Seven Sister Skyline event attracting worldwide attention for 2023

People from across the world are registering their intent to take part in Ireland’s premier mountain running event, the Seven Sisters Skyline 30k and 50k, this coming year. The 2023 event will  mark the event’s sixth year and will attract people from across the world who will travel to the Donegal Gaeltacht to participate in the event which will see them scale mountains in the wild and beautiful surroundings of the Derryveagh mountains.  

The organiser of the event, Eunan Quinn, says the event is of great importance to the local economy and said people from across the world are registering to participate in the event at this point. People from the States, Netherlands, Italy and other countries and continents compete in the annual event which has grown enormously in popularity since its inception. 

“It is a big event and we will be looking at the sixth in 2023,” the Ballybofey man said. 

He described the terrain across the Seven Sisters as presenting athletes with a world class mountain route. The 30k event,  2022 edition, was Ireland's first-ever Mountain running World Cup event. The route is wild and rugged and there are areas where there are no tracks to traverse which adds to the much-anticipated event.

Duran Duran to perform in Ireland next year

Mr Quinn says the bigger event which is the 55km event takes a lot of training. However, the 30k route sees a lot of fit hikers participating and, at times, some hikers begin to run the route. The 30k route is open to hikers and trail runners. Last year, 430 people participated in the events. 

The internationally recognised event is different from other such events you will find in Scotland or Wales because it packs a lot of elevation into shorter spaces. 

“It is shorter up and shorter down, it is very compact, very different,” he said.  

Having a background in sports psychology, Mr Quinn is very aware of the benefits that can be reaped from outdoor recreational sports and being a member of a club. 

Árd hiking and trail running is a club which is currently being worked on by Mr Quinn who is looking forward to seeing people enjoy and benefit from being part of a club.

Last weekend, Mr Quinn’s group, Excel Fitness, enjoyed the inaugural running of the Sliabh Liag Adventure Run. They hope to see more participants next year.  The Seven Sisters events take place on Saturday, September 23, 2023. You can become part of Ireland’s Epic mountain running event here.