €328 collected at the gate to the parking field on Wednesday. The landowner has generously requested that the proceeds be donated to Friends of Saint Lukes Hospital for Cancer Care and research. IMRA are donating a further €150 as way of thanks to the landowners whose land the route crossed, and who waived any fees, bringing the total being donated to St Lukes to €478. A great result. Thanks to all involved. |
| Jenise OBrien | Jul 25 2025, 6:47pm | Thank you everyone especially Niamh and Sarah for peeling me off the forest floor! My very first mountain “run”(more walking than running) and wow it was truly a memorable experience! All of you were absolutely amazing running like a herd of gazelles up and down those “hills” and having the kindness of letting me know I was still alive and not to quit! So thank you!!! I didn’t think I wanted to do this again but I’m thinking you gotta start somewhere!!! Thank you again to all of you crazy humans!! |
| Niamh Brophy | Jul 25 2025, 10:50pm | It was lovely to meet you Jenise and happy to hear you're planning your next IMRA, entries for Seahan open on Monday. Short course is roughly 4k and starts at 7:35.. might not offer the same suffering as Church but im sure you'll enjoy it nonetheless!!! Fair play Liam for pulling your creative visions out of your head and into reality. A bit of work, a lot of craic and a team of willing Striders is all it took to make it happen. Well done to all the runners who took Church on, see ye out there soon. |
| Niamh Brophy | Jul 25 2025, 10:51pm | It was lovely to meet you Jenise and happy to hear you're planning your next IMRA, entries for Seahan open on Monday. Short course is roughly 4k and starts at 7:35.. might not offer the same suffering as Church but im sure you'll enjoy it nonetheless! Fair play Liam for pulling your creative visions out of your head and into reality. A bit of work, a lot of craic and a team of willing Striders is all it took to make it happen. Well done to all the runners who took Church on, see ye out there soon. |
