'Derry 10-miler has become a premier event in its own right'

Sold out months in advance, the increasingly popular Derry 10-miler will take place this Saturday with close to 1700 runners taking part.

In the absence of the Walled City Marathon in recent years, what was once considered a warm-up event for the big day in June has now become something unique in itself, with organisers having to deal with huge interest months before the event was to take place. The event itself has been capped at 1700, but that number could have increased significantly, with those in charge reluctantly having to turn huge numbers of people away.

“This 10-miler has now become one of the premier events in the north,” Noel McMonagle explained. “This is the 10th version and we’re delighted with the response we’ve got. It’s strategically placed for those doing the Omagh Half Marathon so it gives them a run out before it. This was originally brought on to help people with their marathon progression but it now is popular in its own right and we have had to knock people back because the interest in it has been so high.”

The course will take in some of the most picturesque locales in the town, with runners starting and finishing at St. Columb’s Park on their way around the Gransha Grounds, over the New Bridge, around the Bay Road, and up Queen’s Quay before crossing Craigavon Bridge on their way to the finish line. It will be an event not to be missed, and judging by the demand, plenty agree.

“We will have 1700 runners and they come from all arts and parts. It’s a good number,” Noel continued. “We closed it at that number to be honest because of the nature of the course. We want it to be safe and comfortable for the runners, but we sold it out months before the starting points.”

The popularity of the event cannot be denied, with numbers pre and post-covid telling their own story of just how appealing a 10-mile race is, not just for the experienced runner, but for those just starting out.

“Ten is a stepping-stone,” Noel agreed. “If you’ve done 10k then you’ll do 10-mile and it’s a stepping-stone to the half marathon, and once you’ve conquered a half marathon, then there’s only one thing left. It’s a race that’s not run that often but ‘s starting to come back in popularity now. Back in the 80’s, there were 10-milers every second week and they all disappeared, but they are starting to make a comeback and we have led the way in that.”

Weather concern

The only concern over the event taking place this weekend is the winter weather warnings with snow and ice expected to hit the city by the end of the week. The North West Cross Country event at Gransha was the victim of similar weather back in December before being rescheduled, but Noel is hopeful that the 10-miler will avoid suffering a similar fate this time around. 

“We’re hopeful the weather will pick up by Friday or Saturday and if there’s no snow or ice we’ll go ahead,” he explained. “When you plan an event for the second weekend of March, you don’t expect too much snow or ice, but we have been hit with this before and we had to work around that, but we’ll make a call on it on Friday anyway. All the forecasts have now changed for Friday and Saturday to be good and so the event should be able to go ahead.”