Ardglass 10K, 29th July 2026
Rose Hawkswood is over in Northern Ireland and gives us this tale of a 10K event:
“As a kid I would always say I had two homes, Kenilworth and Ardglass. While one was where I grew up and went to school, the other home was mainly for holidays, weddings and funerals. And 2026 I am on holiday, bookended with a funeral as I arrive and finishing with a friend’s wedding.
Another new tradition for me is joining in the Ardglass 5&10k which is the official start of the Ardglass Festival.
The 10k isn’t the popular event of the two, but it does make you earn the buffet at the end.
The 10k course is one anticlockwise lap starting at the primary school giving you all the sights of this little village, starting with the Green Heights pub, then my house (famous now because it was on TV for half a second) before giving way to views of the bay. Then the inclines start and quite frankly I start wondering why I’m not doing the 5k, did I even warm up? Is the tarmac sticky? I don’t feel ready for this! The hills of Ardglass tend to be shortish and sharp, like the whit of the locals.
The downhills don’t offer much rest because they are also steep. From km 5-7 there is some mental rest from the steep bits, but you’re not gonna feel good about it.
Like all good tales the biggest challenge comes towards the end, where the course takes you past Coney Island (yes that very one Van went on about!) where you get a warm up bump before 23m of climbing on hilly hill and yes that’s the local name for it.
Hilly Hill finishes on High St right about the spot where Milligan’s Shop is (the family shop which my uncles are the 3rd generation to run). The final downhill begins, it takes you all about the village (the castle care home, the butchers, two pubs, Jordans castle, the golf club, the harbour, the Chinese, and Muhalls Wee Shop that’s never closed), then the final km slog on flat? road going past the marina, two more pubs, a petrol station and worlds smallest industrial estate until you just have the school where it all started back in sight.
I came in at 50.03 on my watch, but 49.52 gun and 49.48 chip so I have no idea which is the truest.
I believe my next run is to the bar, then a kids colour run.”
You’ve got to love a hilly hill! Well done, Rose (by the way, it is definitely 49.48)!
